Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (37 page)

"I can't breathe!" The young girl gasped, turning a vivid shade of pink.

The huge warrior laughed again, then held his daughter out so he could get a good look at her. "I can't tell you how proud I am!" He told her with huge tears standing in his eyes.

"Does that mean
that I won't have to go to Damarius's valley like you did as a child?"

"Of course not
!" Damion engulfed her in another hug. "Damarius and I can teach you how to control your magic in Sevria. I'm not going to send you away as my father did."

Leia
sighed in relief and returned his hug, a happy smile on her tiny face.

They followed Bativa to a large tent that had been erected nearby, passing dozens of wounded or dying tribesmen as they made their way through the chaos.

"How many men did we lose today?" Damion asked, stopping to cover a young tribesman's dead body with his cloak.

"Too many." Bativa frowned. "The latest estimate was two thousand, with another three thousand or so injured. I'm sure we'll lose some more of them before it's all said and done."

"That's a lot of casualties." The huge warrior sighed, feeling the sting of loss as he thought about how many of those brave men were never going to make it home to their families. "A lot more than we predicted."

"It was those damned priests
!" The tribesman growled, pushing the flap covering the tent's entrance aside to allow them all to enter. "They wreaked havoc among our forces with their magic! On the bright side, we
were
able to rescue nearly a thousand of Kainpre's survivors. I guess the rest had already been sacrificed to the Etazk god before we arrived."

"That's something, at least." Damion agreed, dropping in a pile of pillows with a weary sigh. "We can recruit what men who are willing to join the fight and use them to help replace some of the men we lost tonight."

"What's the plan now?" Raven asked, filling several goblets full of wine and handing them out to everyone.

"Once we reassemble the forces and care for the injured, we'll march straight for Sierra." Damion decided, draining his goblet in a single gulp.

"We can leave the injured in Mercedia." Bativa told him as dropped into his own pile of cushions with a loud sigh. "They'll be able to care for those too badly injured to be helped in the field."

"Shouldn't we give the men time to rest?" Raven asked with a concerned expression.

"We don't have the time to spare." Damion told her, holding out his hands helplessly. "The Etazk have already set out from Salastar. It's only a matter of weeks before they reach Sierra."

"I hope Damarius and Sly were able to get the city prepared," Bativa murmured with a worried frowned. "It's a long, long ride from here to Sierra."

Chapter 16

"We have failed." The veiled dragon whimpered fearfully as it landed on the rocky outcropping where the Dragon God continued to lounge. "We have been unable to accomplish the task you have given us."

"Yes,
Xaxis, I saw." Draco growled, still staring out over the churning waves, His eyes lost in thought. "I was watching as your brethren attempted to overpower the Dragon Lord. I watched as they finally managed to render him helpless," He continued in a growling whisper. "and then watched as they fled in terror from the Dragon Lord's child."

The veiled dragon cringed at its god's words, but remained silent.

Draco slowly turned and fixed the cringing serpent with a gaze that promised death. "They fled in terror from a
child
." He repeated in a disgusted tone.

"The child you speak of is our life giver." The veiled dragon snarled suddenly with surprising heat.

"The Dragon Lord was helpless," The Dragon God continued, ignoring the beast's outburst. "With one blow, your brethren would have been released from his control once and for all, but instead, they chose the flee from a helpless child."

"It was our life giver
!" The beast snarled once again. "She appeared from the darkness and ordered my brethren not to harm the Dragon Lord. They had no choice but to obey!"

"No choice?" Draco's eyes widened in surprised anger. "They could have slaughtered the pathetic little creature along with the Dragon Lord! That is the purpose
that you and your brethren were created, and yet you continue to fail!" He sneered contemptuously. "I should obliterate you all for your failures."

"We could
not
destroy the child!" The veiled beast tried to explain quickly. "We have no power against her! Her blood flows through our veins! When she commands, we haven't any choice but to obey!"

"I warned you that your
plan was flawed," A new voice whispered in a mocking tone. Estheryal appeared once again, Her eyes triumphant. "but you did not care to listen."

The veiled dragon's eyes grew wide, and he suddenly dropped his head respectfully. "Mother." He murmured in greeting.

"What do you mean that you have no power against the child?" Draco snarled at the veiled dragon, ignoring the Serpent Mother's mocking. "She is a mortal. She can be killed just like any other."

