Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5) (52 page)

"But why would you try to kill Damion?"

"Because we need that sword!" The elven queen screamed, shaking Dar by his hair once again. "We've spent the last decade listening to you babble on with your tales of the great and powerful Dragon Lord, and his legendary sword of power! When Yrinn returned from his exile and informed me that the tales were actually true, I knew that we had to get our hands on that sword! With it in our grasp, our people would be able to drive the Etazk from the west, and retake our ancient homeland of Elhenia!"

"You
knew
that Yrinn had returned?" Anallia asked in shock.

"Of course I knew." Queen Serena spat scathingly. "It was Yrinn who introduced me to Hetris. He came to me and told me of the dark god when he first returned from exile. He explained how Hetris rewards those who serve Him, and how we could finally have a god who cared for His children. A god who would walk among us, and listen to our problems and worries. A god who would raise the elven people from the ashes, and help us to finally return to our beloved homeland!"

"How could you betray your people like this, Serena?" Dar asked, his mind reeling from the realization that they had all been deceived. "How could you turn your back on everything that you have ever known?"

"I had no choice!" The elven queen roared in fury, shaking the childlike sprite yet again. "I did what I did for my people! Petra has left us all here to die on this godforsaken island! We need a new god that will help guide our people, not a goddess who would turn a blind eye while Her people suffered! With Hetris guiding the elves, we would finally be free to rejoin the world that has threatened to leave us behind. We could usher in a new age where we would no longer need to hide ourselves away for fear of being destroyed. An age where we prosper and thrive, instead of merely existing." She raised her chin defiantly. "Hetris promised all of that, and more!"

"So you and Hetris decided to draw Damion and the others here so you could slaughter them and take the Dragon Sword for the dark god?" Dar sounded outraged.

"The Dragon Lord was supposed to die before ever arriving here on the island." The queen informed him with a snarl of anger. "Relvin and Eldrin were supposed to kill him and take the sword before he even left port, but they failed to even injure him." She shook her head in disgust. "I should have sent some of our brothers in their place, but Hetris thought it would be wiser to send a pair of Petra's faithful instead. He thought that it could be used to cast the blame on Petra and Her followers, and make Her look bad in the eyes of the people."

"Eldrin and Relvin weren't blood elves?" Dar blurted in surprise.

"Of course not." The queen sneered, glancing out of the window yet again. "They were just eager to prove their loyalty to their queen. I offered them a place among my advisors, in exchange for carrying out a single task. They immediately accepted my proposal, and set off with orders to kill the Dragon Lord, and return with the Dragon Sword. They were nothing more than pawns."

"What about the elf who attempted to assassinate Damion as he made his way to the tower?" The childlike sprite asked in a flabbergasted tone. "And the elf who attempted to poison the elders at the feast? Were they followers of Petra as well?"

"To be honest, I have no idea who attempted to assassinate the Dragon Lord when he first arrived in the city." The queen informed them absently. "For all I know, the assassin was nothing more than a frightened local trying to scare the Dragon Lord into leaving the island. As for the servant who tried to poison the elders, he had been asking questions about the blood elves for months. I suspected that he wished to serve Hetris, but was too frightened to perform the ritual of offering. I had Vlane pose as a messenger from Hetris and give him the poison he was supposed to use to kill the elders." She let out an indelicate snort. "In truth, the dark god had never even heard of him. He was just a means to an end."

"
Vlane
?" Anallia exclaimed in disbelief. "Vlane is a blood elf?"

"He is." The queen admitted, glancing back at the others with a smirk. "He has always been a follower of the dark god, though he has always kept his true allegiance well concealed."

"I still don't understand." Captain Harper said with a confused expression. "Why did you begin slaughtering your own people?"

"Our new god needed proof of His new children's loyalty." Queen Serena shrugged. "What better targets were there than Petra's most devout followers? They would have never accepted Hetris as their new god, and would need to be removed before we could carry out our plans. So we had the newest converts begin to target them, whittling their numbers down, while our numbers continued to grow."

"But why send Delilah and Brody to beg for Damion's help?" Captain Harper asked with a baffled expression. "Why bring him here to stop the blood elves if you yourself were a follower of Hetris?"

