Book 4, Chapter 34: The Wolf At The Door
Much debate rages over the advantages and disadvantages regarding different types of ranged weaponry in use by dragon-mounted archers. Generally speaking, there are three types in common use—full crossbows, classic composite horse-bows, and hybrid mechanical bows, each of which has its own proponents and detractors.
Full crossbows have the greatest potential strength and are the easiest to use, with a simple trigger that looses the bolt, and can be pre-loaded and held at the ready without strain, but they take an extremely long time to reload. Furthermore, they are complex to make, with gears, levers, and, in the cases of the most powerful ones, a significant amount of quality steel for the lath and the string, adding significantly to the cost. In the context of dragonback combat, a skilled crossbow wielder could potentially break contact with the enemy and reload before coming in for another pass, but this is not universally possible. In essence, a flight of crossbow-using dragon-archers will deliver a single powerful punch, upon which they will need to either break contact or gain cover from other units while reloading.
Composite horse-bows require considerable training to use on dragonback, but are the quickest to nock and loose by an experienced archer, and are the cheapest and simplest to construct, being made of laminated wood, horn, and sinew, although there is a lead time required for drying in the manufacturing process. In the context of dragonback combat, a skilled horse-bow archer can potentially loose multiple arrows at their adversaries in a matter of moments, even in the high-speed conditions of a head-to-head pass. However, the training required for effective horse-bow use is unquestionably much higher than that of a crossbow, and the horse-bow is much more tiring to keep ready than a crossbow, and also more vulnerable to being burned by dragonfire.
Hybrid mechanical bows use metal arms, much like crossbows, but use a series of cams and pulleys to draw back the arms, rendering the mechanical bow similar to a traditional bow in use, even though it is much more complicated. Proper design allows the bow to even “rest” after it has been drawn back, lessening the strain on the archer’s body until the arrow is loosed. However, again, they require considerable material and expertise to craft, and the complexities of the design, while not as high as that of a crossbow, still renders them vulnerable to some of the same drawbacks; a slipped cam can result in the bow being unusable until repaired. That being said, they are frequently seen as an effective middle-ground between the two other options.
—The Wing And The Ax, Queen-Marshal Astrid Haddock I, undated draft, Waterford University Archives
Tropes that appear in this chapter:
- Catapult to Glory: Hiccup's Dragon Catapults make a comeback, not as a toy for the dragons, but as a war machine to launch dragons and their riders directly into battle.
- Clarke's Third Law: Mulan believes that the telescope she uses is magical.
- Content Warnings:Chapter Trigger Warnings: Explicit Battle Sequence, Battle Injuries
- Crisis of Faith: William admits to having doubts about Christianity to Esther. His Christian biological father died while on pilgrimage to the Christian Holy Land and he long wondered why and was answered with 'Lord works in mysterious ways'. By contrast, his Pagan adoptive father was saved by a Pagan doctor who was brought there by Pagan Dragon Riders.
- Did Not Think This Through: Sigurd realises that when they first placed the Byzantine Dragon Tagma in the artificial cave, they were so concerned with ground-bound enemies they never considered that a dragon-based army can lock them in.
- Fake Aristocrat: Mulan claims Mala is a queen, since the Romans are more likely to take her seriously and help her if they think she's royalty, rather than the reality of being a monk.
- Genghis Gambit: After they do enough damage to Constantinople and the defenders manage to organise themselves enough to push back, Drago orders a retreat satisfied that the Pechenegs will leave this battle more united than before, thanks to the reminder that they have a common enemy.
- I Choose to Stay: After the battle, Mala decides to stay in Constantinople and help take care of Night-Glow and the other dragons there.
- Improvised Armour: Mulan uses one of Fishlegs' books as a makeshift shield.
- Mythology Gag:
- After the battle against the Pechenegs Dagur helps a green gronckle who is all but stated to be Shattermaster, his dragon from canon.
- Mulan claims Mala is a Queen, her canon title in the Defenders of the Wing tribe, because that sounds more impressive than being a sole monk with nothing to offer.
- Significant Name Overlap: Hiccup learns that the Pecheneg's leader is named Berk, just like his homeland, and with Sigurd's help, it sinks in how easily one can be confused with the other.
- Springtime for Hitler: Drago is worried that his forces might actually succeed in conquering Constantinople since the point of the raid is not conquest but uniting his forces, and them taking Constantinople undermines that by getting rid of their common enemy.
- Uriah Gambit: Feng, to Drago's approval, sends some of their more problematic dragon riders to deal with the Roman archery units with the expectation that they'd die.
