"SSSlither will ssstay clossse."
They were only a few miles outside of town when Snowfeather suddenly appeared in the distance. He quickly glided closer and circled several times overhead, then dropped down to land gently on the Damion's broad shoulder.
"Any luck finding the Deola?" Damion inquired curiously.
"Not as of yet." Snowfeather hooted wearily. "There wasn't any sign of the tribesmen anywhere. They must be a bit further to the south. I'll return to my search after I've had a little rest."
They continued along at a steady, mile consuming trot, moving quickly along the well maintained road until they emerged from the foothills into the sprawling grasslands of the nomadic Deola.
They stopped at midday to rest the horses and eat a quick lunch of trail rations that they had obtained from the innkeeper in Crete, then set back off, hoping to stumble across one of the Deola tribes as they continued to make their way south.
It was late evening when Damion finally called for them to stop for the evening. They set up camp along side of the trade road and built up a large bonfire to alert any tribesmen in the area to their presence. Raven began to prepare several plump chickens that she produced from their supplies, and they settled down to enjoy a nice meal while they waited for Snowfeather to return from his search.
It was almost dawn when the enormous snow owl ghosted in from the darkness clasping a large hare in his beak. "There's still no sign of any Deola in the area." Snowfeather hooted, landing silently on the soft soil of the grasslands. "I didn't see a single campfire for miles. It's safe to say they're still some distance to the south."
Damion sighed, then relayed the news to Slither, Dar, and Sly, who were helping the huge warrior keep watch while the others slept.
"It's still springtime." The childlike sprite pointed out reasonably. "The lifeblood of the Deola are their cattle and horses, so they spend a great deal of the spring in the south where the weather is a bit warmer and the pastures greener."
"Let's hope we locate them soon." Sly grunted, taking a long drink from a wineskin, and then tossing it to Slither, who was crouched in a nearby shadow. "We can't spend too much time searching the grasslands for Bativa. If we don't locate him soon, we're just going to have to head on to Mercedia and hope he's there."
"I was hoping to avoid that." Damion frowned. "We're going to need as many allies on our side as we can get if we're going to convince the Deolan Council of the dangers the Etazk pose to the rest of the world."
A deafening roar suddenly shattered the quiet night, causing everyone to jump in surprise.
Damarius woke up with a snort. "What, in the name of the gods, was that?" He rolled out of his bedroll and jumped to his feet.
"It sounded like a dragon." Sly murmured, staring up at the sky. "It must be one of the scarlet dragons out hunting."
Another bellowing roar shattered the night, sounding much closer this time.
Raven and Leia suddenly came scrambling out of the tent they were sharing. "What in the world was that?"
"That wasss not one of the ssscarlet dragonsss." Slither disagreed in a nervous tone. He slowly crept out of the shadows, his keen eyes scanning the heavens. "Nor wasss it one of the ssshadow beassstsss."
"Let's find out." Damion placed one hand onto the hilt of the Dragon Sword and stared up into the night's sky. "Come to me, my friend." He murmured, using the power of the mythical sword to call out to any of the scarlet dragons who happened to be nearby.
They waited for several long moments, staring out into the darkness expectantly, but nothing appeared.
"I think Slither is correct." Damarius murmured with a frown. "I don't think that was a scarlet dragon."
"I think you're right." Damion agreed, still scanning the heavens. "A scarlet dragon would have responded to the Dragon Sword."
"Could it have been a shadow dragon?" Raven asked, lifting Leia up into her arms and cradling her protectively.
"It wasss not one of the brood." Slither hissed with a shake of his head. "Thisss isss sssomething... different."
They continued to scan the sky until the sun finally began to peek over the horizon.
"What could that thing have been?" Raven asked, still holding onto Leia tightly.
"It's hard to say." Damion told her with a frown. "Whatever it was, it was big."
"Well," Sly grunted in a weary voice. "Whatever that thing was, it's gone now." He turned to look at Raven. "Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to make breakfast?"