"It was this little mongrel!" The queen snarled, pressing her dagger against Dar's throat. "I mentioned to the dark god that Dar was a close personal friend of the Dragon Lord, and Hetris found the news quite interesting. He convinced me to use him to help lure the Dragon Lord here to our island so we could kill him and take the Dragon Sword for ourselves. Once it was ours, we could use its power to force the dragons to destroy the Etazk, and then return to our homeland to start anew." She sneered down at the Alena. "We used Dar's influence with the Dragon Lord to draw him here to our island so he could track down Yrinn and the other blood elves, but that was all just an excuse to draw him here so here could be killed."

"And Yrinn willingly volunteered to be hunted down by Damion?" Captain Harper looked dumbfounded. "Is he completely mad? Didn't he realize what would happen to him once Damion finally got his hands on him?"

"Yrinn didn't know that we sent for the Dragon Lord to help track him down." The queen informed them absently, staring out over the city towards the distant temple with an anguished expression. "He was never meant to be more than bait to draw the Dragon Lord here so he could be killed, but things haven't exactly gone as planned."

"What are you going to do now that your treachery has been revealed, Serena?" Anallia asked, her pale face growing red with anger. "The people are going to want your head on a spike once they find out that you have betrayed them all!"

"It won't matter!" Queen Serena screeched in a hysterical voice. "Once the Dragon Lord is dead, and Hetris has the sword, the elven people will have no choice but to bow down and worship Him!"

"Yrinn is probably already dead, Serena." Dar told her bluntly, his eyes burning with rage at her betrayal. "Haven't you been listening to me all of these years? Damion is unlike any mortal that has ever lived! He has faced
gods,
and walked away unscathed! Do you really think that a few blood elves are going to make any difference to him?" He saw her expression falter, and took advantage of her sudden uncertainty. "You have lost, Serena. You turned your back on your goddess, betrayed your people, and killed hundreds of innocent elves, all for nothing!"

"Shut up!" The elven queen screamed, her eyes widening in panic. "Shut up!"

"The people are going to find out what you have done," The fiery haired sprite continued relentlessly. "and when they do, they'll drag your before Petra and burn you at the stake for your crimes!" He sneered at her contemptuously. "You are doomed, Serena! Your grand plans have failed! You will never get your hands on the Dragon Sword! You will never return to your homeland!"

Tears began to stream down from her eyes as she realized his words were true, and she began to whimper in fear. "B-But my lord Hetris... H-He'll surely..."

"You failed Him!" Dar snarled, causing her to flinch. "You saw what He did to Freedi after she failed to kill Damarius! Do you really think that He's going to forgive
your
failure?" He let out a harsh laugh. "Hetris will not help you! He will leave you to your well deserved fate, and then claim what's left of your soul to punish for the rest of eternity!"

"No!" Queen Serena cried in a horrified voice. "No! No! No!" She began to sob uncontrollably, then, with a scream of rage, she raised her dagger high, preparing to plunge it into Dar's chest.

Using every bit of strength that he could muster, the childlike sprite wrenched his hair free from the crazed elven queen's vice-like grip, then whirled around and shoved her away, sending her stumbling backwards into the huge glass window.

With a scream of surprise and terror, Queen Serena crashed backwards through the glass and vanished, leaving everyone to stare after her in stunned disbelief.

Chapter 20

The dragonspawn snarled as it charged towards Leia, its lips curled back to reveal dozens of razor sharp teeth. Leia fell back several steps and instantly drew in her magic, releasing it into a blast of energy which struck the scaly beast full in the chest, sending it hurtling backwards into several of its fellow dragonspawn with bone crushing force. They crashed to the cavern floor in a tangle of arms, legs, and tails, where they lay unmoving. Two more dragonspawn charged towards her, their eyes burning with bloodlust, but Leia quickly dove clear of their attack and drew her sword, preparing to face the snarling beasts head on.

The two scaly creatures hissed in frustration, then started towards her once more, but suddenly froze as a loud echoing crack drew their attention to the nearby stone pillar, which was rapidly dissolving into dust before their eyes.

