Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5) (24 page)

Shirk let out a low whistle. "That's an impressive statue. It must have taken a team of sculptors years to carve."

"There was only one sculptor," Delilah told him absently, hurrying towards a crowd that had gathered near the feet of the statue. "and it took him over a century to complete."

They quickly reached the gathered crowd, where they found Brody gently consoling an elderly elven woman who was crying over a body that had been covered with a long cloak.

"What can you tell us?" Damion asked, taking Brody aside so as not to intrude on the grieving widow.

"Not much, really." Brody sighed sadly. "He had visited the altar to leave an offering when a pair of elves attacked him with daggers. They cut him down, and then fled to the east. Our trackers lost their trail at the edge of Pine Lake."

"Why would they do this?" The elven woman suddenly sobbed in grief. "My Awin never harmed anyone! He was a good and honorable elf! Why would they do this?" She began sobbing even harder.

"Awin was a good elf," Delilah agreed softly, kneeling down and taking the widow into her arms. "He was kind, and gentle, and he loved all of his brothers and sisters, as Petra teaches we should. Find solace in the knowledge that he is with our divine lady now, for he now surely sits at Her side, basking in Her loving embrace."

The old elven woman clung to her for a long moment, then looked up at Damion, who was watching with a sad expression. "A-Are you here to stop the blood elves?"

"I'm going to try." Damion nodded, his voice sympathetic.

The elven woman's eyes grew hard and her expression angry. "If you find the elves who did this to my Awin, you must promise to kill them! Do not allow them to get away with this! Avenge my husband, and send those blood traitors into the arms of their foul god!"

"You have my word." The huge warrior promised with a firm nod.

"And make certain that you do it slowly!" The elven woman added with a snarl of rage. "I want them to scream before they die! They do not deserve the mercy of a quick death!" With that, she collapsed back across her husband's corpse with a wail of pain.

"We have to bring an end to these killings," Brody said in frustration, leaving the elven woman in the care of Delilah as he led them away from the growing crowd. "but it appears that they're targeting elves at random now. There no way of knowing who their next victim will be. It doesn't make any sense!"

"It makes perfect sense." Damion told him knowingly. "What better way to paralyze an enemy than to spread fear among their people, and sow the seeds of discord and mistrust."

The sudden rustle of feathers drew their attention Snowfeather, who dropped from the sky and settled lightly on Damion's shoulder.

"Where have you been?"
The huge warrior asked absently, his mind still preoccupied with the attack.

"I was resting in a nearby tree and heard a commotion."
Snowfeather chirped, rearranging several feathers that had been dislodged by an errant breeze.
"When I flew over to investigate, I spotted a pair of hooded ruffians attacking that poor elf there. They fled when others came to investigate the dying elf's cries, so I decided to follow them."

"Where did they go?"
Damion asked eagerly.
"The elves that were tracking them lost their trail near the edge of a lake."

"That's because they hopped into a waiting rowboat and made their way across the lake to a small cottage."
The snow owl informed him knowingly.
"If you hurry, you may be able to catch up to them before they move on."

"Snowfeather followed the attackers to their hideout on the other side of the lake." Damion quickly informed everyone. "They are holed up inside of a small cottage."

"What did these elves like?" Brody asked intently. "Were any of them older, with long silver hair?"

"I never saw their faces."
Snowfeather hooted.
"They were wearing long hooded robes that concealed their features."

Damion quickly relayed this to the others.

"One of them could be Yrinn." Brody speculated, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "This lake house may be where he and his blood elves have been hiding out."

"Snowfeather says that they were still inside the cottage when he left to find us. If we hurry, we may get lucky and catch them before they manage to disappear."

"We'll have to be quick." The elven ambassador told them, leading the way back towards the Royal Tower. "The lake is only a few miles from the city, but it'll take a while to make our way around to the opposite shore. There aren't any boats on the lake large enough to carry our horses."

They made their way back through the city until they reached the local livery, and quickly gathered their horses.

