Wildcard: The Mage Chronicles

A shrill, terrible cry tore through the noise of the battlefield. The sound of metal crashing against each other came to an abrupt halt as everyone stopped and stared at the sky. In the distance, they could distinctly make out five shapes approaching fast -- too big to be birds.

The sound came again, louder and more horrifying.

Dragon-riders. Rhogan laughed. Bloody Dragon Riders. Hope at last!

General Rhogan gathered his men into the dragon-spire formation. This battle was far from over. Their job now was to assist the riders. Breaking formation would mean getting in the way of the dragon's flames and the flames burn foe and friend alike. The enemies were adjusting their formations in response. Five dragons could lay waste to an army. But it was the wizard in the enemy camp Rhogan was worried about. Even the arrival of the dragons wasn't enough to fully remove the crushing feeling caused by the wizard's spell.

***
Rin was tired. She had been flying from one battlefield to another. The last one was nearly 400 miles away. Hopefully, they could wrap this one up quick and she could finally get to sleep on an actual bed rather than on her dragon's scaly back.

Rin nodded to her squad leader and broke to the right. She and Johan would be avoiding the fight altogether and go directly for the wizard while her commander and other two would be helping the soldiers below. By now, they were sure the enemy had at least one powerful wizard in their camps. Even this far out, Rin could feel her spirits dampening as the heavy spell hung over the entire battlefield. The mages had previously remained neutral to the Great Wars. But since they had decided to take part in it, warfare as they had known it had changed completely. It did not help that every wizard had his own unique powers. Rin wondered what her opponent had in store for her.

Below, the enemy were maintaining strict formations as they tried to protect the archers. Volleys flew at her comrades who had engaged the enemy. The dragons replied with torrents of fire. Arrows in such numbers could take down dragons, but her fellow dragon-riders were some of the best in the kingdom and their dragons the most vicious and fastest. She instead focused on the wizard.

The dampening feeling would be strongest at the epicentre and that is where she hoped to find her target. Johan was following her. She was given the lead in this task. Though not yet a Knight, Rin had proven herself more than capable. Young, pretty and ferocious -- Rin had made herself well known despite the lack of years.

By now she had made an estimated guess where her target was located. If she was right, her target was inside a tent not more than half a mile away. Rin made a signal to Johan to come in after her as she took a deep breath and pulled on the reins on Anoria, her dragon. And down she went, fast as an arrow. She was hoping to take the wizard by surprise. 

"Let it rain, Anoria." Anoria screeched and let down a stream of fire below in obedience.

The tent burned. Rin held her breath in anticipation.

And then the strangest thing happened. The tent disappeared. Every single tent flat out vanished. The entire landscape changed. People disappeared. Supplies, weapons -- everything. Now, not a trace remained that there had been a camp here. Just a single man lay where the tent she had burned had been. That man, though, was burning.

There was nothing here. Rin looked back towards the battlefield a mile away. The sound had ceased and Rin realised, dumbfounded, that they had been fighting just one man for the last 4 days. Over ten thousand casualties for just one man. This changed everything, Rin realized. The rules of war would never be the same.