Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5)

by Barry Gibbons

  "And what are you doing here, Etha Brody?" Leia asked curiously. "Shouldn't you be helping Ava Delilah choose who takes the throne?"

  "I don't think so," Brody frowned sadly. "and it's just Brody now. I have given up my position as the royal ambassador."

  "Why did you do that?"

  "I just couldn't continue on after everything that I witnessed in the last few months. When the queen's betrayal was revealed..." The elf sighed heavily and shook his head. "The illusions that I held of my people's superiority over the other races were shattered, and I began to see the elves as they truly are." He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "Once I was able to see what our once proud people had become, I could no longer bear to stay."

  "Does this mean that the elves are now free to come and go from the island without the fear of being banished?" Leia asked in surprise.

  Brody shook his head grimly. "I'm afraid not. Any elves who leave the island are immediately banished from ever returning."

  Leia frowned in confusion. "Doesn't that mean you can never go home?"

  "I'm afraid so," The elven man sighed again. "but I don't consider it that great a loss. After being isolated on that island for so many centuries, my people have become something that I no longer wish to be a part of. After a bit of soul searching, I decided to leave the island, and seek my destiny elsewhere."

  "Wow." Leia looked shocked. "After our last meeting, I would have never believed that you would willingly choose to leave the island."

  Brody chuckled. "A lot has changed since then, my dear. I realized that the island was less a paradise, and more a prison." He lifted his chin proudly. "I decided that I would be a prisoner no longer, even if it meant I could never go home."

  "Where are you going to go?" Damarius asked curiously.

  "Well," The elven man started a bit uncertainly. "Dar and Captain Harper have been telling me about this wonderful little town nestled in the mountains, where the people are friendly, and the lord is a true and honorable man." He made a face. "The lord's daughter is a bit of a pain in the arse, but, otherwise..." He grinned at Leia impishly.

  "Pain in the arse?" The young girl asked with a feigned look of shock. "Me?"

  Brody laughed, then removed a long wrapped package that was tied to his horse's saddle, and held it out to the young girl. "This is for you."

  "For me?" Leia looked genuinely surprised. "Thank you!" She carefully unwrapped the bundle and revealed a intricately carved bow. "But... I can't accept this! This is your great grandfather's bow!"

  Brody smiled a sad smile. "I want you to have it. Besides, you won it fair and square, and I always pays my debts." He looked to Damion. "So, what do you say? Do you have any room for an outcast elf in your city?"

  "Of course." Damion smiled. "We'll be glad to have you. Your experience as an ambassador will come in handy when dealing with some of the foreign merchants who pass through Sevria."

  "That's just what we need," Leia sighed in mock exasperation. "A pointy eared know-it-all hanging around annoying everyone." She smiled back at Brody playfully. "At least Xaxis will have something to snack on now."

  ************

  Shirk and Lady Skie's joining ceremony took place the following evening, just as the sun was beginning to set behind the mountains. Everyone in the city gathered in the enormous courtyard to witness the union, which was presided over by Damarius, who insisted that he would be the one to officiate the ceremony.

  Damion was standing off to one side with Raven and Leia, listening as the old wizard lectured the couple on the many responsibilities that they would have to one another once they were married, when Snowfeather drifted down from the battlements and settled on his shoulder.

  "I think someone needs to speak with you." The huge snow owl informed him with a quiet hoot.

  "Who?" The huge warrior asked, looking around the courtyard curiously. He suddenly spotted a familiar face lingering in the shadows nearby. "I have to check on something." He whispered in Raven's ear. "I'll be right back."

  He slowly made his way through the crowd to try and avoid drawing attention away from Shirk and Lady Skie, until he finally reached the impossibly ancient looking old woman standing in the shadows cast by the castle. "Good evening, Gwynth." He greeted her quietly. "How are you this evening?"

  "I am well." The old woman smiled a sad little smile. "Everything is unusually quiet in the heavens this evening, so I thought I would come join the festivities." She gave Damion an appraising look. "And how are you, Dragon Lord? Did you survive your foray into the murky world of the elves unscathed?"

