Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5)

by Barry Gibbons

  "Vicious little beasts, aren't they?" Shirk growled as the children scrambled to untangle themselves and renew their attack.

  "These children have been corrupted by Hetris!" Brody snarled in disgust as he notched another arrow. "They are completely insane!"

  "But they're still children." Damion told him, his expression still conflicted. "I don't know if I..." He let out another bellow of pain as an elven boy sank his teeth into the huge warrior's ankle. "Get off of me!" He snarled, trying to shake the boy loose. The boy ignored him, and instead, sank his teeth even deeper with a vicious snarl. Damion let out another a roar of pain, then jerked his leg free from the boy's grip, and lashed out with a powerful kick which caught the elven boy on the point of his chin, sending him somersaulting backwards over the edge of the platform where he disappeared to the forest floor below.

  Everyone froze as they watched the boy disappear over the edge of the platform, and then turned to stare at Damion in surprised disbelief.

  The huge warrior held out his hands helplessly. "Oops."

  One of the elven children let out a roar of rage, then they all charged towards the companions, their eyes blazing with murderous intent.

  Damion let out of snarl of frustration, then drew in his magic and focused it onto the platform beneath the elven children. There was a sudden groaning sound as the wooden planks beneath the children began to twist and sag, knocking the tiny killers from their feet, then they suddenly vanished as the boards disintegrated, leaving a large gaping hole in the platform.

  Brody hurried over and looked down through the hole in the platform. "I don't think they're going to be a problem anymore." He informed the others blandly.

  Shirk inched his way over to the hole and glanced over the edge. "I think you're right." The old bandit grumbled with a snort of amusement. "Unless they sprouted wings as they fell, they'll not be causing any more mayhem."

  "Do you think we alerted the blood elves in the manor house?" Raven asked in concern.

  "Almost certainly." Brody murmured, staring up at the manor house with a worried expression. "If we want to have any chance of catching Yrinn, we have to move now."

  "What are we waiting for then?" Shirk asked in exasperation.

  They quickly made their way up to the gates of the enormous manor house, expecting an attack at any moment, but none came.

  "What now?" Shirk asked as they approached the huge carved doors leading into the manor. "Should we knock, or just kick the door in?"

  The front doors to the manor suddenly burst open, causing them all to jump nervously and reach for their weapons.

  "What is going on out here?" An elderly elven woman wearing a long flowing nightgown and a heavy woolen shawl around her frail shoulders, demanded with a troubled expression. Her eyes narrowed as they fell upon the companions. "Who are you people? What are you doing here?"

  "Helena Oakenshield!" Brody gasped, staring at the elderly elven woman in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

  "I live here." The old woman told him with a frown. "Who are you? You seem to kn..." She stopped as she peered a bit closer. "Brody? Brody of the House of Maple? I-Is that you?"

  "It is, my lady." Brody told her with a nod. "I'm rather surprised that you remember me. It has been many years since we last spoke."

  "Has it?" The elderly looking elven woman frowned again, a slightly confused expression on her face. "It seems like it was only yesterday that I saw you and your brother scampering through the city, upsetting just about everyone that crossed your paths."

  "That was nearly three hundred years ago, Helena." Brody told her with a frown.

  "Really?" The old elven woman asked in a vague tone, staring off into the distance as though they were no longer there.

  "My lady," Brody started, glancing back at the others uneasily. "We've come here looking for someone."

  "Who?" Helena asked curiously. "I'm the only person here, other than the servants, of course. My husband, Vlane, has been in Celestia with the queen and the other elders for the last several weeks, and Yrinn and his friends left to join him a few hours ago."

  "Yrinn?" Brody asked in surprise. "Yrinn was here?"

  "He was." The old elven woman nodded, her expression still distant. "He arrived a few weeks ago, and has been staying here in the manor ever since." She dropped her voice to a more confiding tone. "I think he has fallen upon some hard times as of late. Yrinn once owned a number of estates across the island, but, from what I understand, they are no longer available to him anymore."

