Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons

by Barry Gibbons

  Chapter 18

  "It must be their reinforcements." Sly said in a tired voice, watching the new army of dragonspawn as they continued to pour from the forest and gather in the clearing on the far side of the trade road. "I had hoped that they hadn't been holding any in reserve, but that was too much to hope for, I guess."

  "This new force seems to be led by yet another shadowspawn." Damarius pointed to a shadowspawn at the head of the new army. He squinted in an effort to get a better look. "It appears to have already suffered an injury!"

  Sly peered down at the creature and was surprised to see it was indeed missing part of one arm. "You're right! It looks as though it has already seen some battle!"

  They watched as the force continued to grow, then at a gesture from the one armed shadowspawn, the force suddenly charged forward towards the first mass of dragonspawn, obviously ready to join their fellows in the attack.

  "Here they come!" The little man bellowed in warning.

  The new force of dragonspawn merged with the first, then to everyone's surprise, began attacking their fellow dragonspawn, ripping into the already injured and demoralized beasts with a brutal efficiency.

  "They're killing their own force!" The old wizard said in a baffled voice. "Why in the world would they do that?"

  "Who cares?" Sly declared, watching as the dragonspawn continued to slaughter one another. "There will be less of them for us to deal with!"

  The fresh army of dragonspawn reduced the few remaining creatures with surprising ease, then after only a few moments of mingling around, they slowly began to retreat from the wall and move back across the open clearing. They gathered around the one armed shadowspawn momentarily, then turned and began to disappear back into the surrounding forest where they came, leaving the shadowspawn to stand alone in the center of the pasture.

  "What just happened?" Sly asked, still expecting the dragonspawn to come boiling back out of the forest. "Why would they slaughter their own force, then retreat? That makes no sense!"

  "It looks as though that shadowspawn ordered them to be killed," Damarius murmured, scratching his cheek absently. "then sent the rest of the spawn back to where they came from!"

  "Why would it do that?"

  The old wizard shrugged. "I'm not sure," He gestured to the crippled beast, who had raised its good arm and began waving it back and forth, obviously trying to get their attention. "but I'm guessing it wants to tell us!"

  After several minutes of discussion, both Sly and Damarius decided to go out and meet with the creature, which continued to wait patiently in the center of the clearing. They were forced to wait while several of the town blacksmiths made some rudimentary repairs to the outer gate, then, once it had been raised high enough to allow them to pass, they rode out to meet the crippled beast, carefully weaving their way through the mass of charred corpses.

  The shadowspawn did not react as they approached, but merely watched them with unreadable eyes.

  "Do you speak the common tongue?" Damarius asked as they reined in their horses a few feet away.

  "I do." It replied in a hissing voice.

  "Why have you come here?"

  "Massster sssent me to watch over hisss home."

  "Who is your master?" Sly asked, his face confused. "And why would he have you destroy your own kind?"

  "Massster isss the dragon man." The shadowspawn answered, rubbing its crippled arm unconsciously.

  "Dragon man?" The little man suddenly snapped his fingers. "Damion! He was the one who sent you?"

  The creature nodded its head once. "Massster ssspared me, and I pledged my life to him. He accepted, and declared my name to be SSSlither."

  "And he had you gather other dragonspawn to help protect Sevria?"

  Slither nodded once more. "Massster wissshesss hisss home to be protected. He sssent me to insssure it remainsss untouched."

  "Where was Damion when you last saw him?" Damarius asked curiously.

  "In the landsss to the north." It answered. "Massster plansss to face the Mother. He plansss to dessstroy the Mother."

  "The brood mother?"

  The shadowspawn nodded yet again. "The Mother ssseeksss to dessstroy Massster, and isss awaiting hisss arrival in the landsss of the ssserpent people."

  "The Arleians." The old man said knowingly. "So he's heading to the Arleia. Is the brood located there?"

  "I warned Massster, not all will be asss it appearsss. The Mother reliesss on deception to fool thossse she wissshesss to avoid. Massster mussst be careful if he isss to face the Mother."

