Devyn heard the beat of wings before she laid eyes on the dragons making the noise. She narrowed her eyes at the horizon; the dim glow of the rising sun allowed for the beasts to be perfectly silhouetted against the brightening sky. While the sight might have been seen as beautiful, Devyn didn't have the time to do any sightseeing right now. Chancellor Kemble was relying on her. And not for much longer if I don't do this right, she reminded herself darkly.

Her gaze darted briefly to where the two moons were beginning to set. The moon to the left, Manaf, was turning from a new moon into a thin crescent; Manaf never got larger than a thin gibbous because of its angle in the sky. That was why it was referred to by a name that meant 'small.' Marr, on the other hand, which hung to the right of the smaller moon, went through all phases. Right now it was a waning gibbous that seemed to be shrinking timidly away from its small friend on the left.

"Alright, you bloody cowards!" Devyn shouted, finally turning to face the fleet arranged behind her. They stood beside their mounts, their dragons puffing small clouds of grey smoke into the cool dawn air. "The Ledian warriors are headed our way, so we need to get a move on! Mount up!" Her voice, deep and resounding, split through the quiet side conversations. As one, the soldiers climbed onto the backs of their dragons. Only a dozen remained on their feet, inexperienced newbies who couldn't yet be trusted with a mount. Devyn's brown-eyed gaze drifted over the fleet before she nodded her approval and turned to face her own dragon.

Twyl's deep mahogany scales reflected the dim light of the rising sun, his piercing taupe eyes examining the field before them with a sort of smoldering rage that Devyn had never seen anywhere else. His lips raised up in a snarl, making his square snout suddenly sharp. Devyn raised a hand to stroke the dragon's neck. He tilted his head to eye her curiously, before he bent at the knees to allow her to climb onto his back. The dragon's whip-thin spikes, the color of a starless sky, bristled as he straightened to his full height. Devyn carefully positioned herself in a spot where she wasn't likely to get impaled and stole a glance at the sky ahead of them. It was quickly brightening as the sun stretched higher and higher. The silhouettes of enemy riders had grown larger; they could not waste any time in getting into the air if they wanted to avoid being trapped on the ground.

"Dregians, fly!" Devyn snapped in as loud and commanding of a voice as she could manage. The wind whipped her face in a rush as her soldiers took to the sky, passing above her in a torrent of air as they launched into the sky. A hint of a smile tugged at Devyn's lips as she watched them fly on. Her soldiers, besides the newest recruits, were all well experienced in the ways of battle. She could only hope they could successfully defeat the Ledian soldiers this time around.

Devyn waited until the dragon riders had begun their ascent — and the soldiers on foot had took off across the field in a brisk jog — before giving a sharp whistle. Twyl gave a low growl before launching himself into the air. The captain could feel his muscles churning as they climbed, gaining altitude in a surprisingly short amount of time. She held tightly to his neck spikes, her legs pressing to his sides to keep herself from falling. Years of experience had built up her muscles; she no longer needed a saddle when riding like the less experienced soldiers did.

The air was chill and only got colder as they reached higher altitudes, until the pair finally leveled out and hovered slightly above Devyn's fleet of soldiers. From this position, the captain could easily see the goings-on of the battle without having to engage on her own until necessary. Devyn clenched her hands into fists to keep the tips of her fingers from going numb with the cold. Her crimson jacket, while perfect for being worn over her armor and shoulder pads, didn't do much to keep away the chill. She should have worn thicker gloves.

The Ledian soldiers had finally arrived at the edge of the field, their dragons slowing to hover in midair a good distance from the Dregian troops. Devyn heard the beat of wings begin to synchronize as the dragons subconsciously took up a similar rhythm. For a moment it matched the beating of her own heart, before Devyn's adrenaline began to dissipate. Neither side made any move to attack the other. As the chill of the air crept into Devyn's bones, the captain began to grow tired of waiting. Just attack already! She wanted to scream at the opposing soldiers. But to initiate the battle was to claim responsibility for it, and neither side was quite willing to own up to that just yet.

Devyn's shoulders slouched as her body began to relax, and she lowered her gaze for a moment to check on the soldiers on foot. Immediately she had to blink; surely her eyes had deceived her... While a considerable amount of Ledian soldiers were on the backs of dragons in the air in front of them, even more were on the ground, greatly outnumbering the Dregian foot soldiers.

"It's going to be a massacre," Devyn murmured to herself. One of Twyl's ears twitched in her direction to listen to her. "New plan, Twylie. We're going to join them on the ground. Our soldiers aren't going to stand a chance." The dragon understood the meaning of his rider's words, turning around to spiral back down to the ground behind the other soldiers on foot. A couple of them eyed her curiously; they hadn't expected her to fight with them and not in the air.

A blast of flame from somewhere above made Devyn flinch in alarm as she hurried to identify where the fire had come from. A war cry split through the air, and Devyn understood the source of the flame: the Ledian side. The war had finally begun.

It took a minute for the soldiers on the ground to understand what was going on, but they finally burst forwards with an asynchronous cacophony of shouts. The Dregian soldiers cheered, chanting a mantra they had come up with on the spot, and rushed forward to meet them. As the first sound of clashing steel hit Devyn's ears, the captain hopped down from Twyl's back and unsheathed her sword. Her hand gripping the mahogany hilt, she pulled the blade from its leather scabbard just in time to parry a strike from an opposing soldier. She let out a grunt, and with a twist of her wrist, successfully unarmed the warrior. A quick jab finished him off, and then Devyn dashed forward into the fray.

