Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 063 - Pammon's Fight (Patreon)

They are still holed up in their fort.  They have moved two carts to the front entrance of the wall, and the three missing people are out there now.  They appear to be in a hurry and are setting up wood for what will be fires tonight.

“Gosh damnit, Hess,” Kaen complained.  “You were right.  How did you know they would hole up like that?”

Grinning like a fool, Hess put his hand on Kaen’s shoulder.

“Remember, I did this for decades.  People all act a certain way based on the information they have.  The camp is wiped out, each of the bodies looted, and the papers we took are troubling.  I would assume the rider found our trail somehow, which means they are good at tracking and probably found both trails around their base and up north.  That means they assume we have found or ambushed the caravan like we did.”

Hess took a deep breath and pointed in the direction of the base.

“They think they know how many of us there are, but they can't be sure. I was an idiot and should have made you cut up that archer at the camp.  It would have removed any chance of the person perhaps recognizing the skill you used,”  Hess paused again and shook his head in disbelief that Kaen had managed that feat again.  “Now they know there are powerful people out here, and if he did recognize the skill, they believe you have a thirty in your archery, which would make anyone cautious before moving into the woods.”

Hess pointed at the map he had drawn in the dirt of the fort.  Tonight is going to be when we will end this.  They will be on guard, but we have Pammon, the Joker, in our deck.  They cannot begin to fathom a dragon or the destruction he can really bring.”

“You know Pammon is excited about this,” Kaen said with a slight groan. “He has been waiting to prove how good he is.”

Hess chuckled and nodded.

“Tonight, you will learn just how deadly a dragon, even a young one, can be.”

Waiting had been torture for Kaen. Depending on Pammon to keep them updated on the movements of the camp while they set up a few distractions outside had been hard.  They had managed to loot the last body from the carts. The body had been mangled, and Pammon had torn it apart.

Hess had him create a couple of bonfires to light once the time to attack began.

With it having been dark for two hours, Kaen poked Hess, waking him up from his slumber.

“It’s time.”

As he stretched, Hess nodded and grabbed his equipment beside him.

“No change yet?”

“None. They still have two guards at each opening in the wall, and the fires are burning brightly around the camp.”

Using his shield, Hess stood up, testing his right leg before putting all his weight on it.

“Everyone wants to be a big guy like me until they discover how hard it is to move when your ankle or leg is injured.  All that weight hurts more.”

Chucking, Kaen could only imagine how hard it was to support all that armor as well as his equipment not being injured.

“I’ll go get the fires started.  Anything else you want before I go?”

“Be smart.  Do what I told you; do not engage unless you have to.  Remember our advantage and get back to me once they are going.”

Kaen grinned, even though he knew Hess couldn’t see it on his face in the dark.  The clouds covered the moon, turning the forest into almost complete darkness.

“I’ll be back.”

Three of the guys are now at the north wall, and the people who were in the house are moving around the opening.  Just one guard left on the south side.

Kaen chuckled as he started to light the third bonfire.  Keeping one eye closed as he struck the flint and steel together, he watched the sparks ignite the pile of tinder.  A few tiny breaths got it going, and it roared into a blaze, ready to take over the wood he had stacked upright.

I don’t want to tell Hess how right he was.  Keeping one eye closed while staring at the fire helps me not lose my night sight.  I can actually still see as I run through the woods.

Just be careful.  I can’t see you from this height.

Kaen dashed through the forest back to where Hess was.

Four fires were burning. Hess lit one but had made him light the furthest one from where they would actually be.  They were scattered all over the northwest to northeast side of the base, casting dancing lights through the woods.  Even though the fires were over a hundred yards from the base, their warm light could be seen from a reasonable distance.

Once Hess has me give the signal, go ahead and take out the south guard.

Glee and excitement surged through the bond, and Kaen knew Pammon was smiling at what was about to happen.

“Start it!”

Kaen nodded and began loosing arrows at the people in the fort.  They were well out of his range, but he wasn’t actually trying to hit anyone, just draw their attention.

After the second arrow reached the fort, the men inside started shouting.  Their reaction unleashed a foe they were not prepared for.

Pammon smiled as he watched the men rushing to the walls, holding up shields as they glanced out into the forest, trying to see where the attack was coming from.

Swooping down, he saw his prey.  The man stood on a raised platform, having turned his attention to the north side of town for a moment, and then quickly turned back south, trying to see if anyone would come from that direction.

Tucking his wings, he fell silently from the tree tops, increasing his speed and angling for the man’s backside.  A bestial urge inside him drove him forward, knowing he was following an urge that felt natural.

Reaching the height and speed he needed, Pammon flared out his wings, spreading his back talons on his feet, preparing for the contact that was seconds from happening.  All those hours he had spent in the forests and in the fields practicing on his meals made this seem like second nature now.

The man cried out, the tiniest amount, as talons pierced his back on both sides of his spine. His front talon pierced the man's chest as Pammon rotated his wings slightly, rising quickly into the sky.  A few flaps carried him over the wall and trees into darkness.

He glanced down at the man who was dead, his head hanging limply to the side.  Part of him wanted to bite his head off, but now was not the time for it.  He had more prey to deal with.

He saw the tree he wanted and flew to it, impaling the man on top of it as he flew past, beginning his climb and turning to repeat the process.

They are looking for their man from the south side.  One of the men from the wall and one of the men from the middle of their camp.

You can do this!

Pammon felt the surge in his chest.  He had felt this feeling before.

Is your lifestone pulsing?

Pammon felt Kaen chuckle.

It is. How did you know?  Can you feel it again?

