We dove back down toward the swirling cloud cover. The epicentre of our former blizzard had now become the eye of the cyclone—a massive, circular column of calm, clear air moving slowly to the south. Bathed in the bright summer sunlight, the snow-covered hellscape of the southern battlefield was fully visible, revealing the frozen, buried remains of the Forlinth vanguard.
But we couldn't linger. We plunged straight into the violent eyewall, continuing north through the city.
We battled against the punishing, cyclonic winds, weaving our massive draconic frame around flying debris and ripped-up shingles. We followed the rubble-littered streets until the Northern Gate finally came into view through the driving rain. Or rather, where the gate used to be.
A massive, jagged crater in the stone wall was all that remained of the fortifications. Enemy soldiers were pouring through the breach, entirely unimpeded by our remaining troops.
We flew quickly toward the gap. Below us, urban combat had devolved into chaotic, bloody skirmishes in the streets, and our poorly trained militia was rapidly losing to the professional Forlinth army. I watched as two militiamen tried to take on a single heavily armoured Forlinth knight, thrusting clumsily with their spears. The knight blocked the strikes effortlessly, running the first man through with his longsword and brutally bashing the second with his heavy shield, before finishing the sprawling militiaman on the cobblestones.
Juliana swooped down, her massive talons snatching the knight right off the street. He flailed and screamed in his heavy plate armour as we hauled him high into the sky, before simply releasing our grip. He landed awkwardly on a slanted slate roof, his armour crunching before he slid off the edge and plummeted into the street below.
This method is far too inefficient, I realised, analyzing the sheer volume of troops flooding the city. There were simply too many for us to deal with one at a time; we were completely losing the action economy. We needed to break their morale by capturing or crushing their leadership, terrifying the grunts into a full retreat.
Juliana reared back her massive head and let out a terrifying, earth-shattering roar, firing a blinding blast of radiant fire into the sky as a display of godlike dominance.
Unfortunately, the howling, hurricane-force winds completely drowned out the noise, and the torrential rain obscured the light, rendering our grand intimidation tactic entirely useless.
With our cinematic entrance ruined by our own weather effects, there was only one thing left to do: scour the ruined city for the enemy commanders and make a very bloody, very visible example of them.
We continued our grim pattern: find an enemy soldier, haul him into the sky, and drop him. They always screamed, and there was certainly no shortage of them. But we had yet to find the commanders who were holding this rout together.
Gradually, the violent cyclonic winds began to reduce to a strong, stiff breeze, and the torrential rain eased, greatly improving our visibility.
Flying low up the city's main thoroughfare, Juliana finally spotted them: a tight, disciplined group of mages and heavily armed elite soldiers. In the centre, a distinguished man in ornate armour was barking orders to a lieutenant. As our massive shadow fell over them, the group spotted us. They didn't scatter like the grunts; they immediately readied their weapons and fell into a practiced combat formation.
As we closed the distance, the enemy mages unleashed a synchronized volley of massive, jagged ice bolts. Juliana banked sharply, dodging the first four, but the fifth struck true. The arcane ice tore a massive, ragged hole straight through the membrane of our right wing.
We roared in genuine pain, our flight stalling out. Unable to stay airborne, we crashed heavily into the cobblestone street, sending a shockwave through the ruined buildings.
They didn't give us a single second to recover. Several knights dashed forward, thrusting their weapons at our prone body. We managed to block a heavy broadsword with our forearm, but a sharp, blinding pain tore through our limb as the blade punched clean through our platinum scales. Magical weapons, I realised with a jolt of panic. High-tier ones.
Juliana snarled, lunging at the knight as he struggled to pull his blade free. Her massive jaws clamped down squarely on his shoulder. He screamed in agony as she lifted him entirely off the ground and shook him violently—like a feral dog with a bird—snapping his neck instantly.
She casually tossed his limp body aside just as another volley of ice bolts flew at us. Juliana managed to weave her head out of the way, but the final bolt impaled our back leg. Another wave of freezing, piercing pain coursed through our nervous system.
Furious, Juliana reared up and unleashed a devastating burst of radiant fire directly at the group. The surviving knights dove for cover, but a female mage standing near the back didn't even flinch. The holy fire washed completely over her, leaving her entirely unharmed. Total elemental immunity, my Game Master mind calculated frantically. This is a specialized dragon-hunting squad.
“Kill that devil quickly!” the commander shouted, rallying his men. “We defeat her, and this city is ours!”
Juliana lurched forward, snapping her bloodied jaws at a mage who had just rolled out of the fire. But the squad’s teamwork was flawless. One of the surviving knights stepped directly into our path, intercepting the bite with a brutal, magically enhanced shield bash to the side of our snout.
Dazed, Juliana retaliated by swinging her wounded arm in a sweeping claw attack. It was a glancing blow, knocking the knight backward and skidding across the cobblestones, but failing to cut through his heavy plate armour.
This fight was not going well for us, and with our wing shredded, we had no way to escape either. If something didn’t change soon, we were going to lose.
The female caster began to chant an incantation. We charged at her, but a knight stepped directly into our path, blocking our charge with his heavy shield. The spell completed, and instantly, a crushing weight settled over our body. Our movements became sluggish, heavy, and unresponsive. A Slow debuff. > Several knights from the group charged. With our body unable to react in time, we braced ourselves for the devastating barrage of magical weapons.
Suddenly, a massive burst of fire exploded directly in front of us. We didn’t feel the searing heat, but the shockwave forced the knights to violently abort their charge. Two were caught in the blast, screaming as their enchanted armour scorched.