  "For the most part," Damion replied with a heavy sigh. "though I do still feel rather foolish for allowing myself to be duped. I should have known that the conflict with the blood elves was all just an elaborate ploy to draw me to the island."

  "How could you know?" Gwynth asked in a wise tone. "No one can truly know what lies in the hearts of men." She frowned. "Or elves, in this case." She looked back to Damion. "You attempted to aid those in need, and that is something to be admired, though, perhaps, you should choose the people that you aid a bit more carefully in the future."

  Damion chuckled. "I'll try to keep that in mind."

  They watched as Damarius continued to lecture the couple, seeming to take special pains to remind Shirk of the responsibilities that he would have as his daughter's husband.

  "What ever happened to Yrinn?" The huge warrior asked after several moments. "I forgot to ask Brody and Dar. Did the elves execute him, or did Hetris save them the trouble?"

  "Hetris no longer has the power to harm anyone." The old woman informed him with a sigh. "He didn't have many followers to begin with, and most of them have been killed. It won't be long before He fades away into nothing, unless, of course, He manages to attract some new followers." She shook her head. "No, Yrinn still lives. The elves constructed a prison beneath the Royal Tower to house him, though I doubt he'd cause anymore problems, even if he were freed. The death of Queen Serena seems to have taken the fight right out of him."

  "How did Petra react to the slaughter of Her people right in front of Her statue?"

  "She's not taking it well. I think that She realizes that She has separated Herself from Her people for too long. She is planning on taking steps to correct that mistake."

  "At least something good came out of that whole mess." Damion muttered sourly. He glanced over at Leia, who stood watching the ceremony with her mother. "What do you know of these new winged dragonspawn?"

  "The dreadspawn?" Gwynth shuddered. "Dreadful creatures, they are. They make the rest of the spawn look tame by comparison."

  "Where did they come from?"

  The old woman frowned. "I'm not sure. I never even knew of their existence until recently, which is strange. I'm usually the first to hear when one of the gods are hatching another scheme, but I've heard nothing at all from Draco. Perhaps He's getting better at hiding His plans."

  "Do you know if there are more of the dreadspawn out there?"

  "Almost certainly," Gwynth murmured grimly. "though, if I had to guess, I'd say that Leia whittled down their numbers significantly when she destroyed the horde gathering beneath the foothills." She suddenly grinned. "She is proving to be quite the thorn in the Dragon God's side. This is the second time that she has disrupted His plans. He probably hates her as much as He hates you."

  "That's my girl." Damion smiled proudly.

  "Truly." The old woman agreed. "Leia has a great many of your talents and qualities, not the least of which being a talent for disrupting the plans of the gods."

  The huge warrior's smile faded. "Is Draco planning to take revenge on Leia for her destroying the horde?" He asked with a note of concern in his voice.

  "It's unlikely," Gwynth frowned. "at least, I haven't heard anything that would suggest that He had any plans for her. But I still wouldn't let my guard down. It's hard to say what the Dragon God is capable of." She smiled as Damarius finally completed his sermon, and Shirk and Lady
Skie exchanged their vows. "But, for now, I think it's safe to relax a bit and enjoy the celebration."

  They watched as Shirk and Lady Skie turned to face the crowd, and Damarius pronounced them to be joined for life. A great cheer went up from the crowd as they kissed, then everyone hurried forward to greet the newly joined couple, eager to give them their well wishes.

  ****************************************

  "Everything is almost ready." The huge golden dragon murmured as it stared down at the world from its place among the heavens. "All of the pieces are nearly in place. Once the all of the dragonspawn have finished gathering, it will finally be time to take action."

  "You should have told me what you had planned, Estheryal." A second dragon, a huge beast with iridescent scales, growled in a sulky tone. "You should have informed me that you had already taken action to free our children. It would have saved me the trouble of looking like a fool."