Leia was forced to retreat even further as a huge section of the pillar suddenly broke free and fell to the cavern floor, crushing the dragonspawn beneath tons of stone.

"Ouch!" Leia winced in imagined pain. She took advantage of the distraction, and quickly retreated into the shadows, leaving the remaining dragonspawn to stumble blindly through the dust.

Edging around a large crowd that was hurrying towards the crumbling pillar to investigate the disturbance, she moved on towards the next limestone column, determined to finish what she had started. She released her magic into the stone formation, causing it to begin dissolving into a fine sand, then dashed off through the shadows towards the next pillar, ignoring the echoing sound of grinding stone, which had drawn most of the horde's attention.

She made quick work of the next two massive pillars, then hurried up to the last of the huge stone supports, and paused in its shadow to catch her breath. She had made her way completely around the enormous cavern chamber, and now stood at the opposite end from where she had started. Hundreds of dragonspawn, shadowspawn, and dreadspawn stood between her and the crude staircase which she had used to descend down into the chamber, though most of the beasts stood staring up in disbelief as another trembling stalactite broke free from the ceiling and crashed down into the horde gathered below.

The stone beneath Leia's feet suddenly began to shake violently, and a huge section of the rear cavern wall suddenly collapsed inward, releasing a massive wave of molten magma which began to spread throughout the chamber in a great glowing deluge, killing thousands of the gathered spawn as they attempted to flee.

She watched with wide eyes as the massive wall of magma spilled down onto the lower levels of the cavern and consumed the panicking creatures, then quickly released her magic into the final limestone pillar. With a final glance down at the carnage below, she dashed off towards the crude staircase, but immediately found her way blocked by a large group of dragonspawn that had rushed over to stand next to the pillar in an effort to get a better view of the destruction below. The beasts hissed in fury as they spotted Leia, who quickly fell back several steps and drew her sword, then one of the beasts charged forward, its scaly lips peeled back in a vicious snarl.

Leia easily danced clear of the dragonspawn's swiping claws, then drove her sword deep into the side of the beast's neck with all of her might, where it emerged dripping on the other side. She yanked the slender blade free from its corpse, then fell back into the shadows to avoid a powerful blow from another dragonspawn, who had snuck up from behind in an attempt to catch her off guard. The other beasts fanned out in an attempt to surround her and prevent her from escaping, then they slowly began to close in on her, their eyes burning with anticipation. She avoided two more lightening quick strikes from one of the crazed beasts, then nimbly danced around the offending creature and lashed out, striking the beast across the back of its huge legs, severing its hamstrings, and dropping it to its knees. Before it could even let out a roar of pain, she spun back around to face the dragonspawn and drove the point of her sword deep into its eye socket with a meaty crunch.

She tore the blade free, allowing the dragonspawn to fall twitching to the stone floor, then raised her sword once again as the remaining dragonspawn prepared to attack. She took a step forward, then stopped, her jaw suddenly dropping open in surprise as a dagger appeared whirling end over end from the shadows and buried itself deep in one of the dragonspawn's chests. It stopped in its tracks and stared down at the protruding blade with a bewildered expression on its face, then, with a long lingering sigh, it collapsed to the floor. Another dagger appeared whirling from the shadows and buried itself in one of the other dragonspawn's throats, causing the remaining two beasts to stop and look around in confusion for their attacker.

Leia watched in astonishment as Sly suddenly appeared from the darkness and fell upon the beasts, his long sword whistling through the air as he quickly cut them down with a series of deadly blows.

"What are you doing here?" The young girl asked in disbelief as the charred and blistered little man hurried over to her side.

"You were taking too much time." He hissed, leading them both deeper into the shadows to avoid being seen. "Then the ceiling began collapsing down onto the horde, and I started to worry. What's taking so long?"

"It has taken a little longer than I had planned to reach all of the pillars." Leia admitted with a frown. "When I finally finished with them, I started to head back to you, and stumbled right into a group of dragonspawn who didn't seem to approve of my presence. They were attempting to express their displeasure when you appeared."