Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God

by Barry Gibbons

  Several more blue robed priests appeared in the doorway to their chambers and stood staring at the king apprehensively.

  Grediff sighed heavily. "I guess I had better get back to work. Mika had filled nearly every position of power with his cronies and lackeys. Now that I have the crown, most of them have disappeared, knowing my intense dislike for them. That leaves me with a lot of official positions that need to be filled. It may take me a while to fill them all." He cast Damion another dark look, then made his way from the chambers with the priests following closely behind.

  They spent the next two days nervously awaiting news that the city had been sealed, and that the search was underway. Sly, Damarius, and the twins took advantage of their extended stay, eating, drinking, and sleeping in massive amounts, claiming they were just building up their strength for the battle that was sure to come. Damion and Raven spent most of their time pacing the common room, nervously awaiting news from the king.

  Grediff finally came stumping into their chambers late one evening, long after the sun had set for the evening. "Good news," He told them in a rusty sounding voice."The city has been sealed, and we are preparing to begin with the search." He made his way across the room and dropped into a chair wearily. "They will begin at dawn, starting with the southern most part of the city, and continuing north until every inch of Teir has been searched."

  "That's a good plan." Damarius grunted approvingly. "If they haven't been found by the time the search has reached the palace, we can move on towards the north gate."

  "That's the idea." Grediff nodded. "I figured you wouldn't want to waste more time than you had to waiting for word from the search parties."

  "You look exhausted, Grediff," Damion told the gruff old man. "Haven't you been getting any sleep?"

  "You're joking, right?" The old man yawned. "I haven't slept more than three hours since you decided to give me the crown. Every time I try to sneak away to rest, those vultures somehow manage to track me down." He made a face. "I suspect that they believe that if they can wear me down enough, I'll just give in and give them what they want."

  As if on cue, several functionaries suddenly appeared in the doorway, their eyes locked on the weary king.

  "See," The gruff old man sighed. "not a moment's peace."

  "Let me handle this." Damion told him. He slowly rose to his feet and walked over until he was towering over the suddenly frightened looked men. "The king has come to a decision regarding you and the other assorted functionaries. He has decided not to have you all beheaded, at least for now. Please pass this on to your other colleagues. That will be all." He stared at the men with a menacing glare.

  The men turned white, and turned to stare at their king, who merely yawned. They glanced once more at the enormous warrior who towered over them, then turned and hurried away, tripping over one another in their haste to escape.

  Damion looked to a pair of Teirsian soldiers who were standing watch nearby. "You men," He barked at them, causing them to jump nervously. "Have all updates of the search sent directly to me here. Your king will be going to his quarters to rest. Make sure that he isn't disturbed by anyone," He gave them a hard look. "or else you'll be answering to me." He turned and walked back over to the others. "And that's how you handle that." He plopped down in a chair next to Raven, a satisfied look on his face.

  "You're such a bully!" Raven laughed affectionately.

  "I never thought about trying that." Grediff admitted with a chuckle.

  "Would you care for a little advise?" The huge warrior offered.

  "Of course." The gruff old man sat forward eagerly. "I can use all of the advise I can get right now."

  "Stop trying to everything all at once." Damion told him reasonably. "Find yourself a handful of people you can trust, and start delegating authority. You can't run an entire kingdom by yourself. There aren't enough hours in the day. You need to find good people who you can depend to handle the job, then trust them to handle everything."

  "It's never been done that way in Teirsia." Grediff told him with a frown. "All decisions are always made by the king. That's the way it's always been."

  Damion shrugged. "Then you had better get used to never sleeping again."

  The old man frowned. "Perhaps that's not such bad advise. I'll give it some thought." He heaved himself to his feet with a grunt. "I'm going to go get a little rest. If there's any news, let me know immediately."

  He slowly made his way from the room, followed closely by the two guards Damion had threatened.

  "He's going to kill himself if he keeps up this pace." Damarius noted, carefully combing the remains of his dinner from his beard.

  "He'll be fine." Damion disagreed. "He'll catch on quickly. At least, I hope he does." He frowned. "Otherwise, we might actually have to give the crown to Sly."

  Chapter 19

  "It's useless." Boris murmured in a quiet whisper. "They're not allowing anyone to leave. The gates have been sealed, and there are dozens of soldiers barring anyone from attempting to depart."

  "The elder spirits and I have underestimated the Dragon Lord yet again." The witch hissed angrily, her burning eyes glaring under her hooded robe. "We never dreamed that he might challenge the king and seize control of the city."

  The news that the Dragon Lord had challenged and killed the former King of Teirsia had traveled through the entire city within hours of his victory. And, perhaps even more disturbing, he had also explained his reasons for appearing in Teir, announcing to everyone that she had abducted his daughter, and may be hidden somewhere in the city.

