Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Dragonfall War ❯ The War Begins ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Darkness fills the abbey of the Order of the Dragon Knights. Along the walls
masterpiece paintings and tapestries line every nook. Each one depicting a knight locked in
battle against the spawn of Tiamat, the goddess of evil dragonkind. As one approaches the doors
at the end of the great hall the murals and tapestries now become bordered with gold. These
images depict the highest of the order's members, the Dragonborn of Bahamut. Bahamut, King
of the good dragons, Tiamat's brother and her sworn enemy.
Soft footsteps echo through the air as a man in expertly crafted full plate armor
approaches the gilded doors at the end of the hall. The entryway to the abbey's chapel. Shoving
the doors open, the man enters the chapel and approaches the altar. A lone figure kneels before
the altar. Above which is a large statue of Bahamut, crafted from pure platinum he is posed in a
benevolent posture shining his love down upon the good aligned dragons. The man in armor
approaches the kneeling figure and stops a few steps away.
The kneeling figure stirs and speaks, "Yes Grand Master?"
Bellamin Carter, Grand Master of the order addressed his subordinate. "Your time has
come Kothar, you have trained hard these last two centuries and now your time has come."
Kothar stood and extended to his full height of eight feet two inches, towering over his
master. "What would you have me do master?"
"War has broken out on the mainland. Though we Dragon Knights have fought for
millennia to keep the Dragonfall War secret, it seems that Tiamat's minions are taking a bolder
approach. They seem to have incited a massive horde led by the orcs to attack the land. It seems
we Dragon Knights must play a more direct role in the fight. The humans have formed an
alliance with the elves, dwarves, gnomes and halflings. They have already assembled an army
and are sending it out to meet the main horde force. You are to rendezvous with the Army of the
Alliance and lend them all aid you can."
Kothar bowed deeply, "By your command, master."
"Remember your training, Kothar. They might be put off by your appearance, but I'm
sure they'll quickly realize what a powerful ally a half-dragon will be."
"Thank you master, I will take my leave now."
"Good luck Kothar, Bahamut be with you."
Three days later on the fields of the Tirisfal Glades, the drums of war sounded. The
Alliance Army stood it's ground as the Orcish Horde charged. With sharp barks from the
officers the dwarven pikemen raised their pikes and locked their shields. Without any hesitation
or fear the orcs charged. As the goblins and elves traded arrow volleys the orcs bashed
themselves against the raised spear tips. As the momentum of the orcs' charge faltered the dwarf
ranks broke formation and human footmen charged with swords drawn. A fierce melee ensued
as human and orc speared each other with tempered steel. Orc battleaxe cracked against human
shield, dwarf spears impaled orc bellies and human skulls were caved in by orc strength. All the
while the shafts of goblin and elf arrows continued to fall from the sky.
In one particular section of the field was a unit comprised of freelance adventurers who
had decided to join in the fighting without actually joining the army. A fierce dwarf warrior and
half-orc barbarian, hacked their way into the orcish ranks with greataxes, behind them, a young
gnome bard supported them with shortbow. A short distance away an elf druid and human
ranger sniped with their longbows. A small halfling rouge used his crossbow to deadly effect

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while a young half-elf monk moved through the orcs' ranks like a leaf upon a river. An orc
moved up behind him seeking to attack from behind, suddenly the orc burst into flame and fell to
the ground writhing in agony. The half-elf turned and saw an immaculately dressed spellscale
sorcerer weaving arcane enchantments through the air. The two gave each other a brief nod of
acknowledgment and resumed the battle. Meanwhile a young elf cleric in the service of the
moon goddess Selune stumbled across the battlefield helping what wounded she could.
She was innocent to the ways of war, having lived a very sheltered life until hostilities
had broken out. Now she trudged her way across the battlefield determined to ease the suffering
of the wounded. She tripped over a fallen soldier's corpse and fell to her knees, narrowly
missing an orc battleaxe that swung past centimeters above her head. Scrambling back for some
support she held up her buckler arm to try and ward off the next blow. The massive orc raised
his axe up above his head; the young elf girl shut her eyes and prepared to meet her goddess.
