Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (35 page)

Damion felt a
gentle nudge from behind, and turned to see Storm, who had retreated to the edge of the huge plaza to avoid the lightening, standing behind him with a weary, but satisfied look on his face.

"You did good." He told the great
beast in a weary voice. "I'm proud of you. You really showed those Etazk who was boss."

Storm nickered happily, then nudged Damion once more, clearly eager to go looking for more victims.

Damion let out a weary sigh, then climbed up into his saddle and slowly began to make his way towards the northern edge of the town, the horrors of the battle still fresh in his mind.

**********

"There goesss the wall." Slither hissed in a quiet voice, watching as the distant walls that surrounded Kainpre slowly began to crumble. He continued to stare through the darkness at the distant city, his keen eyes able to make out things the human eye could not. "And there are the horsssemen." He reported several moments later, watching as the tribesmen converged on the unprotected city.

"It shouldn't be long now." One of the Deolan warriors who had remained behind to help guard Raven and Leia commented in a slightly bored tone. "There isn't an army in this world that can stand against my brothers."

"Maybe any normal army," Raven murmured in a worried tone, wrapping her arms around Leia's shoulders and drawing her closer. "but the Etazk priests are able to use magic. Just one of them could annihilate an entire clan single handedly."

"Can a magic user truly wreak
that much havoc?" One of the other tribesmen asked in an awed voice.

"That much and
more." The young woman assured him darkly.

As if to emphasize her words, an explosion suddenly echoed in the distance, and they all turned to see a huge ball of flames as it billowed up into the dark sky over the ravaged city.

They continued to watch tensely for the next several minutes as the sounds of more explosions began to reach their ears, followed closely by the distant screams of the dead and dying.

"I hope Dad's okay." Leia murmured, watching as more flames billowed up into the sky.

The entire sky suddenly turned from night into day as an enormous bolt of lightening erupted from the dark clouds above, striking down into the city with earthshaking force.

"Whoa!" Leia gasped in astonishment, watching as another bolt, and then another, rained down into the city, causing the very earth beneath their feet to tremble.

"I would guess that your father is just fine," Raven murmured, her eyes wide as she watched the incredible display of power that was unfolding before them. "There isn't another man in the world that could do something like that!"

The lightening finally died away, but the sounds of battle could still clearly be heard as they continued to watch the distant city in tense silence.

When the sounds of fighting finally began to die away, the distant sounds of hoof beats could suddenly be heard moving directly towards them from the city.

"Is that father?" Leia asked eagerly, her eyes straining to peer through the darkness at the approaching riders.

They waited impatiently as the sound of horses slowly began to grow louder, then Slither suddenly gave a panicked hiss and thrust both Leia and Raven behind him as three riders materialized from the darkness, followed closely by an enormous beast which closely resembled a hairless wolf with overdeveloped jaws, though it was nearly as large as the horses the men rode.

It scanned the night with huge eyes that were glowing with an unearthly light, then it snarled viciously as it spotted them, its lips peeling back to reveal dozens of razor sharp teeth which were dripping with fresh blood.

After a moment's hesitation, the tribesmen regained their senses and charged forward, their faces showing no fear of the unearthly creature that had burst into their midst.

Two of the three riders spurred themselves forward to meet the charging tribesmen, but suddenly tumbled from their saddles as Raven's arrows whistled throug
h the air with deadly accuracy.

T
he third rider, an older man in a red hooded robe, threw one of his arms into the air, his expression one of complete madness. A ball of fire suddenly erupted from his upraised palm and streaked through the air, engulfing one of the Deolan warriors and setting the surrounding grass aflame.

The tribesman screamed once in horrifying agony, then crumbled to the ground in a flaming heap.

The hooded man laughed in insane glee, then turned to face Raven, Slither, and Leia, his eyes alight with anticipation. He raised his hand once again, intending to destroying them as he had the tribesman, but the huge shadowspawn suddenly dashed forward with amazing speed and threw himself into both the rider and his horse, sending then all tumbling hard to the ground.