  As soon as she heard this news, they had immediately gathered their belongings and set off for the safety of the highlands, with herself and the child hidden in the back of a rickety old covered wagon Boris had managed to purchase from a nearby livery.

  Since the Dragon Lord revealed that it was a highland witch that abducted his daughter, she had been forced to hide the child and herself in between some empty crates they had stacked in the back of the wagon to allow Boris to blend in with the dozens of other wagons and caravans that clogged the streets of Teir.

  The child immediately began wailing and thrashing, refusing to remain still or silent as they attempted to make their way out of the city, forcing her to use her magic to put the retched little beast into an enchanted sleep, silencing her screams and cries of displeasure.

  It took them several days of slowly plodding through the crowded streets of Teir, narrowly avoiding several brushes with Teirsian patrols who were inspecting every wagon and caravan they encountered, but she and the child had managed to remain hidden, and after what seemed an eternity, the northern gates finally came into view.

  "Did you try to bribe the soldiers guarding the gate to let us through?" She asked quietly, peering out of a tiny rip in the canvas that covered the wagon in an effort to see her surroundings.

  "I did," He whispered back, eyeing a pair of soldiers who trudged passed. "but they refused. They are terrified of the Dragon Lord, and won't risk displeasing him."

  "Then take us to another gate!" She snarled vehemently.

  "It will do us no good, Mistress." Boris informed her in an emotionless tone. "The city has been completely sealed. The soldiers will not allow anyone in or out of the city until we have been located."

  "It's only a matter of time before we're discovered!" She hissed in frustration. "We have to get clear of the city, and make it up into the safety of the highlands. Once there, it should be fairly easy to throw the Dragon Lord off our trail, and leave him and his companions floundering in the maze of granite formations."

  "Nothing has been easy when it has involved the Dragon Lord, Mistress." Boris grumbled, his voice barely audible. "He has somehow managed to track us halfway around the world, easily avoiding numerous attempts to kill or delay him and his companions. I have the feeling that the granite mazes of the highlands will not slow him long."

  She snarled at him angrily, but had to admit that he was correct.
She had done everything she could, and used every bit power given to her by the elder spirits to try and stop him and his companions, but the Dragon Lord and his friends had somehow emerged from these attacks unscathed, and now, they had her trapped inside of the city with little chance of escape.

  She snarled again, then forced herself to calm down, and drew a deep trembling breath. "There is no other way, then." She growled finally. "We're too close to achieving our goal to stop now." She slowly pushed the canvas concealing her and the child away, and rose to feet.

  "Mistress!" Boris hissed in panic. "You'll be seen!"

  "It doesn't matter." She declared, her fiery violet eyes burning with fury as she drew upon the powers bestowed to her by the elder spirits. "I'll not be stopped now! Not when I'm this close to fulfilling my destiny!" She turned towards the startled looking soldiers guarding the sealed gate, and released the torrent of magical energy, raining death down upon anyone nearby.

  ************

  "The search has reached the coliseum." King Grediff told Damion and the others as they finished loading their belongings onto their horses. "I ordered them to continue with the search, and report anything they find directly to you and your friends."

  "Thank you, your Majesty." Damion told the gruff old man, grasping his hand in gratitude. "You have been a tremendous help. I hope that someday I'll be able to repay you and your people for everything you have done."

  "You already have!" Grediff laughed. "You removed Mika from our midst." He made a face. "As for your dropping this burden in my lap," He gestured to the heavy crown perched on his brow. "I'm sure you'll make it up to me someday."

  Raven rushed forward and threw her arms around the gruff old battle master. "Thank you, Grediff." She said simply, her voice full of emotion.

  "Don't worry," He told her in a grandfatherly tone. "You'll soon be reunited with your little girl, and all will be set right again." He smiled lightly. "And once you have her, you must make sure you bring her back to the palace so I can see the little face that even the gods desire to possess."

  "We will," She promised, kissing him on his scarred cheek.

  The gruff old king watched as they all mounted their horses, then raised his hand in farewell. "I've ordered the soldiers to clear the streets to hurry your passage. If your daughter if found, news will be sent directly to you." He smiled in genuine fondness. "Be safe, my friends, and good luck."

  They all raised their hands in farewell, then set off towards the northern gate.

  Storm began to prance outrageously as they made their way through the streets, obviously quite pleased by the Teirsian soldiers who rode a mile or so ahead of them, clearing the people from the streets for their passage.

  Many of the people began to cheer as they passed by, and their passage soon seemed more like a parade than a desperate race to locate Leia.

  They continued to hurry passed the cheering crowds all day and most of the evening, until Damion finally called for them to halt at a set of crossroads, where they were met by a group of hard faced Tersians who had been waiting for their arrival.