"Let's move." Damion told the others, leaping up onto Storm's broad back effortlessly. "We don't want them to slip away before we get there." He glanced at Snowfeather, who was still perched on his shoulder.
"Head back to the cottage where you last saw the elves, and make sure that our quarry doesn't depart before we arrive. We'll meet you there as soon as we can."

"Don't take too long."
The huge owl hooted, launching himself into the air and setting off towards the east.

Brody led the way out of the city following a wide cobblestone road which led to the east. After less than half an hour's ride, the road met up with another cobblestone road, this one running north and south.

"Which way should we take?" Raven asked, peering back and forth undecidedly.

"South." Brody told them confidently. "It's the shortest route around the lake."

They nudged their horses into a brisk canter, and quickly made their way around to the far side of the lake.

Brody reined in his horse when they reached the first cottage, which was nestled snugly in the center of a grove of pine trees. "How are we supposed to know which cottage the blood elves are hiding in?"

"It's the one that Snowfeather is circling over." Damion told him, pointing to the huge owl, who was circling over a distant cottage.

"Are they still inside?" Raven asked, looking to her husband expectantly.

"Let me check." The huge warrior turned to look at the distant owl, his eyes narrowed in concentration.
"Are they still inside?"

"I think so. No one has left since I returned, and there has been movement inside."

Damion relayed this to the others, then they quickly made their way towards the distant cottage.

"What's the plan?" Shirk asked as he drew one of the heavy broadswords that he had strapped across his back.

"I figured that I would just take the direct approach." Damion shrugged. "I'll go inside, and find out if the blood elves and their leader are still there, while you, Raven, and Brody make sure that none of them try to escape."

"Make sure that you take Yrinn alive." Brody reminded him. "I'm sure that the queen would like to have a few words with him before he pays for his crimes."

"I'll see what I can do." Damion slipped down from his saddle and calmly strolled up to the door of the cottage. "Knock, knock." He called in a loud voice an instant before he lashed out with a powerful kick that reduced the wooden door to splinters.

"Not very subtle, is he?" Brody noted with wide eyes.

"Damion has never been one to use the subtle approach," Raven told him with a smile. "but he still always manages to get the job done."

Damion calmly stepped over the wreckage of the wooden door, and entered the cottage, where found a pair of surprised looking elves wearing hooded cloaks staring at him in incomprehension. "Hello, gentlemen." He growled in a menacing voice. "We've been looking for you two." He looked around. "Where is Yrinn?"

"H-He's not h-here." One of the elves stammered, staring at Damion with a fearful expression. "He..."

"Shut your mouth!" The other elf hissed angrily, producing a dagger that was still stained with the blood of the elf that they had murdered in the temple plaza.

To Damion's surprise, instead of attacking him, the elf turned and seized a handful of his companion's hair, then sliced his throat with a single swipe. Blood sprayed from the wound in a great fountain, then the mortally wounded elf shuddered and collapsed to the floor.

"No you don't!" Damion snarled, leaping forward and seizing the surviving elf's wrist as he attempted to put the blade to his own throat. He gave a powerful wrench, breaking the elf's arm with an audible snap, causing the dagger to fall to the clattering to floor.

The elf screamed in agony, his eyes wide with shock, then he fell to his knees cradling his broken arm.

"Where is Yrinn?" Damion repeated harshly.

"I will tell you nothing, outsider!" The elf spat, still grimacing in pain.

"Oh, you'll talk." The huge warrior grabbed the elf by the scruff of his neck, and then dragged him outside. "Yrinn isn't here." He reported to the others, tossing the elf to the ground at their feet. "but we should be able to get a few answers out of this one."

"I will tell you nothing!" The elf snarled again, still cradling his broken arm.

"Adrin?" Brody stared at the injured elf in disbelief. "No! It-It can't be!"

"I take it you know this elf?" Shirk asked the elven ambassador curiously.

"H-He's my younger brother!" Brody continued to stare at the injured elf in confused disbelief.

"You are no family to me, Brody!" Adrin snarled in a hate filled voice. "You have never been my brother! You are nothing to me!"