Why would they cast that? I thought, confused. They must know fire doesn't affect me, but it severely hurts them...
Then I saw why. Ten Freyton City mages were standing in the rubble-strewn street behind the enemy group, led by Lady Evelyn herself. We had backup.
Several more fireballs rained down around the enemy formation.
“Enemies behind us! Protect our rear!” Commander Everett shouted.
I felt our body grow light again as the Slow effect vanished—likely a broken concentration check from the caster. With most of the enemy squad now turning their backs to deal with Evelyn's mages, Juliana seized the opportunity, unleashing another devastating breath of radiant fire.
Caught between two fronts, the group wasn't quick enough to dodge. They were engulfed, screaming as the holy fire burned them. As the smoke cleared, Commander Everett and the female caster were still standing—seemingly unharmed by the flames—but the knights looked to be on the verge of death. Another volley of fire hit the group from Evelyn’s mages, followed by a blinding bolt of lightning that tore straight through their ranks.
As the smoke finally cleared, only the commander and the woman remained.
“Do you surrender, Everett?” Lady Evelyn’s voice rang out over the wind.
“Never! Your armies have killed too many of our countrymen for us to give up!” Everett shouted back, raising his weapon.
We didn't wait for the dialogue to finish. Taking advantage of the distraction, Juliana lunged forward and swiped her massive claws at the female caster. The blow connected, slicing straight through her robes and leaving a deep, bloody gash across her back.
She screamed and collapsed. Everett looked at us in absolute shock. Before he could react, we snapped him up in our jaws, clamping down just enough to trap him. His enchanted armour groaned and strained under the immense pressure of our teeth.
Suddenly, the woman beside us surged to her feet. Her wounds had completely closed, and she was wielding a glowing, radiant sword. A War Cleric, I realised.
“Drop him, you demon! Leave my Everett alone!” she screamed, taking a desperate swing at our snout.
Before the blade could connect, a massive bolt of lightning from Evelyn's retinue struck her directly. The blast scorched a charred hole straight through her midsection, and she collapsed to the cobblestones, unmoving.
Through strained, ragged breaths, Everett glared at us from between our teeth. “Kill me, you devil. I’d rather die than be captured by a villainous nation like yours.”
Lady Evelyn calmly walked up beside us as her retinue secured the fallen Cleric with magical bindings.
“Leave him alive,” Evelyn instructed us. “We need him to end this siege.”
We maintained the pressure on our jaw—tight enough that he couldn't move, but loose enough that he could still breathe.
Evelyn then closed her eyes and cast a spell. When she spoke, her voice echoed directly inside our head.
“The commander Everett and Cleric Eleanour have been captured. If you want to see them alive, throw down your arms. You will be treated appropriately as prisoners of war.”
Evelyn opened her eyes and looked up at us. “That was mass telepathy broadcast to everyone in the surrounding area. I am hoping it will cause at least some of their men to surrender.”
One of her retinue carefully removed the knight's broadsword still lodged in our arm and cast a high-level healing miracle. Immediately, our wounds began closing, the pain fading, and even the ragged hole in our platinum wing knitted itself seamlessly back together.
“Now, please fly over the battlefield with your prize in your mouth,” Evelyn said grimly. “The loss of their leader, combined with the sight of you, should break whatever morale they have left.”
With a powerful thrust of our repaired wings, we took off, holding Commander Everett firmly in our jaws. We flew low over the ruined northern districts. Just as Evelyn predicted, seeing their invincible commander dangling helplessly from the mouth of a Platinum Dragon was the final straw. Soldiers began to drop their weapons and flee, the trickle quickly snowballing into a full-blown rout.
Without their commander to rally them, it wasn’t long before the entire Forlinth army had broken and run.
We landed heavily back in front of Lady Evelyn, the cobblestones cracking beneath our platinum weight. Several Freyton City soldiers had now gathered in the ruined street, raising their bloodied weapons and cheering wildly at the sight of us.
“Glory to the Nameless God!” the chant began to echo through the exhausted ranks.
Juliana opened her massive jaws and unceremoniously dropped Commander Everett at Lady Evelyn’s feet. Several soldiers immediately rushed forward, hauling the defeated commander up and binding his hands with heavy iron chains.
Lady Evelyn turned to address the crowd, projecting her voice over the lingering wind. “Today’s battle was brutal! But through grit, determination, and divine intervention, we have prevailed! However, do not rest just yet. There are likely rats from the Forlinth army still hiding within our walls. It is up to you to sweep the streets, find them, and eliminate them!”
The soldiers roared in agreement, quickly breaking off into squads of four or five to secure the city districts, as Commander Everett was roughly led away to the dungeons.
Evelyn turned back to us, her stern, battle-hardened expression finally softening into genuine relief. “Thank you, Juliana, for everything you have done. Without you, this city would have surely been lost today. I will have my guards escort Toby back to your inn immediately. Please, get some rest, and come see me at the Tower in three days.”
We offered a slow, respectful nod of our massive draconic head. With a powerful thrust of our wings, we took to the sky one last time, flying south across the recovering city toward our lodgings.
We landed smoothly in the street outside the inn, greeted by even more ecstatic cheers from the crowds of civilians who were tentatively emerging from hiding. As we shifted out of the Wild Shape and back into our tall Nhalyri form, the fervent chants of “Praise to the Nameless God!” washed over us once again.
Juliana’s smile was broad and utterly serene as we pushed through the inn's heavy wooden doors, heading straight up the stairs to our room for a very well-deserved sleep.
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