  "Greetings, Dragon Lord," One of the men greeted the big warrior with a nod. "It is an honor to meet you and your companions. I'm Lucius, commander of the street patrols."

  "Well met, Lucius," Damion greeted him pleasantly. "How goes the search?"

  "It's going better than expected. There's nearly nine thousand square leagues to investigate, and it's taken quite a bit of coordination to insure that every inch is thoroughly searched, but so far, we have ran into very little trouble, aside from a few prohibited items that were uncovered during our search. We haven't located the witch who abducted your child as of yet," The older man told him with a frown. "but we located serving girl who claims that a woman and child fitting their descriptions had been staying at a small inn where she worked, near the coliseum. We investigated, but they had already disappeared by the time we arrived."

  "It's likely they found out about Damion challenging and defeating Mika for the crown." Damarius murmured, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "The witch probably knew that the city would no longer be safe, and fled towards the highlands with Leia."

  "Well, she won't get very far." The hard faced Teirsian stated firmly. "The city has been completely sealed. No one can get in or out until the king declares otherwise."

  "How far has the search progressed so far?" Raven asked anxiously.

  "The search should reach this point by midnight, milady. I took the liberty of reserving rooms for you at the Lion's Head Inn. It's about a mile or so to the north."

  "Very good, Commander." Damion nodded approvingly. "How much further is it until we reach the north gate?"

  "Another day's hard riding." Lucius answered respectfully. "It would take much longer, but the soldiers clearing the road for your passage should hasten things quite a bit."

  "Excellent. It's sounds like you and your men have everything well in hand." The huge warrior nodded approvingly.

  "Thank you, milord." The hard faced man looked pleased. "Will you be taking advantage of the rooms I had reserved for you at the Lion's Head Inn? They have some of the finest cooks on staff there, and their brewers make a delicious ale that's famous throughout Teirsia."

  Damion considered it for a moment. "I guess we may as well. We don't want to get too far ahead of the search, and be forced to back track if the searchers manage to discover where the witch has taken Leia."

  They bid Lucius and the other officers farewell, then hurried on until they reached the substantial looking Lion's Head Inn. After leaving their horses at the adjoining livery, they made their way inside, and was immediately greeted by the innkeeper, who led them to a set of tables already laid out with a sumptuous feast.

  They fell into the meal, ravenous from their long day's ride, then once they had all eaten their fill, they settled in for a good night's rest.

  Damion and Raven had been asleep for less than an hour, when there was a sudden pounding at the door to their chamber. Damion quickly rolled from the bed and opened the door to find a young Teirsian soldier trembling before him, his eyes wide with apprehension.

  "I-I'm s-sorry for disturbing you, milord," The soldier stammered fearfully. "I w-was told to report to you d-directly."

  "It's okay," The huge warrior assured him with a yawn. "What do you have to report?"

  "There's been an incident at the northern gate. Dozens of people were killed, and the gates were literally blown to pieces. No one's really sure exactly what happened. Some witnesses swear that the shadows suddenly came to life and began slaughtering anyone nearby, while others swear they witnessed the witch herself using magic to kill everyone and destroy the gates."

  Damion cursed, then glanced to Raven, who was already scrambling to gather their belongings. "Alert the others, and have them meet us in the common room, then go to the livery next door and have them ready our horses."

  "As you command." The young Teirsian hurried off to rouse the others.

  They met up in the common room a few minutes later, still exhausted from lack of rest.

  "What's happened?" Damarius asked anxiously.

  "There's been an incident at the gates." Damion told them quickly, eager to be off. "Apparently several dozen soldiers were killed, and the northern gates blown to pieces. Witnesses claim that the shadows came alive and slaughtered the soldiers standing guard, then the witch appeared and used magic to destroy the gates. We need to hurry before they are able to get too far ahead."

  They hurried outside to find their horses saddled and ready to go. They set off immediately, pounding through the dark deserted streets as fast as their horses could carry them.

  At Damion's request, Snowfeather hurried ahead to search the area for any sign of Leia and the witch. He returned an hour or so before dawn, swooping down from the darkness to settle lightly on the huge warrior's shoulder. "The gate is less than a mile ahead. The witch did quite a number on it. There isn't much left other than a few scr
aps of steel."

  "Did you see any sign of the witch?"

  "Nay," The huge owl chirped regretfully. "Once you make it a few miles out of the city, the landscape drastically begins to change. There are thousands of granite formations that form a kind of natural maze. There are countless places for them to hide."

  "They won't try to hide." Damion told him confidently. "They're too close to their goal for them to stop and take the chance that we might discover them. They'll keep moving, and hope that we get lost or turned around long enough for them to reach the temple and deliver Leia to the dragon god."

  "No chance there." Snowfeather assured him with a hoot. "I can guide you and the others through the maze quite easily. I'll make sure you don't waste time floundering around trying to find your way."