Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) Page 17

  "We have others things we have to worry about right now." Damion reminded him. "We are nowhere near being ready to face a force the size that we saw in Salastar." He looked back up to Tempest. "What have the Etazk been doing since we destroyed their fleet?"

  "That's what I'm here to speak with you about." Tempest settled down before them comfortably. "After their fleet was destroyed, the Etazk seemed to be in disarray for a time, but they soon reorganized and began constructing new ships. That, however, wasn't working quick enough for them, so they began confiscating every ship that sailed into port and sacrificing the crews upon their foul altars."

  "How many ships do they have?"

  "About eighty that are sea worthy. Not nearly enough to move their entire force, and they have another hundred or so under construction, but it'll be a month before any of those will be finished. But that's not what I found troubling." Tempest murmured in a serious tone. "After a couple of weeks of watching them, I noticed that groups of Etazk would occasionally break away from the rest of the force and disappear. I didn't think much about it at the time, but after a month or so of watching these men continue to disappear, I began to grow curious, and decided to follow one of these groups."

  "Let me guess, deserters, right?" Shirk nodded confidently. "Every army has to deal with their share of soldiers who defect from their ranks."

  "I'm sorry to say that these were not deserters." The huge scarlet serpent sighed. "These men traveled day and night for almost a week until they finally reached another port city built next to a narrow inlet that leads out to the sea. They met up with another large group of warriors, and then boarded a ship, which immediately set sail."

  "That's not good." Damion frowned. "How many men were on board?"

  "A few hundred. I didn't think much about it when I first noticed them breaking away from the rest of the forces, but after a month or so, a significant piece of their army had broken away and disappeared. That's when I began to get a bit concerned, and decided to follow them. Once I realized what they had been doing, I knew I had to get here to warn you immediately."

  "Are you saying there is an army of Etazk running around loose out there somewhere, and we don't have any idea of where they are?" Sly looked as though he may be sick. "How many men do you estimate broke away from the others?"

  "All together, I'd estimate around ten thousand." Tempest sighed. "I failed in my task. I should have realized what they were doing sooner."

  "It isn't your fault." Damion told her, his mind working quickly. "Did you happen to notice what course they chose?"

  "They were heading southeast towards Sierra when I last saw them. I suppose they could have changed course since then."

  "No, they're heading here." Damion murmured confidently. "We are the biggest threat to the Etazk, so they'll attempt to remove us first before moving on to other kingdoms."

  "What would you have me do now?" Tempest asked, clearly hoping to redeem herself.

  Damion thought about it for a moment. "See if you can locate where these breakaway groups have been going. If I had to guess, I would say they are gathering somewhere along the coastline in an effort to remain hidden. If you're not able to locate them, return to Salastar and keep an eye on the rest of the Etazk army. We definitely don't want to lose track of them too."

  "And the serpent that you encountered in the grasslands?"

  Damion shook his head. "I'm afraid it's going to have to wait. We don't have the time to try to track it down. The Etazk require our full attention right now."

  "As you wish." Tempest rose to her feet and stretched her wings. "I'll alert you the instant anything happens." She launched herself into the air and disappeared into the night.

  "You really are the Dragon Lord, aren't you?" Juco had watched the conversation with the great serpent in stunned disbelief, and now stared at Damion with a newfound respect.

  "I told you he was." Shirk shook his head in exasperation. "Didn't you believe me?"

  "Not really. I never actually believed there was a real Dragon Lord. I thought you had just found some talented fellow to pose as some made-up hero, and passed a bunch of wild stories around about him to fool the simpletons of the world."

  "Well, now you know better."

  "What's the plan now?" Sly asked in a worried tone. "There are ten thousand Etazk out there running around somewhere, and we don't even know where to begin looking for them."

  "Looking for them would just be a waste of time." Juco pointed out in a shrewd tone. "It would be best to just wait for them to show themselves, and then take care of them. It doesn't make sense to waste the time and energy it would take to track them down. Better to save your energy until they slip up and reveal themselves. A force that size cannot remain hidden forever."

