The black mercenary leaped with all his strength, and the dragon-hunting crossbow he had just operated exploded in a burst of gold and crimson flames. Burning wood splinters flew out, causing many unarmored soldiers to suffer.
An endless volley of arrows shot into the air, mixed with spears and large crossbow bolts. However, none of these could harm the fully grown dragons. Not even the dragon's wing membranes were affected. Though they might seem fragile, the membrane wings were incredibly tough, especially as the years passed. For older dragons, their membranes could withstand almost anything, save for attacks from other dragons.
The black mercenary scrambled to escape the dragon's fiery breath, but the dream fire of the dragon's flame seemed endless. The spear bolts launched by the crossbows from behind collided with the massive, high-flying old dragon, leaving behind barely visible marks before crumbling to the ground. The continuous dragon flame spread effortlessly, swallowing the mercenary's screams in an instant.
The soldiers in the formations were in a panic.
"What's happening? Didn't they say the enemy was coming from the front? Didn't they say our crossbows and bows could fend off the dragons? What the hell is this thing?!"
But it only took a moment for two massive dragons to dive down from the sky, their endless streams of dragonfire cutting through the gaps between the three formations.
The dragon-hunting crossbows provided by Shaliss were nearly reduced to ashes. One still shot its final spear bolt, which actually hit its target.
It struck the connection between the dreamfire dragon's neck and wing, causing the old dragon to tilt its head slightly. The massive spear embedded in its hard scales caused no damage, but it did seem to anger the dragon for the first time in a long while.
Even Daeron could hear the meaning behind the dreamfire dragon's roar.
"How dare you... How dare you... burn... burn!"
The old dragon no longer controlled its flame. The crimson-gold fire flared up once again, even thicker than before, with massive columns of flame curving and racing toward the Golden Hammer Legion's formation.
Sendros suddenly stopped breathing fire, but it wasn't to spare the enemy.
Instead, it made way for the third dragon.
Blue-gray flames surged from the rear, tearing through the massive formation that had been holding the line, as people inside screamed, trying to escape the fire's grasp. But all they could do was watch as their bodies disintegrated into ash.
The searing dragonfire spread from behind to the front, crashing into the dreamfire's flames, causing an explosion that scattered the Golden Hammer Legion into pieces.
Fire was everywhere. The warhorses, terrified by the scent of the dragons, went mad, throwing off their riders, trampling them underfoot, or being burned alive in the flames. Some horses were entirely consumed by fire, reduced to blackened, unrecognizable charred remains.
The war elephants fared no better. Robert's war elephant collapsed immediately upon seeing the dragons, while the ones farther away panicked and fled, trampling their own formations in the process. One war elephant even charged directly into Robert's elephant, which tried to retaliate using its steel-clad tusks, but something seemed to have disabled its ability to turn quickly. It could do nothing but watch as the other elephant trampled over its lower half, charging into the fire.
In the blink of an eye, Robert's army was completely engulfed in flames. In the smoke, all the formations collapsed, with soldiers covered in fire, unable to escape. Their heavy armor, which should have protected them, had turned into their inferno, burning red-hot and causing their owners to scream in agony. The melting gold flowed like a stream over their scorched armor.
The knights of the Iron Throne moved.
Two torrents of steel slowly advanced from the high ground, the sound of trumpets echoing across the barren fields.
Robert, terrified, tried to speak, but the red-hot throat guard stopped him from uttering a sound. Sendros, like a cat toying with a mouse, chased after the fleeing elephants. Robert saw the green dragon strike an elephant's head with its tail, crushing it, and then watched in horror as the dragon effortlessly picked up an elephant and threw it into the air.
Then the sickly green dragonfire swept over, silencing the elephant's mournful cries as it fell, turning into a lump of irregular charred remains.
Simultaneously, the people screaming in panic and trampling over each other in the fire were taken as well.
Now, the dark green dragon had its eyes set on Robert and his war elephant.
"Hurry! Get the elephant up, hurry!" Robert tore off his throat guard and shouted at the elephant handlers. "Or we'll all die!"
"Commander, it's not that I don't want to," the handler said with tears in his eyes, raising his whip. "The elephant won't listen. I've tried everything, but it won't obey!"
"Worthless!" Robert pushed the handler off the elephant, grabbed the long whip, and began to lash the elephant. "Move! Move!" But all the elephant responded with was a series of painful cries.
It was only then that Robert realized his elephant's leg had been broken, and its silk-covered armor was burning. The elephant's attempt to escape like its companions was a distant hope.
Then, Robert saw the last thing in his life.
Sendros descended rapidly, its massive claws growing larger in Robert's terrified gaze.
"Spare me! Spare me! Please!" Robert screamed.
Before he could finish, Sendros's enormous claws seized him, much like a human picking up an ant.
In the moment the rough claws grabbed him, Robert felt his insides tremble, as though his breath had been strangled. He could even hear the sound of his bones cracking.
Sendros flew upward, its claws loosening. It dipped its head and dived back down, a small stream of sickly green dragonfire engulfing Robert, before the dragon's mouth opened and it devoured the flame, chewing it with distaste.
"Sendros, spit it out, disgusting!" Dan shouted from the dragon saddle in high Valyrian. Sendros begrudgingly spat out what was in its mouth, letting it fall onto the already burning war elephant.
Seemingly disgusted by the elephant's agonized cries, Sendros exhaled another dragon flame before taking off again, putting the beast to rest.
The Iron Throne's cavalry finally reached the battlefield. They looked at the shattered enemy formations, and all the cavalry simultaneously removed their horses' blinders and earplugs, having spent enough time with the dragons to desensitize their warhorses to the dragons' scent.
The knights of the Iron Throne launched the most successful charge of their lives.
Spears pierced through burning figures, swords decapitated fleeing soldiers, and warhorses trampled over the shattered crowd.
And there was melted gold everywhere.