Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons

by Barry Gibbons

  It was close to midnight when Raven finally called for them to halt. "We are getting close to the border. " She told them in a quiet voice. "We should be cautious as we move forward. With a little luck, we may be able to cross the border completely unseen."

  The oppressive darkness made it nearly impossible to see, even with Snowfeather silently drifting over head making sure that they stayed on the trade road. They moved on at a quiet walk, their ears straining to hear the sounds of anyone approaching.

  "There are a number of men just ahead!" Snowfeather hooted in warning. "I couldn't see them, but I could hear them! I'm not sure how many there are, but they're not far ahead, and moving closer!"

  When they finally heard the sound of voices, they were surprisingly close. Two Deirian clansmen emerged from the night, their bows drawn and at the ready.

  "Who goes there?" One of the men called to them, his voice anxious. "Identify yourselves, or prepare to die!"

  "So much for sneaking through the darkness." Veren murmured sarcastically.

  Raven cursed quietly, then called out to the men. "We are only travelers." She assured him. "We mean no harm."

  The two clansmen moved a little closer. "You are Deirian! Identify your clan!"

  "Let's hope your father has not managed to circulate his bounty this far." Damion murmured, his hand casually moving towards the hilt of the Dragon Sword.

  "I am Raven Nightshade, daughter of Evien Nightshade, of the Black Feather clan, and these are my companions. We travel on the most urgent of missions."

  Thirty more clansmen suddenly materialized from the surrounding blackness, their bows all drawn and leveled at the companions.

  "I guess your father's messengers were a bit faster than we first thought." Veren grunted sourly.

  "Maybe not." Raven muttered back.

  "There have been disturbing rumors involving you, Raven Nightshade." An older man dressed in leather dyed a brilliant red told the dark haired woman, stepping out from behind a cluster of warriors. "I have been told that you and your companions were involved in an altercation with my son, Melvik."

  "Damn!" The young woman cursed under her breath. "Your son and his men were on Black Feather land, Jarvik Poisonoak." She told the stern faced man. "He provoked a confrontation. If you have a problem, take it up with your son."

  "And now you and your friends are in our lands!" Jarvik snarled angrily. "And I would take this up with my son, but since he was killed by you and your companions, I cannot do that!"

  "We did not kill your son!" Raven declared. "Besides, if he hadn't threatened us, there wouldn't have been a problem!"

  "So you say my son still lives?" The older man said with some surprise. "My son's own warriors reported that he was killed!" He looked to several men, who stood nearby with their long bows at the ready.

  "He was dead!" One of the men assured Jarvik. "He used magic to kill Melvik!" He pointed to Damion, his eyes fearful.

  "You have such a knack for making new friends." Veren said, looking at Damion with a sour expression.

  Damion shrugged. "It must be my overwhelming personality."

  Jarvik turned to stare at Damion, an expression of disgust on his face. "Is what he said true?" He demanded. "Did you use magic to kill my son?"

  "Your son still lives." Damion told him in a calm voice.

  "Then where is he? Why has he not returned?"

  Damion shook his head. "Your son will not return to you here, though you may visit him anytime you wish as he fulfills his new responsibilities."

  "What is this nonsense?" The older clansman looked to Raven. "Explain what this... this..." He gave Damion another disgusted look. "Freak, is saying at once! Does my son live or not?"

  Veren groaned. "Did he have to say that?"

  Raven saw Damion's face go flat and quickly jumped to his defense. "Watch what you say, Jarvik! This man is the Dragon Lord! He wields the Dragon Sword!"

  As if to emphasize her words, the strings on every long bow that was pointed at them suddenly snapped at one time, causing many shouts of surprise and chagrin. Everyone turned to look at Damion, who continued to glare at Jarvik with a murderous gaze.

  The warriors that had accompanied Melvik during their last confrontation screamed in terror, then turned as fled into the darkness, not wanting to wait around for what came next.

  "Damion, please let me handle this!" Raven pleaded. "They are still my people!"