"You don't understand, Draco," Estheryal told him in a patient tone. "When you chose to use the Dragon Lord's daughter's blood, you bound our new children to her, much as our scarlet children are bound to the Dragon Gem. They cannot harm her, and they cannot disobey her commands. They are bound by blood to the young girl, their destinies intertwined."

The Dragon God's eyes widened in suddenly realization. He slowly turned and fixed the Serpent Mother with a angry stare. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" He asked in an accusing tone. "You knew that our children would be bound to the child, that's why you kept attempting to warn me against following through with my plans."

"I knew you could not see the flaw in your plan." Estheryal nodded, her expression sad. "I could see that you had been blinded by your quest to see our children reign supreme once again. You failed to take into account the fact that by using the
blood of the Dragon Lord's daughter to create our children, their destinies would forever be linked."

"So all of this has been for nothing." Draco sighed in defeat. "I violated the Pact of the Gods
, brought the entire world to the very brink of war, and sent hundreds of our children to their deaths, all for nothing."

"I'm afraid so." The Serpent Mother murmured with a frown. "And the worse is still yet to come.
None of the gods can predict the outcome of what you have set into motion. The tapestry destiny had woven for all mortals has been obliterated. Mankind is now responsible for their
own
destinies, something which is unprecedented. The gods, or destiny itself, have always controlled the mortal world, gently guiding them toward their fates. Now, it appears destiny's plans have been destroyed, and the mortals of this world are free to create their own paths."

Draco lowered His head, stung by Her words. The Serpent Mother had been correct all along, but He chose
n not to listen to her warnings. "Are our children lost then? Have my actions truly doomed them to extinction?"

"It's hard to say." Estheryal murmured with a heavy sigh. "The wars that are brewing across this world
are on the verge of exploding. When they do, they shall consume all of mankind, and none of the creatures of this world will be safe." She fixed him with a serious gaze. "I
can
tell you that if you wish our children to survive, you will need the Dragon Lord's help. Without his aid, our children will surely be lost."

"
What you mean?"

"The mortals of this world have come to know and respect the Dragon Lord, even to fear him."
The Serpent Mother explained. "His exploits have become legend."

"What does that have to do with our children's survival?"

"It is well known that he controls the scarlet serpents using the Dragon Sword. It's also known that the blood of dragons flow within his veins, linking him to our children like no other man before him. Few mortals are willing to go up against him. As long as he lives, they know he will strive to protect the dragons."

"So the only chance our children
have of surviving depends on this mortal, and all because of my own actions." Draco sighed heavily, then turned to look at the veiled dragon, who continued to cower nearby. "Go, Xaxis. I have no further need of you and your brethren."

The beast bowed its head in respect, then turned and launched itself into the air, quickly disappearing from sight.

"I know you may not believe this," Estheryal told Draco, Her voice uncharacteristically gentle, a tone She rarely ever took when speaking with the Dragon God. "but I
am
sorry things have turned out the way they have, not only for our children's sake, but for yours as well." She watched him for several long moments, then slowly faded away, leaving Him alone with His thoughts.

Draco continued to stare at the place the Serpent Mother had just stood, His mind spinning. He could not believe that He had overlooked such an obvious flaw in His grand plans
! It had never occurred to Him that by using the blood of the Dragon Lord's child, He would bind His new children to her! He had been focused solely of the Dragon Lord himself, not his daughter.

He turned away with a snarl of frustration
, and returned His gaze to the churning waves. He had set out to free His children from the Dragon Lord's influence, only to bind even more of them to the mortal's child!

He sighed in resignation, then inwardly shrugged. It didn't really matter. He would carry on with His plans
regardless, only now He needed to alter them to
include
the Dragon Lord.

He cast his gaze towards the sky, knowing the Serpent Mother was staring down at Him from Her place in the heavens. "Very well, Estheryal," He murmured. "You have won this time. I shall make peace with this
mortal, for the sake of our children."

He dropped his gaze back to the churning sea
, His mind already working on how He would manipulate the Dragon Lord into helping Him achieve His goals.

**********

"
How
many ships?" Ignan asked, his face dangerously pale.

"Like I said," Captain Harper frowned. "I lost count around
three hundred, but there were far more than that. As soon as we got close enough to confirm that they were Etazk ships, we turned the Fearless Lady around and made straight for Sierra."