  "I guess that's all we really can do." Damion agreed. "We'll just have to wait until they resurface and deal with them then." He frowned. "I just can't help but feel we're going to regret losing track of those warriors."

  They gathered the next morning in the dining hall for breakfast, where Damion quickly brought everyone up to date with the Etazk.

  "Ten thousand men?" Damarius asked once the huge warrior had finished explaining their situation. "A force that size could wreak some serious havoc."

  "And we don't have any idea where they may be." Sly grumbled in a rusty voice. "They could be anywhere!"

  "What did Tempest have to say about the dragon we encountered in the grasslands?" Raven asked, glancing to her daughter, who seemed a bit subdued that morning.

  "She had never heard of anything like it." Damion sighed heavily. "She says there has never been a beast such as I described."

  "Which leaves us with father's theory as the best explanation for its appearance." Lady Skie frowned, glancing to Damarius, who looked rather pleased with himself.

  "I told you." Leia whispered, staring down at her plate of uneaten eggs. "I told you that the Dragon God used my blood to create that beast. And it's not the only one." She told them grimly. "There are more of those things. A lot more."

  "How can you be certain, young one?" Lady Skie asked the young girl gently.

  "I can sense them." She ran her hands over the skin on her arms absently. "I can sense them as they move through the world. I can feel in my very essence."

  They all just stared at the young girl, who continued to gaze at her plate with unseeing eyes.

  "They're searching for something." She continued in a strained tone. "They need to do something, acquire something. They searching everywhere for it, and they will not stop until it is theirs."

  "What are they searching for?" Damion watched his only daughter closely.

  "I'm not sure," Leia frowned, looking to her father. "but whatever it is, it has something to do with you, and they cannot continue without it."

  "That could only mean the Dragon Sword." Damarius murmured, brushing his brow lock from his eyes absently. "If the Dragon God did use little Leia's blood to create another race of dragons in an effort to destroy mankind, then the first task He would give to them is to track down and obtain the Dragon Sword. If He wants His plans to succeed, He is going to need all of His children, and the only way He can regain control of the scarlet dragons is by destroying Damion and taking the sword."

  "Which means we haven't seen the last of these new beasts." Shirk grumbled sourly. "We're going to have to keep a look out over our shoulders from now on."

  "It wouldn't do any us any good." Sly chuckled humorlessly. "We wouldn't be able to see coming them anyway."

  "We'll just have to worry about the veiled dragons later." Damion decided reluctantly, glancing at his daughter, who had went back to staring blankly at her eggs. "Our first priority is making sure Sierra is secured."

  "Veiled dragons?" Shirk stared at Damion curiously. "Where did you come up with that?"

  "Both Snowfeather and Damarius have used that term when referring to the beasts." The huge warrior shrugged. "I figured that it was a suitable enough name f
or them as any."

  "It certainly fits them." The old bandit agreed. "At least now we won't have to fumble over what to call them."

  "Great." Sly grumbled in a flat tone. "Now that we have gotten that out of the way, we need to devise a way to help protect Sierra from the Etazk." He looked to Damarius. "Were you able to think of anything that may help defend the city?"

  "I have a number of ideas," The old wizard nodded, causing his brow lock to fall back into his eyes. "but I'm going to need to go to Sierra myself to make sure everything is done correctly."

  "You haven't dug up any of your half baked inventions or formulas, have you?" Sly asked suspiciously. "Your eyebrows still haven't grown back after the last time your were tinkering with them."

  "Most of the designs I plan on bringing are fairly mundane."

  "Most of the designs?" The scruffy little man still sounded suspicious.

  "I do have a few things that are a bit more... hazardous," Damarius admitted evasively. "but I think we'll find them quite useful when it comes time to fight off the Etazk."

  "Do we know how many men have remained behind to protect Sierra?" Dar asked, carefully choosing an apple from a bowl of fruit.

