Mark Boehnlein

"Night of the Dragons"

Composed and performed by Mark Boehnlein

This piece sets out to portray the attack of the dragon armies on Solace. In "Dragons of Autumn Twilight" this night is referred to as the night of the dragons. The piece is divided into three short sections. The first sets the general mood of Solace at the time. The second is the attack perceived from inside the Inn of the Last Home and the third section is the advance of the Dragon armies outside the Inn.

There are three instruments used to set up the piece. The drum brings the feel of war to the piece despite Hederick's calm assurance that the armies will pass them by. The flute provides the illusion of hope that they have in Hederick's words. Finally, the low strings bring out the realization of the situation. During these measures, Hederick is giving his speech to anyone who will listen. He rambles on until a low sound is heard, and suddenly, all are covered in darkness. The bell rings.

The patron's mull about in the inn trying to find the door, some scream in fear, and some try to make it to the windows. A patron tries to send someone down to see what is happening but they can't find the stairs through the darkness. After the high strings flip from side to side and they then take off on a descending melody, a wave of intense heat hits the inn and shatters the windows the patrons peered from. The inn tilts on its side as tables and chairs slide across the common room and glassware shatters on the floor. Embers from the fireplace and oil lamps start small fires as they exit there intended places. The room now has an orange glow, but soon it is filled with billowing smoke entering the inn through the broken windows. The smell of burning wood and flesh permeates the common room as the patrons struggle for oxygen. The kitchen doors swing open to reveal a wall of flame. Then, someone shouts "get out, the whole place'll go up."

Hederick is one of the first to get out of the inn and as he grips the railing of the landing he sees a great horror before him. The forest is ablaze, and by the flickering of the light, he sees the draconian horde pour into the town. As the orchestra hits begin, he sees the dragons for the first time. Five of them in the fire lit sky take turns wheeling around and diving to the earth to release their terrible fire upon the town of Solace. Their globes of darkness dot the burning town. Warriors try to attack the beasts, but their quickness and the darkness combined to make it impossible. As the music begins to crescendo, one of the reds turns to you and locks its gaze with yours as it swoops down impossibly fast and opens its maw in a defiant scream and swallows you whole.

- Mark Boehnlein

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Copyright Info
All music in this section is original and © 2000 Mark Boehnlein. All Rights Reserved. You may download this music for your personal, non-commercial use only.

Player Notes
These files are compressed using the MIDI format. The quality of playback of MIDI files is directly related to the quality of the sound hardware in your computer. The cheaper the sound card, the crapper MIDI playback will sound. Most common media players like Winamp, Windows Media Player, or Quicktime can play MIDI files.