  "I hope he knows what he is doing." Sly said worriedly. "It sounds as though the brood mother is far more dangerous than he may realize."

  "So what are you planning to do now that you have helped to save your Master's home, Slither?" Damarius asked the shadowspawn.

  "I will remain here, asss Massster ordered. I will continue to insssure Massster'sss home remainsss unharmed." It stared at them for a moment. "Do not fear attacksss by the ssspawn any longer. Thossse loyal to the brood have been dessstroyed, and will not return."

  "Can you insure that travelers moving through the mountains along the trade route also remain untouched?"

  Slither cocked his head to one side. "Would thisss pleassse Massster?"

  "Indeed it would!" Damarius assured the creature. "The safety of those travelling the trade road is your Master's responsibility! He would wish you to insure that the spawn no longer prey upon those caravans!"

  Slither pondered this for a long moment. "It ssshall be asss you sssay. The ssspawn will no longer attack thossse travelling thessse roadsss."

  The old wizard nodded approvingly. "When your master returns, we shall be sure to let him know how faithfully you have served him."

  The shadowspawn nodded one last time, then turned and walked towards the edge of the forest, seeming to almost merge with the shadows as he disappeared from view.

  "Well, that was certainly unexpected!" Sly laughed as they trotted back towards the safety of the wall. "I would have never expected Damion to send an army of dragonspawn to protect Sevria!"

  "He has always had a bit of a strange sense of what's appropriate!" Damarius agreed with a nod.

  "Do you think we can trust that thing to keep its word, and protect the trade route from other dragonspawn?"

  "Of course! It was obviously eager to follow Damion's commands, even if he wasn't the one that actually gave them." The old wizard laughed happily. "As long as we don't have any more visits from any shadow dragons, I think the worst may be over!"

  They continued their way back into the city to find much of it still burning out of control from the dragon's flames.

  "You there!" Sly roared at one of the guards rushing by. "Get the men to work getting these fires under control! The dragonspawn are no longer a threat, and we have to keep the rest of the city from burning to the ground!"

  The men quickly gathered together in organized groups to form a bucket brigade from the closest wells to the raging infernos. After several hours of intense effort, they finally managed to quench all of the flames, and they were able to access the damages.

  "It looks as though we lost about forty people to the shadow dragons, and dozens more were injured." Damarius reported to everyone later after they had gathered together in Damion's office. "Nearly a third of the buildings in the town have been destroyed, but on the upside, none of the supply warehouses were damaged."

  "At least we won't have to worry about going hungry." Sly sighed wearily. "That's something anyways."

  "Do you think that the shadow dragons may return?" Lady Skie asked worriedly.

  Dar laughed. "If they do, we'll just give you another spear so you can take care of it for us!"

  They all laughed. They had found the story of Dar and Lady Skie's encounter with the shadow dragon greatly entertaining, though no one seemed surprised that she would try and face one of the beasts on her own.

  "How long should it take for the crews to start r
epairing the damages?" Sly asked, still chuckling.

  Dar made a face. "It may be a while before they are able to get started in the city. Every available person has been pressed into service and assigned to one of the work crews to aid in clearing away those dead dragonspawn. The crews are using the corpses to build a number of large bonfires in the clearing. Once that's done, we still have those two dead shadow dragons to deal with. They can't just be left where they are to rot, otherwise there will be disease running rampant through the streets within a month!"

  Damarius grunted in agreement. "That raises an interesting problem. What are we going to do with those carcasses? That is several tons of scale, meat, and bone lying out there! It would be a tragedy to let it all go to waste!"

  "Are you suggesting we eat them?" Lady Skie asked, her expression aghast. "That's disgusting!"

  The old wizard shrugged. "Why not? That meat could feed a lot of people for a long time, and I think I may have a few ideas for the scales. I bet they would make incredible material for armor or shields!"

  "But to eat the meat?"

  Sly shrugged, his face thoughtful. "Why not? Who knows? It may actually be good! Besides, how many people can actually say they ate a dragon? It'll be worth trying it for the bragging rights alone!"