The axe didn't fall; instead she heard a powerful whooshing noise followed by a wet
squelching noise. She opened her eyes and looked up, the orc had been impaled with a massive
spear, far bigger than any alliance soldier used. The battle seemed to slow down, combatants on
both sides stopped fighting and began to look up and point into the sky. The cleric turned her
head to see what it was they were pointing at. A strange winged creature was descending from
above; he landed in front of the cleric, between her and the main orc force. The cleric gulped
and looked up at this towering behemoth. Easily eight feet tall, the newcomer rippled with
muscle and wore a strange symbol over his armor. He threw back his cape clearing his arms,
and withdrew a massive sword from a back sheath. The cleric noticed that the sword was even
longer than the stranger was tall. The stranger brought the tip of his sword to the ground and
drew a line in the dirt. The orcs began to realize what the stranger intended and began chanting
loud war cries. Soon, the largest orc in the unit stomped forward. The orcs let out a fierce
"WAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!' Many of the alliance soldiers cringed at their bestial war
cry. The stranger however, appeared unnerved. Tilting his head back, the stranger let out a roar
so loud and fierce that even the orcs were cowed into silence. Drawing the blade into a ready
position, the stranger charged the orc champion. The orc barely had time to draw his axe into a
guard position and meet the attack. The two blades meet in a loud clang with such force the orc
was driven back. The stranger struck again and again never relenting; the orc barely had time to
block each blow. The on the return swing the stranger twisted his sword and came from the side.
The orc's hands were sliced from his body. The orc champion fell to his knees, staring in
disbelief at the bloody stumps on his wrists. The stranger raised his fullblade and decapitated the
orc. As the orc's head rolled back toward his comrades, they stared and fidgeted, unwilling to be
the next to face this new warrior.
Suddenly a bellow roared from the east, both armies turned as a unit of alliance heavy
cavalry charged from the underbrush and stormed through the ranks of the orcish forces. The
new warrior raised his sword towards the enemy and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Forward
my brothers and sisters, the enemy is ours for the taking!"
The alliance soldiers surged forward, following the warrior. The cleric got shakily to her
feet and caught her breath. She was very confused as to the identity of this newcomer. His
strength was inhuman and his courage remarkable. She would have to find out who this new
warrior was.
The battle was over in three hours, some time after that a meeting was called between the
freelancer unit and the general staff. The cleric took her seat and chatted with several of her
comrades while waiting for the meeting to begin.

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"ATTENTION ON DECK!" shouted a corporal. The entire company stood to attention
as a high-ranking officer entered the room.
"At ease." Said the general. "As many of you are aware, today an individual of unknown
origins assisted us today in the battle. This individual has been sent here to aid us in our fight
against the orcs. Here he is." A very tall and muscular individual entered and stood at attention
next to the general. There was a collective gasp from the assembled troops. In the battle, his
helmet had concealed the warrior's face, now his face was revealed. Light gray scales covered
his entire face, as bony frills extended from his skull. A thick mane of raven-black hair
descended down his back. His nose extended several inches in front of his face and his mouth
was lined with razor sharp teeth. His eyes were molten gold and he had slitted pupils like those
of a cat. His hands ended in wicked looking claws and a powerful muscular tail extended from
between the bat-like wings extending from his back. A deep blue star, embroidered on a field of
a starry night sky was emblazoned dead center over his chain shirt. There was no doubt in
anyone's mind. This man was the son of a dragon.
"This is Kothar Arytiss. Knight of the Order of the Dragon. He will be joining this unit,
as it's new sergeant major. Any questions?"
The dwarf warrior raised his hand. "Does this mean yah'll be sendin' us back inta action
saer?"
