Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5) (45 page)

"Don't mention it." The young woman smiled, retrieving her arrow from the dead elf's chest.

"Everybody get onto the platform." Damion ordered the others. "I'll lower it down, and then meet you at the bottom."

"How are you going to do that?" Brody asked suspiciously.

"Just get on the platform." The huge warrior told him. "I'll meet you at the stables." He looked to Raven and Shirk. "Stay on your guard. Yrinn obviously put this elf here to try and slow us down. He may have left others below in the hopes of slowing us even more."

He watched as they hurried onto the platform, then pulled the lever, causing them to slowly start descending. He quickly made his way to the hole left by the platform and glanced over the edge, arriving just in time to see his wife and friends disappear through the canopy to the forest floor below.

He deciding on how he would descend down from the treetop city, when the sudden rustle of feathers drew his attention to Snowfeather, who glided over and settled on the brass railing.

"Where have you been?"
The huge warrior asked unhappily.
"We could have used your help finding Yrinn and his blood elves."

"What do you think I've been doing?"
Snowfeather chirped defensively.
"I noticed a group of elves watching the manor house, and decided to follow them when they hurried away. They went to another manor house on the other side of the city where they met up with a much older elf, then they all immediately departed."

"Did you follow them?"
Damion asked in surprise.

"Of course!"
Snowfeather squawked in exasperation.
"Where do you think I've been all of this time?"

"Well?"

"Well, after getting their horses from the stables, they set off at a dead run towards the southwest. I followed them for several miles to make sure that they didn't try to take a detour, then returned to alert you to what I saw."

"Good job."
The huge warrior told him, then he heaved a great sigh.
"Sorry for being so grouchy. I'm getting a little tired of chasing these blood elves around. I feel like this has all been one big wild goose chase, and I'm ready to put end to it once and for all."

"Don't worry about it."
Snowfeather sailed over and landed on Damion's broad shoulder.
"What now?"

"We tell the others what you discovered, and then chase down these blood elves. If they're pushing their horses as hard as you say, they'll be forced to stop to allow them to rest. If we hurry, we should be able to catch up with them before they reach the city, and put an end to all of this mess."

"And then?"

"And then we go home."
Damion sighed aloud. "We should probably hurry too. The gods only know what kind of mischief Leia has gotten into while we've been gone."

Chapter 16

"Look out!" Sly roared as several dreadspawn dove towards them, forcing Xaxis to bank sharply, nearly dislodging the scruffy little man from his seat.

"There are more coming!" Leia told the huge dragon as several more of the winged beasts swooped down to block their escape.

They clung to Xaxis desperately as he suddenly rolled in midair, striking two of the dreadspawn with his heavy wings, sending the scaly creatures plummeting to the grasslands below. Two more appeared from the darkness, only to be slapped aside by a powerful swipe of the veiled dragon's razor sharp talons, which sent them spiraling out of control.

"There are more coming!" Sly bellowed, looking back over his shoulder to see six more of the winged beasts rapidly closing in on them from behind.

"Grab on tight!" Xaxis rumbled an instant before rolling over onto his back and breathing a wall of flames behind them that completely engulfed the pursuing dreadspawn. He quickly righted himself and glanced back at their pursuers, then grunted in satisfaction as he saw their withered and charred corpses dropping lifelessly from the sky.

"Can you give us a little more warning before doing things like that?" Sly snarled angrily, still clinging to Xaxis's neck desperately.

"Look out!" Leia cried as several more dreadspawn rose into the air directly before them in an attempt to block their path.

"No!" Sly bellowed as Xaxis drew in a deep breath, but it was already too late. The veiled dragon released a huge blast of flames that instantly consumed the dreadspawn, then tucked its wings close to its sides and rocketed through the remaining flames, emerging into the cool night air on the other side an instant later.

Leia, who still wore her shadow dragon armor, was untouched by the searing heat of the flames. Sly, on the other hand, had been completely exposed to the sizzling fire, which scorched his clothes, and singed his hair and beard.

