Capítulo 228: Dragon's fury (1)
The next morning, we were ready to face the enemy. Following my instructions, the people fortified their homes and were prepared to take shelter at any moment. The guards remained in the palace, and we didn't intend to involve them unless absolutely necessary. Closer to noon, the signal finally came.
"Alarm! Everyone to shelter," the watchman on the tower struck the bell when the signal fire at the foot of the mountains announced the approaching monster.
Through her spyglass, Aileen estimated the distance to the target and its speed.
"She'll be at the city walls in about twenty minutes. Krito, is everything ready?" I nodded to Leira, who stood by the north wall of the city.
The girl had to lure the dragon to the spot we needed. On the tower were Aileen and Miriam, guarding Rumy. Ragni and I lay in wait at the base of the tower, in case we needed to quickly pull the girls out of the firing zone.
"Oh... Krito, you know, I've never seen white dragons before... But comparing the size of the ballistae to the size of the target... I'm starting to feel a bit inadequate," the girl's voice trembled noticeably, and as the dragoness approached, I began to understand why.
Although Ascareza was far from being an ancient dragon, only of the third generation, her size was comparable to that of Ignis and Ultras, who, in turn, were rulers of their clans. If we were to kill her without justification, it would be hard to imagine what kind of monsters would come to avenge her.
But still, there was something refined and enchanting about her. Unlike her black and red brethren, she had a more slender body shape. Her thin, pointed snout was crowned with straight white horns on her forehead. Her long neck extended into an equally graceful body. She resembled a snow-white arrow approaching us at tremendous speed.
"Liri, let's begin!"
The people had taken shelter, and now only we were on the streets. We needed to lead the dragoness precisely to the tower. The fastest among us was tasked with this mission.
As soon as the dragoness reached the city wall, Leira released her most powerful lightning spell at her. However, the monster only flinched slightly and lunged after her attacker.
The girl used all her magic to accelerate as much as possible, but even that didn't allow her to break free from the dragon. Ascareza was just as agile, despite her size. Several unsuccessful lunges shattered a couple of houses in the city, but the sorceress managed to evade them.
Moving in zigzags across the rooftops, Liri ran towards the coveted tower. It was chosen because it towered above the lower part of the city. The dragoness couldn't simply ram it; she would have to rise up and be exposed to the ballista fire.
However, she caused significant destruction in her path. With a single breath, she turned an entire house into a block of ice. If the residents hadn't sought refuge in the cellars, the consequences of our hunt would have been tragic.
Liri tried to draw all of the dragoness's attention to herself, occasionally hurling lightning at her snout. The sparks distracted the monster, and she didn't notice other warriors lying in ambush.
The fortress wall was getting closer, and the sorceress instinctively slowed down. Ascareza seized this opportunity and made one last lunge at her prey. But at the last moment, the boy in the gray uniform scooped up his beloved and darted into hiding, leaving the monster empty-handed.
Since yesterday, Leira had gathered a substantial amount of wind mana in the swordsman's blade so that he could perform this trick at the right moment. Algo waited in a hiding spot as close to the wall as possible to leave no other escape route for the dragoness.
Dropping her prey and shaking off the annoying discharges before her eyes, Ascareza finally noticed the approaching cliff. With a powerful flap of her wings, she demolished several houses near the wall but managed to adjust her course to fly over the wall from above.
"Pli!" As soon as the dragon appeared above the tower's edge, Miriam pressed the trigger. Aileen had assembled a device from several boxes and springs that automatically reloaded the ballista and sent a new arrow flying. Five arrows in a row were released at the enemy. Three of them struck right at the base of her wing, where the supporting bone connected to the clavicle. But it wasn't enough; the dragoness was still flying, albeit at a slower speed.
"Tch, too bad we didn't hit the bone. Prepare for another salvo!" Aileen jumped and commanded Rumy as they began to reload the ballista.
"You'd better get away from there, and quickly!!!" I looked towards Ascareza, who was making another round above the city. The girls had already caught her attention, and it was obvious that she would be their target.
"Just a little more," the engineer removed an empty cartridge and, together with Rumy, attached a new one.
"Aileen!! It's better to listen to Krito," Vivienne looked at the dragoness preparing for an attack.
"I'm almost done!" the engineer loaded the new shot, only needing to secure it. But the dragoness had already opened her mouth, gathering icy energy.
"Ragni, get them out of there!" I sent the girl to help the unlucky archers.
Before the icy breath covered the tower, Ragni grabbed Miriam and Aileen by their collars and jumped off the tower. Gliding on her wings, she gently lowered them to the ground, and the stream of ice covered the ballista.