  "That's because Yrinn was banished from the island over a century ago, Helena." Brody reminded her gently.

  "Banished?" The old elven woman shook her head. "I think that you must be confused. Yrinn is known throughout the island as a good and honorable elf. He would never do anything that would deserve banishment." She suddenly blinked, then looked around in confusion. "W-Who are you people? What do you want?" Her tone had grown irritated.

  "I-It's me, Helena," The elven ambassador reminded her hesitantly. "Brody. Remember?"

  "Oh yes," Helena smiled dazedly. "Brody of the House of Maple. How are you, young one? Are you and your brother here looking for sweets again?"

  "What's wrong with her?" Raven asked, staring at the elven woman worriedly.

  "I think she may have lost her mind." Shirk murmured quietly. "She doesn't really seem to understand what's happening around her."

  "You said that Yrinn has been staying here with you?" Brody persisted, trying desperately to get the elderly elven woman to focus on his question.

  "Yrinn?" She asked, her expression growing more confused, then she suddenly smiled. "Oh yes, Yrinn! He was here not long ago. He and his friends needed somewhere to stay before they hurried on to Celestia for the Spring Dawning celebration."

  "They've left for Celestia?" Raven asked the old elven woman, who smiled a sweet smile and nodded.

  "They did. They were eager to reach the capital city so they could celebrate the Spring Dawning. I guess they have a big surprise planned for Petra's faithful." She smiled again. "That is just like Yrinn to plan a surprise for the people. He has such a kind heart. It's a shame that he never bothered to marry."

  "Do you know what kind of surprise that Yrinn and his friends are planning?" Brody asked intently.

  "No," Helena told him, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders to help ward of the cool breeze. "though I believe it may have something to do with the queen. I overheard Yrinn and his companions mention her several times while they were busy planning their surprise."

  "The queen?" Brody gasped, his expression suddenly becoming panicked.

  "Oh yes," Helena nodded with a distant smile. "He said that he was sure that the queen and the rest of Petra's faithful would never expect what he had planned, and was quite eager to be off so he could make certain that everything went off without a problem."

  The elven ambassador turned to Damion and the others. "We've missed them." He told them in disappointment. "Yrinn and the other blood elves have already departed for Celestia."

  "How can you be certain that she's telling the truth?" Shirk asked doubtfully. "Shouldn't we search the place and make sure that Yrinn isn't here?"

  "He's not here." Damion murmured, watching the older elven woman sadly. "He probably fled the instant that he heard we had reached Oakenvale."

  "Which means that he has a considerable head start on us." Shirk growled with a sigh of exasperation.

  "We can't help that now. We're just going to have to try and chase him down before he and his blood elves are able to set whatever plans they have devised for the Spring Dawning into motion."

  "W-Who are you people?" The elderly elven woman asked suddenly, staring at the companions in confusion. "Why are you here? W-What do you people want?"

  Brody looked to Damion and the others for a moment, then turned and gave the old woman a tight smile. "We seem to have gotten confused, and come to the wrong place. Our apologies for bothering you."

/>   "Oh," Helena smiled a slightly confused smile. "N-Not a problem at all. I-I sometimes find myself losing my way here in Oakenvale too. The city can be quite confusing sometimes."

  They bid the elderly elven woman a quick farewell, then they followed Brody as he quickly made his way back towards the platform that had brought them up into the treetop city.

  "I had heard that Helena had begun to lose touch with reality," The elven ambassador murmured as he hurried across yet another hanging bridge. "but I hadn't realized that it had gotten so bad. She seemed to have trouble separating past and present." He shook his head sadly. "She didn't even remember that Yrinn had been banished. She's been allowing him to stay in the manor with her, not knowing that he and his companions were busy planning to slaughter Petra's faithful during the Spring Dawning."

  "Do you think that her husband knew that Yrinn was staying at the manor house?" Raven asked curiously.