The horse, squealing in pain and terror, trampled both its rider and Slither as it scrambled
back to its feet in panic. It finally managed to get its hooves beneath it, and it dashed off into the night, still squealing and bucking in fear.

There was a sudden scream as the monstrous creature that had accompanied the riders suddenly lunged forward and grabbed a hold of one of the tribesmen by the waist, lifting the tribesman completely from his feet. It began shaki
ng him back and forth violently until there was a sudden horrible tearing sound, and the tattooed warrior was literally ripped in half. The beasts tossed remains of the carcass away, then lunged forward at last remaining warrior, its massive paws raking the air before it. It struck the tribesman directly across the face, ripping one of his eyes from its socket, and leaving long ragged gashes with its claws. The tribesman screamed and grabbed at his face in agony, but his screams were suddenly cut short as the beast lunged forward yet again and grabbed a hold of his head, ripping it clean from his shoulders with a powerful wrench.

The beast spat the tribesman's head out and batted crumpled body aside, then turned to focus on Raven and Leia, who had begun to back away in fear.

Raven began to sending arrow after arrow whistling at the monstrous wolf, but cursed viciously as they merely bounced off of the beast's unusually tough skin. She turned to scoop Leia up into her arms so they could flee, but her foot caught on a hidden snarl in the grass and both she and her daughter went tumbling to the ground.

The unearthly beast let out a sudden howl of victory, then charged forward, its teeth bared for the kill.

Leia screamed in terror as she saw the monstrous creature hurtling toward them, and instinctively threw up her hands to ward off the blow. Everything around her seemed to slow down as she was suddenly overwhelmed by the sensation of being filled with a powerful energy, which seemed to flow into her from everything around her. As quickly as the sensation appeared, it seemed to release through her open hands, erupting into an enormous blast of energy that struck the lunging beast full in the chest and exploded with unimaginable force.

Both Leia and Raven were thrown backwards several feet by the force of the explosion, and it took
them several moments to their wits to clear. They finally scrambled back to their back to their feet and looked around, then stopped, stunned by the carnage that lay before them. The beast that had emerged from the darkness with the Etazk warriors was nothing more than a huge smoking carcass, and a huge area of the grassland had been completely burned away, leaving nothing but ash in its wake.

"What did you do?" Raven asked her daughter in amazement.

"I'm not sure," Leia murmured in astonishment, holding a hand over her mouth to avoid breathing in any of the noxious fumes emanating from the smoking carcass. "I felt a sudden surge of power, and then
this
happened." She continued to look around the carnage, and spotted the crumpled form of Slither, who still lay unmoving after being trampled under by the Etazk's horse. "Slither!" She dashed over to the shadowy creature's side, her tiny face worried. "Slither! Wake up! You have to wake up!" She struggled, trying with all her might to roll him onto his back.

Raven hurried over and helped her daughter heave the shadowspawn onto his back, then Leia gave a cry of relief as the great beast gave a sudden groan and his eyes fluttered open.

"Are you okay?" The young girl asked, her eyes full of tears.

"SSSlither thinksss ssso." The shadowspawn hissed, slowly pushing himself up into a sitting positions and looking around. "What happened?"

"You tackled the Etazk priest's horse, sending all three of you crashing in a tangle of arms, legs, and hooves." Raven informed him, carefully examining a large gash on the shadowspawn's brow. "The horse panicked as it broke free, and trampled both you and the priest in its haste to escape." She gestured to the dead priest who lay nearby, his chest crushed. "If you hadn't stepped in when you did, we would all be dead right now."

"That'sss why SSSlither'sss here." He turned to look at Leia, who was still watching him with unshed tears standing in her eyes. "Are you okay, little one?"

"I thought you were hurt! I was so worried!" She threw herself into his arms with a wail.

"Do not worry,"
Slither reassured her, patting her shoulder gently. "SSSlither isss okay." He took the young girl into his arms, then slowly stood, wincing slightly as he placed his full weight onto his right leg. He looked around and spotted the charred and mangled carcass of the massive creature that had been accompanying the riders. "What happened to that thing?" He hissed with a baffled look on his scaly face.