  "We have no idea." Shirk shrugged helplessly. "The last report we received from the Lords of Sierra informed us that they tried appealing to many of the sea captains to help defend the port from invasion, but most of them sailed off the second they heard the Etazk mentioned. That was over a week ago. We haven't heard anything from Sierra since."

  "We'll have to bring up reinforcements from Crete immediately to help defend the docks." Damion frowned. "I just hope we have enough men." He looked to Sly. "Can you accompany Damarius to Sierra and help him in setting up their defenses, while Raven, Leia, Slither and I head down to Crete. Once we're there, we'll send the men that are already prepared along to Sierra to help bolster your numbers."

  "We can send Juco and the Silent Shadows with you." Shirk suggested to Sly, his expression thoughtful. "I know he seemed a little... unreliable, but Juco is a good man to have at your side during a fight, and the Silent Shadows are worth ten normal warriors each. They may also have a few ideas on how to defend Sierra."

  "It couldn't hurt, I guess." Sly agreed. "We're going to need all of the extra hands we can get when we're preparing the city. It's not nearly as well protected as Sevria, and the dockyard stretches for miles. We're going to have a very tough time defending them."

  "I have a few ideas on that." Damarius assured him. "Once I'm finished, any Etazk that attempts to make it into the harbor will be very sorry."

  "What should I do?" Dar asked curiously.

  Damion thought about it for a moment. "I would like you to stay here and help look after the city. You know the defenses as well as any of us, and you were here during the last siege. You know what strategy worked the best against an attacking army."

  "How long do you think we have before the Etazk are ready to move?" Raven asked in a subdued tone.

  "Not as long as we had hoped." The huge warrior frowned. "I would give it no more than a couple of months."

  "Add that to the month or two it will take them to reach Sierra, and that doesn't leave us a whole lot of time to prepare." Lady Skie sounded worried.

  "I guess that means we had better get moving." Sly heaved himself up from cushioned seat with a groan, and then turned to Damarius. "Let's go, old man. We have a lot to do before you get your chance to blow us all up with one of your mad experiments."

  "Do look after yourself." Lady Skie hurried over to throw her arms around her father. "Please don't get yourself killed."

  "I'll be fine, my dear." Damarius assured her. "I'll have Sly there to protect me. What could go wrong?"

  "Don't answer that." Sly quickly cut her off as she started to reply.

  "We had better get prepared ourselves." Raven murmured, frowning as she watched Leia push her plate of eggs away untouched. "We're going to have to return to Crete immediately if we hope to get enough reinforcements to Sierra in time to help defend the city." She scooped her daughter up into her arms.

  "Wouldn't you prefer to leave Leia here at the keep with us?" Lady Skie asked with a worried expression. "An army encampment isn't really the type of place a young girl should be exposed to."

  "I've been around worse." Leia told her with a shrug. "Have you ever seen Sly when he first wakes up after drinking all night?" She shuddered. "It's ghastly! He looks like the walking dead! And the smell..."

  "That's quite enough, thank you." Sly stumped over and gave the giggling young girl a kiss on the nose.

  "Agh," Leia pretended as though she were about to faint. "The smell is even worse when he's sober!"

  "I think we would still feel better if she were where we could keep an eye on her." Damion told Lady Skie, chuckling as his daughter pretended to faint. "Besides, she's proving to be quite useful in certain situations."

  They met up a few minutes later in front of the castle stables as they prepared to set off once again.

  "Are you all set?" Damion asked Damarius, who looked rather excited to get underway.

  "I believe so." The old wizard smiled. "What I don't have I should be able to find in Sierra."

  "Why do you look so excited?" The huge warrior asked his old teacher suspiciously. "What exactly are you planning?"

  "It would take far too much time to explain right now." Damarius told him evasively. "We need to get underway if we want to have any hope of saving Sierra."

  The huge warrior started to reply, but was interrupted as Sly, who was laughing uncontrollably, appeared from the stables leading Damion's prancing warhorse, Storm, and followed closely by Juco, who was rubbing his arm gingerly, an outraged expression on his face.

  "I warned you not to get too close to him!" Sly guffawed, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes.

