Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5)

by Barry Gibbons

  "They're spread throughout the crowd to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary." The extravagant old sea captain whispered, his expression tense. "I doubt if it's going to help much, though. With a crowd this size, it would be fairly simple to remain hidden until the time was right to strike."

  "Just keep your eyes peeled for the slightest hint of trouble." The old wizard warned as he scanned the crowd of excited onlookers. "If anything happens, get the queen back to the Royal Tower, and don't look back. I'll do my best to cover your escape."

  They listened as Ava Delilah finished her speech to the young couples, though they continued to glance around for anything suspicious.

  "Now," The elven high priestess started with a solemn expression as twenty or so silver robed priestesses, each bearing a long thin golden chain, appeared from behind the massive statue of Petra and hurried up to the assorted couples. "As you are bound by these chains," The priestesses began to wind the chains around the couples' hands. "so are you now bonded together, for better or for worse, until the day our beloved goddess calls you to Her side." She smiled, then looked out over the crowd. "May our goddess shine Her love down upon these newlyweds!"

  The crowd let out a tremendous cheer, and began throwing thousands of flower petals into the air, where they rained down upon the happy couples.

  "Now, my dear ones," Ava Delilah continued once the cheers had died down. "to give her traditional blessings to the newly joined couples, our dearly loved sovereign, and ruler of the elven people, Queen Serena!"

  The crowd let out another cheer as the queen, her eyes sparkling with excitement, stepped forward to stand next to the elven high priestess.

  "My dear friends," She started in a clear voice that carried across the courtyard. "We have gathered to celebrate the joining of these young couples, who, in the sight of Petra, have chosen to take one another as elf and wife."

  Another happy cheer went up from the crowd, and many of the couples waved to their friends and family.

  "To see so many young elves declaring their undying love for one another fills me will such happiness. Even in these trying times, to see such devotion," She smiled down at the couples. "You truly embody everything that Petra expects of Her children. May She always shine Her warming light upon you and your loved ones!"

  "Yes," A male voice suddenly mocked in a soft tone that somehow seemed unnaturally loud in the crowded courtyard. "May She, who has watched over our people for all of these many centuries while we suffered and died at the hands of our enemies, bless these happy unions." An older elf with shoulder length silver hair suddenly strolled out of the crowd with a calm expression, and slowly began to make his way towards the upraised platform. "Beloved Petra," He spat with a sneer. "She who refused to aid us when the Etazk drove us from our ancestral home of Elhenia. She who refused to lift a finger as we were forced to exile ourselves to this island prison. She who cares about nothing for our people, save for the prayers that She requires from Her faithful which keep Her strong."

  "Yrinn!" Delilah hissed in an outraged tone. "You dare to show your face here?"

  "I merely wished to extend my well wishes to these newly joined couples, Ava Delilah." The silver haired elf said innocently, passing through the crowd of couples, who quickly scrambled aside to allow him to pass. "And, of course, to bestow upon them the blessings of my god, Hetris, who not only cares about the fate of His children, but the fate of all of the elves."

  "Do not speak that name in the presence of our beloved Petra!" Delilah snarled in fury, her eyes burning with hate. "This is Her day of celebration! You will not disrespect Her by praising the dark god in Her presence!"

  "But I will." Yrinn murmured calmly, stopping at the base of the steps that led up to the golden statue, and glancing up at the goddess with a disdainful expression. "Your pathetic goddess will not stop me, and neither shall you, Delilah." He turned and looked at Queen Serena for a moment, an odd expression on his face, then he performed a graceful bow. "My queen," He greeted Queen Serena. "It is wonderful to see you again. You are as lovely as ever, I see."

  "What are you doing here, Yrinn?" Delilah demanded as Captain Harper stepped in front of the queen protectively. "You were banished from this place! You have no business being here!"

  "But I do have business here, Delilah." Yrinn said, turning back towards the high priestess. "My lord Hetris commanded me to come here today, so that I may bring these couples His blessings." He turned and stared out over the hushed crowd. "My friends," His quiet voice still seemed unnaturally loud in the silent courtyard as he smiled at the nervous looking couples. "Lord Hetris sends His blessings to you on your happy day. May you all have long, happy, prosperous unions." He gave a florid bow to the couples.