  "You didn't need to know, Draco." Estheryal turned her gaze to the Dragon God. "Besides, you were busy with your own ill conceived plans." She snorted in amusement. "It was quite amusing to watch as they crumbled around your ears, though. I can't remember the last time I witnessed something so entertaining."

  "I'm glad that you found my failures so amusing," Draco snarled angrily. "but I wasn't content to just sit back and watch as our children slowly died out."

  "Nor was I," Estheryal assured him, a hint of a smile still hovering about her mouth. "but your plans had a number of fatal flaws, as you quickly found out. My plans will not fail."

  "How can you be so certain that your plans will succeed where mine have failed?" The Dragon God demanded. "How can you be sure that the Dragon Lord, or his daughter, will not thwart your plans, as they have mine?"

  "Your plans were doomed from the start. I tried to warn you, but you chose not to listen. My plans, on the other hand, are foolproof, and were set into motion long, long ago." She smiled smugly. "The Dragon Lord will not try to thwart my plans. In fact, it is he who will ultimately carry them out."

  "And what about his daughter?" The iridescent dragon asked pointedly. "She has already destroyed one of your hordes without getting so much as a scratch. How will you prevent her from interfering?"

  "The girl took me by surprise." The golden dragon admitted with a frown. "She seems to have inherited her father's talent for causing chaos. But the loss of one small group of spawn will not make any difference, not when there are so many other hordes still assembling throughout the world. When I finally release them upon the mortals, there will be little that she, or her father, can do to stop them."

  "You still should have told me of your plans." Draco grumbled in a spiteful tone. "It would have saved me the effort of looking like a bumbling fool."

  "Your blundering around served my purpose." Estheryal sniffed dismissively. "I knew that if the Dragon Lord was able to continue thwarting your plans, you would forget yourself, and violate the Pact of the Gods. The pact had served its purpose, but it was time that everything returned to the way that it used to be, when the gods controlled the fate of the world." She chuckled in amusement. "And, of course, as long you were busy keeping everyone distracted, no one would even notice what I was doing."

  "I still can't believe that it was you who was responsible for the Dragon Lord's conception." The iridescent dragon shook its head in disbelief. "I would have never thought you would be capable of such a thing!"

  "Something needed to be done to free our children from the Dragon Gem." The golden dragon shrugged. "It was created by a mortal, and I knew that it would take a mortal to wield it. I needed to be certain that the mortal who took it up was someone who was linked to our children, to ensure that he would act on their behalf."

  "And how could you be sure he would act on their behalf?"

  "It took a bit of manipulating." Estheryal admitted with a fleeting frown. "The Dragon Lord had to be guided carefully to make sure that he freed our children from the Dragon Gem. He bore a great hatred for our children after his home was destroyed by a dragon, but, in the end, he did exactly as I expected him to do. He tracked down the madman who possessed the Dragon Gem, and took it from him, then he joined the gem with the sword and released our children back into the world."

  "But they're still not free of his influence." Draco pointed out with a frown.

  "For now," The Serpent Mother agreed, unconcerned. "but that will change soon enough."

  Draco let out a frustrated growl. "So now will you let me in on what you have planned?"

  "I think it would probably be best if you do not know." Estheryal murmured mysteriously. "Your attempts at aiding our children have been woefully inept in the past. I don't need you blundering in at the wrong time and disrupting my plans." She turned to stare at Him with hard eyes. "Just stay out of the way, Draco, and let me handle things. I'll make certain that our children are freed from the Dragon Lord's influence, even if I have to destroy him, and his daughter, myself."

  Without another word, the golden dragon shimmered and vanished, leaving the iridescent serpent to stare at the empty space where She had stood with a frown.

  "I believe you may find that carrying out your plans won't be quite as simple as you think." Draco murmured, returning His gaze to the world below. "Nothing is ever simple when dealing with the Dragon Lord."

  Table of Contents

  OmensentPrincess

  OmensentThe Dragon Lord SeriesOmensent

  Prelude

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2"Hey, Snowfeather,"

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6"I

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10"

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15"So,"

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18"

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23