  "That beast of yours is mad!" The little mercenary growled at Damion, casting a dark look at the huge stallion, who stared back at him aggressively. "I've never seen a horse actually pretend to be sleeping just so he could bite you when your guard was down!"

  "He was just having a little fun with you." Leia told him, hurrying over to scamper up onto the warhorse's back. "It means he likes you."

  "Could you tell him to like me a little less?"

  "Do you understand what you and your men need to do?" Damion asked, still wondering if it had been wise to recruit the unreliable looking little fellow.

  "Of course," Juco shrugged, still eyeing Storm suspiciously. "We are going to help the scruffy little fellow and that crazy old man there prepare the city and dockyard defenses in Sierra." He gestured to Sly and Damarius casually. "And when the Etazk decide to finally show their faces," He smiled a vicious smile. "my boys and I get to have a little fun!"

  "Make sure you keep your men and yourself under control while in Sierra." Damion warned him in a firm tone. "I won't be happy if I found out you've been causing problems for the locals."

  "I understand." The mercenary assured him fervently, gingerly rubbing his scalp, which was still tender from his first encounter with Damion. "I'll make sure my men are on their very best behavior."

  "We had better get moving." Raven told them, vaulting up into her saddle. "It's a long way to Crete, and it's going to take some time to get the reinforcements moving north."

  They quickly bid Dar, Shirk, and Lady Skie farewell, then made their way out to the trade road, where they found Juco's Silent Shadows waiting in the large glade that bordered the trade road.

  "Take care of yourselves," Damion cautioned Sly and Damarius. "Do whatever you can to prepare the city. If the Lords of Sierra give you any trouble, tell them I gave Damarius orders to turn them all into garden slugs."

  "Will do." Sly chuckled. "Make sure you get those reinforcements to us as quickly as you can. We're going to need every able bodied man we can recruit if we want to have any hope of keeping the Etazk from making it to shore."

  With one last quick farewell, Damarius, Sly
, Juco, and the mercenaries started off up the trade road to the north, while Damion, Raven, Leia, and Slither set off to the south with Snowfeather drifting silently overhead on the watch for danger.

  "Do you think we actually have a chance of keeping the Etazk from making landfall in Sierra?" Raven asked Damion a bit later. "With a force that size, does the city really have a chance?"

  "I'm afraid it doesn't look good." The huge warrior told her truthfully. "I'm afraid Sierra will probably be destroyed as the Etazk try to force their way ashore. Their numbers are just too great. But we should at least be able to slow them down, and whittle down their numbers before we are forced to withdraw into the mountains."

  "It's a good thing Sevria is well prepared for a siege." The young woman said, though said still looked worried. "If the Etazk are able to make ground in Sierra, it won't be long before they're outside our gates."

  "It won't be just an easy stroll through the mountains for the Etazk, though." The huge warrior told her confidently. "There are hundreds of places for our forces to hide out and ambush the Etazk. They'll suffer heavy losses before they ever reach the city."

  "The ssspawn will sssurely exact their toll as well." Slither hissed as he effortlessly trotted along side of their horses. "I ssspoke with many of the hoard, and told them they would gain the Dragon Lord's favor by aiding him againssst the Etazk. Many will sssurely anssswer the call."

  "Every little bit will help."

  That evening, they set up camp in one of the fortified encampments that had been constructed along the trade road by the road crews, and settled down around a nice cozy fire to rest.

  "Do you think the new dragons can sense when I'm close, like I can sense them?" Leia asked her father, tearing into a roasted chicken leg hungrily.

  "I'm not sure," The huge warrior replied after a moment's thought. "If I had to guess, I would have to say no. You said they were searching for something that had to do with me. If they could sense when you are close, they wouldn't have any problem tracking me down by just honing in on your location."

  "That's true, isn't it?" The young girl admitted, her expression thoughtful. "That's something we may be able to use to our advantage. I'll be able to sense when one of these veiled dragons are nearby, and warn everyone before they have a chance to strike."