Devyn always forgot how overwhelming the midst of a battle was. The singing of swords and the cry of wounded soldiers rang in her ears, a cacophony of sound that made her wince as she leapt into the fray. In a moment she felt split off from the outside world entirely, her only focus the weapon in her hands and the enemy in front of her.

She had just finished off a soldier with a jab to the gut when she heard someone's voice ring out above the din.

"Captain!"

Devyn's eyes fluttered over the battlefield. Is someone calling for me? Do they need backup? Her heart picked up its pace as she searched for whoever had made the cry. However, she did not notice any of her soldiers in need of her. Her eyebrows creased, before she turned her attention to the other side of the battlefield and noticed a young Ledian woman her own age rushing to tend to a group of soldiers. Surely that isn't Ledah's captain... Is it?

Devyn dodged the strike of a sword, swiping past enemy soldiers as she hastily spun her way across the field. If that's Ledah's captain, I have to try and take her down. That would promise Dreg a victory for sure. She shoved a wounded enemy warrior out of her way and charged through an opening, sword at the ready as she ran towards the blonde captain.

A silver-edged blade immediately blocked the way, parrying her thrust and giving an even swing. Devyn's shoulder was wrenched backwards and she gritted her teeth, stepping back to regain her footing and adjust her grip on her sword.

"So you're the renowned Ledian captain?" Devyn purred coldly, leaping in again to strike. The enemy captain's facial features creased as she hurried to block her blade. "You don't seem to amount to much."

"You must be Devil. Or is it Devyn? I can't quite make myself remember," the other young woman snapped in response, her voice soft but commanding at the same time.

"It's Devyn," she corrected, before realizing it was useless; the opposing captain knew exactly who she was. She was just playing mind games, trying to mess up Devyn's train of thought so she was too distracted to plan a real attack. Devyn took a cautious step to the side, assessing the scene.

"Hm. Alright, then. It's nice to meet you." The blonde woman deadpanned as she took a small hop forwards, though she didn't bother to swing her sword. Devyn examined the blade for a moment; it was thinner than her own, a weapon made for fencing. Her own, slightly shorter and thicker, was better for jabbing and weighty attacks. She tightened her grip on the pommel of her sword, aiming to slice at her enemy's ankles. The blonde simply spun back, raising her own weapon. And with that, they danced.

Devyn was the first to land a hit, striking her enemy's thigh with the broad side of her blade. The blonde let out a low grunt at the contact, rotating to shove her shoulder into Devyn's. The momentum sent her stumbling back for a moment before she righted herself and swung for the captain's neck. She ducked and parried the attack with a stroke above her head, resulting in a singing clash of metal. Devyn grimaced and slid her blade along her enemy's, the sound grating and harsh in her ears. As the point of her sword neared the blonde captain's head, she adjusted her blade to aim for Devyn, forcing her enemy's sword to point downwards. Devyn let out an annoyed groan and sidestepped the attack. After a bit more dodging and ducking, the fight transitioned to a wrestling of swords, the blades skating off of each other as the captains rushed to block the other's attacks.

"What's your name, anyway?" Devyn snapped through a huff of breath, jabbing her blade towards her enemy's chest.

The blonde woman brought up her own sword to parry the attack. "Aneira," she replied, her grey eyes hesitant for a moment. She must not have expected me to ask, Devyn thought to herself. Sadly, the surprise in her enemy's eyes wasn't enough to throw off her aim, and Devyn grunted as the captain's blade swung to hit her in the stomach.

She doubled over, wincing, as the blade retreated. Aneira's sword hadn't cut through her armor, but it had left a small dent right in the center. From the aching in her abdomen, Devyn guessed that she had just gotten a wicked bruise. She gritted her teeth. It doesn't matter now. I'll have to repair my armor later. She raised her head, bringing up her sword just in time to block another attack.

"Did you really think it would be that easy to take me down?" Devyn crowed as their blades clashed again. She spun to the side, lowering her blade to swipe across Aneira's waist, but her blade was once more intercepted.

A ghostly smile jumped onto the blonde woman's lips. "No. But I also didn't expect you to be so easily distracted, Captain." She swung out again, the tip of her blade nicking Devyn's side before she could dodge it. She sucked in a sharp breath, barely parrying Aneira's next strike. As the blonde took a step back to figure out another attack, Devyn moved her left hand to gingerly touch her side. It came away dripping red. Of course. She's actually managed to draw blood. Devyn blocked another advance from Aneira, hissing in pain as the opposing captain's full weight drove into her. She stumbled, nearly losing her footing altogether.

Devyn panted, her breath shaky. The wound had rendered her more tired than she should have been; she didn't know how many more clever attacks she would be able to avoid. She swung her sword sloppily in Aneira's direction, meeting only dirt as her sword was forced downwards. Something hit her shoulder and Devyn crumpled at the knees, weakly raising her sword to block any fatal strikes to the head. She hadn't expected to lose so much energy to what had seemed to be such a minor injury.

Her head spun as she tried to catch her breath. I'm giving her every opportunity to decapitate me, but... I couldn't block an attack right now if I tried. Devyn's grip grew slack on her sword; it felt too heavy to pick up.

"Retreat," Devyn heard herself say, as if through a heavy filter. "Retreat!" She was hazily aware of the stampede of soldiers as they rushed off the battlefield, and the feeling of strong arms pulling her to her feet. The last thing Devyn remembered was the smug smile on Aneira's lips.

Devyn swore to herself that she would wipe that smirk right off of her face the next time she saw her.