Omensent: Princess Of Dragons (Book 5) (53 page)

"It's a good thing that I came after you then." The little man grunted in satisfaction. "You wouldn't have stood a chance against that many dragonspawn."

"That's not true!" Leia objected with a scowl. "I could have handled them myself! I had already killed two of them!" She gestured to the two dragonspawn that she had killed. "And just how did you manage to get passed all of the dragonspawn without them noticing you?"

"You're not the only one who can move quietly in the dark." Sly told her sourly.

Another loud crack echoed through the immense cavern, and a huge section of the ceiling suddenly broke free, crushing thousands of the now panicked dragonspawn. A massive stalactite crashed down into the river of magma and sent huge wave surging out in every direction, instantly consuming the more scaly beasts as they attempted to flee.

"I think it's time we got ourselves out of here!" Sly exclaimed in alarm. "This entire cavern is about to come down around our ears!"

"Go! Go! Go!" Leia told him as another section of the ceiling crashed down onto the horde.

They abandoned all attempts to remain hidden and dashed off towards the staircase which had brought them down into the colossal cavern chamber. The horde was now in total chaos as more and more of the cavern ceiling began to crash down, sending the scaly beasts scrambling in every direction.

Sly and Leia quickly found their way blocked by dozens of the fear crazed beasts who were rushing back and forth in a blind panic, desperately trying to escape the collapsing cavern. Leia didn't even hesitate as she drew in her magic and blasted the creatures aside, clearing a path through the terrified horde to the rough staircase which led up to the corridor.

They dashed up the stairs and dove through the opening to the long corridor just as the rest of the cavern ceiling gave way, burying the remaining horde beneath thousands of tons of stone. Leia and Sly were both thrown from their feet as the entire mountain shook around them, and a great plume of dust and gravel rushed into the corridor, casting everything into complete darkness.

"Keep moving!" Sly choked as he scrambled back to his feet and began groping blindly through the dust.

Leia stumbled after him, coughing and hacking as she struggled to draw in a clean breath of air. After what seemed like an eternity, they emerged into the smaller chamber and into clean air, where they collapsed to the floor gasping and hacking.

"Well,
that
was a complete disaster." Sly grumbled, spitting out a large chunk of stone. "What in the world did you do back there?"

"I used my magic to dissolve the pillars supporting the ceiling." The young girl murmured, shaking the dust and debris from her hair. "I guess the spell spread a little bit quicker than I had intended."

Another rumble echoed in the distance, and the stone beneath their feet began to tremble once again.

"I think that's a sign that we need to get out of here." Sly groaned, pushing himself back up to his feet. "These caverns were carved by goblins, and I'm not sure how much more of this shaking they can take before they start caving in on themselves."

They quickly made their way back to the surface, then hurried over to where Xaxis still sat waiting for them to return.

"Is everything okay, little mother?" The huge serpent asked in concern, lowering himself down to examine her closely for any injuries. "I was beginning to grow worried!"

"We followed those shadowspawn underground until they led us to an immense cavern chamber." Sly informed the huge dragon in a sour tone as he continued to spit out small pieces of gravel. "It was filled with thousands upon thousands of dragonspawn, shadowspawn, and dreadspawn, all gathered together in one enormous horde. Leia got the bright idea of trying to bring down the cavern on top of them, and snuck into the chamber and used her magic to destroy the stone pillars supporting the cavern's ceiling."

"That explains the earthquake."

"Yeah, well, she ended up nearly killing us both." The singed and dusty little man growled angrily.

"It worked, though, didn't it?" Leia asked defensively. "We won't need to worry about the spawn attacking anymore."

"That's true." Sly admitted with a sigh. "I bet Draco is losing His mind right now. Having to deal with your father must be bad enough, but you just destroyed thousands of His children in one fell swoop! Damion has never done something like that!" He let out a harsh laugh, then his face suddenly fell. "How are we going to explain all of this to Lady Skie? She's going to take one look at us and know that something happened!"

"We'll just tell her the truth." Leia shrugged. "We had a chance to eliminate the horde, and acted upon the opportunity. I'm sure she'll see where we didn't have a choice."

