Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (42 page)

"The scarlet dragons cannot harm mortals." Sly reminded him with a frown. "It was one of the agreements made when they were released from the Dragon Gem."

The ground beneath them suddenly began to tremble,
causing the few remaining buildings left in the city to shake and quiver violently.

"Earthquake!" Ignan cried, desperately trying to remain upright.

"It's not an earthquake," Damarius disagreed, watching the huge granite wall as it began to sway back and forth. "The Etazk priests are attempting to bring down the wall."

They watched as the wall continued to sway alarmingly, but the sturdy dwarven built structure stubbornly resisted the incredible forces being focused on it by the Etazk priests.

"I told you dwarven stonework was nearly indestructible!" Garth laughed proudly. "It'll take a lot more than an earthquake to bring that wall down!"

An
enormous explosion suddenly lit the sky, and a huge section of the wall was blown inward, raining fist sized chunks of granite down onto their forces. Damarius managed raise his staff and use his magic to shield himself and the others from most of the debris, but their men weren't as lucky. Dozens were injured and killed as heavy chunks of the wall rained down upon the unsuspecting warriors, many of whom were still busy attempting to ward of the flying creatures that continued to harass them.

"Here they come!" Juco roared as the Etazk warriors began to pour through the missing section of the wall and charge directly towards them.

It was instant chaos as the two armies finally met with a tremendous crash that could be heard for miles around. Though they were vastly outnumbered, the fact that the bulk of the Etazk army had yet to actually reach land gave the defenders a distinct advantage over the invaders, but that advantage was quickly being nullified as more and more of the Etazk continued to stream through the missing section of the battlements.

"What, in the name of the gods, are those things?" Zayan asked as dozens of huge hairless wolf-like creatures
appeared in the wall's opening and began to rush forward, their eyes glowing with an unearthly light.

"
Something conjured up from the Underworld, no doubt." Damarius growled, leveling his staff and sending a bolt of pure energy sizzling through the air, striking one of the strange beasts directly in its face.

The bolt of energy exploded,
sending chunks of the beast's head flying in all directions. The headless corpse dropped mid step to the cobblestones and skidded to a stop a few feet away, where it lay twitching. Another bolt of energy burst from the old wizard's staff, and another, and another, each sizzling through the air with amazing accuracy and striking one of the unearthly wolves, instantly reducing them to quivering masses of charred flesh.

He
suddenly staggered unsteadily, and looked as though he were about to faint from exhaustion. He leaned heavily against his staff as he fought to catch his breath, his face dripping with sweat.

Sly, Garth, Juco, and Zayan
hastily formed a protective circle around the weary old wizard, who had quickly become the focus of the Etazk's wrath.

"We can't hold out like this much longer!" Juco roared as he cut down a pair of Etazk warriors with two massive blows of his broad sword.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Sly asked sarcastically, driving the point of his sword deep into another Etazk's eye socket with a meaty crunch.

Juco opened his mouth to reply,
but was cut off by a sudden earsplitting roar that echoed through the mountains, causing warriors on both sides to stop and look around in surprise.

"That
sounded like a dragon!" Sly exclaimed, taking advantage of the distraction to cut down the nearest Etazk with several lightening quick blows.

The sky above the city suddenly
exploded in flames which engulfed several of the strange gargoyles, instantly reducing them to dust. Another blast of flames erupted seemingly out of the thin air, destroying several more of the flying beasts, who had forgotten about the city's defenders, and were desperately searching for the source of the inferno.

"I think they're veiled dragons!" Damarius exclaimed in surprise, still searching the sky for any sign of a dragon.

"They almost have to be veiled dragons," Sly agreed with a worried look on his face. "unless Tempest and the scarlet dragons have learned to turn themselves invisible."

"They must have been attracted by the sounds of the battle." Garth grunted, removing an Etazk warrior's head with a casual looking swing of his battleaxe.

Yet another blast of flames exploded in the sky above their heads, causing everyone to look up in surprise. They watched in astonishment as nearly a dozen enormous dragons seemed to materialize out of nowhere and began to rip into the flying gargoyles savagely. They quickly destroyed the last few remaining creatures, then began to slowly circle over the city, causing both the attackers and defenders to stop and watch with fearful eyes.

"This can't be good." Juco murmured in a worried voice.

"Would you please stop saying that!" Sly snarled, his eyes locked on the serpents above.

One of the circling dragons suddenly tucked its
wings and dropped from the sky, slamming to the ground amongst the Etazk with earth shaking force. It immediately began to rampage through their ranks, sending them fleeing in terror from the massive beast.

Another pair of dragons suddenly dived down towards the harbor and began breathing fire down upon the fleet of invading
ships. The screams of the Etazk who were unlucky enough to still be trying to make their way to shore were instantly silenced as they were enveloped in the massive inferno.

Within seconds, nearly every ship in the harbor had been set ablaze. Those few who were lucky enough to escape the dragon's fire by diving into the water quickly drowned, pulled to the bottom of the harbor by the weight of their
own armor.

"What are they doing?" Sly asked in astonishment, watching as yet another dragon crashed down into the Etazk's ranks, crushing one of
the unearthly wolves, and sending dozens of warriors hurtling through the air, where they crashed down among their own men.

"Who cares?" Juco asked, splitting another Etazk warrior's head open with a vast overhand blow. "They can do whatever they want as long as they do it to the Etazk! We're still dangerously outnumbered here, in case you hadn't noticed."

"Not for long!" Damarius suddenly smiled. "Look!"