"Leia happened to it." Raven gestured to her daughter.

The huge shadowspawn turned to look at the young girl in his arms, his eyes wide with surprise.

"I'm not sure what happened," Leia told him with a shrug. "It was coming at us, and I suddenly felt a rush of power, and then..." She shrugged again, then gestured to the dead creature.

"SSSlither had wondered when you would ssstart usssing your magic." The shadowy beast growled in an impressed tone.

"You
knew
that I could use magic?" Leia looked startled.

"Of courssse," Slither chuckled in amusement. "You
are
the daughter of the Dragon Lord."

"Why didn't you say something to me about it
then?" The girl asked in an accusatory tone.

It was the shadowspawn's turn to shrug. "SSSlither thought you knew."

"Well, I'm glad you chose that moment to finally reveal your powers." Raven told her, wrinkling her nose in disgust as she waved away the smoke that continued to pour from the creature's carcass. "Otherwise, we'd all be dead right now."

"Your welcome." Leia smiled happily, then her eyes suddenly widened, and the smiled crumbled from her face. "What do you think father's going to say when he finds out? You don't think he'll send me to live with Damarius while I learn to control it, do you?"

"Not unless he wants to eat boiled hay for the next several years!"

Chapter 15

"How are things progressing?" Sly asked Langsten as he and Juco came stumping into the waterfront tavern, Sly's unofficial headquarters
while they reinforced the city.

"It's
not." Juco growled in a tired voice, stumping over to grab a tankard off of a nearby table. "The men are all resting. We've been working day and night for the last couple of weeks with hardly any rest. The men can't go any further without sleep." He dipped his tankard into the barrel of ale that Sly had dragged out from the back room, then drained it in three huge gulps.

"How far have they come filling in the slots along the docks?" Damarius asked curiously, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"We've managed to fill in most of the slots." Langsten dropped heavily into an empty chair, then rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Any ships that attempt to draw close to the docks will have their bottoms shredded by all the debris. We've also managed to stockpile a large supply of granite to start reinforcing the harbor walls. Unfortunately, none of our men are stone masons. They were adequate when it came to the destruction phase, but they're not going to be much help when it comes to construction."

"That could be a problem."
Fedrio murmured with a frown. "It could take weeks to locate enough stone masons to help us reinforce the break walls."

"We don't have that kind of time." Damarius shook his head, causing his brow lock to fall into his eyes. The men are just going to have to do the best they can. We really don't have any other choice."

One of Juco's Silent Shadows suddenly burst through the door of the tavern breathing heavily, then he quickly rushed over to their table, his eyes slightly wild. "There is a large force making their way up the trade road towards the city." He reported in a strained voice.

"Finally!" Sly sighed in relief. "The reinforcements that Damion promised to send have arrived!"

"I'm not so sure," The mercenary frowned. "Maybe you had better come take a look at this for yourselves."

Sly
and Damarius exchanged a troubled look, then hurried outside with the others and quickly made their way to the edge of town.

"They should be here anytime now." The mercenary murmured as they came to a stop at the edge of town
and stood staring up the road expectantly.

"What's so unusual about these men that
I had to trudge all the way here to see them arrive?" Sly asked in a sour voice. "If you've seen one army, you've seen them all."

"I'm fairly sure that you've never seen any army quite like this." The mercenary snorted. "
See for yourself." He gestured towards the large force that had appeared in the distance.

They all turned and watched as the army slowly trudged up the trade road towards Sierra
.

"Are those dwarves?"
Fedrio asked, holding up one hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

Sly watched as the army drew a little closer, then the little man suddenly burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?" Damarius asked, brushing his brow lock from his eyes so he could get a better look at the approaching army.

"That's Garth at the head of that army!" The little man
guffawed in amusement.

"The dwarven king?" The old wizard looked astonished. "What
is he doing with the reinforcements?"

"He must have decided
that he and his kinsmen weren't going to be left out of the battle."

"What good are dwarves going to be in a battle?" Langsten asked in confusion.

