The Fight for Salvus

'It's the end... but the moment has been prepared for.'

When the week the Abrendese Militia had given Salvus was up, Terra was at the border of the town with several of her dragons, atop the makeshift barricades that had been built. She sat, crosslegged, atop a stack of old wooden boxes and metal gates, and watched the gathering forces on the horizon. Over the past few days what had at first been one messenger became a few warriors, then a large group with their dragons, and now, what seemed to be a small army had amassed at Salvus's doorstep.

They really seemed to hate this little town. Although, all the things the people here had done directly against the Militia surely wouldn't be helping things. Terra might have come to be a guard for Salvus for the money, sure, but she also had come for a chance to prove herself. This was certainly a bit more of an opportunity for proving than she had expected. But would it be the chance to help others that she had been wanting, or a brutal defeat? Terra had to admit to herself, she wasn't all that optimistic about the former.

By her side were three of her dragons, the others off patrolling different spots along the wall. Raphael stood behind a slightly lower section of barricade, eyes closed and levitating rocks around him in an attempt to remain calm. Radio was slightly further back, talking to a small group of ducklings silently. Her green scales made it so that she almost blended in with the grass - especially with her smaller size. Finally, Inferno, the speedy pyromaniac that she was, had taken to circling above and relaying what she could see from up there to Terra and the others.

At that moment, actually, Terra got a mental nudge from Inferno, and glanced up. She looked through her dragons' eyes. 'Someone's coming,' Inferno thought to her rider. Indeed, Terra saw a red-feathered figure approaching, three dragons behind him. She blinked, and returned to her own vision. Out across the field, the feathery person strode towards the town. Sensing her apprehension, Raphael opened his eyes to scrutinize the stranger.

The feathered man didn't attack as he approached, and no one else besides the dragons followed. When he got within thirty feet of the barricade Terra held up a hand. "Hold! What's your business here?"

"Isn't it obvious?" The man said. The two lizard-like dragons growled, but said nothing themselves. "The time for a choice is here. Now, it looks like you all have been preparing for war here in your silly little town, but I'd like to offer one last opportunity to surrender before we come in and destroy you all." A glint of gold shone in his eyes.

Terra frowned. "You want to talk to Teeba, then," she said. "I'm just the guard, here." Mentally, she sent a warning to all of her dragons, to warn the town - trouble was here. Not long till things went south. Radio gathered the ducks on her back and ran towards the inner section of town, to find Teeba, while Inferno still swirled above, to keep an eye on the rest of the army that hadn't approached.

"Yes," the man said, "I do. Tell your leader Tenoch wants to speak with him. You're harboring several of my targets and I would quite prefer to deal with them in a less messy way." Terra sensed venom in his voice, and she didn't like it.

Raphael huffed at her side. "We're not letting you take anyone," he said boldly.

"I thought you said you all weren't the leader of this place? Let me speak to the man," Tenoch scoffed. "Speaking of, this must be him." He gestured one hand forward, to where Radio - minus the ducks - was escorting Teeba forward, along with his dragon Otulius.

The old tsotska approached the barricade with a frown on his face. Clearly he had not been looking forward to this conversation. Terra didn't envy him. "And you're the leader of this group of soldiers? From what Hart and Aren have told me, you seemed more like a freelancer when they met you," Teeba said.

"I was," Tenoch nodded. "After my previous mission failed the Militia gave me a group of men and a second chance. I don't believe I'll be getting a third, which is why if you don't surrender I won't be holding back."

"And if we do?" Teeba asked. "More than half the people in this town the Militia has some reason or another for wanting captured, or dead. Giving up my people is something I'll never do."

"It doesn't have to be all of them," Tenoch countered quickly. Terra watched the exchange with interest. "The cat and the thief, that's all I ask. Then we'll leave you be." The clear 'for a time' hung in the air, unsaid.

Teeba wasn't falling for any of it. "That cat has a name. It's Aren'dra. I helped her when she was in the same situation as you. Stuck with the militia. No more chances. I can do the same for you. It doesn't matter where you've come from or what you've done, it's never too late to change."

Raphael's stern glare was nearly audible. Tenoch paused, took in a breath, and closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again, they flashed gold, brighter than before. He stood up straighter. "And where is Aren'dra now? Her dragon dead, her town about to be burnt? I've made my choices, Teeba. It's time for you to make yours."

Terra really had the urge to call out the man, tell him how Aren had only undergone those hardships because of him, but instead she mentally checked over herself for all her gear and weapons. While the rest of the town was having a moment to get prepared, Terra could only do so inwardly. Thank goodness being a guard meant she had most of her equipment on her all the time.

Teeba's face hardened into an anger that Terra had never seen before, tinged with regret. "Go and gather your army. Salvus will never bow to your demands." Otulius nodded in stoic agreement.