  "Fine." Delilah snarled angrily as several of Captain Harper's grim faced sailors appeared from the crowd and slowly began to advance towards the elf. "You have given your foul god's blessing. Now go! Leave this place immediately, and return to your banishment! You no longer have a place here among our people!"

  "I'm afraid that I will not be going anywhere, my dear Delilah." The silver haired elf sighed in mock resignation as he continued to stare out over the assembled crowd. "The people have grown tired of bowing and scraping to a goddess who cares nothing for them. They are weary of their dreams going unfulfilled, and their prayers going unheeded. They are fed up with being ignored by a deity who has all but forgotten them."

  Many of the elves gathered looked outraged by his words, while others frowned uncertainly as they continued to stare at the outcast elf who had reappeared in their midst.

  Captain Harper's men slowed to a stop a few feet away from the silver haired elf, their weapons held at the ready.

  "The elven people deserve a god who not only listens to their prayers, but helps them to achieve their dreams." Yrinn declared in a ringing tone, ignoring the grim faced sailors. "The elven people deserve a god who is not above walking among them, sharing in their lives and troubles, as they share in His greatness." He raised his chin proudly. "My brothers and sisters, you can have all of that, and more. Much, much more. Hetris rewards those who are faithful to Him. All you have to do is reject this false goddess," He gave the golden statue, whose eyes were now blazing red with rage, a dismissive wave. "and turn to the true god of the elven people, Hetris."

  "It will do you no good." Delilah spat at Yrinn scathingly. "These good elves are all children of Petra, who has watched over and protected our people for all these many centuries." She looked out to the gathered crowd, many if whom wore troubled expressions. "It was not Hetris who brought us to this island and protected us after we were nearly destroyed by the Etazk. It was not the dark one who blessed us, allowed us to prosper, and helped us to return from the very brink of destruction. It was our beloved Petra. It is She who protects us!" She looked back down at Yrinn. "Seek not to turn Her faithful, foul one, for you shall surely fail!"

  "It is Petra who failed." Yrinn laughed in amusement. "It was Her failure to properly watch over Her children which caused us all to be driven from our ancient homeland, and exiled to this island. And it is Her failure to listen to Her children's prayers that has led up to this moment! No," He slowly turned back to face Delilah. "Petra has failed. She has failed each and every one of us. She is not deserving of our faith. It is time to praise one who has always been there for those who would look for His wisdom and guidance." He stared unflinchingly up at the golden statue of Petra, whose eyes continued to blaze with fury. "The time has come for the children of Hetris to emerge from the shadows once more, and raise our god above Petra, who has forsaken the elven people, and left us to our fates!"

  With those words, nearly half of the newly joined couples withdrew long, wicked looking daggers, and began savagely attacking the other couples around them. Dozens more elves spread throughout the crowd suddenly withdrew their own daggers and began viciously stabbing and slashing at the stunned onlookers, sending those assembled into a panic.

&nb
sp; "Get the queen back to the tower!" Damarius roared to Dar and Captain Harper, using his staff to knock aside a dagger that had been thrown in their direction. "Gilroy and I will protect Delilah!"

  Dar and Captain Harper didn't need to be told twice. They each seized one of the queen's arms and quickly led her away, guarded closely by a dozen grim faced sailors.

  The entire courtyard erupted in chaos as the rest of Captain Harper's sailors rushed to engage the blood crazed elves who had begun rampaging through the crowd, slashing and hacking at any and all who crossed their paths. Innocent bystanders scrambled for their lives as more attackers drew blades and began slaughtering those around them with an almost animalistic glee.

  "Yrinn!" Delilah cried in horror as the silver haired man began to laugh. "Stop this! Stop this now! I..." She stopped as Vlane suddenly appeared from behind the golden statue and placed a razor sharp blade against her throat.

  "Vlane?" Gilroy stared at the grim faced elf in disbelief. "No! It can't be!"

  Vlane didn't reply, though his eyes burned with the same insane zeal as the rest of his fellow blood elves.

