Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5) (39 page)

"You can say that again." Bativa grumbled, sinking into one the cushioned chairs that surrounded the massive dining table. "As soon as you left the council chambers, my brothers took Lek to task." He ordered one of the servants to bring food and drink, then sat back in his chair with a weary sigh. "They were outraged by his behavior, and were quite vocal with their displeasure." He gave Leia an apologetic look. "I'm truly sorry that you were forced to endure that jackass's insults, little one. Even Lek's father, Krel, knew when to keep his mouth shut."

"It's okay," Leia said dismissively. "I'm just feel sorry for you."

"Me?" The big tribesman looked confused.

"Yes," Leia nodded with a sympathetic expression. "I get to go home to Sevria. You're stuck here with that jackass."

They all laughed at that.

"What are you planning to do now that the council has been notified of the danger?" Bativa asked curiously, accepting a foaming tankard from a servant and taking a long drink.

"We're going to head back to Sevria." Leia answered with a shrug. "Our job here is finished, and I still have a city to run. Besides, if I'm gone too long, Aunt Skie will start sending out search parties to try and locate us. If we discover anything significant, we'll return and keep you abreast of the situation."

"What do you suggest we do about the dragonspawn?"

"Until we can get some more information on their plans, there's really nothing that you
can
do. Just have your tribesmen do their best to keep them at bay, and hopefully we can come up with a way to stop them before they can start this war of theirs."

Leia and Sly left the following morning after enjoying a large breakfast feast that Bativa had prepared in Leia's honor.

"Make certain that you're cautious while you're making your way to the northern gate." Bativa warned them as he escorted them to the elevating platform. "Lek is likely to have his warriors keeping an eye out for you."

"I thought that Druta said that we wouldn't have to worry about any repercussions." Leia frowned.

"Not from the council, but Lek is not the council. He is merely a member of the council. And after the way you humiliated him, I would bet a herd of my most prized stallions that he and his warriors are just waiting for a chance to take their revenge." His expression became thoughtful. "Perhaps I should send a few of my tribesmen along with you as an escort. That should help dissuade Lek and his cronies from attempting anything."

Leia shook her head. "Don't bother. I'm not concerned about it. Besides, we'll be able to move through the crowds quicker if it were just Sly and myself."

"What if Lek and his tribesmen find you?"

"What's he going to do, attack a child?" Leia asked reasonably.

"It wouldn't surprise me if he did." Bativa told her as they reached the elevating platform. "Lek was completely out of control after you left. He swore that he would have his revenge, even after being warned that any further aggression towards you would be considered a serious enough offense to have him and his tribe banned from the council."

They all hurried aboard the platform, then the huge chieftain threw the lever that was built into the platform's floor, causing it to slowly begin to descend.

"Sly and I can handle anything that Lek can throw at us." Leia assured him with a wave of her hand. "Besides, I doubt that he and his men will even be able to locate us considering how crowded the city is."

The huge chieftain brought the platform to a shuddering stop, then scooped the young girl up into his arms and gave her a noisy kiss. "Be safe, little one, and thank you for bringing us warning of the dragonspawn's plans for war. We may have been caught unaware if you hadn't intervened." He sat her back on her feet. "And I'll make sure to mention how well you handled yourself with the council the next time I see your father. I'm sure that he'll be proud." He looked to Sly. "And you get to work on securing the honey that you need to start producing more of that ale. I'll make certain to take care of everything on my end."

"That may be easier said than done." Sly warned him. "Honey isn't exactly the easiest product to come by. It took me several weeks to locate enough for the last batch. It may take me a while to secure a steady enough supply to start production."

They finished bidding the huge chieftain farewell, then set off through the crowded streets of the fortress city on foot.

"I have to say," Sly started, pushing his way through a group of merchants. "That could have gone much, much worse. Despite your little disagreement with Lek, the council seemed quite appreciative of our warning. It's obvious that they had no clue of how serious a problem the dragonspawn are becoming."