Tenoch smirked, as if he had been expecting nothing else. "I shall." With those two words, he turned, waved a hand for his trio of dragons to follow, and began walking away. Over one shoulder, he remarked, "I'll see you on the battlefield."

As Terra watched him go, she said, "How long do you think we have?"

"At the most?" Teeba said. "Five minutes. He clearly wasn't expecting anything but a fight." The tsotska sighed, and turned to walk back towards town. "I'd join you on the front lines, but I hate to think what would happen if I was caught."

"Understandable," Terra agreed. "You hang back, send your dragons and some moral support, eh?" She got to her feet and unsheathed her largest sword. Atop the barricade of boxes, she made for an imposing figure. "We'll do our best."

Teeba smiled wearily, and left Terra and her dragons at the edge of the town. Radio, Raphael, and Inferno had drawn closer to her, with Inferno still higher in the sky. There were other dragons, too, and riders, and beings that didn't have any dragons of their own but wanted to help anyway.

Hardly any of them were warriors, and Terra worried about the outcome of all of this. They had been trained in how to fight non-lethally, to disable attackers and stay on the defensive, but a week of training wasn't going to be good enough against well taught soldiers. "Have we got more dragons than them?" she asked Inferno, both out loud and mentally.

'Of course," Inferno thought back, gazing out at the forces preparing to attack the town. 'We're a town of dragons. They're a bunch of fools. It shall be no contest.' Inferno's outward thoughts exuded confidence, a surety that wasn't quite there more inwardly. Terra could tell that Inferno was trying to put on a brave face. Honestly, she kind of appreciated that at the moment. Standing on top of this stack of junk, sword in hand, felt dramatic, but also like she would definitely be the first target.

Still, as she stood there, she looked down to her dragons, and the dragons that weren't her own, and the people who had come to defend this edge of the town, and she found the energy in herself to offer a reassuring grin and raise her sword in the air. "For Salvus, eh?" she shouted, drawing the attention of the surrounding group. Cheers and agreements rang out in the crowd, even if many of them were full of nervousness. Radio in particular jumped up beside her and bumped her gently on the leg, a silent promise that they would make it out alive.

Terra could only hope, really. Besides her sword, she drew out a weighted net, and swung it in one hand nervously. The army that Tenoch had returned to was starting to approach. First the mass of warriors marched towards them menacingly, then they picked up the pace, and by the time Terra could see their faces they were running. It may not have been very energy efficient, running in heavy armor, but it certainly looked terrifying.

Terra swung the net around one more time and then launched it into the air. As she flung her own projectile, a cascade of various objects joined it, thrown by both sides. The members of Salvus hurled old bottles, stones and arrows, or magic spells, while the crack of gunfire echoed from the Militia's side. Several metal dragons in the front deflected most of the bullets with their magic and hard scales, but one or two people were hurt and fell, and a bullet narrowly whized past Terra's shoulder. Salvus' improvised projectiles fared a bit better, with the Militia not hidden behind a wall of protection. Very few were actually hurt, but Terra saw her net tangle three soldiers together, and several of the blasts of magic hit true, to various effect.

Then, though, the front lines of the Militia were nearly at the barricade, and Terra leapt down to meet them, her dragons and some of the braver folks joining her - mainly metal and dark dragons, who were far less easily killed. Her sword collided with that of a soldier's on the other side, and as their gazes met for a moment she called for Raphael's help. Her and the soldier exchanged two more blows before Raphael landed nearby with a mighty stomp, sending the earth in front of him out like an earthquake. Terra, expecting this, jumped out of the way. The soldier, and several others, did not, and they flew backwards.

The world blurred into a wild mess of sounds and colors. Empowered by the strength of her earth dragons and the vigor of her fire dragons, Terra fought as best as she could, helping to hold the line and prevent the opposing army from reaching and tearing down the barricade. When she lost her grip on her sword due to someone landing a hit on her wrist, she swung a fist at the person who had done it. It wasn't too long, however, before she grew tired from the conflict, and slipped up - taking an arrow in the back.

While trying to recover before she could get hit again, wingbeats appeared overhead, and Inferno lifted her up into the sky, spewing a torrent of fire as she retreated. She and Terra glided a small bit away from the conflict, where Inferno could attack with flames without much risk of taking a hit in return.

"You've gotta get me back down there, I've still got fight in me!" Terra protested as the two circled high above the battle.

"Not yet," Inferno replied. "You're my rider, and you're not dying today. We're taking care of that arrow first. Then? I'll help you carve a warpath through these meddling warriors."

Terra sighed, and resigned herself to agreement. This was going to be a long fight, and she'd need to take care of herself to endure till the end. The danger was only beginning.