Empires of Ashes Reboot

Mordred rides beside Trajan, atop his Voldamian warhorse, wearing his usual armour*

Spoiler:

The immortals advance in loose column, three foot spacing between, in ranks of three. The horses led in a train behind, carrying equipment in saddlebags.

Suddenly, there is some sort of explosion at the base of one of the rock formations, one with a very narrow base, causing the large rock to fall, and come crashing towards the immortals at the front of the column

*Mordred immediately turns toward the sound, drawing his sword withot hesitation*

the men beneath scatter back or forwards, depending. Those in front numbering twenty or so. Including Hakon and Ket, and the first T'Sebi.

a few seconds later, another rock, near the back of the immortals, does the exact same

Spears are leveled, and shields raised. Commands yelled in lighting fast kelthrovi tongue. Diana, in the center of the formation, orders her T'sebi into two lines, facing each direction, with shields and spears raised.

A few moments later, dozens, maybe hundreds of men start to emerge, having lain hidden in the sand through unknown means. They wear hoplite style Linothorax, with helmets ornately shaped to resembled a dragon's face. Many of them have large, square shields, along with long spears, while others wield swords, axes, maces, and other weapons. A few however, have some kind of long two handed tube. with the visage of a dragon's head at the end. it doesn't take long to see why, as these weapons are activated, spewing gouts of fire into the immortals' formation

*Mordred spurs his horse forwards and rides toward his own men, intending to rally his cavalry and charge the enemy*

Without a word of command. The immortals charge. In deathly silence they sprint, three lines of men, shields held front, and spears back and ready. Where the gouts of flame wash over, men and women ignite, wreathed in fire. They do not fall. They do not scream. They only keep running.

the men with the shields have already formed up, creating a wall of shields to meet the charging immortals on both sides. Meanwhile, those with the fire weapons continue to launch gouts into the mass of immortals

The first of the immortals falls before they meet the shieldwall. One of those hit with the flame weapons. He stumbles, and collapses into the sand, a smoldering corpse. As the immortals hit the shieldwall, those who are already aflame, throw themselves into it with abandon, more than a few charging straight into the weapons which doomed them.

Once the armies clash, several men in the back lines, at some unseen commands, throw some kind of clay pots into the now compacted immortal ranks. They shatter, harmlessly, upon impact, but spread some kind of powdery substance over the immortals. A very, very strong smelling one.

The immortals begin to grind through the shieldwall. Those immortals who are aflame have already begun to push through, towards the esoteric fire weapons.

suddenly, the ground shudders. And then again. And again, and again, getting faster and faster.

It doesn’t take long for his cavalry to form up, 500 men strong and armed with lances noe organised into groups of 100 they prepare to charge into the attackers flanks. The men themselves are wary, with the ground shaking they almost refuse to follow their leader, fearing what it may be.

The immortals break the line, in several places. In the center of it all, Hakon leads the first breach with his T'sebi. Already, one of their number has fallen to the flames.

then, drowning out the sounds of battle, a peircing, bestial roar, enough to put fear into the spine of even hakon, thunders across the battlefield like a thunderbolt, loud enough to stun several weaker men

Hakon roars a command, a word. One that even the dracians will know. "diragoni" Dragon.

moments later, the dragon strikes. It is particurlarly large for a lesser dragon, taller even than a behemoth, thundering into the battle, smashing through the lines of the attackers, and into the midst of the immortals, trailing sand from its back as if to indicate it had been slumbering beneath a dune. A great many immortals, along with those in its way from the attacking army, are crushed dead underfoot as it smashes through. Around this time, on the other side, Soldiers bearing the colours of the IV legion's 1st cohort charge into the flank of the attacking army

Hakon hurls his spear at the beast. Beating his shield with his blade to draw its attention, as his T'sebi move around its sides.

The command is echo’d through the Cymraic cavalry as they begin their charge “THRAIG!” Some men stop their charge, fearing the dragon whilst others simply hope for the best

his spear fails to penetrate, the dragon not even noticing him as it unleashes a torrent of fire into some of the immortals, so hot their armour melts

They fall where they stand. the flesh seared from their bones, blackened and mangled steel, cooling in the sand.

Hakon and his T'sebi attempt to close with the beast, and climb it. Knowing that only its eyes and mouth are vulnerable.

the creature, realising they are there, swats at them with its tail, hard enough to send them crashing back to the floor.

From the right Mordred’s cavalry slam into the attackers, sending men gurtling back into their comrades and collapsing a large portion of the enemy formation

Hakon clings on, his blade dug beneath a scale. With a yelled command, the immortals fall back away from the beast, focusing on mopping up the human warriors, or spreading out so as to minimize casualties to flame.

realising hakon is still there, the dragon reaches up, and grabs him in one of its clawed hands, throwing him aside with some force

Hakon lets go of his blade as he is roughly thrown, driving a furrow into the sand where he hits.