"What are you doing?" The little man roared, his face already beginning to blister. "Are you trying to kill us?"

"Sorry about that." The huge veiled dragon apologized with a shrug that nearly dislodged the scruffy little man from his seat.

"Are you okay?" Leia asked the little man, squinting to get a better look at him in the darkness. She suddenly burst out laughing at the sight of his scruffy hair and beard, most of which had been singed away.

"How bad is it?" He asked with a frown, still clinging to Xaxis desperately.

"You look like a dog with a bad case of mange!" She told him, still laughing uncontrollably.

Sly's eyes went wide, then he began to gingerly touch his face and head. "Ahhh!" He cried in horror as his fingers ran across a large bald patch on his face where his beard had been burned away. "Ahhh!" He cried again as he discovered that much of his hair had also been burned away. His expression grew outraged. "Look what you did, you overgrown iguana!" He bellowed angrily, wincing in pain as several blisters on his face suddenly burst. "I look like I've been set on a spit and left to roast over a open flame!"

Xaxis glanced back at Sly, then snorted in amusement. "You do look rather well done, don't you?"

"That's not funny!" Sly roared furiously.

Three more dreadspawn suddenly appeared from the darkness above and swooped down towards them, but Leia, showing incredible agility, twisted around in her seat and fired three rapid shots from her bow, striking all three of the beasts, who tumbled from the sky to crash to the grasslands below.

"Hang on!" Xaxis rumbled again, banking so sharply that Sly was nearly thrown from the huge dragon's back. He rocketed back towards the few remaining dreadspawn, slashing at them with razor sharp talons which sliced through scale, flesh, and bone effortlessly. The last few remaining beasts tumbled lifelessly to the ground below, leaving only the shadowspawn and dragonspawn who were still gathered around the bonfire watching the battle.

"That's enough!" Sly shouted, his face white with fear. "Head back to Sevria!"

"I don't think so!" Leia told him fiercely. "We're going to finish these beasts before they cause any more problems!"

Xaxis suddenly tucked his wings and dove at the gathered horde, which suddenly began to scramble away in terror. The huge veiled dragon inhaled deeply, then released a blast of flames that engulfed fully half of the horde, reducing all but the shadowspawn to smoldering corpses. Xaxis flared his great sail-like wings, then banked sharply once more to renew his attack.

"Where are they going?" Sly asked, watching as the creatures fled through the tall grass in a panic.

"It looks like they're heading for that rock formation." Leia pointed to a large granite outcropping which was partially concealed by a large grove of bushes. "It's probably concealing an entrance to another goblin hollow."

Xaxis swooped low over the fleeing dragonspawn, casually breathing fire down upon them as he passed over their heads, until only a few shadowspawn remained.

Leia and Sly watched as the shadowy beasts vanished into the outcropping, then turned and looked at one another as Xaxis began to silently circle the goblin hollow.

"What are you thinking?" Sly asked suspiciously, noticing the look of determination on the young girl's face.

"I'm thinking that we should follow them and see if they take us to the place where the rest of the horde is gathering."

"Are you insane?" Sly asked in disbelief. "Do you know what your mother and father would do to me if they found out I allowed you to go traipsing off after a bunch of shadowspawn?"

"But they're not here right now," Leia told him. "and
somebody
needs to put an end to all of this mess. Xaxis," She patted the great serpent's neck. "Take us down."

The huge veiled dragon circled the outcropping one last time, then settled down in the soft grass and lowered himself down to allow them to dismount.

"This is a
really
bad idea." Sly grumbled, his voice scarcely above a whisper. "There's no telling how many of the beasts could be in there."

"Oh, quit acting like such a chicken, Sly." Leia growled to the scruffy little man, whose skin was still an angry red from Xaxis's flames. "We need to figure out a way to put a stop to the Dragon God's plans before He can release the horde. If that means we have to take a few chances, then so be it!" She looked to Xaxis. "Stay here. We may need to make a quick getaway when we leave."

