"Are you certain?"
The young girl nodded. "I can feel them. They're looking for us, but I don't think they know we're here yet."
Damion quickly rolled to his feet and nudged Slither and Raven awake. "We have company."
"More Etazk?" Raven asked, rolling to her feet and grabbing her bow.
The huge warrior shook his head. "Leia says that the veiled dragons are close. She says she can sense them, and that they're searching for us. She doesn't think they know where we are at, though."
"What are we going to do?" The young woman sounded worried.
"You and Slither are going to stay here and look after Leia," Damion told her in a tone that told her that he wouldn't be argued with. "I'm going to try and draw it away. It's after the Dragon Sword, so with a little luck, it won't even noticed you're here."
"Be careful." She told him in a small voice.
Damion gave her a reassuring smile, then turned to Slither. "You stay here with Leia and Raven. Make sure nothing happens to them."
The huge shadowspawn nodded his head curtly, then drifted over to hover behind Leia protectively.
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Make sure you do everything your mother tells you." He gave Leia a quick kiss on the forehead, then slipped out of the door and into the darkness with Snowfeather drifting silently overhead.
He quickly made his way away from their camp and out into the nearby hills, ignoring the rain that poured down from the heavens. Once he was a mile or so from the ruined farmstead, he drew in his magic, and slipped the Dragon Sword from its sheath. He stared up into the stormy sky for several long moments, then slowly released his magic into the legendary blade, which instantly burst into white hot flames that could be seen for miles around.
"Let me know the instant you see or hear anything." He told the huge snow owl, who appeared to be struggling to remain aloft.
"I'll do my best, but I don't know how long I can keep this up. My feathers are soaked! It's getting difficult to stay aloft!"
"Just do your best. As soon as the beast appears, head back to the others. I don't want you to get injured."
They waited patiently for any sign that the beast was nearby, the Dragon Sword blazing like a beacon for all to see, then they finally heard a scream shatter the night, drowning out the crash of thunder that accompanied the cry.
"I think it's finally noticed you!" Snowfeather warned him, tilting his wing and heading back towards their camp. "Be careful, and don't get yourself killed!"
Damion continued to wait, scanning the boiling skies above for any sign of the beast that he knew was there, but he could see nothing through the haze of drizzling rain.
It was the sudden sound of wind whistling across leathery wings that caused him to leap aside, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the invisible beast that suddenly dropped from the sky with lethal intent.
"Nice try," He growled at the veiled dragon as he rolled to his feet. "but not quite..." His next words were drowned out by searing flames as he was engulfed by the beast's deadly fire. He ignored the flames, and dropped to his back, narrowly avoiding the raking talons he knew would be slashing blindly through the blaze.
He rolled back to his feet and danced clear of the flames, then scanned the area in search of the camouflaged serpent. The rain, which continued to pour from the heavens, made it much easier to see the hulking creature, and he quickly spotted a disturbance in the air a dozen paces away.
He drew in his will and focused it onto the Dragon Sword, then gestured to the heavens with the flaming blade. There was a sudden flash of blinding light and an ear shattering crash as a bolt of lightning suddenly streaked down from the storm clouds above, striking the shimmering mass with deadly precision, and exploding with tremendous force.
An agonized roar ripped through the night, and a great smoking wound appeared along one side of the shimmering mass. Great blotches of gray scales appeared through the veiled dragon's camouflage, making it easier to detect the injured serpent, which had been throw from its feet by the explosion.
Damion rushed forward, the flaming Dragon Sword poised to finish off the injured beast, but an invisible force suddenly struck him from behind, sending him hurling through the air, where he crashed down into the soft grass. He scrambled back to his feet, his eyes carefully scanning the area for any sign of what could have struck him, and immediately saw the injured dragon struggling to regain its footing. He started forward once again, but was instantly bathed in flames from above.
Damion cursed, then threw himself clear of the flames an instant before a second veiled dragon, which had been circling in silence above, crashed to the ground where had been standing a moment before. The new beast roared in frustration and lashed out its razor sharp claws in an attempt to disembowel the huge warrior, but he somehow managed to roll clear, narrowly avoiding the slashing talons as they raked through the empty air.
The injured dragon, still roaring in agony, leapt into the air and tried to sail away, clearly wanting no further part in the fight.
Damion rolled to his feet once again and saw that the injured dragon was trying to escape. Reacting instantly, he drew in his magic, intent to try and force the beast back to the ground, but the second dragon suddenly lashed out with its spike covered tail, slamming him to the ground with brutal force.
The breath whooshed from his lungs, and the bone rattling blow knocked him senseless for several moments, but his dwarven made armor somehow managed to save him from serious injury.
He struggled to sit back up, and saw the strange shimmering that was the second veiled dragon charging towards him. He desperately tried to scramble back, but a massive forepaw suddenly slammed down onto his chest and pinned him to the ground.
The veiled dragon slowly allowed its camouflage to shift to a dull grey, giving the enormous beast the appearance that it was materializing from thin air, then it leaned in close, its lips curled back in a vicious snarl.