"Don't let their small stature fool you." Damarius cautioned with a smile. "The dwarves are remarkably strong, and are ferocious warriors."

"Sly, you mangy old dog!" A fiery haired dwarf at the head of the army roared
. "Have you finished drinking all of the ale left in the city yet?"

"Almost," The little man roared back with a harsh laugh. "but I saved a couple of casks just in case you decided to emerge from your cave to come out and play with the rest of us." He hurried forward to greet the stocky little dwarf. "What are you doing here?
You're the last person I would have thought to find at the head of an army!"

"My kinsmen and I weren't going to sit around
and let you have all of the fun." Garth laughed goodheartedly. "After a bit of discussion, my kinsmen and I decided we would gather a few of our best warriors and come crash your little get together."

"Shouldn't you be back in your caverns watching over your people?"

"Gretta is minding the kingdom while I'm gone. She's more than capable of taking care of everything in my absence."

"How many dwarves did you bring with you?"
Juco asked as they watched the long line of men and dwarves trudge passed.

"Around five thousand, plus another ten thousand men from
Crete. Damion and Bativa took the Deola with them to Kainpre."

"Why would they go to Kainpre?" Damarius asked in bafflement.

"A group of Etazk somehow snuck into the city and slaughtered the guards, then raised the gate and let in a large force that destroyed the city."

"That must be the second force Tempest had warned us about." Sly growled unhappily.
"They must have found a hidden cove somewhere far to the south to offload and wait while others arrived. Once they had a large enough force, they must have marched on Kainpre."

A hard faced warrior came hurrying up
, followed closely by an overweight man in mud splattered traveling clothes.

"Ignan?"
Fedrio exclaimed in surprise. "What are you doing here in the middle of an army?"

"
I've been helping the Dragon Lord gather men and coordinate his forces, milord."  The fat man explained, shaking the gaunt faced man's hand warmly. "It takes quite a bit of planning when it comes to moving an army of this size."

"Where should we have the men set up camp, your
Majesty?" The hard faced warrior asked Garth in a respectful tone.

Garth turned to look at Sly questioningly.

"A large section of the east side of the city has been cleared of most of its structures." Langsten interjected helpfully.

"Have the men start setting up camp on the east side of the city then, Zayan." Garth told him, nodding to Langsten in thanks.

"Most of the buildings that remain standing are still habitable." Juco added. "Some of the men can set up in those buildings, although we may need to tear some more of them down to use as material for reinforcing the harbor."

A smile suddenly appeared on Sly's scruffy face. "Tell me, my dwarven friend," He started in a sly tone. "Do any of your men have any experience as stone masons?"

"Only all of them." Garth snorted and rolled his eyes. "We
are
dwarves, after all."

"Let's have them set up camp, then get them down to the harbor immediately." The little man decided quickly. "We need help reinforcing the harbor
walls for when the Etazk arrive."

"Let's go have a look at this harbor." The dwarven king smiled. "I'm sure m
y kinsmen can have it in shape and ready to greet the Etazk in no time."

They left Juco, Langsten, Zayan, and
Ignan to oversee the seemingly endless stream of men and dwarves who continued to make their way down into the harbor city, and began to make their way down towards the waterfront.

"How many men did Damion take with him to Kainpre?" Damarius asked curiously as they ma
de their way through town.

"Around t
wenty thousand or so." Garth replied, stroking his beard absently. "Mostly Deolan tribesmen. They're able to move through the grasslands faster normal soldiers thanks to those swift-footed horses of theirs, and they needed to deal with the Etazk in Kainpre in a hurry so they could make it back here in time to help defend the harbor."

"It's a relief to know we've managed to
gather enough men to nearly match their forces." Sly murmured, sighing in relief. "I had been a little worried we would be grossly outnumbered."

"You haven't heard?" Garth a
sked, staring at the little man in disbelief. "The Etazk sailed out of Salastar a couple of weeks ago on course for Sierra with a force of over a hundred thousand men! We have less than two months before they reach the city!"