  Damion didn't reply, but only continued to stare menacingly at the stern faced man.

  Taking this as an agreement, she turned back to Jarvik, who was looking around at his men in confusion. "Your son repeatedly attacked Damion, though he was not provoked. He claimed it was his duty to protect the land from evil."

  "So where is he now?"

  "He is doing just what he said he wished to do." Damion said in a hard voice. "He is now a guardian of the forest. It is his responsibility to insure that no evil shall pass his ever vigilant watch."

  Several of his men had thrown away their useless bows and drew their swords. They looked to the stern faced man, whose face was outraged.

  "Jarvik, do not do anything that you may regret!" Raven warned. "Melvik made that same mistake! I beg you! Just let us be on our way!"

  "I would listen to the lady if I were you." Veren advised the older clansman, whose face had suddenly grown doubtful. "Damion has a short temper and you are dangerously close to becoming yet another demonstration of what happens when you anger the Dragon Lord!"

  "Stop calling me that!" Damion growled at the one eared man.

  "It's who you are!" The Jaghern snapped back. "You are the Dragon Lord! Get used to it!" He turned back to Jarvik. "Take your men and leave us be, Jarvik Poisonoak! Do not bother us any further, lest what happens to you and your men be on your own shoulders!"

  Jarvik stood staring at Damion, his face suddenly pale. His men stood with their swords waiting for their orders, but their faces had all grown fearful.

  Storm began to paw at the ground with steel shod hooves, then he suddenly lunged forward a step, his teeth bared aggressively. Several of the Deirians turned and bolted off into the night, leaving their fellow clansmen to their fates.

  After another long moment, Jarvik motioned to his men, who sheathed their swords. "Just take him and go!" He said in a quavering voice. "Go, and never return to curse our lands!"

  Damion, Veren, and Raven exchanged looks, then Damion nudged the huge warhorse forward. The clansmen parted to clear a path as the shaggy beast bore down on them with no sign of slowing, then watched in fearful silence as they passed by.

  Damion led them forward at a trot for several miles, then reined in Storm near a large rock formation.

  "That was rather tense, wasn't it?" Veren asked, clearly relieved to be clear of the clansmen.

  "Let's just be thankful that word hadn't reached them from the council." Raven said, looking a bit shaken. "We wouldn't have even seen the arrows coming. Since they thought that they merely had a clan dispute, we were able to bluff our way through!"

  They looked to Damion, who had remained silent.

  Veren moved his horse a bit closer, his face apprehensive. "I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds back there, but it just seems to me that one day you're just going to have to accept the fact of who you are, at least in the eyes of the people."

  "I'm not angry with you, my friend." The big warrior assured him in a quiet voice. "You acted as you saw fit, and you and Raven managed to get us out of a tight situation. You did well." He sighed heavily. "And you're right. I do have to accept who I am in the eyes of the people around me."

  "But you have the control over what the people will see you as." Raven told him in a soft voice. "They could either love and respect you, or they could fear and hate you." She gave him a penetrating look. "So tell me, Dragon Lord, which would rather?"

  Damion remained silent. Instead, he stared up into the clear night sky, his eyes immediately drawn to the constellation of the dragon go
d. He gazed into the heavens for several minutes as he struggled with her words, then sighed heavily as he realized that there wouldn't be a simple answer to the question.

  "How much longer do we have before dawn breaks?" Veren asked wearily.

  "Maybe five hours." The young woman answered. "We'll want to find some sort of shelter before then. The sun will begin to make it dangerously hot in a surprisingly short time."

  "Then I guess we had better get moving." Damion told them, nudging Storm forward. "The quicker we get through Veiria, the quicker we can reach Arleia and find a way to the coast. With a little luck, we may actually find what we are searching for."

  Chapter 10

  "There is no other way, milord." The captain of one of the patrols said, throwing up his hands in defeat. "We either have to have to bring the work crews home, or you are going to have to raise taxes!"

