Dragon Rider (#Wattys2016)

The Battle for Amu

The song is from the previous chapter, it's Warrior by Paradise Fears. Amu is the name of the town.

Thea's POV

Recap:

"This is a call to arms. We own the night. This is a battle song. We own the night!" The instruments started fading out, and the singer held up his arm. I could see Storm grinning with the other dragons, and the cheers of the crowd died down and everyone went back to talking among one another. I looked around; everyone was looking happy and had forgotten the real reason about the song. This was the way life should be.

End Recap

I chewed my lip nervously; the battle was to being soon. I ran my hand up and down my weapon carefully, checking the sharpness of the blade once more. We'd gone over the plan of attack late last night, and as the sun slowly rose, there was preparation to attack. Despite the fact we'd camped out near the town for a while, no one had attacked. The town's military had taken to camping in front of the small meadows next to the town. This would prove helpful if we were to charge. I was surrounded by the other riders. Together the twenty-four of us had been put in a unit. There were about thirty-three units in the foot soldiers. There were three units for the archers made up of fifty-three people each and one main commander. The archers were situated behind us, on higher ground, while the cavalry, which was made up of seventy riders in one large unit, was set in front of us, ready to charge forward. From behind, the sound of a horn could be heard, a single long note. I straightened, as did the others around me. It was beginning.

I glanced behind me, I could see the archers shooting, and soon volleys of arrows were going over our head and arcing down on the ranks of men of the other army. I had been slightly confused as to why we'd warned the opposing army of our attack, but I now understood it. The arrows rained down on the army from above, most were caught by shields and weren't effective, but others injured many sending them to the ground in pain.

The horn rang out again, a short note and then a long note; it was the cavalry's turn to attack. The cavalry rushed forward, with Vax on his stallion at the head, their lances were out and ready to attack. There was a crash as the two forces came together. The sound of screaming people and horses echoed in my ears. I shifted nervously, wishing Storm was here to offer his courage.

I'm here, Storm said, just not next to you. Plus, you should not look to me for courage as it's already your own. I smiled softly. The dragons were on the other side of the lake behind the town instead of being with us, the riders. I knew it was a good tactic to attack from the behind, however, without Storm by my side I was feeling scared of what could happen. This would be our first major battle and we wouldn't even be doing it together.

A nudge in my side caught my attention, "The cavalry are drawing them out now. Get ready to move in." Ala said. I turned my face towards the battle happening ahead. Ala was right. The cavalry were indeed retreating slowly, every so often stopping, and making a stand. It almost seemed like the retreat wasn't intended, but I knew better. This was one of the many tactics, which had been planned for this battle. The idea was that the cavalry would draw the enemy out, causing them to forget ranks and turn into a chaotic mess. When this happened, the foot soldiers were to run in and attack in units. We were to then surround groups of the enemy and attack, closing in and forming circles around them and not letting them escape. We were meant to have two circles, one focusing on the inside and one on the outside guarding the inside circle's backs.

"How are you not afraid?" I asked Ala in a low voice, Ala grinned at me.

"What have I got to fear?"