Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series)

by Barry Gibbons

  "Really?" Sly asked, turning to stare at the dwarven king with a greedy glint in his bloodshot eyes. "Why don't we talk about that for a moment."

  Chapter 21

  The next few months were difficult ones as the people slowly began to try to get on with their lives. Many of the farmers and laborers returned to their farmsteads to find their crops rotting in the fields, leaving many without the means to feed their families, though the stores of food in Sevria and Crete eased this somewhat and insured that no one starved.

  A fierce winter storm blew into the mountains earlier than usual that year, and dropped dozens of feet of snow upon Sevria, forcing its inhabitants to spend most of their time trying to keep the frigid cold at bay, and making travel along the trade road virtually impossible.

  When spring finally crept its way back into the mountains, melting the snow, and making travel through the mountains once again possible, Damion, Raven, Leia, Sly and Slither, journeyed back to the port city of Sierra to look in on Fedrio, and see how the city's reconstruction was coming.

  "Why couldn't we have just flown to Sierra?" Leia asked her father as they set up camp in one of the fortified clearings that had been constructed by the road crews who took care of the trade road. "I could have called on Xaxis. He would have been happy to carry us."

  Ever since the discovery that she could call upon and command the veiled dragons, Leia had spent a great deal of her time in the courtyard outside of the keep with one or several of the enormous beasts, which would land in near silence in answer to her call, and then allow their camouflage to fall away, giving them the appearance that they were materializing out of thin air, causing everyone nearby to fall into a panic. Damion and Raven had even caught her and Slither returning from a flight through the mountains one evening, but Raven quickly stepped in and put her foot down, declaring no more flights without Damion there to accompany her and make sure she stayed safe.

  "The veiled dragons are not slaves created to carry out your every whim." Damion admonished her in a reproving tone. "You really shouldn't force Xaxis and the others to come running every time you get bored."

  "I don't force them to do anything!" Leia told him indignantly. "They come to me because they want to, not because I make them." She suddenly smiled. "They're rather like a bunch of puppies. They love the attention I shower upon them. They look at me much like they would their mother," Her tiny face took on a speculative look. "which I guess I am, if you stop and think about it."

  "Please don't say things like that." Raven asked with a shudder. "Those beasts still make my skin crawl!"

  Raven had not been amused the first time that her daughter had called upon one of the veiled dragons a few weeks after they had returned from Sierra. It had appeared in the courtyard without warning one cold evening while she was busy watching Leia frolic in the snow, causing her to scream out in fear, and sending the entire city into a panic.

  "You shouldn't say things like that about your grandchildren." Sly told Raven with an impish grin, quickly skipping out of arm's reach to avoid her wrath.

  "They really are like children, though." Leia continued with a giggle. "When Draco created them, I think He only taught them enough to survive, then set them loose upon the world without any other direction other than to obtain the Dragon Sword. Now that they're free from His influence, they no longer have a real purpose in life. I think they're now looking to me to help guide them."

  "That is a huge responsibility," The huge warrior told her, his expression serious. "If they look to you for guidance, then you must never violate that trust they have in you. It will be up to you to look after their safety and teach them the difference between right and wrong. It is something that you shouldn't look upon lightly."

  Leia frowned at his words. "I guess I never looked at it in that light." She suddenly scowled. "You just have to take the fun out of everything, don't you?"

  Damion smiled. "I'm just trying to remind you that if you're going to choose to stand in as their mother figure, you need to understand everything that is involved." He finished placing a bundle of wood into a pile, then gave the young girl a questioning look.

  Leia stared at the wood for a long moment, her eyes narrowed in concentration, then smiled in satisfaction as it suddenly burst into flames.

  "Very good!" Damion nodding approvingly. "You're growing more skilled!"

  "Damarius has been making me practice with him every evening after I have finished training with Sly." Leia shrugged, holding her hands out to warm them. "Starting a fire was one of the first things he had me try."

  "He had me levitate an apple off the ground," Damion chuckled. "then asked me to blow it up. I thought he meant to make it larger, so I caused it to quadruple in size, He seemed impressed, but told me that he meant for me to cause it to explode." He laughed again. "You should have seen the look on his face when it suddenly blew up in his face!"