  "We can not raise taxes any higher." Lady Skie stated firmly, looking to Sly. He was sitting in Damion's chair behind his desk. He conducted nearly all of the business of running the castle in Damion's office in the company of her, Damarius, and Dar, in an obvious attempt to have them close in case he made some catastrophic blunder. "They are already ridiculously high as it is!"

  "I agree." Sly grumbled regretfully. "The people would rebel if we asked them to give us anything more."

  "How far did the work crews manage to make it?" Dar asked curiously. The red haired boy was sitting at the long meeting table eating a plate of fruit.

  "Nearly half way to Sierria." The captain replied proudly. "And at least ten miles to the south of Sevria. The crews even worked on their down time to create a field of deadly spikes on either side of the road, making it extremely difficult for anything to reach those travelling along the route. They have even established a number of well protected campsites in strategic areas along the trade road that can be easily defended by just a few men." He puffed out his chest with pride. "All in all, we made tremendous progress in making sure that the trade route will be easily defended against future attacks." He frowned. "It's a shame that we haven't had a caravan pass this way in weeks."

  "Are the dragonspawn still staging attacks?" Lady Skie asked.

  The captain shook his head. "There have been a number of sightings, but the creatures do not attack. They seem to be keeping a close watch on our activities though."

  "Is there anything left in the treasury that can be used to cover the costs of the work crews?" Dar inquired, looking to Sly.

  Sly shook his head. "We have completely emptied the coffers constructing the wall and those machines that Damarius designed." He grunted worriedly. He glanced at the old wizard. "How many of your siege weapons have you managed to finish?"

  "Seven. We have placed four of them on the wall, and three on the upper terraces of the castle, then trained a number of soldiers to operate the machines in case there is an attack. They should prove to be quite useful in helping us defend against a shadow dragon."

  The little man nodded in approval. He looked around the room at the others, then over to the captain, who was waiting expectantly. "Very well, Captain. Bring the work crews home. We have done as much as we can."

  The captain nodded, then quickly left to deliver his orders.

  "It's a shame that they couldn't continue to their work until they reached Sierria." Lady Skie murmured regretfully. "To have the caravans begin flowing once again is the only way we are going to rebuild the treasury."

  "Damion is not going to be happy to find out that Tempest's hoard is completely gone," Sly snorted humorlessly. "but it serves him right for dumping his responsibilities into my lap!"

  "Damion doesn't care about that." Dar disagreed. "He cares more for the safety of the people than for treasure."

  "It doesn't really matter if he likes it or not, it's all gone!" Damarius laughed. "I don't think there is much he can do about it now!"

  They all laughed, easing the tension of the room considerably.

  "I have still have a question about your machine." Dar asked Damarius, his face confused. "What happens if one of the scarlet dragons pay a visit. What will keep the soldiers from firing upon them?"

  Damarius smiled. "I designed a series of flags that are deployed when a dragon is sighted. A red flag for a scarlet dragon, and a black one for a shadow dragon. The men are trained to only fire their machines when the black flag is flying. It was a simple enough procedure to devise."

  Azel suddenly appeared at the doorway to the office, his face even more pale than usual.

  "What is wrong, Azel?" Lady Skie asked the boy with concern. "You look as though you have seen a ghost!"

  "There is a dragon circling over the city!" The boy was trembling. "It's so high up that it's rather hard to tell what color it is from this distance!"

  Everyone leapt to their feet and followed the boy out into the courtyard. The city guard had already jumped into action, and a number of men manned Damarius's machines. They nervously scanned the sky, while occasionally looking to the flag that signaled when to attack.

  They stared into the sky for several moments before they caught sight of the dark dot circling high overhead, ducking playfully in and out of the clouds.

  "It's too high to tell!" Dar exclaimed, staring at the dot for some hint of the dragon's color.

  "Make sure the men know to hold their fire until we know for sure what we dealing with!" Sly ordered a passing officer.

  They continued to watch for several long agonizing minutes, then the dot suddenly began descend. They watched with bated breaths as the figure grew larger, though the color was still indeterminate. The beast was suddenly enveloped in a cloud bank and disappeared from view.