  "I don't know." Brody frowned. "Helena said that Vlane has been in the capital with the queen for the last several weeks. He may not know that Yrinn has been staying in his home while he has been gone."

  It was a couple of hours before dawn when they finally reached the platform which brought visitors up to the city. A single solitary elf dozed on a nearby bench, obviously waiting to work the controls which allowed the platform to descend to the forest floor below.

  "Excuse me, brother," Brody murmured to the elf, who shook himself awake as they approached. "Has anyone left the city in the last few hours?"

  "Aye," The elf told him, glancing at Damion and the others with unfriendly eyes. "A group of elves departed the city a few hours ago. There was nearly a dozen of them. They seemed in quite the hurry."

  "Did they say where they were heading?" Raven asked in an urgent tone.

  "Why, yes, they did."

  "Where?"

  "They were heading to Celestia." The elf murmured quietly. "Yrinn said that he had a surprise in store for the worshippers of Petra, something that the elven people would never forget!" He suddenly withdrew a dagger and lunged at Brody, who narrowly avoided the strike. The elf raised his arm to strike once more, but suddenly stiffened as one of Raven's arrows thudded deep into his chest. He stared at the arrow in disbelief for several long moments, then collapsed to the platform.

  "Damned blood elves!" Brody snarled, kicking the dead elf in the ribs. He stared angrily at the corpse for a long moment, his eyes blazing with fury, then he looked to Raven. "Thanks for that."

  "Don't mention it." The young woman smiled, retrieving her arrow from the dead elf's chest.

  "Everybody get onto the platform." Damion ordered the others. "I'll lower it down, and then meet you at the bottom."

  "How are you going to do that?" Brody asked suspiciously.

  "Just get on the platform." The huge warrior told him. "I'll meet you at the stables." He looked to Raven and Shirk. "Stay on your guard. Yrinn obviously put this elf here to try and slow us down. He may have left others below in the hopes of slowing us even more."

  He watched as they hurried onto the platform, then pulled the lever, causing them to slowly start descending. He quickly made his way to the hole left by the platform and glanced over the edge, arriving just in time to see his wife and friends disappear through the canopy to the forest floor below.

  He deciding on how he would descend down from the treetop city, when the sudden rustle of feathers drew his attention to Snowfeather, who glided over and settled on the brass railing.

  "Where have you been?" The huge warrior asked unhappily. "We could have used your help finding Yrinn and his blood elves."

  "What do you think I've been doing?" Snowfeather chirped defensively. "I noticed a group of elves watching the manor house, and decided to follow them when they hurried away. They went to another manor house on the other side of the city where they met up with a much older elf, then they all immediately departed."

  "Did you follow them?" Damion asked in surprise.

  "Of course!" Snowfeather squawked in exasperation. "Where do you think I've been all of this time?"

  "Well?"

  "Well, after getting their horses from the stables, they set off at a dead run towards the southwest. I followed them for several miles to make sure that they didn't try to take a detour, then returned to alert you to what I saw."

  "Good job." The huge warrior told him, then he heaved a great sigh. "Sorry for being so grouchy. I'm getting a little tired of chasing these blood elves around. I feel like this has all been one big wild goose chase, and I'm ready to put end to it once and for all."

  "Don't worry about it." Snowfeather sailed over and landed on Damion's broad shoulder. "What now?"

  "We tell the others what you discovered, and then chase down these blood elves. If they're pushing their horses as hard as you say, they'll be forced to stop to allow them to rest. If we hurry, we should be able to catch up with them before they reach the city, and put an end to all of this mess."

  "And then?"

  "And then we go home." Damion sighed aloud. "We should probably hurry too. The gods only know what kind of mischief Leia has gotten into while we've been gone."

  Chapter 16

  "Look out!" Sly roared as several dreadspawn dove towards them, forcing Xaxis to bank sharply, nearly dislodging the scruffy little man from his seat.