The dark eyed woman stared at the scruffy little man for a long moment, then whispered something into her daughter's ear and sat the young girl on the ground. She hurried over to Sly with an innocent smile on her angelic face and kicked him firmly in the shin, then scampered away, giggling uncontrollably.
"Hey!" Sly complained, scowling at the little girl. "I thought that we agreed that you wouldn't do that anymore." He turned and looked to Raven. "You don't fight fair, you know that, right?"
"Did you happen to notice anything unusual while you were out? Anything at all?" Damion asked Snowfeather, still scanning the sky carefully.
"Nay." The huge owl chirped, tearing into his rabbit. "I didn't see anything. The night was quiet, and there wasn't a soul for miles."
"What is it, young one?" Damarius asked, noticing the concerned looked on the huge warrior's face.
"I'm not sure. Something just feels... wrong." Damion frowned. "I have the feeling that we'll be coming across whatever that was again."
"Let's hope it doesn't decide to return." Damarius said fervently. "We already have enough to worry about with the Etazk."
Chapter 6
"I've located some of the Deola." Snowfeather reported to Damion the following evening as they continued to make their way through the grasslands. "They're about three miles to the southeast of here."
"Finally!" Damion sighed in relief. He wasn't looking forward to going before the Deolan Council without the support of his old friend Bativa. "Snowfeather has located one of the Deolan tribes." He relayed to the others. "They're still a few miles from here. We'll continue south another couple of miles, then set up camp for the night and build up a campfire to alert them to our presence."
"Why not head directly to their encampment?" Leia asked curiously. She was riding with her mother after the girl began to complain about the smell of Damion's armor.
"It is not wise to ride uninvited into a Deolan settlement." Damarius told her in a scholarly tone. "You should always wait until you are invited."
They continued south for another half an hour, then pulled off to the side of the road and set up camp. They built up a large bonfire that would make their camp visible to anyone in the area, then Raven and Leia set about making them dinner while they waited for the Deola to arrive.
"Here they come." Snowfeather reported after an hour or so had passed.
"Everybody stay calm." Damion warned the others. "The tribesmen can be a little jumpy at times." He looked to Slither. "Stay close to me, and let me handle everything. We don't want any misunderstandings."
"Whatever you sssay." The huge shadowspawn agreed nervously.
They stared into darkness beyond the light of the bonfire, searching for any sign of the tribesmen, then, riding upon horses that moved in complete silence, three tattooed warriors materialized from the night, their weapons held at the ready.
“Greetings, warriors of the Deola." Damion welcomed the fierce looking tribesmen in a calm tone. "We are honored by your visit.”
"Lord Omensent?" One of the warriors suddenly broke into a wide grin. "What in the world are you doing here?"
As the man moved a bit closer, Damion recognized the tattoos that marked him as being one of Bativa's northern Avonte tribe. "We're looking for your tribe. We need to speak with your chieftain immediately."
"Bativa? I'm afraid he's not with the rest of the tribe at the moment."
"Where is he? It's of the greatest importance that I speak with him
immediately."
"He is in Mercedia meeting with the rest of the chieftains for the Spring Council. It's a custom for the chieftains to gather every spring to decide what lands each clan shall use that year for their herds." He gave the big warrior a conspiratorial smile, and dropped his voice to a murmur. "To be honest, every tribe has always had their own lands that they traditionally drive their herds to every year, but the Spring Council gives the chieftains an excuse to get together and eat and drink themselves into..." He suddenly stopped as he spotted Slither, who was standing a few feet away. "Dragonspawn!"
The warrior started to spur his warhorse forward, reaching for his weapon with panicked expression, but Damion quickly moved to block him. "Whoa!" He grabbed the warhorse the Deolan was riding by its bridle and jerked back, bringing the massive beast to a skidding stop, and sending the warrior flying forward out of his saddle. He landed with an audible thud in the soft grass, and laid there for several long seconds gasping for air. "Calm yourself! Slither is our friend. He's not like the other spawn that you have encountered."