  Dar's face had taken on a faintly nauseated expression. "We should send out riders to Sierra and let them know that the worst seems to be over."

  The little man nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea. The sooner we are able to get the caravans to begin traveling through the mountains again the better!"

  "Are we sure that we can trust that shadowspawn at its word?" Lady Skie asked doubtfully. "How do we know that its telling the truth?"

  "We can trust Slither to do as he promised." Damarius assured his daughter. "I have the feeling that when Damion spared the poor creature, it was the first bit of kindness it had ever received. It seemed almost desperate to please him. He will do whatever necessary to insure the trade route remains safe."

  "Did it say where Damion and Veren were the last time it saw them?"

  "From what we could gather, they were somewhere in Veiria, heading east towards Arleia. Slither seemed genuinely concerned that Damion wasn't fully aware of all of the dangers in searching for the brood mother."

  "I hope he knows what he's doing." She said worriedly.

  "Damion can take care of himself." Sly reassured her. "Besides, it would take an army of shadow dragons to stop him!"

  ************

  Damion wiped away the blood from the ragged gash above his eye, then turned to face the advancing shadow dragons.

  Many of the beasts were injured and half mad with pain from being bombarded by the swirling tornado of granite, but many others had survived the torrent with merely minor wounds. These beasts charged forward, trampling over several of their injured companions in their eagerness to attack.

  He drew in his magic once again, and focused it on a splintered log near the edge of the plaza, then released it through the Dragon Sword. The log suddenly lifted into the air, and whistled end over end through the air, impaling one of the advancing dragons through the chest, and hurling it backwards, where it collapsed in a twitching heap.

  Another beast belched a wave of flames as it charged, obscuring everything from sight, then suddenly lunged forward through the flames, raking the air with its razor sharp claws wildly.

  Damion threw himself backward, narrowly avoided the swiping talons, then tried to roll to his feet, but the shadow dragon was too quick. It lashed out at him again, striking him hard in the chest, and sending him flying back through the air. He crashed to the mossy ground in a heap, knocking the breath from his lungs with a loud whoosh. The Dragon Sword flew free from his grip, and clattered to the ground dozen yards away.

  The shadow dragon suddenly roared in triumph, then charged forward, its eyes locked on the sword.

  Damion gasped, desperately trying to draw air into his lungs as he struggled to get to his feet. His eyes fell upon the tiny form of Susa, who had suddenly appeared from the edge of the swamp, her eyes locked on the Dragon Sword. She dashed forward with remarkable speed, an almost desperate look on her tiny face, ignoring the monstrous dragon charging her way.

  "Susa!" He wheezed, still struggling for breath. "No!"

  Both the shadow dragon and the slave girl were within steps of the Dragon Sword, when an enormous scarlet form slammed into the ground directly between them, blocking their advance toward the fabled sword of power.

  "Tempest!" Damion struggled to his feet, still gasping for air.

  Other scarlet dragons began to appear from the sky above, dropping down on the startled shadow dragons with lethal intent.

  Tempest whirled to face the closest shadow dragon, her teeth bared, then lashed out with lightening fast talons, ripping the beast's lower jaw from its head with a powerful swipe. It collapsed into a convulsing heap, a huge pool of blood pouring from the dreadful wound.

  The massive scarlet dragon whirled back around, slamming her tail into Susa with bone crushing force, sending her tiny body sailing through the air, where she crashed hard into the stone steps of the ruined temple.

  "No!" Damion screamed in shock. He staggered forward, completely appalled by what he used witnessed. "Tempest! How could you? She was just a child!"

  "That was no child, Dragonkin." The huge serpent rumbled, sending the Dragon Sword sliding across the clearing to Damion with a flick of her tail.

  "What do you mean she isn't a child?" He snatched up the Dragon Sword, then looked up at the scarlet dragon in confusion.

  "Look for yourself." She gestured to Susa, who should have had every bone in her body shattered by the impact of the dragon's attack, yet who was still slowly struggling to get to her feet, looking shaken, but otherwise uninjured.

