Chp.36: Rhaegal's sneak attack

Rhaegal stood on the deck of his ship, and he was tense as rarely in his life. His senses were at their peak, so much so that he could perceive the movement of individual drops of water in the river by smell alone. Not that his companions were much different, being very tense too. That was the day scheduled for the fight between Haku and Carrion, and by now they were only waiting for the green light to act in turn.

Of the two hundred and fifty soldiers he had brought with him, only about thirty remained with him. All the others had been regularly distributed to the various work camps scattered throughout what was now called the Province of Baudonia. The labor camps numbered about fifteen, but since they varied in size and oversight, Rhaegal had left different numbers of soldiers behind so they would be able to rise to the challenge and emerge victorious. His sisters had also scattered quite a lot: when he had left, Keita, Teramon, Serengal, Corgorin and Jatara had come with him, this because they were necessary to be able to hide all the soldiers during the inspections in the various ports. As their numbers dwindled, however, they had stayed behind to better manage operations and help the various groups of soldiers sneak up on their enemies. Therefore, one of them had landed every time they were near a large labor camp. In that order, first Jatara had gone, then Keita, then Teramon, and finally Corgorin; only Serengal remained with Rhaegal. Their adventurer friends had also spread widely over the land: Martha and Lisah had stopped near a work camp halfway, Carlos had stayed with Corgorin, Sarah had also stopped a little further on, and finally even Efren had. They would all reunite when the work was done, when the various boats traveling on the river would meet again.

Rhaegal rubbed his temples. He knew that the chances of something going wrong were minimal: after all, he had been preoccupied with thinking about every possible contingency, so there was nothing that could spoil the plan. Sure, as long as the king did as he was told and held the rest of the army back so they wouldn't pursue them.

It was quite another thought in her head at the moment. Rhaegal knew Haku would confront Carrion himself. Of all of them, he was the one who risked his life the most: in fact, their sisters were using avatars, while he and Darbi, even if something had gone wrong, could have easily escaped and hidden. But Haku would have come face to face with a legendary level. Even though Rhaegal fully trusted his brother's abilities, and knew he would never put his life in danger without the certainty that he could win, he couldn't help but be worried. He was beginning to regret having offered to free up the other labor camps: even though he knew that Haku considered him the goust person for that task, and that indeed he was, Rhaegal would never forgive himself if something happened to his brother and he didn't was there to help him. That thought alone was enough to make him grit his teeth.

Suddenly Serengal emerged from below decks. "It's time" she said. "Haku gave the ok. I've already warned the others too"

In each of their settlements, the dragons had left an avatar. In this way communications could take place instantaneously, and therefore being able to act in a coordinated manner. Therefore, Serengal had already warned all the various groups of soldiers that it was finally time to fight.

Rhaegal nodded. "Good. Then I'll precede you. Lead our soldiers to the designated point, I'll create the right opportunity"

"Rhaegal, that's not necessary" Serengal told him. "Please use an avatar. You don't have to risk your life unnecessarily"

"If my life is at risk, I will run" Rhaegal replied. "Don't try to dissuade me, we've already had this speech. I'm tired of hiding behind a puppet while the others take the field in person!" and having said that, he leaned over the balustrade and dived into the river, disappearing from sight.

Serengal closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Seriously, why do all the boys in our family love danger so much!?" she exclaimed while a very caricatured image of Rhaegal, Haku and Darbi appeared in her mind.

Rhaegal swam away, as if he were a fish. Even if dragons weren't exactly made for swimming, being creatures of the skies, they were still very hydrodynamic and thanks to their powerful muscles they could counteract the thrust of the current. Rhaegal moved along the riverbed, occasionally surfacing to breathe; to orient himself, since his eyesight didn't work very well underwater, he made rapid 'clicks' with his tongue and his keen ears picked up when the sound bounced off a rock or some other obstacle. His target was just ahead.

The labor camp consisted of a bridge which was slowly being built and which would connect one bank of the river to the other. The captive beastmen were forced to work in very hazardous conditions, as the water was very murky and falling could mean being dragged to the bottom by a whirlpool. Since the newcomers weren't as strong as the dragons, they risked being killed by drowning. But this obviously wasn't a problem for the guards, who were either on the ground or in the part of the ponfe that was already stable, where they ran no risk. It was those who were already on the bridge who noticed something strange. "Hey, Fern, look! The fish look crazy!"

One of the guards called to another and pointed to the water, and even the other had to admit that the sight was rather strange. Dozens if not hundreds of fish of all shapes and sizes were swimming as fast as possible upstream, as if they had seen something monstrous on the other side. What was really strange, however, was that some of those fish, like trout and pike, would normally have attacked each other, but now they were swimming almost together as if they wanted to use each other's wake to move more quickly. Even the few water birds present, such as a group of ducks, began to squawk suddenly and took flight away from the water. "There must be something scaring them" the guard named Fern murmured. "Maybe a crocodile, or a torpedo fish..."

Suddenly the surface of the water exploded and something leapt out at breakneck speed, grabbing Fern in its jaws and ripping off half of his body, killing him instantly. The other guard let out a scream, as did all the prisoners nearby, but the creature pounced on him before he could react and devoured him, then it threw itself back into the river.

