Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (5 page)

"I went home to spend some time among my people." Dar groaned
, his ribs creaking. "It had been a while since I looked in on things back in the Cursed Forest."

"And how are things back home?" The huge warrior
asked, sitting the childlike sprite down with a laugh, and motioning to an empty chair.

"Blissfully peaceful." The boy sighed with a dreamy smile. "The scars left over from
Kaviel are healing, and those who call the forest home have been flourishing since your last visit. Ket Matoc, Layi, and K'thar all send their regards, along with greetings from the rest of the herd."

"Herd?" Captain Harper asked curiously.

"They are centaurs." Damion explained with a laugh. "Half man, half horse. They dwell in the Cursed forest, far to the south of the Godstear Mountains."

The old sea captain stared at them skeptically. "You're joking, right?"

"The horssse-men are real." Slither assured him with a hiss. "The ssspawn will not enter the foressstsss to the sssouth out of fear of them."

"
They have welcomed over a dozen new foals into the herd since my last visit." The childlike sprite continued, climbing up into the chair. "It's encouraging to see their numbers multiply. They were on the very brink of extinction." He turned to look at Damion. "I picked up a bit of interesting news when I made my way through Crete. It appears the Dark Forger has finally gone to meet his gods."

"The mad old dwarf?" Damion asked in surprise. "He's dead?"

"Aye." Dar confirmed with a nod. "I overheard some of the locals when they were discussing his passing. Apparently, he had been dead for quite some time before anyone found him."

"Who is this Dark Forger?" Captain Harper asked curiously.

"He isss the mad dwarf who forged the Dragon SSSword for the sssorcerer who created the Dragon Gem." Slither hissed in a dark tone. "The Dark Forger forged the Dragon SSSword to be the key that unlocked the Dragon Gem'sss full power."

Everyone stared at the shadowspawn in astonishment.

"All ssspawn know the ssstory of the sssorcerer and the Dark Forger." Slither explained with a shrug.

"Well, y
ou certainly chose an opportune time to return." Damion told Dar, taking a long drink from his foaming tankard. "It appears as though the Etazk are assembling in the west."

"The Etazk, you say?" Dar frowned. "Being pushed to renew their war against the rest of the world by the return of Etaz, no doubt."

"It seems He was just waiting for an opportunity to return. He has gathered an army fifty thousand strong in Salastar to restart His war."

"Fifty?" Captain Harper choked as he tried to take a sip of his ale, and began to cough uncontrollably. Slither pounded the old sailor on his back several times, and he soon regained his composure. "There were
no more than twenty thousand when we sailed out of Salastar!"

"Etaz must have brought in more men after you sailed off." Damion shrugged. "There were
enough ships to carry them all too, before Tempest destroyed them all."

"This is not the first time Etaz has attempted to bring the world under His rule." Dar informed them in a worried tone. "I've heard stories
dating back from before the gods left this world, when Etaz first attempted to conquer all of the races. The entire world was in chaos. All of the various races of the world fought one another in a battle that nearly destroyed them all, and the Etazk were the worst. They overwhelmed several races and forced them to convert to the worship of Etaz, sacrificing all those who refused to forsake their gods. In less than a hundred years, the Etazk conquered the entire western continent, and brought it under Etaz's control."

"How were they
finally stopped?"

"
The other gods agreed to set aside their various disagreements and commanded their followers to band together to drive the Etazk back to the west." The childlike Alena's voice was grave. "There was a tremendous battle in which all of their combined armies met the Etazk in a last stand against the God of the Underworld. Elves, dwarves, and men joined together to repel His people, while sorcerers, imbued with powers bestowed upon them by their gods, released horrors upon the Etazk army. Hundreds of thousands were killed, but in the end, the Etazk were finally driven back to the western continent. It was then that the gods decided that if they allowed things to continue, the entire world would surely be destroyed."

"
Is that when the gods made their pact?" Captain Harper asked curiously.

"It was." Dar confirmed with a nod. "Several of the gods were opposed to the pact, though none more than Etaz himself. He wished to renew His war with the rest of the world, but the other gods forced Him to
accept the pact and retreat to the heavens so the world would not be destroyed."

"How doesss one force
a god to do anything?" Slither asked the childlike sprite, accepting a fresh tankard of foaming ale from the serving girl and taking a long drink.

"The other gods threatened to invade the western continent and destroy every single Etazk. A god that doesn't have any worshippers is powerless.
The Etazk were weak after being defeated, and Etaz knew they wouldn't be able to face the combined forces of the other gods, so he finally agreed to the pact, knowing His people would eventually recover and, once again, renew their war against the rest of mankind."

"So Etaz has just been waiting for His chance to return to the world once again
," Damion sighed in resignation. "and when I forced Draco to break the pact, it provided Him with the opportunity that He had been waiting for."

"How do you plan on stopping them
if you won't have your pet dragons destroy them?" Captain Harper asked in an anxious tone. "I don't fancy bowing down to a heathen god."

"I'm not sure
," The huge warrior admitted in a plaintive tone. "but Tempest destroyed their fleet, so we should have some time to devise a battle plan." He looked to the old sea captain. "Could you take word to King Atorius and Queen Ann in Jaghera for us? They will be able to spread the word to the Deirians, Veirians, and Arleians. We don't want any of them to be caught unaware."

"We should probably send word to
Naquia while we're at it." Dar advised him, his tiny face worried. "If all else fails, we may need to gather all the races together once again to repel the Etazk, as the gods were forced to do during the last war."