The dragon, ignoring him, turns back to the mass of immortals, its claws making mincemeat of their armour, gutting them with ease. Meanwhile, searching for Diana, Justin has hewed his way through dozens of the attackers, his eyes full of rage.

When justinian finds diana, he finds her lifting one of their attackers from his feet upon her spear, surrounded by her T'sebi.

Justinian is...quite frankly covered in blood at this point, although he is not even a little out of breath.
Meanwhile, the dragon returns its attention to Hakon. With a swipe of its tail, it knocks him down again. Before he can stand, it is about to bring its foot down upon him to kill him... at which point a giant of a figure, with inhuman speed, gets in the way, grabbing its clawed hand, and digging in its heels...and somehow, it is able to stop the blow, despite the sheer size and strength. It only takes a couple of moments for Hakon to recognise the figure. LI.

Hakon is on his feet and out of the way in moments. Not nearly as quick as LI, but the same goes in comparing a lion to a cheetah. A long dagger is drawn, and hakon shouts over his shoulder as he runs for the dragon's back legs. "KILL THE THING"

Hakon is soon smacked to the floor again by its tail. this is becoming rather recurring. LI meanwhile, putting her back into it, manages to shove the clawed hand of the creature back, causing it to stumble for a moment. angered, it turns to her, roaring loudly.

Hakon is up again within moments. Going for the thing's back feet again.

the creature moves, rotating so as to move its back legs away from hakon, and lunges forwards at LI, intending to bite at her. Just before it would reach her, she delivers a two handed punch to the side of the creature's head. The impact is so great it drives the dragon's attack off target, and sends its head crashing into the sand with a loud thud. It gets back to its feet, clearly in pain after that, and very angry.

Hakon continues to charge after its back legs, ramming the thin triangular bladed dagger under the dragon's scales on its back legs.

it still doesn't even notice him, as it starts to circle LI, who in turn starts to circle it, both waiting for the other to strike

*With the creature focussing on LI, Mordred watches, waiting with his lance in hand ready to drive it into the beast. All around him his men cut down the disorganised enemy. His horse now tapping the ground impatiently, waiting for the signal to charge*

With the lack of reaction hakon begins to, again, climb the beast's back.

Dragon: *in fluent kelthrovi* CEASE YOUR IRRITATION, INSECT. *it swats hakon off again with its tail* THIS ONE HAS CAUGHT MY INTEREST.

Hakon, with his dagger firmly dug into its scales, roars back in Thengul. "FARÐU RÍÐA SJÁLFUR" Any nearby speaker, would know this roughly translates to "Go fuck yourself."

his daggar is still firmly dug in... but he's been thrown on his ass to the floor. that tail's fucking strong.
the dragon continues circling, the movement of its legs too great and fast to attempt to climb now.
Finally, a grin on its face, it opens its mouth, a glowing flame beginning to build within.

Hakon takes a spear from one of his dead comrades, and hurls it at the beast's head. "HÉRNA ÞÚ POKI POTTINN!"

the dragon smacks him with its tail, causing him to end up face first in the sand. Before the creature can unleash a gout of flame, LI, having undone the strap on her blade-shield, throws it, straight into the dragon's mouth. The stabbing blade at the front embeds itself in the roof of the dragon's mouth, digging in painfully. The dragon stumbles, roaring in pain at this ad LI charges towards it

Again, Hakon is up again, Determined to make a nuisance of himself, he takes another spear, and runs over to its hind legs.

he gets pounded into the sand again a few seconds later, this time by accident as its tail flails somewhat.

LI, upon getting close enough, leaps, managing to land on the dragon's head, grabbing on tight to its horns for grip.

This time, however, hakon was ready. he rolls under the tail, and thrusts the spear to where he damn well hopes is a soft spot.

the tail comes back and hits him from behind before he can thrust.

LI meanwhile, lowers herself. she grabs a hold of the front of the dragon's with both hands, and puts both feet on the inside of its lower jaw, proceeding to force the jaw open, further and further, until it is as far open as she can force it with her arms straight above her head and her legs fully straightened. it is clearly a strain on her however, as her muscles are trembling from the effort. Slowly, keeping herself as stretched as she is, she makes her way further into its mouth, forcing the mouth further and further open as she goes, until she really starts to struggle... but at the same time the dragon's jaw begins to creak, as the creature howls angrily

In an incredibly quick movement, hakon turns the spear, and braces it inside his foot, dug into the sand. So the point opposes the tail's strike. Using the beast's strength against it, the point is thrust between its scales, and into the flesh below.