Rumy remained at the top. Clashing her blades together, she attempted to stop the dragon's magic, trying to save the weapon. Her golem body was resistant to both cold and magic, so there was no need to worry about her. The dragon's breath eventually ran out, and the girl managed to protect the vital point.
"Are you okay?" Ragni returned to the tower and saw the master, half-frozen in ice up to her ankles.
"I'm fine, nothing serious," Rumy tried to free herself, striking the ice with her blades. "But this thing won't shoot anymore."
Although the golem protected the main structure, the control levers and the string were frozen solid. In this state, the ballista could crumble from any push.
"Krito, the weapon is done. Any other ideas?" The dragoness descended.
Ascareza circled above the city, seeking the right moment to attack us. She was not flying as fast as before our assault; the heavy arrows in her left wing were hindering her, but she couldn't reach them in that condition.
"Ragni, transform into a dragon," I smirked and addressed my comrade.
"You realize she'll notice me immediately?"
"Yep."
"And she'll charge at me?"
"Yep."
"Well, I'm glad you understand all of this, but why the hell should I do it?!"
"Because I can't fly, and I need wings. Just get me closer to her, and I'll handle the rest."
"Tch, a suicide mission," Ragni sighed deeply and was engulfed in a dark glow. In a few seconds, a beautiful black dragon stood before us, which couldn't go unnoticed by the enemy.
"Try to bring me close to her left wing," I climbed onto the dragoness's neck and grabbed onto the thick scales at the nape. "I hope one strike will be enough."
"I'm warning you, white dragons are much more agile in the air, even with such a size disadvantage," Ragni flapped her wings and lifted off the ground.
Ascareza forgot about the half-destroyed ballista and set course for her new target. We circled around the capital, slowly closing the distance. Clearly, the advantage was not on our side. The head of the white dragoness was only slightly smaller than Ragni's body; she could kill her with a single bite.
"Try to lure her towards the western field; we don't want her crashing in the city center," my signal whistled in Ragni's ears, and I could still transmit my thoughts to her.
Ragni gained altitude and began gliding straight toward the western plain, picking up speed. The white dragoness, even with a limp wing, was faster, so we had to resort to such tricks.
When we reached a clearing at a height of about five meters, Ragni suddenly spread her wings wide, and the air resistance sent us upwards. At that moment, Ascareza almost caught up with us, but this swift maneuver allowed us to disappear from her sight for a second. Taking advantage of the boost, the princess executed a loop to approach the enemy from above. The massive dragoness couldn't repeat such a trick at a low altitude, but experience guided her to the enemy's location.
Ragni dove straight towards the left wing, but the dragon abruptly stopped and raised her long neck upward. By a miracle, we managed to avoid her fangs, but we still couldn't reach our target.
"Darn, she's agile!"
"I told you! Their long neck is not just for show; they can turn it in any direction, which means I won't get close enough for a strike," Ragni landed, spreading her wings, made a few jumps, and then soared back into the air. "Any other ideas?"
The skirmish between the black and white dragons could have gone on for much longer, but I doubted it would end in our favor. Ragni flew as fast as she could, yet Ascareza still managed to catch up. Only the local terrain and the dragoness's agility saved our lives. The only time we surprised the enemy was during the initial attack. Then she hesitated for a couple of seconds, and that could have been our chance.
"Fly higher!" I instinctively pulled on the dragoness's neck.
"Ouch, don't pull like that! Fly higher? Do you think I can speed up again and try to outpace her?" Ragni nervously flinched at my movement and turned her head to give me a skeptical look.
"Fly as high as you can, as far as you can!" Perhaps that was the reason the white dragoness still hadn't snatched us. "You know that the height limit for white dragons is much higher than for black ones, right? And we won't be able to get away from her."
"Well, I suspected that."
"Oh, well, then I can rest easy!" The dragoness's voice was filled with unveiled sarcasm.
"Just fly and don't think about anything!"
Ragni followed the order and began flapping her wings with force. The rate of ascent increased rapidly, and the flaps became more frequent. The white dragoness followed us, but soon she slowed down and started ascending at a smoother angle.
"Emm... why is she letting us go?" Ragni also noticed the strangeness in the enemy's behavior.
"She simply can't catch up with us. When we flew straight, she relied on her streamlined body shape and wing area to catch up with us. Now, only the frequency of her wing flaps determines our speed!" I pointed to the arrows sticking out of her left wing. "Even if she endures them, they still weigh something and cause her pain with each flap. She can't ascend as quickly."
"Then we'll easily get away from her!" I had to suppress Ragni's triumphant cry.
"Unfortunately, it won't be that easy. You mentioned the height limit yourself."
"Yeah, in such weather, my wings will start freezing at four thousand meters, and beyond that, I'll struggle even more. But her wings are initially made with ice particles; it doesn't bother her."
"I hope we'll manage to get away from her enough."
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