  "Steady boys!" Sly roared in a voice that could be heard across town.

  The beast suddenly emerged from the clouds, and everyone gave a collective sigh of relief as the gleaming red scales came into view.

  "It's Tempest!" Dar exclaimed happily, waving to his old friend excitedly.

  They watched as the great scarlet serpent lightly touched down in the center of the courtyard, then rushed forward to greet their friend.

  "Greetings, my friends." Tempest rumbled in a deep voice.

  "Greetings Tempest." Sly welcomed the enormous beast. "What news is there in the search for your enemies?"

  "Very little, I'm afraid. Unfortunately, the shadow beasts are very skilled at evading capture."

  "Have you heard anything from Damion?" Lady Skie asked in an anxious voice.

  The huge dragon shook her head. "Nay. I was actually hoping that you may have heard something recently."

  "We received word from him a number of weeks ago." Sly told her, shrugging his shoulders. "He was on the northern continent, investigating the rumors of attacks by the shadow dragons."

  Tempest's face grew concerned. "He has not summoned me, nor any of my kin since he left, though he did made it clear to me that he did not enjoy using the Dragon Sword's power to force us to do his bidding. I tried to explain to him that he should not to hesitate to use the sword if he needed to contact me while I was away, but..."

  "Damion tends to be a bit stubborn." Lady Skie confirmed, nodding her head knowingly. "Once he has made up his mind about something, it is almost impossible to get him to change it."

  Tempest snorted in amusement, causing twin curls of smoke to drift up from her nostrils. "He means well though. He shows us more respect in that one single act than any other human has ever demonstrated!"

  "Is there any way that you could locate him?" Dar asked curiously.

  Tempest shook her head once more. "Damion must use the sword's power to summon me before I can locate him. I won't have any clue where he is until he wants me to." Her face grew thoughtful. "I had heard rumors that one of the shadow dragons had been killed somewhere in the north, but I dismissed it as just a rumor. Perhaps I should investigate a little closer."

  Sly nodded. "It sounds like something that only Damion would be able to achieve. The killing of a dragon is
a feat that most armies would not be able accomplish!"

  Damarius had wandered closer to the huge dragon, his eyes lost in thought. "Amazing how strong your scales are!" He ran his hand over one of the large scales. "They are unlike anything I have ever seen before!"

  "Father!" Lady Skie shouted in alarm. "What are you doing?"

  "Huh?" The old wizard looked around at the others, then up at Tempest, who was staring down at him with a puzzled look. "Oh, sorry about that!" He said, hastily backing away. "I guess I forgot myself for a moment." He looked at his daughter, who was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. "I was merely examining how tough a dragon's scales would be to find out if my machine will be able to bring down an attacking shadow dragon."

  "What machine is this?" Tempest asked in a troubled tone.

  Damarius smiled and gestured to one of his creations. "It is my greatest accomplishment! This machine can fire a twelve foot steel tipped projectile over a thousand yards! There has never been a machine quite like it!"

  Tempest leaned forward and examined the machine closely. "It looks like a fairly simple design."

  "Not so!" The old man disagreed. "There are dozens of components inside of this machine that were extremely difficult to make! A person cannot see the complexity of the inner workings unless they have my designs!"

  "May I see your designs?"

  Damarius thought about it for a long moment, then his face took on a cunning look. "I will let you see my designs," He smiled, and brushed his brow lock from his eyes. "in exchange for one of your scales."

  Tempest laughed. "Done!" She reached back and plucked a loose scale from her hip, then placed it onto the ground before the old wizard.

  Damarius laughed happily, then produced a large piece of parchment that had been folded many times. He quickly unfolded it, then handed it to the huge towering dragon.

  She examined the designs closely for a number of moments, then looked down at the old wizard, who was happily examining the dragon scale which was perhaps two foot wide, and three feet long. "And now that you have completed your designs, what do you plan to do with them?"