"Didn't have a choice, huh?" The singed little man asked in a sulky tone as he climbed up onto Xaxis's back with an angry expression. "Tell that to your father when he gets back. He's going to go into a rage when he finds out what you did!"

"I'm not worried." Leia told him with a smile. "I'll just tell him it was all
your
idea."

With a powerful thrust of his massive wings, Xaxis launched himself back into the air, and slowly began to glide towards Sevria. It was just after dawn when they finally reached the small mountain city, where they found Lady Skie, Captain Repheth, and Juco impatiently awaiting their return.

"Where have you been?" Lady Skie demanded in a shrill tone as Xaxis landed gently in the courtyard. "I was getting worried!" She caught a glimpse of Leia, who was still covered in a thick layer of dust, then spotted Sly, who was not only covered in dust, but in blisters and burns as well. "By the gods! What happened to you two? You look like you've been through a war!"

"We'll tell you inside." Sly grumbled with a heavy sigh. "I need something to drink so I can wash all of the gravel from my mouth." The little man stumped off towards the castle, leaving Lady Skie to stare after him in confusion.

"Thank you for all of your help, Xaxis." Leia said to the huge serpent earnestly. "We couldn't have done it without you."

"It was my pleasure, little mother." The great beast rumbled, lowering his head down to nuzzle at the young girl gently. "Call upon me whenever you need, and I will be there for you."

Leia watched as the huge veiled dragon launched himself into the air and sailed off into the distance, then she turned and led the others into the Serpent's Keep. They found Sly sitting in Damion's office with a pained expression on his burned face, and a small barrel of his personal ale sitting in the chair next to him.

"Look at me!" The little man complained to Leia angrily. "Half of my hair and beard has been singed away, and my face is one giant blister!"

Leia took one look at the angry little man and collapsed into a chair laughing uncontrollably.

"It's not funny!" Sly roared in fury, then he winced in pain as one of the blisters on his face suddenly popped. "I look like I've been burned at the stake!"

"You
do
look a little crispy." Juco laughed, flopping into one of the overstuffed chairs. "What happened?"

"We were on our way back from speaking with the Deolan Council in Mercedia when we spotted a large bonfire surrounded by dragonspawn." Leia explained as she continued to laugh. "We flew closer to investigate, and was attacked by a group of those winged dreadspawn, forcing Xaxis to take action."

"That damned overgrown lizard incinerated some of the dreadspawn, then flew right through his own wall of flames!" Sly snarled in fury. "Leia's armor protected her from being hurt, but I was left to roast like a chicken over a bonfire!"

"What happened to the dragonspawn?" Lady Skie asked with a concerned expression.

"Xaxis killed all but a few shadowspawn." Leia said with a shrug. "They fled into a goblin hollow which led deep beneath the foothills."

"Considering the fact that you are covered in a thick layer of dust, I'm guessing that it didn't end there." Captain Repheth murmured shrewdly.

"Leia decided to follow the shadowspawn underground." Sly informed them sourly.

"You did what?" Lady Skie exclaimed, turning to stare at Leia in disbelief. "Surely you wouldn't do something so foolish!"

"Well," Leia started in a pained tone. "I thought if we followed them, they might lead us to the rest of the horde."

"And did they?"

"Did they ever." Sly grunted. He quickly went on to describe the enormous chamber, and the countless dragonspawn, shadowspawn, and dreadspawn who had gathered together into one massive horde. "I have never seen anything like it before. If they had been able to launch their attack, there would have been little we could have done to stop them."

Lady Skie fixed Sly with an angry glare. "You let her follow a group of shadowspawn underground?"

"I tried to stop her, but the girl is even more stubborn than her father!" Sly objected with a scowl. "She said she was going after them, with or without me! I didn't have any choice but to follow her and try and keep her from getting herself killed!"

"How many spawn did you say were in this horde?" Juco asked curiously, grabbing a tankard and dipping it into Sly's cask of ale.

"Thousands." The charred little man sighed wearily. "Tens of thousands. I've never seen anything like it before!"

"And you saw more of those winged dreadspawn?" Lady Skie asked, her expression concerned.