  "You see?" Yrinn screamed up at the golden statue. "Your children are being slaughtered before your very eyes, yet you still do nothing!" He let out a triumphant laugh, then he looked to Vlane, an evil smile on his face. "My brother," He called to Vlane. "make sure that Petra has a good view of Delilah's death."

  Delilah struggled to get away, but Vlane tightened his grip and forced her around until they were both facing Petra's statue.

  "Vlane!" Gilroy roared, rushing towards them. "No!"

  The grim faced elf ignored him and prepared to cut the helpless priestess's throat, but then suddenly stiffened as an arrow struck him directly in the temple with a horrid crunch.

  Yrinn stared at Vlane in incomprehension as the grim faced elf continued to stand stiffly before Petra's statue with an arrow sticking completely through his head, then the silver haired elf turned to see Brody standing on the platform next to Damarius, his long bow held tightly in one hand.

  "Get your hands off of her, you filthy blood elf!" The elven ambassador snarled at Vlane, his eyes burning in fury.

  Vlane's dagger slowly slipped from his hand as he continued to stand rigidly, his brain skewered by Brody's arrow, then Delilah wrenched herself free and shoved him away, sending him crashing down the stone steps, where his body came to a stop in a twitching heap at Yrinn's feet.

  "Brody!" The silver haired elf hissed, his expression twisted into a mask of hate. "I had hoped that my brothers managed to kill you!" He looked around pointedly. "And where is your savior? Where is this Dragon Lord that you hope will save you and your pathetic goddess?"

  "I'm right here." Damion said, stepping out from behind the platform, the Dragon Sword held lightly in one hand.

  "So we meet at last." Yrinn murmured, looking the huge warrior over with an appraising gaze. "I can see why my lord Hetris wishes you to join us. You are quite impressive, for a human."

  "And you're every bit the slimy little dung pile that I expected you to be." Damion replied in a conversational tone.

  Yrinn let out a gruff laugh. "It's not too late, you know. You can still fall on your knees and worship Hetris. Together, we can bring this world under our control!"

  "No thanks." The huge warrior shook his head. "I've grown weary of all of these games. I think I'd rather just cut off your head and go home." He started towards the silver haired elf, who suddenly looked terrified.

  "Kill him!" Yrinn screamed, slowly backing away from the approaching warrior. "Kill the Dragon Lord! Do it for Hetris!"

  Damion cursed as dozens of battle crazed eyes turned to focus on him, then he raised his sword and prepared for the coming onslaught.

  **********

  "What are you doing?" Queen Serena demanded as Captain Harper and Dar seized her by her arms and began to drag her away from the temple plaza. "We can't leave! We have to go back!"

  "Don't worry about the others." Dar assured her as she continued to struggle against them. "Damarius will take care of them. He can handle whatever the blood elves can throw at him."

  "But..."

  They ignored her as they fled out into the streets to escape the chaos in the courtyard, but the fighting had already spread out beyond the temple complex, and they found their way blocked by a crowd of terrified elves.

  "Look out!" Anallia cried as several battle crazed blood elves suddenly charged through the panicked crowd towards them.

  "Keep these elves off of us!" Captain Harper bellowed to his men as he searched for a safe path through the turmoil.

  The grim faced sailors protecting them immediately stepped up to meet the attackers, but were quickly outnumbered as more blood elves rushed to join the attack.

  "It's no use!" Anallia told them helplessly. "There's no way through!"

  "We have to get the queen to the Royal Tower!" Captain Harper roared as he used his free hand to cut down two blood elves with a wicked looking curved sword. "She should be safe there!"

  "This way!" Dar quickly led them up to a nearby building and attempted to open the heavy wooden door, but it was locked.

  "Out of the way!" Captain Harper launched a powerful kick that sent the door crashing inward. "Go! Go! Go!" He shoved Dar, Anallia, and the elven queen into the cottage, then ducked inside.

  "Quick!" The fiery haired sprite pointed to a door at the rear of the cottage. "Out the back door!"

  "No!" Queen Serena cried, seeming almost desperate to return to the temple courtyard. "We have to go back! We have to..."

