Chapter 14
Kariah was awakened suddenly by a sharp, painful blow to her ribs that lifted her completely off the ground. She landed roughly on the stone floor, the breath completely knocked from her lungs. She looked up in fear and saw Kaviel standing over her, his face mottled with rage. She stared up at him fearfully as she struggled to breathe.
“Who is that warrior?” He screamed in fury. “Where did he come from?” He grabbed the elf maiden by her hair and slammed her hard into the stone wall. “That freak has blocked my every attempt to retrieve my sword!” Veins bulged from the madman's forehead, and flecks of saliva flew from his mouth as he screamed. He grabbed her by the throat and squeezed, cutting off her air supply. “You know more than you are telling me, elven wench! Now tell me who he is or I will make you wish you had never been born!”
“I-I already t-told you everything that I-I know!” She choked, gasping for breath.
Kaviel snarled angrily, then slapped her hard across her face. “I know that you are lying! Tell me now, or you will die!”
Kariah looked away, steeling herself for death, and remained silent.
“His name is Damion.” Tempest's deep voice boomed throughout the cavern. “He is a warrior, and a very powerful sorcerer. You made the mistake of killing his father. Now, he's come to repay the favor.”
Kaviel whirled around and gazed at the huge serpent, releasing his grip on Kariah. “How is it that you know this?” He demanded suspiciously.
The scarlet dragon sneered at him in contempt. “I have my ways. You murdered his father in the Godstear Mountains, then forced me to destroy his home village.” Tempest's eyes flashed a fiery-red. “And now he's come to take his revenge.”
The scar-faced man ignored the beast's veiled threat. “What else do you know of this freak?”
Tempest stared at him dangerously for a long moment. “His magic is far more powerful than any sorcerer that has ever lived, and as long as he carries the Dragon Sword, he is nearly unstoppable.” The huge dragon sneered again. “He is the one who is going to put a stop to all of your plans!”
“You would like that, wouldn't you?” Kaviel bellowed angrily. He was quiet for moment. “What do you know of the others that travel with the freak?” He asked after a moment.
Tempest glared at him hatefully, and slammed her powerful tail against the cavern wall, reducing part of it to rubble. She stared at him menacingly for several long moments, and then finally answered. “The human is a master swordsman who trained the huge warrior."
“Yes.” Kaviel's face took on a look of pure loathing. “Gabriel Quickhand. I know of him.” He unconsciously put a hand to the jagged scar that crossed his face.
“The dwarves are from the caverns to the north,” The scarlet beast sighed heavily, and then continued. “The child is not a child at all. His name is Dar, and he is one of the Alena, a powerful race of childlike sprites that have lived in this forest long before the humans ever made their way to this land.” She smiled a smug smile. “You have made some very powerful enemies. They fully intend to cut your life short if they get their hands on you.”
Kaviel began cursing violently. “I have to have that sword!” He began to tear at his face with dirty nails. “Without it, I cannot fulfill my plans!” He suddenly stopped, staring down at Kariah, who lay at his feet trembling. A slow calculating smile crept across his face. “I still have his elven wench, though. He will not try anything stupid as long as I have her.”
Tempest fixed him with a contemptuous gaze. “You have already murdered his father, destroyed his village, kidnapped his friend, and tried to kill him! Do you really think threatening her life is going to keep him from ripping you apart when he finally gets his hands on you?” She snorted in amusement, and large puffs of smoke billowed from her nostrils. “You are a bigger fool than I thought!”
Kaviel considered her words carefully. “Perhaps you're right. Maybe I should give this more thought.” He turned and quickly left the cavern, a worried expression on his face.
Kariah watched as he stalked away, her mind whirling. It was obvious to her now that Kaviel wasn't quite as intelligent as the others may think. She struggled to her feet, then stared at Tempest with hurt eyes. “You betrayed me!” She was trembling with anger. “You told him about the others! How could you do that? I thought you were on our side!”
The huge dragon gave her a sad look. “I had to tell him. He would have killed you. It was the only way I could stop him. I have no power to lash out against him.” She smiled slightly. “Actually, I helped your friends. Now that he knows what he's going up against, he's going to get nervous. Nervous men make mistakes. Perhaps he will give your friends the opportunity that they need to stop him.”
“What are the plans that he spoke of?” She asked, still suspicious.
“He is gathering an army of those wretched dragonspawn and cowardly goblins, and is building a wall just outside of this cavern. He plans to use this to be his main center of power once he gets the sword and releases my brethren. From here, he plans to conquer the world.”
“Why do those creatures follow him?”
Tempest sighed. “The goblins are here out of fear. If they didn't, Kaviel would have me destroy them. The dragonspawn are here because of me. They look upon true dragons like gods. They would willingly follow any real dragon anywhere, even to certain death.” She shook her huge head sadly, then settled back down to the cold stone floor and closed her eyes.
Kariah settled into a pile of coins, then shifted about until she was comfortable. “Why don't you just accidentally drop him next time he is flying atop your back?”
“I wish it were that easy.” The great beast opened one eye. “The Dragon Gem will not allow me to harm him in any way. As long as he possesses the stone, I am helpless to harm him.” She sighed, then closed her eye once more.