"Couldn't you have told me that before you sent me flying from my saddle?" The warrior groaned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. He turned to look at the huge shadowspawn, who merely watched him with curiosity. "He's bigger than most of the other spawn that I've seen. A lot uglier too."
"You're not ssso pretty yourssself." Slither hissed back, causing the man to jump in surprise.
"It can talk?" The tribesman scrambled to his feet, his eyes still locked on the enormous beast. "I didn't know any of the spawn could talk."
"You have much to learn then." The shadowy beast murmured.
The Deolan stared at him for a moment. "Forgive me..." He looked to the others questioningly.
"Slither." Leia told him helpfully.
"Forgive me, Slither. I have never encountered a friendly dragonspawn before."
"SSSlither wasss ssshadowssspawn, not dragonssspawn." The huge beast corrected him.
"Was?" The warrior asked in confusion.
"SSSlither isss of SSSevria now." The huge beast puffed his scaly chest out proudly.
"Come warm yourselves by our fire." Damion invited him and the other warriors. "We were preparing our evening meal. Please, join us."
The tattooed warrior nodded to his fellow tribesmen, who had watched his fall with scarcely veiled amusement, and they all quickly dismounted and gathered with the others around the bonfire.
"Tell me," Damion asked curiously, accepting one of the roasted chickens Raven had prepared while they were waiting for the Deola to appear. "Have you or your fellow tribesmen encountered anything... unusual lately?"
"Actually we have, now that you mention it." The warrior replied, leaning in close to the roaring flames to warm his hands. "For the last month or so, something has been making off with our cattle. At first, we thought it was just a normal predator, but then they began to vanish out from beneath our very noses."
"Were you able to locate any of them?" Damarius asked curiously.
"Only few bones and a bit of hide. The men watching the herds all swear that the cattle would be there one moment and gone the next. They never saw a thing, but several of them did report hearing an enormous roar around the same time that the cattle vanished."
"Could it have been a dragon?"
"That's what we suspected at first, but then several incidents happened in broad daylight. If it had been a dragon, it would have been spotted by one of our men."
"We heard the same strange bellow last evening," Sly informed the tribesman. "but we were unable to see the creature that made it."
"Whatever the beast is, it is causing our people a great deal of trouble." He gave Damion a curious look. "So tell me, milord, what could possibly be so important that you would come rushing to the grasslands to see Bativa?"
"Have you ever heard of the Etazk?"
"They live in the lands to the west. They're all religious zealots, if the stories I've heard are true."
"They're true." The huge warrior assured him with a grave expression. "We recently discovered that they are assembling for war. They have at least fifty thousand warriors gathered in the port city of Salastar awaiting ships to carry them across the sea."
"Fifty thousand?" One of the other warriors let out a low whistle. "Who are they planning on going to war with?"
"Everyone." Sly grunted. "Their god, Etaz, has ordered them to go forth into the world and convert all nonbelievers, or carve out their hearts and offer them up to Him as a sacrifice. The last time they attempted this, the entire world was nearly destroyed."
The three tribesmen all stared at him with dumbfounded expressions.
"Is what he says actually true?" The leader of the Deolan warriors asked Damion, swallowing hard.
"I'm afraid so." The huge warrior sighed. "I visited Salastar and saw them for myself. They were almost ready to set sail, but we managed to come up with a quick way to slow them down."
"How were you able to slow down an entire army?"
"It was actually fairly easy. One of the scarlet dragons destroyed the ships that were preparing to ferry the army to other shores. It will take them quite some time to build enough ships to carry the entire force."
"Excuse me, milord," One of the Deolan warriors asked respectfully. "but why didn't you just have your dragons destroy the Etazk? A single dragon could have destroyed their main force, and scattered the rest to the four winds without any effort."