"Stop!" A girl's voice suddenly rang through the night, causing the dragon to freeze. Leia suddenly appeared from the darkness nearby and charged fearlessly towards them, her tiny face angry.
"Leia!" Damion screamed, struggling even harder to break loose from the dragon's grip, terrified the beast would attempt to slaughter his only child. "Leia, run!"
"I said stop!" Leia roared in a commanding voice, ignoring her father, and continuing to march toward them with determined expression.
"Leia, run! Get out of here!" He couldn't believe the young girl was being so foolhardy, and desperately tried to wriggle loose from the dragon's grip, but to his amazement, instead of being enraged and attacking the young girl, the veiled dragon flinched back fearfully, though it continued to keep Damion firmly pinned to the ground.
"Release him!" She commanded, staring up at the dragon, her hazel eyes blazing with anger. "I said release him, now!" She stomped her foot imperiously.
The dragon let out a surprisingly pathetic whimper, and retreated several steps, releasing its grip on Damion, who immediately leapt to his feet and placed himself in between the beast and his daughter.
"Go!" Leia commanded, striding around her father and facing the veiled dragon fearlessly. "Go now! Leave us in peace!"
The monstrous dragon stared down at the young girl, its eyes full of doubt as it looked between the Dragon Lord and his daughter.
"I said go!" She stomped her tiny foot once more.
The dragon flinched again and backed away several steps, then, with one last whimper of fear, it launched itself into the air and disappeared into the night.
"What do you think you were doing?" Damion roared, scooping the young girl up into a crushing embrace. "You could have gotten yourself killed!" He held onto her tight, still trembling from the fear of losing her.
"I'm okay," She assured him, her eyes bulging slightly from his embrace. "but it's getting a little difficult to breathe."
"What were you thinking?" He demanded, placing his daughter on the ground befo
re him and kneeling until they were on the same level. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"
"That beast wouldn't have tried to harm me." She told him confidently.
"How could you know that?" He demanded, still breathless from the scare she had given him. "It could have slaughtered you, and I wouldn't have been able to stop it!"
"It would have never tried to hurt me." She disagreed, shaking her head. "I could feel what it was thinking. It wouldn't have attacked."
"Leia!"
Raven and Slither appeared from the darkness with Snowfeather ghosting silently overhead, and the young woman immediately hurried over to scoop her daughter up into her arms.
"What were you thinking running off like that?" She demanded in a shrill voice. "You could have gotten killed!"
"How did she manage to slip away from you?" Damion asked Slither, who was clearly upset that he had allowed Leia disappear.
"SSShe became upssset not long after you left." The shadowspawn hissed, hurrying over to look the young girl over and make sure she was uninjured. "SSShe claimed that you were in danger, then sssuddenly ran off into the darknessss. SSSlither attempted to follow, but little Leia isss much quicker than ssshe appearsss."
Damion looked to his daughter.
"I couldn't help it." The young girl explained, looking just as confused as her father. "I was suddenly overwhelmed with the feeling that you were in tremendous danger, and the next thing I knew, I was running through the darkness."
"What happened to the dragons?" Raven asked, looking through the rain to the devastated area in confusion.
"I managed to injure one of the beasts badly enough that it fled. As for the other beast," The huge warrior held his hands out helplessly. "It had me dead to rights. It should have killed me."
"What happened?" Raven looked terrified. "How were you able to escape?"
"Leia saved me." Damion shrugged, returning the Dragon Sword to its sheath. "After I managed to wound the first beast, it attempted to get away. I tried to finish it off before it could flee, but a second dragon struck. It managed to knock me senseless, and pin me to the ground. I would be dead if Leia hadn't appeared and ordered it to release me."
They all looked to Leia, who was soaked to the bone from the drizzling rain, and snuggling closer to her mother in an effort to get warm.
"Let's get back to camp before we start bombarding her with questions." Raven decided immediately. "We can figure out what happened here once she's warm."
They quickly made their way back to the camp and settled down around the fire to warm themselves.
"Okay, young lady," Damion said, producing a blanket from their packs and wrapping it around his daughter. "Would you care to explain what just happened?"
"Well, I'm not entirely certain." Leia told him truthfully. "Everything happened so quickly." She thought about it for a moment. "I could feel what they were thinking. It was like they were screaming inside of my head. I was completely overwhelmed by the sense that the dragons were preparing to kill you." She frowned. "The next thing I knew, I was running through the grass with the rain pouring down around me. I heard a tremendous crash, and I was suddenly overcome with pain." She rubbed her side, indicating the afflicted area. "It was like my side was on fire! As quickly as it appeared, the pain faded, and I suddenly felt panic."
Damion's mouth dropped open in surprise, and he was struck with the sudden feeling of dread.
"The feeling of panic was then joined with an overpowering anger like I've never felt before. That's when I came upon you and the dragon." The young girl looked to her father, her tiny face grave. "I could feel what it was thinking, feel the anticipation it felt as it prepared to kill you." She shuddered. "It was horrible!"
"Why is this happening?" Raven asked, her eyes brimming with tears. "What's happening to her?"