"What's your plan?" Sly asked suspiciously.

"I don't have a plan." The young girl told him absently. "I figured I would just make things up as I go along."

"You are exactly like your father." Sly sighed heavily. "He likes to make things up as he goes along too."

They quickly made their way up to the granite outcropping, then began to search for the opening to the goblin hollow.

"Here it is." Leia whispered, pushing aside a large bush to reveal a narrow crack leading beneath the outcropping.

"I still don't think that this is a good idea." Sly murmured doubtfully. "We have no way of knowing what may be down there. I think that you should just use your magic to collapse the entrance, and then have Xaxis take us back to Sevria before Lady Skie begins to get worried."

"Collapsing the entrance won't help." Leia told him in a stubborn tone. "The dragonspawn will just move on to the next entrance. We need to locate the main horde, and find a way to destroy them before they are able to launch anymore attacks."

"It's not a good idea to attempt to deal with these creatures without your father here." The scruffy little man persisted, placing a hand on the young girl's shoulder to stop her from entering the goblin hollow. "The dragonspawn are formidable beasts, and the gods only know how many of them are down there. We shouldn't do anything foolish."

"This is the best chance we've had at discovering the location of the horde, and I'm not going to let it slip away. I'm going to find the rest of the dragonspawn, and put a stop to all of this madness before the Dragon God has a chance to carry out His plans." She shook herself free from his grip, then slipped through the narrow crack in the granite outcropping.

"Just like her father." Sly muttered sourly before hurrying after her.

They carefully made their way through the narrow crack, and down into a small passageway that opened up into a dark chamber which appeared have been roughly chiseled from the dense stone. The floor was littered with numerous old bones and debris which had been scattered about by scavengers, and was covered in a thick layer of guano from the hundreds of bats that hung in the various nooks and crannies of the unfinished ceiling. Several old torches had been fixed to the rough walls and burned fitfully, producing just enough light to illuminate the small chamber.

"It looks like some poorly skilled stone masons excavated this chamber." Sly grunted, running a hand over one of the rough walls. "It almost has to be the workmanship of goblins. Dwarves would never be so sloppy in their work."

They made their way deeper into the dark cavern cautiously, their eyes alert for the slightest sign of movement.

"There." Leia hissed, pointing towards a dark opening at the back of the chamber. She hurried over and cautiously peeked around the corner. "It's another passageway. There are more torches lighting the way." She ventured in a few steps. "It looks deserted."

"If we're going to do this, then let me take the lead." Sly grumbled reluctantly. "If we're attacked, you run, and I'll hold them off."

"Yeah, right." The young girl snorted, starting off down the passageway. "How about
you
run, and
I'll
hold them off."

The singed little man scowled after her, then hurried to follow.

They followed the passageway for nearly an hour as it twisted, turned, and descended, leading them deeper and deeper beneath the grasslands. It finally opened up into another small chamber which had a number of passage openings leading off in different directions. The chamber was occupied by several shadowspawn who were busy arguing amongst one another in agitated tones.

Leia slowed to a stop in a patch of shadows. "Those look like the same shadowspawn from the surface." She murmured to Sly in a scarcely audible voice.

They watched as the shadowy beasts continued to argue for several more minutes, then the beasts suddenly turned and hurried off through one of the other passage openings.

"Let's go." Leia whispered to Sly, who suddenly seized her by her shoulders.

"Wait!" The little man hissed, stopping the young girl in her tracks as a dozen dragonspawn suddenly appeared from a different passage, only to disappear through the same opening as the shadowspawn.

"That was close!" Leia breathed in relief.

"Maybe we should head back." The little man murmured worriedly. "If the dragonspawn catch us down here, we're going to be in big trouble."

"I'm not going back until I locate the rest of the horde." Leia told him stubbornly. "This may be our only chance to stop them. If we fail, a lot of innocent people are going to die." She took another look to make sure the way was clear, then hurried across the chamber and into the passage after the dragonspawn.