"How could they?" Leia asked with a shrug. "We would have never known ourselves if Slither and I hadn't stumbled across the beasts retreating into that goblin hollow. We would have been caught unaware and unprepared, which would have been disastrous."

The next three days were uneventful as they pushed their way through the crowded streets, stopping only occasionally to rest and refresh themselves before hurrying on. The northern gate finally appeared in the distance late the third evening, and they quickly made their way out of the fortress city and out onto the massive bridge leading across the churning White River.

"Finally!" Leia sighed in relief, drawing in a deep breath of fresh air. "I don't think that I could have taken another second of the odor of manure without vomiting!"

"It's wasn't that bad." Sly chuckled. "Besides, what do you expect a city built by people who spend their days following cattle around to smell like?"

"They can at least attempt to clean up after all of the cattle." The young girl complained, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "There is a layer of old manure coating the floor that's nearly a foot thick!"

They quickly made their way across the bridge to the northern side of the river, and passed the guard houses, which were unusually dark considering the time.

"Where are the guards?" Sly asked with a frown, stopping outside one of the guard houses with an expectant expression. "They're usually right here ready to annoy anyone who passes by."

"I'm guessing that
he
may have something to do with their absence." Leia told him, pointing to Lek, who was hurrying up out of the darkness mounted on an enormous Deolan warhorse, followed closely by thirty fierce looking mounted tribesmen.

"Well, well, what a surprise." Lek exclaimed in mock astonishment. "Look at what we have here, brothers." He brought his warhorse skidding to a stop a few feet from Leia and Sly. "A filthy little urchin and her drunken companion. I'm surprised to find you so far away from your protectors on the council. There are all sorts of dangers on the road that you and that homeless vagabond are just not equipped to deal with. You should have brought along a little protection."

"I don't need it." Leia told him. "I have my own protection."

"Oh, really?" The arrogant young tribesman asked, making a show of looking around for anyone else who may be close by. "I don't see them anywhere. They must be well hidden." He gave a delighted laugh, causing his absurdly long ears to flop around limply. "I don't think your parlor tricks will help you this time."

"You
really
don't want to do this, Lek." Sly warned him, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "It's going to end badly for you and your men."

"Is that so?" Lek sneered haughtily. "Considering we have you here at our mercy, I really don't see how it could end badly for us. The instant that little waif attempts to use her witchcraft, my men shall fill the both of you full of arrows."

A sudden gust of wind kicked up a large cloud of dust that obscured everyone's vision for a moment, and caused the Deolan warriors to look around in surprise. The gust of wind faded away as quickly as it had appeared, leaving them all staring at one another in confusion.

"This is your last warning, Lek," Leia told the arrogant young man sternly. "Take your men and go."

"And if we don't?"

The young girl sighed heavily, then lifted her head and raised her voice. "Xaxis!"

"Yes, little mother?" A deep throaty growl suddenly rumbled from directly behind the crowd of Deolan warriors. The enormous veiled dragon allowed his camouflage to fall away, causing him to appear as though he were materializing from the empty air. "Are these men causing you problems?"

The tribesmen all cried out in fear and panic, and several of them drove their heels into their horses' flanks and fled in terror from the monstrosity that had appeared in their midst.

"Hold your ground!" Lek roared commandingly to his men. "It's merely an illusion cast by this filthy little witch! It cannot hurt you!" He gave the massive dragon a dismissive look. "It's not going to work! I..." He stopped short as a huge pair of talons suddenly latched onto the back of his leather pants and lifted him from his saddle. His warhorse immediately took off into the darkness squealing in fright.

"What did you just call my little mother?" Xaxis asked Lek, raising the arrogant young tribesman up until they were eye to eye. The massive dragon's eyes began to burn an angry red, and smoke began to billow from his nostrils.

The few remaining Deolan warriors who had accompanied Lek scattered in fear, leaving their leader to his fate.

"I... I..." All of the color drained from Lek's face, and there was the sudden sound of running water as a stream of liquid began to dribble out of one of the legs of his leather pants.