Brody looked as though he had been slapped across the face. "Wh-What are you saying, Adrin? You are my brother! We are family!"

"You were never my brother!" The elf repeated, his eyes blazing with hatred. "I've hated you since we were children! I would have killed you long ago if you didn't spend all of you time at the palace with your lips glued to the queen's backside!"

Brody stared down at the injured elf with anger blazing in his eyes. "How dare you!" He bellowed in fury. "You will not speak to me that way, Adrin!"

"Or what?" The injured elf laughed through his pain. "You can do nothing to me now, Brody! Hetris watches over me!"

"Hetris?" Brody asked in incredulity. "Why? Why would you turn your back on everything that you have been taught? Why would you betray our people, and join forces with the dark one?"

"Betray our people?" Adrin laughed a scathing laugh. "Which one of us has truly betrayed our people, Brody? It is you and your precious queen who banish our people from their homeland for simply wishing to live their lives as they choose. It is you and your queen who murder those who refuse to fall on their faces before your pathetic goddess." He sneered at the elven ambassador hatefully. "
You
are the ones who have betrayed our people, Etha Brody, and you will have no one to blame but yourselves when your betrayals finally come back to destroy you!" He let out a laugh of insane glee. "You and your beloved goddess are lost! The followers of Petra will perish, one by one, and Hetris's faithful shall take their rightful place as the rulers of this island!"

"Not as long as I still breathe they won't!" Brody snarled.

Before anyone could stop him, the elven ambassador tore his dagger from its sheath and drove it deep into his brother's chest. Adrin stiffened horribly for several long seconds, and then collapsed dead to the ground.

"What are you doing?" Shirk bellowed, grabbing Brody by the arms and dragging him away from Adrin's body. "How are we supposed to question a dead man?"

Brody shook himself free from the bearded bandit's grip, then turned to stare down at his younger brother's body, a look of chagrin on his face. "What have I done?" He asked in a voice filled with horror.

"You killed our only lead before we could question him." Damion told him with a sigh. "Now we have no way of knowing where Yrinn may have fled."

"I killed him!" The elven ambassador was trembling as he continued to stare at his brother's dead body. "My own brother! I have murdered my own flesh and blood!"

"He was a murderer." The huge warrior reminded him in a harsh tone. "He and his companion slaughtered that innocent elf in front of Petra's statue. He deserved to die." He frowned. "I just wish you had waited until
after
we had finished questioning him before you decided to drive your dagger into his heart."

Brody turned away from his brother's body, his expression horrified. "I-I just lost control! I would have never believed that he was capable of doing such things! When I realized what Adrin had done, I just lost control!"

"It's understandable," Shirk assured him with a grunt. "Learning that your own brother has betrayed his people would be enough to drive anyone to kill."

"But where do we go from here?" The elven ambassador asked helplessly. "I've killed our only lead in tracking down Yrinn. Now we'll never be able to put an end to this madness!"

"Not necessarily," Raven murmured, staring at the corpse with a frown. "Jenen mentioned that his son, Relvin, and his friend, Eldrin, had went to visit an elven woman by the name of Hetta. He suspects that she may have had something to do their sudden conversion to the worship of Hetris."

"Hetta?" Brody's jaw dropped open in surprise. "That mad old witch who lives in Willowdale? I doubt that she would be involved with the followers of Hetris. She despises both blood elves and Petra's faithful."

"Jenen seemed to think that she may know something useful." Raven told him with a shrug. "He said that Relvin and Eldrin began acting erratically after visiting with her. It's worth a try, considering our only other lead is dead."

"If you insist on paying her a visit, then I'll take you to see her." The elven ambassador relented with a sigh. "But don't be surprised if she refuses to speak with you. Hetta has always been a bit... eccentric. You never really know how she may react to a situation."

"What should we do about him?" Damion gestured to Adrin's corpse.

"Just toss him back into the cottage for now." Brody murmured grimly. "I'll send someone nearby to fetch some soldiers to dispose of the bodies." He stared at his brother's body for another moment, then turned and made his way towards another nearby cottage, a slightly haunted expression his face.