  Snowfeather suddenly glided in from the darkness on silent wings, a large rabbit clenched in beak. "Everything looks clear between here and Sierra." He reported, settling down just outside the fire light and ripping into his rabbit hungrily. "I didn't see a single soul between here and the city."

  "Good evening, my dear friends." A woman's voice suddenly emitted from the shadows, causing everyone to jump to their feet in surprise.

  "Gwynth!" Leia exclaimed happily, hurrying over to greet the impossibly old woman who stepped from the darkness with an gentle smile on her aged face.

  "You're not very good at your job, you know that, right?" Damion told his familiar silently in amusement. "Good evening, Gwynth." He greeted the legendary old woman, ignoring Snowfeather's squawk of protest. "It's nice to see you."

  "Why, thank you, Dragon Lord." The old woman smiled. "It nice to be seen."

  "Have you been busy running messages for the gods?" Leia asked curiously, taking her by the hand and leading her closer to the fire.

  "Actually, no, I haven't." Gwynth frowned, the lines around her eyes hardening slightly. "They have been too busy squabbling amongst themselves to bother looking in on their children. Etaz was quite put out with Draco and Estheryal when they threatened to exterminated His worshippers. Many of the other gods feel they went too far, and it has caused quite a bit of tension."

  "They can squabble all they want as long as they don't bring their problems down to the mortal world." Damion growled.

  "You really don't want their squabbling to continue." The old woman told him in a wise tone. "Haven't you noticed how the weather has turned harsh, and how the spring has been struggling to break through the almost unnaturally cold winter that nearly froze everything solid? It isn't because of mother nature's fury. It's because of the gods. They're unhappy, and their displeasure is starting to effect the mortal world."

  "I'm getting rather tired of the gods and their petty disagreements." Damion sighed in exasperation.

  "Well, you had better get used to it." Gwynth told him bluntly. "It's going to get far, far worse, before it starts to get any better. You may have stopped the Etazk before they were able to spread into other lands, but they were not the only threat to the mortal world. The War of the Gods has only just begun, and it will take you all to keep the mortal world from plunging into utter chaos."

  "Yeah," Sly snorted sardonically. "No pressure there."

  "I'm sure you'll all do just fine." Gwynth laughed a gentle laugh. "As long as you stay together, and refuse to allow anything to split you apart, there isn't anything in this world that can defeat you."

  "Draco told me that He was abandoning His plans with the veiled dragons." Damion murmured to the old woman with a frown. "He claimed that He had wanted nothing more than to help His children continue to flourish when He took Leia, and swore He wouldn't come against me again." He gave her a penetrating look. "Do you think that I should believe him?"

  "I have no doubt that the Dragon God wished to aid His children," Gwynth told him. "and He has indeed finally discovered the flaw in His plan
s," She gave Leia a wink. "but I doubt He will give up on His main goal of seeing His children rule the world once more. If I know Draco, He'll alter His plans, instead of abandoning them completely."

  "I guess I should start looking for His next attempt to obtain the Dragon Sword." The huge warrior sighed wearily.

  "I doubt He'll try to take the sword from you by force. He's more likely to try and get you on His side, and convince you to use the sword to help Him achieve His goals."

  "Good luck with that." Damion snorted in derision. "I'm as likely to help the Dragon God as Sly is to quit drinking."

  "Hey!" The little man protested as everyone laughed.

  "Don't underestimate the Dragon God." Gwynth cautioned. "I doubt He will come to you directly for aid, but He is very skilled in the art of manipulation. You may end up aiding Him while not even realizing it. You shall need to be very cautious."

  "Is this ever going to end?" The huge warrior asked in exasperation. "Am I going to have to spend my entire life looking over my shoulder for the next god to try and destroy everything that we have worked so hard to create?"

  "It's the way of the world, I'm afraid." The old woman sighed. "All you can really hope to do is continue to face the threat head on, and do your very best to stay strong. It won't be easy, and there'll be times that everything may seem lost, but as long as you all stay together, there isn't anything you cannot overcome."