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Kothar here will be leading a small group of soldiers on
special assignments. We will take nine volunteers and reorganize the others into a new freelance
unit. Now before you ask, this special unit will be given our most difficult missions. Casualties
are likely to be extremely high as you will be in the most dangerous of situations. Now, who
volunteers?"
A young male human in studded leather armor stood up, tall with medium brown hair and
brown eyes he said, "I am Rowen, Ranger of the woodlands at your service."
A male halfling in leather armor leaped onto the back of his chair, thin with short
cropped black hair and brown eyes, he gloated "It looks like you'll need a master of the subtle
arts, I'm Merido Shimmert."
A male spellscale, glistening in his well-made robe with purple hair and eyes said, "As an
arcanist I believe I will be invaluable to this group. I am Iejir Vorastrix."
A female elf with hide armor, very pale skin, dark eyes and long silvery hair spoke "The
powers of nature shall be at your disposal. I am called Lia Amastacia, and this" she said
indicating the wolf at her feet, "is my companion Luna."
A savage looking half-orc wearing a chain shirt, with light green skin and barely
restrained rage evident in his red eyes said "I am Keth, I shall gladly slay these honor less beasts
for you."
A dwarf with a long red beard and piercing blue eyes stood. He was shorter than most
present but his sheer bulk made up for that, "I am Oskar Balderk of the Ironforge clan, I'll gladly
split some skulls fer ye."
Almost immediately a gnome with blonde hair and brown eyes sitting next to him stood
"I'm Dimble Beren and wherever Oskar goes I follow. Someone's got to spread the tale of his
heroic death." Oskar gave him a death glare as he set back down.
Finally a young half-elf stood from a meditative position "I am known as Nightwind, and
it shall be my honor to serve in this capacity."
The general looked around the room. "We need one more volunteer."

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The young elf cleric was feeling very conflicted right now. On one hand, her father the
king of Quel'Thalas gave her strict instructions when she left not to place herself in danger. The
battle today had been in complete disregard of that but she had had to help reduce the suffering
of the soldiers. On the other hand, this new special forces unit was going to be seeing a lot of
action, and if the general was right, most of it would be very bloody. Before she started hearing
her father's sharp disapproving voice again in her thoughts she stood. Everyone turned and
looked at her. She felt slightly humiliated but spoke up. "I am Galia Alodel a cleric of Selune,
and I would be glad to offer my healing powers."
"Well that settles the matter then." said the general. "We will reconvene here at 0600
tomorrow to discuss your first mission. Until then, you are dismissed."
As Galia stood she saw the giant known as Kothar stepping down from the stage and
heading for the main tent flap. "Um, excuse me sir?"
"Sergeant Major." he stated flatly.
"I'm sorry?" she said suddenly taken aback.
"I am not a commissioned officer in this army. Therefore if you wish to address me by
rank it is Sergeant Major. However you may also address me as Sir Kothar or Commander."
"Um, can I simply call you Kothar?"
He stared at her for a moment, "No, not yet. To address me that familiarly would require
us to serve together for a period of time and become true comrades in arms."
"Oh." said Galia as she started to fidget.
"Now what did want to ask me?" asked Kothar.
""Oh!" squeaked Galia as she snapped out of her funk. "That's right, I wanted to ask you
if I could get to know you better, now that your our commander." she asked, evidently hopeful.
"Actually I was planning on asking the unit to come to the tavern tent with me, so that we
might get to know all of each other better."
"Oh?"
"Yes, I will meet you there at 1800 hours. Would you see that the rest of the unit is
notified?"
"Yes Sergeant Major." Galia said saluting.
"You also don't salute me."
"Oh, oops." Galia stammered as she yanked her back down.
"Carry on Galia." Kothar said.
"Yes Commander." Galia said as she walked away, Wow, he certainly has a powerful
aura about him.
Kothar chuckled to himself at the naivete of the little elf girl and turned away. There was work
to do before tomorrow.

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