  "There are more coming!" Leia told the huge dragon as several more of the winged beasts swooped down to block their escape.

  They clung to Xaxis desperately as he suddenly rolled in midair, striking two of the dreadspawn with his heavy wings, sending the scaly creatures plummeting to the grasslands below. Two more appeared from the darkness, only to be slapped aside by a powerful swipe of the veiled dragon's razor sharp talons, which sent them spiraling out of control.

  "There are more coming!" Sly bellowed, looking back over his shoulder to see six more of the winged beasts rapidly closing in on them from behind.

  "Grab on tight!" Xaxis rumbled an instant before rolling over onto his back and breathing a wall of flames behind them that completely engulfed the pursuing dreadspawn. He quickly righted himself and glanced back at their pursuers, then grunted in satisfaction as he saw their withered and charred corpses dropping lifelessly from the sky.

  "Can you give us a little more warning before doing things like that?" Sly snarled angrily, still clinging to Xaxis's neck desperately.

  "Look out!" Leia cried as several more dreadspawn rose into the air directly before them in an attempt to block their path.

  "No!" Sly bellowed as Xaxis drew in a deep breath, but it was already too late. The veiled dragon released a huge blast of flames that instantly consumed the dreadspawn, then tucked its wings close to its sides and rocketed through the remaining flames, emerging into the cool night air on the other side an instant later.

  Leia, who still wore her shadow dragon armor, was untouched by the searing heat of the flames. Sly, on the other hand, had been completely exposed to the sizzling fire, which scorched his clothes, and singed his hair and beard.

  "What are you doing?" The little man roared, his face already beginning to blister. "Are you trying to kill us?"

  "Sorry about that." The huge veiled dragon apologized with a shrug that nearly dislodged the scruffy little man from his seat.

  "Are you okay?" Leia asked the little man, squinting to get a better look at him in the darkness. She suddenly burst out laughing at the sight of his scruffy hair and beard, most of which had been singed away.

  "How bad is it?" He asked with a frown, still clinging to Xaxis desperately.

  "You look like a dog with a bad case of mange!" She told him, still laughing uncontrollably.

  Sly's eyes went wide, then he began to gingerly touch his face and head. "Ahhh!" He cried in horror as his fingers ran across a large bald patch on his face where his beard had been burned away. "Ahhh!" He cried again as he discovered that much of his hair had also been burned away. His expression grew outraged. "Look what you did, you overgro
wn iguana!" He bellowed angrily, wincing in pain as several blisters on his face suddenly burst. "I look like I've been set on a spit and left to roast over a open flame!"

  Xaxis glanced back at Sly, then snorted in amusement. "You do look rather well done, don't you?"

  "That's not funny!" Sly roared furiously.

  Three more dreadspawn suddenly appeared from the darkness above and swooped down towards them, but Leia, showing incredible agility, twisted around in her seat and fired three rapid shots from her bow, striking all three of the beasts, who tumbled from the sky to crash to the grasslands below.

  "Hang on!" Xaxis rumbled again, banking so sharply that Sly was nearly thrown from the huge dragon's back. He rocketed back towards the few remaining dreadspawn, slashing at them with razor sharp talons which sliced through scale, flesh, and bone effortlessly. The last few remaining beasts tumbled lifelessly to the ground below, leaving only the shadowspawn and dragonspawn who were still gathered around the bonfire watching the battle.

  "That's enough!" Sly shouted, his face white with fear. "Head back to Sevria!"

  "I don't think so!" Leia told him fiercely. "We're going to finish these beasts before they cause any more problems!"

  Xaxis suddenly tucked his wings and dove at the gathered horde, which suddenly began to scramble away in terror. The huge veiled dragon inhaled deeply, then released a blast of flames that engulfed fully half of the horde, reducing all but the shadowspawn to smoldering corpses. Xaxis flared his great sail-like wings, then banked sharply once more to renew his attack.