"That I cannot do." Damion frowned, shaking his head. "One of the agreements that was made when the scarlet dragons were released from the Dragon Gem was that they were to never cause harm to any man or woman. I will not command them to go back on that agreement."
"Which means we're going to have to build our own army to drive those savages back to the western continent." Sly grumbled through a mouthful of chicken.
"You should take this news straight to the Council." The leader of the Deolan patrol advised him with a worried expression. "They need to know what you have discovered."
"That's why we were looking for Bativa." Damion explained, finishing off his chicken and tossing the bones into the fire. "We wanted him with us when we went before the Council. The last time I went before them, things didn't go very smoothly. We thought that having your chieftain with us may help to stress the seriousness of the situation to some of the more stubborn members of the Council, and would give us our best chance for success."
"As I said before, Chieftain Bativa is already in Mercedia for the annual Spring Council. I'll send a rider ahead to warn him of your arrival. Would you care for an escort?"
"They would just slow us down." Damion told him with the shake of his head. "Besides, I would rather not announce our presence to everyone."
"Very good, milord." The tribesman quickly finished off his chicken, then rose to his feet. "We need to return to our patrol. I'll dispatch a rider immediately to advise Chieftain Bativa of your arrival. I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help you convince the Council of the seriousness of the situation."
They watched as the tribesmen remounted their horses and disappeared into the night, then settled down around the fire, a bit disappointed at not finding their old friend with the rest of his tribe.
"I guess it's on to Mercedia." Damarius yawned, unrolling his bedroll next to the fire, then settling down. "I hope your friend will be able to help us once we reach the city."
"He will." Damion told him confidently. "Bativa has never let me down when I needed him."
**********
They spent the next week rising early each morning at the break of dawn, and riding late into the night as they continued to make their way south through the seemingly endless plains. It was late in the afternoon when the massive city finally appeared in the distance, rising up from the plain like a solitary mountain amidst a sea of grass.
Mercedia was the only permanent settlement in all of the grasslands, and had been constructed on the banks of the Whit
e River, a five mile wide canal that carved its way across the entire southern continent. The various tribes had been laboring nonstop for thousands of years to build the legendary structure, which had grown to monumental proportions. Thousands of merchants traveled to the fortress city each year in an effort to purchase the cattle and horses bred by the Deola, which were highly prized throughout the world.
"Finally!" Leia sighed in relief at the sight of the enormous fortress. "I can't wait to sleep in a proper bed!"
"You're beginning to sound a little like Sly." Damion teased his daughter, drawing a dirty look from both Leia and Sly. "You're going to have to wait a bit longer, I'm afraid. It's still another day's ride until we reach the city."
"Do you think word has reached Bativa of our arrival?" Damarius asked, brushing his long flowing brow lock from his eyes absently.
"Undoubtedly." Damion replied confidently. "I'd be surprised if we didn't find him waiting for us when we arrive."
That evening, they pulled off into a small clearing which was located a few dozen feet from the trade road and set up camp.
Once he had finished looking to the horses and gathering enough firewood to see them through the night, Damion went to find his wife, who was busy looking through the packs containing their supplies.
"It doesn't look good, I'm afraid." Raven looked up with a frown. "All we have left is some dried herbs, a bag of onions, and some flour. I don't think there's much I can make out of that."
"I guess I can take Snowfeather and see what we can hunt up," The huge warrior frowned. "but I really don't want to leave you and Leia alone."
"We'll be fine." She told him with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, we won't be alone. We'll have the others with us."
"Okay, I'll go." He gave in reluctantly. He turned to look to his familiar, who was perched on the branch of a nearby shrub, sleeping with his head tucked beneath one wing. "Would you care to join me in hunting up a bit of dinner?" He inquired politely, knowing the huge snow owl had spent a great deal of the previous few weeks circling high overhead, on the lookout for any danger.
Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) Page 8