"I'll locate a merchant ship heading towards the east when I return to Sierra." Captain Harper assured them. "
I'll make sure they get word to the authorities in Naquia. The word should spread like wildfire from there."

"SSShouldn't we make plansss to attack the
Etazk before they are ready?" Slither hissed in curiosity. "We may be able to ssstop their war before it even beginsss."

"Perhaps if we had more time," Damion told him with a sigh. "but it would take us far too long to gather a large enough force
and enough ships to strike them." He was struck with a sudden idea. "Are there any dragonspawn on the western continent?"

"Of co
urssse." Slither's hiss ended with a snort of amusement. "The ssspawn are everywhere."

"Do you think they would be willing to aid us against the Etazk?"

"SSSome, perhapsss," The shadowspawn replied after a moment's thought. "Mossst of the ssspawn went into hiding after Draco returned to Hisss place among the heavensss. It isss doubtful that they would emerge to aid usss."

Damion frowned. "
That's too bad. Their help could prove invaluable if things start to go bad."

"SSSlither will attempt to get word to the ssspawn, here in the mountains
ss, asss well asss thossse in the wessst. Perhapsss when thossse in hiding hear that the Dragon Lord isss requesssting their aid, they may emerge to come to your defenssse."

"That would be a nice change." Dar snorted
sardonically. "We're usually trying to fight the savages off." He glanced up at huge shadowspawn. "No offense intended, Slither."

"None taken." Slither smiled a toothy smile. "SSSlither isss no longer one of the ssspawn. SSSlither isss of SSSevria now."

"And we're all proud to have you as one of us." Damion told him sincerely.

They lingered over their tankards for a few more minutes, then
bid the captain good night and adjourned to the keep, where they found Raven, Lady Skie, and Leia finishing their evening meal in Damion's office.

"Dar!" The
young girl squealed in delight. She jumped from her chair and hurried over to engulf the red haired sprite in a giggling hug.

"Look at you!" Dar laughed as she began to smother him in kisses. "You've grown at least six inches since my last visit!"

"I'm taller than you are now!" She laughed happily.

"We haven't seen you for a while." Raven commented, an amused expression on her face as she watched h
er daughter fawn over the childlike sprite. "I was beginning to wonder what had happened to you."

"I went home." Dar sighed happily. "Every now and then I like to return to the
Cursed Forest to rest and relax, not to mention look in on my people."

"How many Alena are there?" Leia asked curiously, wandering over to Slither and nimbly scampering up his back
to perch on one of his broad shoulders. "Are there a lot of them?"

"There are but a few hundred of us left, I'm afraid." Dar frowned sadly. "We once dwelt in every part of the land, but now, the few of us that remain dwell in the forest. It is one of the
few places left in the world that is safe enough for us to live in peace, without the interference of dwarves, elves, or men."

"
It sounds like a lovely place." Raven sighed longingly. She had grown up in Deiria, a heavily forested land that was wild and untamed, but had followed Damion to Sevria after aiding him in destroying the brood mother of the shadow dragons, where they were joined in marriage soon after.

"It is." Dar assured her. "It is one of the last places left in the world that is relatively
untouched by the outside world."

"Will you take me there someday?"
Leia asked him in her most wheedling tone, batting her eyes prettily.

They all laughed.

"We'll all go for a visit someday," Damion promised his daughter. "but for now, you need to head to bed. It's already well past your bedtime." He looked to Slither, who seemed completely content with the young girl sitting on his shoulder. "Do you mind seeing her to her room? We'll be along in a little bit to look in on her."

"Of courssse." The huge shadowspawn looked up
to Leia, who had a slightly sulky look on her face. "Are you ready, little one?"

"I never get to do anything fun."
She pouted, thrusting out her lower lip unhappily.

Damion watched in amusement as Slither and his daughter disappeared towards their sleeping quarters, then he gestured for the others to sit while he flagged down a passing servant and
asked them to bring food and drink for everyone. "Where's Sly?" He asked his wife curiously.

"The last time I saw him, h
e and Axel were busy rounding up messengers to send to the south." She told him with a shrug. "They're probably down at the stables getting them ready to ride."

"That's good." He nodded
approvingly. "The faster we get news to everyone, the faster they can begin to get themselves prepared." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "I think once everyone has been notified, we should probably gather their representatives, and have a meeting to decide how we should handle things. The most intelligent thing to do would be gather into one force, but that doesn't mean everyone will agree to join forces."

"
You don't think they'll refuse to join with us when they realize the danger that the Etazk pose, do you?" Lady Skie asked worriedly.

Damion raised his hands helplessly. "I can't be sure. Most of the men on the Deolan Council are notoriously difficult to deal with, and will undoubtedly be agai
nst going to war. Luckily, my old friend Bativa is a member of that council. If I can impress upon him the seriousness of the situation, I'm sure he'll help us persuade the others."

"What about the
dwarves?" Raven asked curiously. "Do you think they should be warned?"

"We should inform them of what has been discovered," Damion answered after a moment's thought. "but I don't think we should count on them for anything other than moral support
. Most have never even stepped foot outside of their ancestral caverns."

Shirk came stumping into the r
oom followed closely by Sly and Axel. "I've alerted the Captain of the Guard, and ordered him to start sending out more patrols." The old bandit informed them, settling down in a chair next to Lady Skie with a weary sigh. "It probably won't really make much of a difference, but I would rather err on the side of caution in this situation." He noticed Dar sitting across the table from him. "Dar! When to you get here?"

"I arrived in tow
n an hour or so ago." The childlike sprite smiled. "It looks like I have arrived just in time for all of the fun."