"And that was two days ago?" Damarius asked, brushing his
brow lock from his eyes absently.

"Aye, two days. It's going to take them
a bit longer to reach Sierra than it took us because their ships are far slower than the Fearless Lady."

"The men have finished loading the last of the supplies into the harbor
towers," Juco reported as he hurried into the tavern headquarters where everyone had gathered. "and the dwarves are working double time to get the dockside wall completed. It'll still be a week or so before it's finally finished, though."

"T
hey'll have the time that they need to finish." Sly grunted confidently. "With all of the defenses that we have managed to get into place, the Etazk may never even make it into the harbor."

"I doubt we'll be that lucky." Captain Harper murmured, taking a long drink from his tankard. "The Etazk aren't known for failed attacks. They will keep coming and coming until they finally overwhelm our defenses. Our only hope is that we take out enough of them to even the odds."

"That's a
lot
of men to kill," Garth murmured with a worried expression. "and I'm fairly certain they're not going to make it easy on us. Their priests are sure to release their magic upon us."

"That's why I'm here." Damarius pointed out. "I should be able to counter
whatever magic they try to throw at us, at least for a while. We'll just have to hold them off the best we can, and hope that Damion and the rest of the army get here in time."

"That could still be some time from now." Fedrio reminded them. "It's quite some distance between here and
Kainpre, and having twenty thousand men following him is going to slow him quite a bit."

"Then we're just going to have to try that much harder to hold them back." Sly growled, his face determined. "
We'll throw everything we have at them if that's what it takes."

The next twenty four hours were
tense as they hurried to complete the last minute preparations. Damarius was an absolute blur as he hurried from place to place to make sure all of his various contraptions were in readiness. Despite not having much time, the old wizard still managed to somehow find the time to construct a pair of catapults to top the harbor battlements, hundreds of the chemical filled barrels that he planned to float out into the harbor, and nearly a dozen huge contraptions that he referred to as trebuchets.

"They are capabl
e of throwing immense objects for tremendous distances." He explained to the others as he oversaw a group of soldiers carefully roll the massive machine into its place atop the harbor wall. "We've made a few modifications so it'll throw hundreds of smaller objects at one time instead, and spread them over a much wider area. We've been filling every container we could gather with naphtha and pitch for weeks now, and have thousands of them ready for when the Etazk finally draw within range."

"How did you find
the time to do all of this?" Sly asked in amazement, watching as the soldiers carefully manhandled the machine's huge wagon wheels into a set of deep channels that had been chiseled into the stone. "Between the harbor and wall defenses, and all of your other contraptions, when did you have time to build these monstrosities?"

"Well, Stephan did most of the work," Damarius admitted with a frown.
"I was far too busy with overseeing the placing of the catapults atop the harbor towers. Stephan was quite interested in the plans though, and after going over the designs with him, he was able to oversee their construction for me."

"Are you sure these things are safe?" Fedrio asked with a doubtful expression
.

"They're
perfectly safe to use." The old wizard assured him with a smile. "It's actually a fairly simple contraption. All you have to do is raise the counterweight, attach the nets Stephan designed to hold the containers, set them aflame, then pull the lever that releases the counterweight, slinging the nets high out over the Etazk's fleet. The nets will then release the burning containers to rain down upon their ships."

"It sounds like these things generate a lot of force." Juco frowned, inspecting the huge machine.

"Oh, they do indeed." The old wizard assured him, gesturing towards the deep channels in the granite. "That's why we installed wheels on them. By placing their wheels in those groves, it allows them to roll back and forth, dispersing the stress on the machine, while still allowing it to fling its payload for enormous distances."

"It
still sounds as though they could inflict a lot of damage to our men if they were to malfunction." Fedrio murmured, keeping his distance from the machine.

"They'll cause far more damage to the Etazk if they don't malfunction." Damarius told him absently, watching as they soldiers finally sat the machine into place. "Just wait, once you see them in action, you'll no longer doubt their value."

They watched as the soldiers carefully muscled each machine into place, then slowly made their way back to their tavern headquarters, which was now the only building still left standing along the waterfront, the rest having been disassembled or destroyed to be used as construction material.

That night no one managed to sleep as they awaited word that the Etazk fleet had arrived.
Finally, just after dawn broke over the glistening sea, one of the lookouts atop the wall spotted several dark smudges on the horizon.