Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (11 page)

"It looks as though they are gathering to renew that war once again. We received a report that there was a large force gathering in the port city of
Salastar. When Tempest and I went to investigate the report, we found the Etazk had an army fifty thousand warriors strong preparing to sail out of Salastar."

"Fifty thousand?" Bativa gasped in disbelief. "Who are they planning on going to war with?"

"Everyone." Sly burped thunderously. "It looks as though they are planning on renewing their war with the other races. The priest Damion spoke with claimed that Etaz had returned to lead His people to war against
all
nonbelievers."

"This is serious." The tribesman frowned. "As I said, the Deola remember the atrocities committed by the Etazk. If they are gathering to renew their war, the Council needs to be notified."

"That's why we're here." Dar chirped through a mouthful of boiled potatoes. "The Etazk concern everyone, and it is going to take a significant size force to repel them. We already have messengers spreading the word, and we have arranged to have what men we can gather in the villages throughout the foothills assemble outside of Crete, but we don't stand a chance without the Deola."

"
The tribes must be assembled immediately. If they were preparing to sail out when you left them, only the gods know where they are now."

"They're still in Salastar." Damion assured him. "While we were investigating
the report, we took the opportunity to destroy the fleet of ships they had anchored out in the port. Without those ships, the Etazk aren't going anywhere."

"Is that how you ended up with that?" Bativa asked, gesturing to the fresh bandage
that Raven had placed on his wounded arm after he had finished bathing.

"I'm afraid not." Damion shook his head. "Tell me, have your people been experiencing anything unusual as of late?"

"As a matter of fact, they have." Bativa nodded. "There have been a number of reports of cattle disappearing right out from under our herders' noses, and of strange cries that echo throughout the grasslands."

"That's what one of your fellow tribesman told us." Damion nodded. "We heard the strange cries your tribesmen report
ed for ourselves as we made our way to Mercedia. Then, last night, I was attacked while I was out hunting."

"Something was actually foolish enough to attack you?" Bativa looked surprised.

"I was preparing to take down a wild pig, when I was suddenly attacked by a dragon."

"A dragon?" The huge
tribesman frowned. "Was it one of the shadow beasts that managed to escape the slaughter in Arleia?"

"I'm afraid not." Damion shook his head. "This appeared to be a totally
new
breed of serpent."

"A new dragon?" The huge warrior turned pale. "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"You're
actually
going to sit there and ask the Dragon Lord if he is mistaken about a dragon?" Sly asked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"There's no doubt it was a new breed of dragon." Damion assured him, chuckling at the look of astonishment on Sly's face.

"Its scales were similar to the skin of a chameleon." Damarius supplied, brushing a bit of gravy from his beard. "It can shift its colors and mimic its surroundings, rendering it almost completely invisible."

"An invisible dragon?" Bativa asked in a skeptical voice. "You're jesting, right?"

"Does this look like a joke to you?" Damion asked, removing the bandage on his arm and revealing the long ragged gash he had suffered during his encounter with the strange dragon. "It used its camouflage to inflict a bit of damage before I was finally able to drive it off."

"It still lives?" The Deolan chieftain grew even paler.

"Don't worry about that beast." Sly snorted, draining one of the tankards in his hands, and then tossing it aside negligently. "It was injured badly enough when it fled that it won't be showing its face anytime soon."

"But there could be others, couldn't there?"

Damion shrugged. "I haven't the foggiest idea. I would ask Tempest what she knows about them, but she's busy keeping an eye on the Etazk for us. I asked Slither and he says he has never heard of a dragon such as this before. He says there have only ever been the scarlet dragons and the shadow beasts."

"Well,
it had to come from somewhere."

"I have a few suspicions on whe
re the beast may have come from." Damarius told them, brushing his brow lock from his eyes absently.

Everyone turned to look at the old wizard.

"When Leia was abducted a few years ago, it was all on the orders of the Dragon God, Draco."

"Tell us something that we don't already know." Sly grunted sarcastically.

"During our pursuit of Leia's abductors," Damarius continued, giving the scruffy little man a sour look. "We were told repeatedly that if she fell into the Dragon God's hands, He would have the means to bring about the destruction of mankind."

"But we stopped Draco before He could take her." Raven protested.

"That doesn't mean He still didn't get what He desired." The old wizard pointed out reasonably. "Let's look at the facts. There was something about little Leia that Draco desired so much that he was willing to break the Pact of the Gods to obtain it. Considering we managed to stop Him from taking Leia, and He has yet to make another attempt to abduct her, I think it's fairly safe to assume He must have gotten what He was after."

"But He wasn't able to get anything." Damion frowned. "Leia was freed, and the Serpent Mother, Estheryal, forced Draco to abandon His plans. Leia didn't have a scratch on her."

"That's not true." Leia murmured, her eyes haunted by the memories of her encounter with the Dragon God. Though she was still quite young when the Highland witch slipped into her room and abducted her from her crib, the young girl could still clearly remember coming face to face with the Dragon God, Draco, and the overwhelming feeling of His presence. "He used His talon to pierce my neck." She pointed to a faint scar on her throat.

They all stared at the scar for a long moment, then Damarius suddenly snapped his fingers. "And there it is
!"

"And there what is?" Sly asked in confusion.

"The reason Draco had Leia abducted." Damion slapped himself in the side of the head. "I don't know why I didn't see it before!"

"See what?"
Raven looked completely baffled.