It was less than an hour later when Kaviel reappeared, accompanied closely by a large vicious-looking dragonspawn. “You made yourself at home awful quickly.” He sneered, staring at Kariah in disgust.
“You didn't give me much of a choice.” She replied coldly.
The scar-faced man laughed cruelly, then ordered the dragonspawn to stand guard, but not to harm her. He then climbed atop the dragon's broad shoulders, and ordered her out of the cavern.
Kariah watched in silence as they disappeared through the cavern's opening, then looked at the dragonspawn, who stood staring at her with a menacingly expression. After a while, it grew bored and settled against a large pile of coins, its back to the harmless elf maiden. It was obvious that it didn't consider her any kind of a threat.
She sighed again, then began to look around. Her eyes fell upon the handle of a large jeweled dagger protruding from a pile of coins. “My dagger!” She gasped aloud, and then suddenly looked away innocently as the dragonspawn's head whipped around to stare at her suspiciously. It watched her with hungry eyes for several long moments, then it finally turned back around and returned to gazing out of the opening of the cavern.
She breathed a silent sigh of relief, then silently edged over and carefully pulled it from the coins. Moving as quietly as she could, she pulled it from its sheath and tried to slip from her bed of golden coins, but a number of them suddenly cascaded to the stone floor with a loud jingle. The dragonspawn jumped to its feet and spotted the dagger clenched tightly in her tiny hand. It snarled angrily, then charged, not bothering to draw its rusty sword. She lashed out with the dagger just as the beast fell upon her, and the blade plunged deep into its chest. It stiffened suddenly, a look of disbelief in its eyes, then it went limp, knocking her hard to the floor and pinning her legs beneath its massive weight.
It took her several minutes to roll creature's body off her legs, then, after taking a moment to catch her breath, she rose to her feet and pulled her dagger from its chest. She hesitated for a moment, trembling with fear and covered in blood. A foul stench was filling the cavern, and she was forced to concentrate very hard
in an effort not to vomit.
Ignoring the wave of panic that threatened to overcome her, she cautiously made her way to the cavern's opening and peered out. The clearing outside of the cavern was a flurry of activity as hundreds of goblins and dragonspawn mingled amongst one another in large groups. A huge bonfire burned in the center of the clearing, providing light for the hundreds of human, elven, and dwarven slaves who labored to build an enormous stone wall that surrounded the area around the cavern’s entrance.
It was immediately obvious that it was hopeless to try and make her way through the clearing, so she quietly moved away from the entrance, her mind racing. She began to look around the cavern desperately, and her eyes fell upon a glimmer of light that was coming from the wall that Tempest had collapsed with her tail. She moved closer and carefully peered through the small opening. It led directly into the forest, and appeared to be unguarded by Kaviel’s minions.
Her heart nearly leapt from her chest as she saw her chance for escape. She quickly scurried over and grabbed the pack of food and the flask of cheap wine, then carefully squeezed through the opening in the wall, and with one last look at the cavern behind her, she dashed into the forest. She moved as quickly as she could, not concerned on which direction that she was moving. She just wished to put as much distance between herself and the clearing as possible. She continued fleeing until well after darkness fell, groping through the undergrowth blindly until she finally collapsed at the edge of a stream, too exhausted to move any further. She began to drink deeply, thankful for the coolness of the water against her skin.
When she had finally finished drinking her fill and catching her breath, she sat back on gravelly bank in exhaustion. She was fairly certain that she hadn't been seen, and hoped it would be quite a while before she was discovered missing.
Suddenly, a strong hand clamped firmly over her mouth, preventing a scream. She began to kick and punch blindly as she groped hopelessly for her dagger.
“Calm thyself, little one.” A soft, but deep voice murmured in her ear. “I am here to lend thee aid.”
The gentle calmness the soft voice caused her to stop her thrashings. She slowly began to relax, and the hand was removed from her mouth. She turned to confront her captor, her hand still on her dagger.
A large bare-chested man stood before her, staring at her with bright blue eyes. He stood nearly seven feet tall, with a boyish face, and long golden hair that flowed down his back like a horse's mane. After a moment, she realized with a start that he was only half-human. Although he was completely human in appearance from the waist up, from the waist down he had the thickly muscled body of a stallion. He carried a long bow in one hand as he stared down at her with a calm expression.
“Y-You're a centaur!” She exclaimed in disbelief.
“Thou art observant.” The centaur murmured softly. He continued to stare at her with a calm expression. “I am called K'thar.”
She stared at him with suspicion. “What do you want with me?”
The centaur smiled an open, friendly smile. “I spotted thee escaping the dragon's lair.” He pawed at the ground with one powerful foreleg. “I followed to offer mine aid in thy escape.”
“You want to help me?” Her face was distrustful. “Why would you want to help me?”
The centaur smiled again. “Anyone that is an enemy of that scar-faced human is a friend of the centaurs.” He knelt to allow her to mount him. “Climb aboard, mine elven friend. We shalt depart to mine village. Thou wilt be safe within its sanctuary.”
After only a moment's hesitation, she climbed atop the creature’s back and clamped her arms about its waist. The centaur waited long enough for her to make herself comfortable, then burst into a trot, moving through the thick undergrowth of the forest with very little effort, and melting into the shadows without a sound.
Omensent: Birth of a Dragon Lord Page 41