  "We'll be killed if we go back!" Dar told her, pulling her through the back door and into a narrow alleyway. "We have to get back to the Royal Tower where it's safe!"

  They hurried down the deserted alleyway, ducking into the shadows now and then to avoid being seen by anyone who happened to rush by as they fled the chaos, then they dashed down an empty street towards the city's center. After what seemed like an eternity, the courtyard surrounding the Royal Tower finally came into view.

  "Quick!" Dar exclaimed, dashing towards the tower with the struggling queen in tow. "Get inside!"

  They quickly hurried into the huge spiraling tower and dashed up the stairs to the throne room.

  "What do we do now?" Anallia asked fearfully once they reached the top of the tower.

  "We wait for Damion and the others to finish Yrinn and his blood elves off." Dar said, still breathing heavily from exertion.

  "No!" Queen Serena cried, tears running freely down her cheeks. "It isn't supposed to happen this way!" She hurried over to one of the large windows and stared down at the distant temple, wringing her hands in frustration. "We have to go back! We have to go back right now!"

  "Don't be ridiculous, Serena!" Dar hurried over to her side. "We're safe here! Damion and the others can..."

  "No!" The elven queen screamed again, then with a roar of rage, she whirled around and seized the childlike sprite by his hair. "It wasn't supposed to happen this way!" She withdrew a jeweled dagger from the folds of her dress and placed it against the childlike Alena's throat.

  "S-Serena!" Dar started in surprise and pain. "Wha..."

  "This is all wrong!" Queen Serena screeched with an insane expression, ignoring Dar as he struggled to break free of her grip. "He was supposed to die! He was never supposed to make it this far!"

  "But, my queen," Anallia started in confusion. "Yrinn will never make it to the tower! The Dragon Lord will surely..."

  "The Dragon Lord was supposed to die!" The elven queen roared, still holding Dar firmly by his hair. "He was never supposed to make it this far! He was supposed to die, and his sword given over to my god!" More tears began to stream from her eyes. "He'll never forgive me! He'll never forgive my failure!"

  "He?"

  "Hetris!" The queen snarled, her eyes burning with fury. "I was supposed to make sure that the Dragon Lord was killed, and the Dragon Sword recovered so it could be handed over to Him!"

>   "Serena!" Dar gasped in disbelief. "T-This can't be true!"

  "Of course it's true!" The elven queen snarled, giving the childlike sprite a violent shake. "This entire crisis was designed with no other goal than to draw the Dragon Lord here so we may take the Dragon Sword for ourselves!"

  "What?" Dar looked stunned. "But-But... I don't understand! Why? Why would you do such a thing?"

  "I pledged my allegiance to Hetris after I was shown the truth of how Petra abandoned our people, and turned a blind eye to our suffering!" The queen hissed, glancing out of the window towards the temple once again. "She allowed our people to be driven from our homeland, and hunted to near extinction, until we were finally forced to exile ourselves to this island prison! She cares nothing for our people!" Her expression became one of towering fury. "She allowed my only son to die! My baby boy!" Fresh tears began to stream down her cheeks.

  "But why would you try to kill Damion?"

  "Because we need that sword!" The elven queen screamed, shaking Dar by his hair once again. "We've spent the last decade listening to you babble on with your tales of the great and powerful Dragon Lord, and his legendary sword of power! When Yrinn returned from his exile and informed me that the tales were actually true, I knew that we had to get our hands on that sword! With it in our grasp, our people would be able to drive the Etazk from the west, and retake our ancient homeland of Elhenia!"

  "You knew that Yrinn had returned?" Anallia asked in shock.

  "Of course I knew." Queen Serena spat scathingly. "It was Yrinn who introduced me to Hetris. He came to me and told me of the dark god when he first returned from exile. He explained how Hetris rewards those who serve Him, and how we could finally have a god who cared for His children. A god who would walk among us, and listen to our problems and worries. A god who would raise the elven people from the ashes, and help us to finally return to our beloved homeland!"

  "How could you betray your people like this, Serena?" Dar asked, his mind reeling from the realization that they had all been deceived. "How could you turn your back on everything that you have ever known?"