"I tried to warn you." Sly told the arrogant young tribesman, shaking his head in exasperation. "You and your warriors are way out of your league when it comes to Leia, but you just don't seem to know when to give up!"

Lek didn't answer. He was far too busy staring at the massive serpent who had him firmly in its grasp.

"I do not like it when my little mother is threatened." Xaxis growled at Lek in a deadly tone, giving him a shake that left the tribesman's eyes rolling in his head. "Perhaps I should teach you a lesson to help you remember never to make that mistake again." His lips curled back to reveal dozens of razor sharp teeth.

"You may not want to do that, dear one," Leia warned Xaxis. "If you were to take a bite out of Lek, you'd probably become ill. The last thing that I need is to have one of my children get sick."

"I should still teach him the lesson that he should
not
speak to you with such disrespect." He gave Lek another shake.

"It wouldn't do any good." Sly told the massive beast with a snort. "Leia has already attempted to teach him that lesson, but he's just too stubborn to learn."

"Go ahead and let him go, Xaxis." Leia commanded the massive serpent with a sigh. "Nothing good will come of killing him."

Xaxis stared at the arrogant young tribesman for another moment, then released his grip, allowing Lek to crash to the ground in a heap.

"I'm warning you, Lek of the Nacetre clan," Leia told him as he stumbled back to his feet in a daze. "If you ever cross me again, I promise you, I will make you rue the day that your were brought into this world. Do you understand?"

Lek merely stared at her with an expression of terror, until Xaxis cuffed the arrogant young tribesman on the back of his head with one talon. "Ow!" He rubbed the back of his head gingerly. "I-I understand! I understand! Just call off your beast!"

Leia stared at him sternly for another long moment. "Very well." She sighed finally. "Get out of here. I'm getting tired of looking at you."

Lek glanced up at the dragon apprehensively for a moment, then turned and dashed off into the darkness.

"That was fun." Xaxis grinned down at Leia and Sly in amusement.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Leia smiled up at the enormous dragon. "You handled that exactly how I hoped you would."

"You have a good sense of timing." Sly told the huge beast with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that you came along when you did. Things were beginning to get a little tense."

"Were you successful in your quest?"

"We were," Leia nodded. "though we ran into a few minor delays along the way."

They hurried up to the massive dragon, who lowered himself down to allow them to scramble onto his shoulders.

"Where to?" Xaxis asked once they had settled themselves down.

"Head back to Sevria." Leia told him. "We need to get back before Aunt Skie begins to get worried."

The enormous dragon launched itself into the sky, then set off towards the north at an easy glide.

They had just reached the foothills that bordered the Godstear Mountains, when a distant glow in the darkness caught Leia's attention. "What's that?"

Sly loosened his fierce grip on Xaxis's neck long enough to get a quick look at the distant glow. "It's looks like somebody has built a bonfire." The scruffy little man told her, retightening his grip. "It's probably just some tribesmen."

Leia looked unconvinced. "Let's go take a look."

Xaxis tilted his winged and altered his course to sail over the distant glow.

"Oh no," Leia frowned in concern as they drew closer and saw hundreds of dragonspawn gathered around a huge bonfire. "They're dragonspawn!"

Sly glanced down at the horde below, then cursed. "This can't be good."

"There are quite a few of the dreadspawn among their ranks." The young girl murmured as she spotted dozens of the huge winged beasts gathered around the bonfire.

They watched as the horde dropped to their knees before the raging fire and begin swaying back and forth in unison.

"It looks like they're trying to contact the Dragon God." Leia murmured with a frown. "Probably to get more instructions."

"This
really
can't be good." Sly growled, his fear of flying suddenly forgotten.

They continued to watch as the horde began to roar and snarl louder and louder, apparently imploring the Dragon God to hear their prayers.

"Can you understand what they're saying?" Leia asked Xaxis, who continued to circle over the horde in silence.

"Nay." The huge dragon shook his head. "It sounds like gibberish to me."