The other guards who were on the bridge turned pale with terror and ran off, and surely the captive beastmen would have followed if they hadn't been restrained by the collars of submission around their necks. The guards who were on the mainland, after hearing that scream and seeing their comrades arrive so out of breath, began to get seriously worried. "What happens?" the foreman asked.

"In the water... there's something in the water!" one of them exclaimed, and as if to confirm his words a spine covered with thorns suddenly emerged from the river, and it sank immediately afterwards.

The foreman gulped. He couldn't tell the animal's actual size from that sight alone, but it was clear that it was very large. It certainly measured more than five meters. Maybe even seven. "There shouldn't be any large aquatic creatures here. What is that thing?"

Large aquatic animals could be found in the sea or in lakes, where there was an abundance of food. Finding one in a river was rare, unless that creature migrated. Seeing that no one knew how to answer him, the foreman shook his head. "Forget it. Take your bows and crossbows and stand on the shore!"

The creature was clearly too large to be satiated with just two victims. Also, if it had the audacity to attack a place with that many people, then that meant it must be really hungry. In fact, even the most violent predators tended to avoid heavily inhabited areas, so that animal wouldn't have attacked the labor camp if it hadn't been truly desperate. Which almost certainly meant it would attack again until it was full. The best strategy to kill it was to place archers along the shore and strike the beast as soon as it dared to leave the water.

The guards waited, carefully scanning the surface of the river; an animal that large would surely cast a shadow as it approached, allowing them to strike it before it struck them. Or at least, that was what they thought. Suddenly the beast emerged again, appearing almost out of nowhere, and grabbed three guards with its claws and mouth and dragged them under the water to choke to death... assuming they hadn't already died of their wounds, since the beast had aimed at the necks of its victims.

The foreman blanched. Not so much from the deaths of three of his men, but from the fact that none of them had seen the animal coming. "Be more careful!" he ordered. "Check the water well! It can't sneak in!"

But he was wrong. For the second time the creature emerged and retreated before anyone could react, carrying off four more men. The scene repeated itself twice more, and each time the guards became more and more panicked. The foreman now looked like a corpse since his face was pale. 'He must have some camouflage mechanism... there's no other explanation!' he think. 'If I can't see it... yes! Even though it's invisible, the water definitely must be move around it! If I look at where it ripples...'

With this plan in mind the foreman watched the river looking for where the water was moving, and was soon able to notice that there were some ripples forming near a moving spot. "It's there!" he exclaimed. "Everyone, strike at that..."

He couldn't finish the sentence; suddenly someone leapt at him from behind and twisted his head 180 degrees, snapping his neck neatly. The man fell to the ground dead with a thud. The guards whirled around to see that a woman with a somewhat frowning expression had appeared behind their foreman. "Who are you...?"

A shower of arrows suddenly fell upon the men, who had been too distracted to notice the impending danger. Since they were all gathered in the same spot, more than half of the guards died before the rest could fortify their bodies with mana to prevent arrows from killing them. Then, with a roar, several armed beastmen appeared from the nearby woods and charged at the survivors. The guards tried to draw their bows to strike them, but the water behind them exploded and Rhaegal emerged, fully this time, leaping right between them and starting to slay them one by one. Someone tried to hit him with arrows, but Serengal got in the way each time using his avatar as a shield for his brother and killing the poor unfortunates. Soon, the guards were in complete chaos, and when the beastmen caught up with them they were unable to put up any resistance.

The battle was quick and very simple. After all, if there was one rule that applied to all warfare, it was that a disorganized army, however large, was always bound to lose. Rhaegal and the arrows had already halved the number of enemies and Serengal had killed the foreman, and finally the remaining guards had panicked at the situation. In that context it was impossible for them to create a real defense. Within three minutes, the battle was over and all the humans in the camp were dead on the ground.

"Look out for any survivors! Remember, not a single one is missing!" Rhaegal said, and the beastmen scattered. Then he looked at Serengal: "I collect the corpses. You go to the prisoners, free them and explain the situation to them. I doubt they would be calm if I were the one to do it"

"If you had used an avatar you could have done it. And I would have also avoided having to act as a shield for you" his sister answered in a clear reproachful tone. Rhaegal said nothing to avoid arguing, as now wasn't exactly the right time, and he got to work.

Within an hour the group had cleared the entire camp, leaving no trace of their passage, had carried the prisoners to the ship, and then set sail. In that time normally someone would have arrived to check the situation from the nearby city, resulting in an attack by the rest of the army stationed there, but this didn't happen. It seemed that, at least for the moment, the king was respecting Haku's will.

Once they had set sail, Rhaegal waited, occasionally logging on to various avatars scattered throughout the land to hear news of how the plan was progressing. Serengal also did the same. Apparently, all was going well: both Rhaegal and Serengal received only good news from their sisters and allies, confirming that they too had successfully liberated the labor camps. In a short time, it was clear that the plan had worked perfectly and that all the camps had been liberated. But Rhaegal was still not calm until, after almost another hour, Serengal communicated to him: "The battle is won! Tikka confirmed to me that Haku defeated Carrion and his army! And he's fine!"

Rhaegal breathed a sigh of relief; for the first time since the beginning of that day he smiled, and collapsed on the deck of the ship satisfied. It seemed that everything had gone well. He could finally rest for a moment.