They all turned to see
a massive force of mounted tribesmen charging towards them with Damion, riding his massive warhorse Storm, leading the charge.

"It's about damn time you showed up!" Sly roared to the huge warrior as he charged passed.

The tribesmen slammed into the Etazk army with a resounding crash, decimating the already panicked soldiers who were busy attempting to flee the rampaging dragons.

The veiled dragons leapt back into the air
as the tribesmen approached and returned to circling overhead, leaving the remnants of the invading army in complete disarray.

The Deola took advantage of their enemies
' disorder, cutting down entire regiments as the tribesmen continued to pour into town, eager to join the fray.

"Where have yo
u been?" Sly demanded as Damion and Raven rode back up to join them. "The Etazk nearly finished us off! If it hadn't been for the veiled dragons appearing when they did, we'd all be dead right now!"

"We got here as quickly as we could."
Damion told him defensively. "It quite a ways from Kainpre to Sierra, you know." He scowled, staring up at the circling dragons. "What are they doing here?"

"They appeared out if thin air and began tearing into the Etazk
forces like they were possessed." The little man told him with a shrug. "They even destroyed their ships, killing off a significant portion their forces for us."

"We think they may have been drawn by the sounds of the battle," Damarius told him wearily, still leaning on his staff for support. "but that doesn't
really explain why they've only been attacking the Etazk."

With the fleet destroyed and the remaining Etazk in complete disarray, Sierra's defenders quickly turned the tides of
the battle, releasing all of their anger and frustration back onto their attackers, and driving them back through the gaping hole in the massive battlements.

"I think we're finally getting the upper hand on these madmen." Garth grumbled in a tired voice.

"Don't start celebrating just yet." Damion told him as an explosion suddenly hurled several tribesmen and their horses high into the air, where they crashed back down into the city's defenders.

"That can't be
good." Bativa frowned. "There must be more priests. I was kind of hoping they had all been killed already."

"Not a chance." Damarius told him shrewdly.
"The priests are sure to have held back while their main forces invaded."

"You all stay here." Damion slipped down from his saddle and handed Raven his reins. "I'll
take care of this myself."

"Be careful." The young woman warned him worriedly. "Remember what Gwynth told us about their leader, Mohaad."

He hurried through the mayhem to the massive hole in the towering battlements, cutting down several panicked Etazk warriors who were desperately trying to flee the Deolan tribesmen, then climbed atop a large pile of granite blocks that once been a part of the massive wall.

"The priests
are at the end of one of the docks."
Snowfeather hooted, swooping low over the huge warrior's head.

"Where have you been?"

"I wasn't sure if I should try to follow you with those veiled dragons circling overhead. I finally decided to chance it. Lucky for me, they don't seem to be interested, at least for now."

"What are the Etazk  priests doing?"

"They've created a protective circle around an old man who is dressed in golden robes, and are blasting anyone that draws close into tiny pieces."

"That would probably be their high priest, Mohaad."
Damion frowned, following the huge snow owl through the mayhem until they finally reached one of the long docks which stretched several hundred yards out into the harbor.
"How many of them are there?"

"At least fifty or so. They also have a half a dozen or so of those wolf-like creatures among their ranks."

"Get out of here."
He told his familiar, cutting down an Etazk warrior who charged towards him with battle crazed eyes.
"Go keep an eye on the others. This may get a little out of control."

"Stay safe, and try not to get
yourself killed."
The huge owl drifted off towards the others, leaving him to deal with the remaining priests.

Da
mion started down the dock, using the Dragon Sword to carve a wide path through the Etazk soldiers, many of whom tried to flee when they saw him approaching.

A group of six
mounted tribesmen suddenly rushed passed, their huge horses riding down soldier after soldier, leaving a wide trail of carnage behind them. They charged the line of Etazk priests, who immediately reacted by sending dozens of bolts of energy sizzling through the air, instantly reducing the tribesmen and their horses to charred husks.

Damion cursed, then hurried forward, drawing in his magic as he closed in on the ring of priests.

A huge fireball suddenly erupted from one of the robed men's palms and struck the dock directly in front of the huge warrior, exploding with tremendous force. He was thrown backwards from the force of the blast, sending him crashing down atop several corpses.

He scrambled back to his feet and rushed forward once more, focusing his magic onto the Dragon Sword,
causing it to instantly burst into flames. He allowed the energy to build up into a crescendo, then suddenly stopped and raised the blazing sword above his head, causing the water on either side of the dock to rise high into the air, where it hung for several long seconds before crashing down upon the Etazk priests, washing dozens of them off into the cold churning water.

Several of the wolf-like beasts suddenly charged forward, their glowing eyes locked onto the huge warrior, but Damion raised the Dragon Sword a second time, causing another massive wave to crash do
wn onto the unearthly creatures, washing several of them off into the water, and knocking the remaining beasts from their feet.

Damion instantly leapt forward and finished the beasts off before they could regain their footing, then turned to face the last remaining Etazk priests, who quickly close ranks around their high priest protectively.

"It's over, Mohaad!" He yelled to the golden robed man, noticing as the older man's eyes widened with surprise. "You have failed! Your army has been destroyed! Order them to lay down their arms now, and we'll let you leave. If you don't..." He raised the Dragon Sword suggestively.

"We do not fear your hollow threats,
freak
!" The older man roared at Damion, his eyes gleaming with an insane light. "Etaz will see us prevail! You and all the other infidels of this land
will
bow down to the one true god, or have your hearts carved out and given up to Him! I..."