Chapter 145
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Chapter 145: The Shadow on the Tower
By the riverbank watchtower, groups of soldiers were hiding behind stone walls or anything else that could be called cover. Just like Jesse who had just arrived from the woods to support them, the soldiers rushed towards one of the collapsed ruins.
On the other side, a knight-like officer in full body armor was directing the soldiers to quickly cross the slope and get closer to the cover.
Jesse also joined them, running while looking around, but he didn’t see the dragon.
It wasn’t hard to tell, because quickly he noticed that the soldiers from Lordaeron in the distance were all staring in one direction—towards the top of the watchtower.
When Jesse realized he could judge the dragon’s location from their gaze, he felt as if someone suddenly yanked his cloak by the back of his neck, causing him to stagger and almost fall backward to the ground.
As he lifted his head, he saw a dark shadow emerge from behind the battlements of the high watchtower.
Even with the sun shining on its back, he could see the monster’s yellow reptilian eyes glaring at him intensely. It had a huge serpent-like head that made Jesse feel a bit of a fear of giant creatures.
The overwhelming presence of the creature, far beyond normal sizes, made him, who had never seen a huge monster up close before, shudder in the fiery hot environment where flames were everywhere. "Quick, get out of here, mage!"
Jesse flipped over, using the force that had just pulled him, and slid out, crawling on hands and feet for a while. Then he felt a sudden push on his backside, sending him flying head over heels.
Before he could hit the ground, he was engulfed by a burst of flames, red and black fires rolled over his head, pushing him to tumble several times before coming to a stop.
He staggered to his feet, ran a few steps, and jumped behind a wall. Looking back, he saw a soldier in chainmail armor, engulfed in flames, running wildly towards a small river.
"Damn… damn… damn…"
Jesse gently patted the flames on his hair while muttering his native language tightly against the stone wall, his hand could feel the heat from the other side where the flames were roasting the wall.
It was only then that Jesse felt a sharp pain in his forearm, it turned out that when he fell earlier, his forearm wasn’t covered by the cloak.
The cloak had changed from dark brown to red, Jesse feared that this item might not be enough protection, his whole back might be in trouble.
"Use the Slow Spell to restrain his movements, mages!" shouted another Knight Captain on the other side, "Don’t let his flames scare you!"
Jesse didn’t see any mages around, he dared not even peek his head out now, the soldiers with bows next to him were also pressed against the wall without showing their heads.
They probably didn’t dare to go out either, Jesse reassured himself. But then, out of nowhere came a voice, "Archers, get ready!" The soldiers immediately rushed out of cover, drawing their arrows and stringing their bows.
The Lordaeron soldiers defending Southshore were undoubtedly veterans who had participated in the Orc War several years ago, and Hillsbrad Foothills was the most frequent battlefield where the Red Dragons were involved in wars across the entire continent.
The people here would never question whether the Orcs rode dragons into battle like the people of the Kingdom of Stormwind did because most of the locals had seen the Red Dragons swooping by overhead.
To them, the Black Dragon was just a darker version of the Red Dragon.
Jesse watched as his fellow villagers fearlessly aimed at the sky behind him, which gave him the courage to peek out.
This time, he saw the full appearance of the dragon.
The black dragon was covered in dark brown scales, using its sharp claws to move along the wall of the city, causing a rain of rubble and dust.
A pair of dark purple canvas-like huge wings flapped outwards, while the other pair wrapped around a watchtower along with its four legs, almost as big as a bus.
Its long and exaggerated tail was up in the sky, only the spindle-shaped tip with a few spikes would occasionally tremble, giving off a sense of intimidation.
Its raised head was aiming at a few fleeing soldiers by the riverbank, black smoke billowing between its scaly lips, saliva dripping down from its trembling mouth. It was clearly using the watchtower as a shield against the approaching soldiers.
Swish!
The soldiers released their arrows, one by one shooting past Jesse and screaming as they aimed high. Jesse didn’t even have time to see where the arrows landed, as the piercing sound of arcane energy approaching rapidly from behind.
He looked up, and Arcane Missiles were continuously swirling towards the black dragon. The dragon keenly sensed the threat behind, raised its wings in the direction of the incoming missiles, causing all the missiles to suddenly burst into arcane dust and disappear in mid-air.
The black dragon turned its head towards where the missiles were coming from, its belly swelling and turning red. Then it looked towards its throat. Jesse saw several mages using different strange teleportation spells to escape in different directions.
Wow!
A ball of black flames with red lava flying inside exploded upon hitting the ground. Jesse quickly covered himself with his cloak to shield from the heat. The force pushed him against the wall.
Compared to the blatant explosion, the red shadows left on the ground emitting a purple glow were more terrifying.
Jesse saw a mage near the explosion who couldn’t escape in time wailing in pain. His burnt pants revealed purple swollen skin, soon to decay under the damage of the dark shadow.
After fumbling in his bag, he tightly gripped the last bottle of Shadow Protection Potion and tucked it into his robe’s belt. Although he didn’t know if this potion could withstand the black dragon’s damage (which was impossible), it could at least protect him a little.
Without realizing it, Jesse, nestled under the watchtower, was now the closest person to the black dragon in the entire clearing.
He dared not show himself, knowing he would be the first to die if discovered.
Some of the archers who had been hiding with him were injured by the explosion and taken to the woods, while others moved to another low wall, waiting for a chance to attack again. The sound of arrows hitting stones and scales constantly came from above.
Suddenly, the black dragon roared loudly. Jesse turned his head and saw an arrow deeply stuck between the scales on the dragon’s belly, shot by a lucky archer.
Upon closer inspection, many arrows had already pierced the dragon’s skin, but due to its large size, they were not causing any fatal wounds, only slowing down its movements.
Where are those mages with the promised Slow Spell?
The black dragon, feeling the increasingly fierce attacks, winced in pain and moved its claws, climbing to the other side of the watchtower. Jesse had to duck and hide in the corner as the stones rained down.
Glancing up at the black dragon, Jesse noticed that its folded membrane had been severely torn, with a series of wounds extending to the ribs connecting the giant wings, injuries inflicted by the dreaded dwarf Gryphon Rider. Where did Greed go?
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