  Damion looked to his wife and daughter, then up at the glittering constellations above. "That won't be a problem then." He murmured confidently. "Even the gods themselves aren't strong enough to tear us apart."

  **********

  "You must be feeling quite satisfied with yourself." The huge iridescent dragon growled to the Serpent Mother as they stared down at the world below. "I imagine watching my plans crumble around me must have been quite entertaining."

  "It was entertaining, yes," Estheryal admitted. "but it wasn't satisfying at all, Draco. You have been gambling with our children's lives, and that is something I could not allow."

  "I understand your reservations," Draco grumbled. "but our children are already on the brink of extinction. The mortals of this world have taken over, and if something isn't done soon, our children shall vanish, never to grace the world against with their wisdom or beauty."

  "That was very poetic," The Serpent Mother laughed. "but it doesn't chance the fact that your plans would have ended up destroying our children, not saving them. It would have been better to do nothing, rather than to attempt what you have set out to achieve."

  "And nothing is exactly what you have done!" Draco glared at the golden dragon with angry eyes. "You have merely watched as our children have slowly been slaughtered by the mortals that now infest this world, our world! You have done nothing to aid our children, yet you wish to lecture me?" He turned away in disgust. "You shall not shame me any further, Estheryal. You, who refused our own children in their time of need, have no right."

  "No right?" Estheryal laughed again. "Have you forgotten who I am, Draco? Our children would not exist if not for me. And just what makes you think that I have done nothing for our children?" She shook her head. "The Dragon Lord's birth was no accident," She told the Dragon God in a patient tone. "and his recovery of the Dragon Gem and Dragon Sword was also no accident."

  "It was you?" Draco whirled back around to face the Serpent Mother, His jaw open in surprise. "You were behind the Dragon Lord's creation?"

  "Something needed to be done before our children were completely wiped out." Estheryal shrugged. "In a world now dominated by mortals, who better to help our children survive and thrive?" She chuckled at the look of utter astonishment on the Dragon God's face. "You really didn't think I would just sit back and watch as our children were destroyed without taking action, did you?"

  "Why didn't you tell me this?" Draco asked, still stunned by this revelation.

  "Because I had been developing my plans since the day our children were trapped within that cursed gem," Estheryal growled, her eyes flashing with sudden heat. "I knew that if we ever wanted to see them free of the human sorcerer's dark magic, it would take the aid of a mortal. It took quite a bit of manipulating to get all of the pieces to finally fall into place, but with a bit of effort, I was able to insure the Dragon Lord's conception. Once he was grown, I made sure that both the Dragon Sword and the Dragon Gem fell into his grasp, knowing the bond that he shared with our children would cause him to release them back into the world once more."

  "But that doesn't explain why you didn't let me in on your plans." Draco protested in an irritated tone. "Why did you let me continue forward with my own plans knowing it would endanger our children?"

  "Because you provided the perfect distraction." The Serpent Mother told him in a plaintive tone. "You were distracting everyone from what I was doing, so I decided to take advantage of the situation."

  "But you allowed me to violate the pact!" Draco objected. "You knew exactly what would happen if the Dragon Lord confronted me, yet you did nothing to stop it!"

  "No, I encouraged it." Estheryal smiled a wicked smile. "I sent Gwynth down to tell the Dragon Lord that if he failed to stop you from obtaining his child, then he must kill her, or the entire world would be lost."

  "But why?" Draco looked confused. "What could you have gained by telling him that?"

  "Because I knew it would force him to confront you directly. He would never murder his own child, so it would leave him with only one option." She chuckled again. "I knew that if the Dragon Lord confronted you, you would take action against him, and violate the Pact of the Gods."

  "You wanted the pact violated?"

  "Of course. I can't continue with my plans to free our children while being forced to watch from the heavens." The Serpent Mother smiled another toothy smile. "The time has finally come for our children to be freed from the cruel chains that bind them, and take their places as the rulers of this world."

  "And what about the human?" Draco asked curiously.

  "The Dragon Lord?" Estheryal chuckled a long throaty chuckle. "Why, he's the one who's going to free them." She laughed again, then slowly wavered and vanished, leaving the Dragon God to stare down at the world below, his eyes alight with anticipation.