"A hundred thousand?" Sly
gasped, his scruffy face going pale. "Where did they get enough ships to carry them all?"

"I guess they had a large number of them held in reserve elsewhere." The dwarven monarch shrugged. "The rest they either
confiscated or built from scratch."

"And you say
that we have less than two months before they arrive?" Damarius asked grimly, his face nearly as pale as Sly's.

"I'm afraid so." Garth sighed. "Tempest showed up while we were in
Crete and alerted us that they had finally set out. The last time she saw them they had set course directly towards Sierra."

They finally arrived at the massive wharf
and stopped, taking in the immense sprawling harbor.

"This changes things." The scruffy little man
growled, looking around with a dejected scowl. "We may have to forget about reinforcing the harbor and focus on the city. I don't think we'll have time to reinforce both before the Etazk arrive."

"What are you talking about?" Garth asked in a contradictory tone. "We have plenty of time.
Five hundred of my kinsmen can have those harbor walls built up and reinforced in less than two weeks time, and we have five thousand dwarves in our army!"

"Do you think we can build a couple of watch towers atop the walls on either side of the opening to the harbor?" Damarius asked, his expression suddenly thoughtful.

"Aye, we could build a pair of towers atop the walls if you would like."

"
Let's talk about that." The old wizard smiled, leading them all towards the tavern Sly used as a headquarters.

The next several weeks were an absolute whirlwind of ac
tivity as the industrious little dwarves worked to build up the harbor walls. The huge piles of granite blocks that Juco and his men had managed to gather by deconstructing the few granite structures in the city were quickly utilized, and they were soon forced to send several scouting parties into the nearby mountains to locate a suitable supply of stone to finish their work.

After two furious
weeks of construction, they finally finished the harbor walls and towers, and Garth led the others on a tour to proudly show off his kinsmen's handy work.

"See?" The dwarven monarch asked Sly as they strolled along the broad path that had been constructed along the top of the harbor walls, which were thirty feet thicker and forty feet taller than before. "Did I not say my kinsmen would be able to handle the job?"

"That you did, my friend." The scruffy little man conceded as he closely inspected the dwarves' handy work. He knelt and examined the nearly invisible seams between the granite blocks. "How did they manage to get the blocks to fit so closely together? What kind of mortar did they use?"

"Mortar?" Garth snorted in amusement. "There isn't a drop of mortar in this entire structure. The blocks a
re so perfectly fitted that they don't need it."

"Aren't you afraid that it may all collapse?" Fedrio asked with a concerned expression.

"You could hit these walls with a mountain and you'd hardly feel it." The stocky little dwarf promised. "My many of my kinsmen are master stone masons, as were their fathers, and their father's fathers. These walls will stand for centuries without succumbing to the abuse of time or nature. You can believe me when I say that these walls could withstand almost anything the Etazk could throw at them."

They continued along the wall until they reach a su
rprisingly spacious tower, which loomed high over the harbor's entrance.

"We decided to line both sides of the
tower walls with windows for archers," The dwarven monarch pointed out several tall narrow windows as they entered the intimidating structure. "We figured the more arrows we can rain down upon the Etazk, the fewer will make it to shore."

"Makes sense to me." Juco shrugged, strolling over to look out the window at the crashing waves
below.

"I haven't seen anyplace for us to set up any siege machines." Damarius frowned with disapproval. "I thought we had discussed placing a catapult atop each tower to
rain pots full of flaming pitch and naphtha down onto their ships."

"That's going to be on the very top floor." Garth assured him with a smile.
"We built five levels into each tower to be able to place as many archers inside as possible."

He led them up a staircase to the second level, which was identical to the first. "I figured we could have the men start bringing in a suitable supply of arrows and store them on the first and second floor." He moved up the staircase to the third floor, which was quite different from the first two. In a
ddition to a large number of windows, there was also a large opening in the wall leading out to a balcony that overlooked the harbor's entrance. "This is the control room. One of them anyways." He led the way out onto the balcony. "The tower on the other side has a similar control room. The harbor defenses can be triggered by the controls in either room."