I can.  I can feel the power coming through it and into me.

Use it then. My life is yours to have.

Pammon had to resist the urge to roar that he felt wanted to escape.  He could feel the power of Kaen pouring into him through their bond.  The world seemed to feel slower as he flew.  As if he was faster now.

The two men climbed up the towers on both sides of the opening to the south, glancing in all directions around them.  The only light they had were the ones behind them on the ground and the ones they had set up in the clearing between the wall opening.

These fools blind themselves with these torches and lights.

Pammon gauged the distance and calculated the weight of the men and the speed he would need to do what he wanted.  Speed and power were critical here.  He had never attempted to kill two creatures in one attack.  The orc taught him the importance of not taking on too much without practice.

He finished his circle, diving down again, coming from the east.  There was more room for him to gain the height he would need on the west side.  As the treeline ended, he barely missed clipping a few branches by a dragon scale, tucking his wings again for another attack.

His first target was a woman, and he believed she was a caster of some kind due to the staff she held and the robe she wore.  Her red hair seemed alive in the light of the fire cascading down her back.  She was glancing over the wall but not looking up at the sky, unaware of his approach.

Ten yards before he struck, he saw her look up in horror as he dove down at her.  Her face turned in slow motion as she tried to lift her staff, but she was too slow.  Pammon wondered how she had noticed him. Perhaps the light of the fires that were now glowing brighter had reflected off his bronze and copper scales, creating a sight for her to see.

As she lifted her staff, his right back claw knocked it from her hand as he pierced her heart with a talon through her chest, shattering a shimmer of magical energy around her body.  She was so light he would have thought he had missed her if it wasn’t for the magical barrier he broke through.

Angling his body to the left, he streaked across the opening between the two platforms, slightly missing his mark but taking the head off the man on the platform who had yet to hear him coming.  The man crumpled to the platform and then rolled off onto the ground with a thud as Pammon took off into the dark night of the sky.

Two more are down.  Just three left!
You are amazing!  Hess and I are still outside, trying to draw their attention.  Tell me when you need our help!

Joy filled his heart.  When Kaen cheered for or encouraged him, it made him feel fulfilled.  Those moments when they were not together hurt.  His skin itched, and he could not figure out why.  Like a part of him was missing.

Getting to show Kaen and Hess both how far he had come meant something to him tonight.  The fire that was always in his belly was roaring, wanting to be set free. He needed them to know that he was no longer an eggling but that he was powerful and could do his part and be more than just a scout.

Be ready for the fire arrows when I call for it.  I am going to end this in a moment.

He had already deposited the woman on a tree for later.  Hess and Kaen both wanted to check these bodies for loot and putting them on top of a tree was the easiest way for him to gather them when this was over.

Gazing at the clearing, he saw panic taking over among the last three people inside.  One of the people inside had jumped on a horse and started riding toward the north exit.  The one in the middle, wearing a robe and weaving their hands in the air, sent some sort of magical attack that struck the horse and the man, knocking them over like a leaf in the wind.

With only two left and the one on the front of the wall, Pammon decided it was time to announce his presence and made his move.

Launch the arrows now.  I am ending this!

Pammon came from the south, preparing to engage the person who had just struck down one of their own.  He could see the person, their silver hair gleaming in the light of the fires, pointing at the person on the wall near the gate.  He had no doubt the man was threatening his last companion.

Two arrows on fire came from the treeline where he had seen Kaen appear.  They arched up into the sky, flying over the wall and landing a few yards past it.  Nothing was in danger of burning, but both men were focused on them.

One more arrow streaked through the sky as Pammon came over the southern wall.  The fire inside him roared to life, yearning to be loosed.  It felt like ages since he had used it. He would not risk injury to himself or Kaen.  The one who must be the leader would learn the true power of who he was.

Of what he was.

His mouth opened, and the fire burst from his core, racing up his throat and out between his open maw.

His speed slowed down as he hung in the air for a moment before needing to beat his wings, the flame racing across the ground and streaking toward the man in those robes.  The man turned as the fire reached his feet, sending heat hot enough to melt metal through his clothes and his skin.

He screamed in pain, his eyes going wide, mouth open as Pammon’s stream of death engulfed the man, roasting him alive in seconds.

The scream may have stopped, but the shell of the man stood there as if frozen in place. Snapping his jaws shut, Pammon turned and saw the man on the wall, shaking like a branch in a windstorm.  If the smell of burning flesh had not filled Pammon’s snout, he would have smelled the urine running down the man’s legs as the last defender could not react or move.

Pammon flew toward the wall and landed on the ground a few feet from the tower the man was standing on.  Petrified with fear.

Rising to his haunches, the platform that was at least eight feet tall meant nothing as Pammon stared into the man’s eyes, his shield being held before him, trembling with every breath the man tried to take.

He put his mouth a few feet from the man, gazing at him with his eyes and roared, sending flecks of spit and hot burning embers onto the man who could still not move.

Having declared his presence, Pammon took both front claws and slammed them together on both sides of the man, causing him to pop like a stink bell, showering the wall and his scales with blood and flesh.

Finished with the last one, he took a few steps back and gazed at the destruction around him, the fire that was burning in the dirt from his flames.

I am Pammon, and I will no longer sit idly by.

He lifted his head up into the night sky, noticing the clouds separating just a sliver where the moon could shine through.

He roared once more before releasing the last of his dragon fire straight up into the night sky, illuminating the trees around him with the light of his power.

When he finished, he lowered his head and shook off the few stray pieces of hot embers from his snout.

They are all dead. It is safe to enter.