"Her blood!" Dar gasped in sudden realization.
"It wasn't Leia Draco was after! It was her blood!"

"Exactly." Damarius nodded sagely. "I have thought about this time and time again over the last few years, trying to figure out why the
Dragon God hadn't attempted to complete the plans He had for little Leia. He hasn't tried, because He doesn't need to. He already
has
what He desired!"

"That
would
explain a few things." Damion conceded. "I'll admit that I've wondered why He hasn't attempt to come for Leia again. If He has already obtained what He was after, He wouldn't need to bother coming for her anymore."

"Does that mean Draco used
my
blood to create that... that beast?" Leia looked horrified.

"Don't worry, little one." Raven assured her, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder
. "I'm sure that beast has nothing to do with you." She cast the others a dark look.

"She's right." Damion murmured quickly, feeling a pang of guilt seeing the fear on his young daughter's face. "
It's a pretty far fetched theory. Besides, it doesn't really matter where the beast came from. We have more pressing concerns with the Etazk."

The others promptly caught on, and the subject was hastily changed.

Once they had finished gorging themselves on the sumptuous feast, Raven, Leia, Dar, and Slither adjourned to their chambers, while Damion, Sly, Damarius, and Bativa lingered around the table to enjoy a few more drinks.

"How do you think the Council will take the news of the Etazk assembling for war?" Damion asked the huge tribesman, accepting a large foaming tankard from one of the serving girls. "Do you think they are going to make things difficult?"

"It's hard to say," Bativa held out his hands and shrugged. "I'm sure they will all remember the stories of the Etazk and the atrocities they committed during the War of Gods, but it's hard to say what the other chieftains will want to do. I'm sure some of them will wish to fight, while some of the others will want to pull the tribes back into the fortress where they'll be safe. It's hard to say how the vote will go."

"That's what we were afraid of." Sly grunted, his voice somewhat slurred. He took a long drink from his tankard, then burped thunderously. "If we
cannot convince the rest of the Council that we can't succeed without the tribes, we won't stand a chance against the Etazk."

"I guess that means were just going to have to convince them then." Damion shrugged. "If all else fails, I'll just threaten to turn them all into turnips."

They set off deeper into the fortress city early the next morning after enjoying a huge breakfast provided by the anxious innkeeper, who seemed quite relieved to see Slither finally leave. They followed Bativa through the crowded streets for several hours until they finally reached a set of crossroads near the center of the city.

"Halt!"

A group tattooed tribesmen hurried up to block them from going any further, their weapons held at the ready.

One of the men, large brute of a man whose face had been tattooed extensively, stepped forward, his eyes blazing in fury. "That
creature shall not take another step!" His lips were curled back in a snarl as pointed to Slither with his sword.

"What is the meaning of this?" Bativa roared at the man in a outraged tone.

"C-Chieftain B-Bativa!" The tribesman stammered in surprise. "Are these people with you?"

"They are." The huge man snapped, causing the man to jump nervously. He looked at the tribesman and his fellows pointedly. "You and your men do not appear to belong to any of the street patrols. Why have you taken it upon yourself to
start harassing passersby?"

"I-I..." The man swallowed hard. "W-We noticed that wretched creature traveling with these strangers, and
knew they must be criminals, so we..."

"And you thought you would tak
e it upon yourselves to be a nuisance? Do you know who these travelers are?"

"
Chieftain Bativa, I just thought..."

"Silence!" Bativa cut him off with a disgusted snarl. "
Do you see that warrior mounted upon that warhorse? Do you know who that man is?"

The tribesman glanced at Damion, then shook his head. "I'm afraid I do not, Chieftain."

"That is the Dragon Lord, you dolt!" The huge chieftain looked livid. "And you are delaying him from some very important business that needs to be brought before the Council!"

"The D-Dragon Lord?" The color drained from the tribesman's face
as he turned back to stare at Damion, his mouth agape.

"And
this
'wretched creature',
" Bativa gestured to the huge shadowspawn, who was watching the armed soldiers cautiously, clearly ready to react to the first sign of aggression. "is the Dragon Lord's only child's bodyguard, Slither."

The tattooed warrior looked as though he were about to faint. Several of his companions took advantage of his berating to quickly disappear into the passing crowd, clearly wanting nothing else to do with the situation.

"Not only have you succeeded in delaying the Dragon Lord and insulting his daughter's personal bodyguard," The huge chieftain continued in an unrelenting tone. "you accuse him and his family of being criminals!" He shook his head in angry dismay. "Not to mention the fact that you are impeding Council business."

The tribesman just stood there staring at
Damion in terror, overwhelmed and unable to respond.

"What are you going to do to him?" Leia asked curiously, clearly offended by the warrior's attitude.

"I don't know," Bativa started, glancing back at the young girl with a twinkle in his eyes. "What do
you
think we should do with him?"

"Hmm," Leia pretended to consider it for a long moment. "I guess we could feed him to Tempest. Dragons require quite a bit of food, you know."

The sudden sound of liquid pooling on the ground reached their ears as the tattooed tribesman lost control of his bladder.

"Good god, man!" Sly snorted in disgust. "The girl was only jesting!"

"No, I wasn't." Leia told him, winking at the scruffy man.

"You can't feed him to Tempest." Damion told his daughter in a firm tone. "She was sick for a week after she ate that last fellow."

Damarius, Dar, and Raven were valiantly trying to muffle their laughter as they watched the fierce looking tribesman quake in his boots with fear.