"More than we could conveniently count." Leia nodded. "It looks like the Dragon God made sure to keep them well hidden after He created them, until their numbers had multiplied to the point that they would be of use."

"This is grave news." Captain Repheth frowned. "If the horde is truly as large as you say it is, the people of the south will be helpless to stop them. Even the dragons will be helpless against those numbers! It will be even worse than when the Etazk invaded!"

"We don't need to worry about the horde anymore." Sly assured him with a tired sigh. "Leia used her magic to collapse the chamber on top of them. They're currently buried beneath thousands of tons of stone."

"What?" Lady Skie exclaimed, turning to stare at Leia in disbelief. "You destroyed the
entire
horde?"

"With father gone, somebody had to deal with them." The young girl replied in a deliberately nonchalant tone. She gave them all an innocent look. "Is anybody else hungry?"

"I have the feeling that the Dragon God will be quite upset with our little Leia when He finds out that she completely destroyed His army." Sly smiled in spite of his pain. "She single handedly managed to save the people of the south from another attack, and thwarted the Dragon God's plans to destroy the mortals of this world." He let out a harsh laugh. "Draco probably hates her even more than He hates Damion!"

Lady Skie turned to looked at Leia, who still wore an innocent expression. "What did you do?" She asked suspiciously.

"I just used my magic to collapse the cavern." The young girl answered in an evasive tone. "It was nothing, really."

"She snuck through the horde and destroyed the limestone pillars which supported the cavern ceiling." Sly informed them with a grunt. "We barely made it out of there alive!"

"Don't be so dramatic, Sly." Leia said with a roll of her eyes. "We made it out of there just fine."

"Just fine?" The little man asked, rising to his feet and holding out his hands so she could get a good look at his charred clothes and blistered skin. "Do I look just fine to you?"

"You're still alive, aren't you?"

Sly gave her a disgusted look, then dropped back into his chair with a resentful expression.

Axel suddenly appeared in the office doorway, followed closely Slither by, who had healed considerably from his injuries in their absence.

"Leia?" The shadowy beast hissed in surprise, rushing over to her side anxiously. "What took you ssso long? Are you hurt?" He quickly looked her over. "You do not appear injured. Jussst very dirty."

"That's what happens when you decide to single handedly destroy an entire dragonspawn horde." Captain Repheth laughed ruefully.

The huge shadowspawn stared at the older man for several moments in confusion, then turned to look at Leia questioningly.

"We followed some shadowspawn into a goblin hollow which led deep below the foothills, and discovered where the spawn have been gathering in preparation for an attack."

"You found the rest of the ssspawn?" Slither's eyes went wide in surprise. "Where?"

Leia quickly retold their adventure in the massive underground chamber, watching closely to see how the shadowy beast would react. "When the pillars supporting the cavern ceiling finally gave way, the entire cavern collapsed down onto the horde." She finished with a shrug.

"The horde hasss been dessstroyed?" Slither sat in stunned silence for several long moments, then he finally gave an approving nod. "Good." He grunted in a satisfied tone.

"You're not upset that I killed the rest of your brethren?" The young girl asked in some surprised.

"Of courssse not." Slither hissed with a shake of his horned head. "The horde would have dessstroyed everything that they encountered. It isss better thisss way. Besssidesss," The huge shadowspawn lifted his chin proudly. "SSSlither isss no longer part of the ssspawn. SSSevria isss SSSlither'sss home now."

"I still thought that you may find the destruction of all of your kind a bit upsetting." Leia admitted helplessly.

"You didn't dessstroy them all." Slither told her grimly. "You only dessstroyed the ssspawn that dwelt here in thessse mountainsss. There are ssstill many, many more ssspawn ssspread throughout the world."

"What will happen now that the dragonspawn here in the mountains have been destroyed?" Axel asked curiously.

"Without the threat of the dragonspawn hanging over their heads, I suspect that the goblins will eventually return to their hollows." Captain Repheth replied, his eyes narrowed in thought.

"That should make the Merchant's Guild and the work crews happy," Lady Skie commented, her expression still disapproving. "though I have the feeling that Damion and Raven are going to take issue with Leia taking matters into her own hands."