"I'm not sure," Damion frowned. "but I have a few suspicions." He nodded to his daughter. "Go ahead and continue."
"Well, when I saw that the beast had you pinned, I knew I had to do something." She pulled the blanket around her until only her tiny face was visible. "I commanded it to stop and it froze. I was overwhelmed with the feeling of shock tinged with fear. I realized that the monstrous dragon was actually afraid." She laughed a weak laugh, then shook her head in disbelief. "It was afraid of me! I could feel fear coming from the beast in waves. It was terrified! Something about me stirred something deep inside of the dragon, something that shook it to its very core." She sighed deeply. "Once I realized this, I knew that it would never attempt to harm me. I commanded it to release you, and then told it to leave."
"And it actually left?" Raven looked stunned.
The young girl nodded. "It couldn't get away quick enough."
"It appears that you and the veiled dragons are connected, much like Snowfeather and I," Damion murmured in a troubled tone. "except you are linked to the dragons by blood instead of magic."
"What does that mean?" Raven asked, glancing over to Snowfeather, who was attempting to dry his feathers using the heat produced by the forge.
"It means that when Draco used Leia's blood to create these creatures, he inadvertently created a bond between them. She can feel what they are thinking, and, if I had to guess, communicate with them over distances, if she wanted." The huge warrior frowned. "It also means she can feel their pain." He looked at his daughter with an apologetic expression. "I suspect the pain you felt was from the wound I inflicted upon the first dragon."
"That would explain why I was suddenly overcome with panic." Leia agreed, rubbing her side once more, remembering the intense pain that had momentarily ravaged her body. "Once the dragon was injured, all it wanted to do was flee to avoid being killed."
"Can you sense what the dragons are feeling now?"
Leia's face became a mask of concentration. "They're frightened. They have a task that Draco has given them to perform, but they are too afraid of confronting me." She gave her father a crooked smile. "They do not wish to anger their mother any further."
"That's a rather disturbing thought." Damion murmured with an inward shudder. The thought that these new dragons looked upon his daughter as their mother made his skin crawl. "What are they going to do next?"
Leia frowned, then shook her head. "They do not have a plan. They have went into hiding until they can decide their next step. They'll probably attempt to contact Draco and report what has transpired."
They all sat in silence for several long minutes, the enormity of their discovery weighing heavily on their shoulders.
"Well," Raven sighed finally, her expression a mixture of worry and amusement. "I guess that means we're grandparents now."
Leia burst out laughing, easing the tension in the room.
"That's an even more disturbing thought!" Damion laughed, relieved to see how well his daughter was handling the situation. "I hope they don't expect us to visit with treats like other grandparents."
They settled back and tried to get some sleep, exhausted from the day's events. Damion laid awake for several hours, listening to the storm as it continued to pound down on the canvas roof, still disturbed by their encounter with the veiled serpents. Finally, he succumbed to exhaustion and drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 12
"It looks as though word about the Etazk has caused all of the rats to abandon ship." Sly snorted sarcastically as they rode through the deserted streets of Sierra. "I doubt there are enough men here to protect a wheel of cheese, let alone the entire city."
"This is a bit unsettling." Juco murmured, looking around nervously. "We made port here just a few weeks ago, and this place was bustling with people. Where did everyone go?"
"They fled." Sly grunted shortly. "They chose to save their own hides, and leave the city to its fate."
"It's definitely going to make defending the docks a bit more challenging." Damarius frowned. "We need those reinforcements from Crete worse than ever now."
It had taken them four days of hard riding to reach
the port city of Sierra. When they finally rode down into the sprawling city, they found it almost completely abandoned. The wide cobblestone streets, which were usually crowded with locals and merchants going about their daily business, were empty, save for all of the litter and debris left behind by those fleeing for safety.
They made their way through the deserted streets until they reached an imposing stone building situated in the center of town, where they found a number of merchants and soldiers gathered together in a small crowd.
"Just face it, Fedrio," One of the soldiers snarled at an older man, who stared back at the soldier with a stern expression. "Sierra is lost. As soon as word got around about the Etazk, everyone packed up and fled. We only have a few dozen men left from the city guard, and most of the locals hopped aboard ships heading east or north. We don't stand a chance against an entire army!"
"This doesn't look promising." Sly growled as they led their horses toward the gathering. "Things appear to worse than we first feared."
"So you are going to tuck tail and run away?" The older man demanded, his gaunt face red with anger. "Is that what you're saying?"
"I'm saying that it is complete idiocy for us to throw our lives away defending a city that is completely indefensible."
"Indefensible?" Damarius asked, sliding down from his saddle and pushing his way through the crowd. "What do you mean indefensible?"
"It means this city cannot be defended, old man." The soldier told the old wizard condescendingly.
"I know what the word means, you jackass," Damarius snapped at the offending soldier, causing him to flinch back. "I meant, what makes you think that Sierra cannot be defended?"
"We don't have enough men." The soldier gestured to the small gathering of guards. "This is our entire force. How do you expect us defend the whole city, you senile old coot?"
"Careful." Sly warned the man, stepping up to stand next to Damarius, a hard expression on his face.
Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) Page 21