  "Wha..." He stared at the child in incomprehension.

  "I knew if I followed along behind you long enough, you would lead me right to the brood." Tempest rumbled, watching with a detached interest as the other scarlet dragons continued the slaughter of the smaller shadow beasts. "But I had no idea that you would actually lead us directly to the brood mother!"

  "The brood mother?" He repeated blankly, his mind still struggling to catch up. "The brood mother is here?"

  Tempest laughed. "Of course!" She gestured to Susa. "That child is much more than she appears!"

  Damion looked back to Susa, who had made it back to her feet, and now stood watching with shock as the brood was ripped to shreds around her.

  "No!" She screeched in a shockingly loud voice, whirling around to see her children being slaughtered all around her.

  "It's time to finish this, Dragonkin." Tempest told him, starting forward with a determined look upon her face.

  Susa's eyes grew wide with terror when her eyes fell upon Tempest, who was staring down at the supposed slave child with a deadly glare. "Damion!" She screamed in terror. "Damion! Save me!"

  "It will do you no good, Mother!" Tempest snarled at the child in contempt. "Your plans for revenge have failed, and you have no where else to hide!"

  The slave child looked back and forth from Tempest to Damion, then screamed in unrequited fury. Her tiny body suddenly began to change, swelling and stretching to impossible proportions. Her milky white skin darkened as it stretched, and began to split and separate into large scales. Within moments, the child was gone, and in her place stood a crippled and scarred shadow dragon. "You filthy human!" She screamed at Damion in a voice filled with hatred. "You just wouldn't die!" She shrieked in fury, flapping her single wing lamely.

  "You and your brood should have remained banished." Tempest growled uncaringly. "Now, you and your brood shall finally be destroyed, and this fare world can finally free from your evil!"

  The brood mother laughed hatefully. "You may kill me and a few of my children, but you will never rid the world of the shadow serpents! Another brood mother shall eventually arise and finish what I have started!"

>   With that proclamation, she lunged forward in a desperate attempt to injure or kill the much larger scarlet dragon, but Tempest was prepared for her. She slapped the crippled beast's raking talons away contemptuously, then latched down on the back of its exposed neck with her powerful jaws. There was snap of bone as the scarlet serpent crushed the brood mother's neck, then with a powerful wrench, she tore the shadow dragon's head from its body. The headless body dropped to the ground thrashing spasmodically, its life blood spurting out in a great fountain.

  Tempest tossed the severed head to one side, then drew a deep breath and released a triumphant roar that resounded through the marsh. She stood for a long moment, surveying the carnage throughout the ruins, then the great beast sighed heavily. "It is finally done!"

  "I don't understand!" Damion exclaimed, staring at the dead shadow dragon in shock. "How did you know that Susa was the brood mother?"

  Tempest shrugged. "Dragons can always recognize other dragons, even when disguised as a human."

  They looked around at the carnage scattered around the plaza. Nearly ever shadow dragon that had been gathered together now lay dead, slaughtered by the other scarlet dragons. Huge puddles of blood pooled together to form a small lake, which covered much of the mossy clearing.

  Damion heard a woman's cry from somewhere behind him and turned to see Raven, Veren, and Shirk leading their horses towards him, their faces white with shock.

  Raven was the first to reach Damion's side, and with another cry, she threw herself into his arms, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "I thought I had lost you!" She grasped him by the sides of his face, and drew him down to kiss him firmly. "Don't ever frighten me like that again!"

  "I would have been a goner if it hadn't been for Tempest's timely arrival!" He admitted, looking up at the huge scarlet dragon and smiling fondly.

  Shirk stared up at Tempest, his eyes apprehensive. "You really are the Dragon Lord, aren't you?"

  Damion began to laugh helplessly. "So what will happen now?" He asked Tempest. "With the brood mother dead, there isn't really any way to track the rest of them down. Those shadow dragons that still live will now just scatter and go into hiding!"