Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (20 page)

"Both Snowfeather and Damarius have used that term when referring to the beast
s." The huge warrior shrugged. "I figured that it was a suitable enough name for them as any."

"It certainly fits them." The old bandit agreed. "At least now we won't have to fumble over what to call them."

"Great." Sly grumbled in a flat tone. "Now that we have gotten
that
out of the way, we need to devise a way to help protect Sierra from the Etazk." He looked to Damarius. "Were you able to think of anything that may help defend the city?"

"I have a number of ideas," The old wizard nodded, causing his brow lock to fall back into his eyes. "but I'm going to need to go to Sierra myself to make sure everything is done correctly.
"

"You haven't dug up any of your half baked inventions or formulas, have you?" Sly asked suspiciously. "Your eyebrows still haven't grown back after the last time your were tinkering with them."

"Most of the designs I plan on bringing are fairly mundane."

"
Most
of the designs?" The scruffy little man still sounded suspicious.

"I
do have a few things that are a bit more... hazardous," Damarius admitted evasively. "but I think we'll find them quite useful when it comes time to fight off the Etazk."

"
Do we know how many men have remained behind to protect Sierra?" Dar asked, carefully choosing an apple from a bowl of fruit.

"We have no idea." Shirk shrugged helplessly
. "The last report we received from the Lords of Sierra informed us that they tried appealing to many of the sea captains to help defend the port from invasion, but most of them sailed off the second they heard the Etazk mentioned. That was over a week ago. We haven't heard anything from Sierra since."

"We'll have to bring up reinforcements from
Crete immediately to help defend the docks." Damion frowned. "I just hope we have enough men." He looked to Sly. "Can you accompany Damarius to Sierra and help him in setting up their defenses, while Raven, Leia, Slither and I head down to Crete. Once we're there, we'll send the men that are already prepared along to Sierra to help bolster your numbers."

"We can send Juco and the
Silent Shadows with you." Shirk suggested to Sly, his expression thoughtful. "I know he seemed a little... unreliable, but Juco is a good man to have at your side during a fight, and the Silent Shadows are worth ten normal warriors each. They may also have a few ideas on how to defend Sierra."

"It couldn't hurt, I guess." Sly agreed. "We're going to need all of the extra hands we can get
when we're preparing the city. It's not nearly as well protected as Sevria, and the dockyard stretches for miles. We're going to have a very tough time defending them."

"I have a few ideas on that." Damarius assured him. "Once I'm finished, any Etazk that attempts to make
it into the harbor will be
very
sorry."

"What should I do?" Dar asked curiously.

Damion thought about it for a moment. "I would like you to stay here and help look after the city. You know the defenses as well as any of us,
and
you were here during the last siege. You know what strategy worked the best against an attacking army."

"How long do you think we have before the Etazk are ready to move?" Raven asked in a subdued tone.

"Not as long as we had hoped." The huge warrior frowned. "I would give it no more than a couple of months."

"Add that to the month or
two it will take them to reach Sierra, and that doesn't leave us a whole lot of time to prepare." Lady Skie sounded worried.

"I guess that means we had better get moving." Sly heaved himself up from cushioned seat with a groan,
and then turned to Damarius. "Let's go, old man. We have a lot to do before you get your chance to blow us all up with one of your mad experiments."

"Do look after yourself." Lady Skie hurried over to throw her arms around her father. "Please don't get yourself killed."

"I'll be fine, my dear." Damarius assured her. "I'll have Sly there to protect me. What could go wrong?"

"Don't answer that." Sly quickly cut her off as she started to reply.

"We had better get prepared ourselves." Raven murmured, frowning as she watched Leia push her plate of eggs away untouched. "We're going to have to return to Crete immediately if we hope to get enough reinforcements to Sierra in time to help defend the city." She scooped her daughter up into her arms.

"Wouldn't you prefer to leave Leia here at the keep with us?" Lady Skie asked with a worried expression. "An army encampment isn't really the type of place a young girl should be exposed to."

"I've been around worse." Leia told her with a shrug. "Have you ever seen Sly when he first wakes up after drinking all night?" She shuddered. "It's ghastly! He looks like the walking dead! And the smell..."

"That's quite enough, thank you." Sly stumped over and gave the giggling young girl a kiss on the nose.

"Agh," Leia pretended as though she were about to faint. "The smell is even worse when he's sober!"

"I think we would still feel better if she
were where we could keep an eye on her." Damion told Lady Skie, chuckling as his daughter pretended to faint. "Besides, she's proving to be quite useful in certain situations."

They met up a few minutes later in front
of the castle stables as they prepared to set off once again.

"Are you all set?" Damion asked Damarius, who looked rather excited to get underway.

"I believe so." The old wizard smiled. "What I don't have I should be able to find in Sierra."

"Why do you look so excited?" The huge warrior asked his old teacher suspiciously. "What exactly are you planning?"

"It would take far too much time to explain right now." Damarius told him evasively. "We need to get underway if we want to have any hope of saving Sierra."

The huge warrior started to reply, but was interrupted as Sly
, who was laughing uncontrollably, appeared from the stables leading Damion's prancing warhorse, Storm, and followed closely by Juco, who was rubbing his arm gingerly, an outraged expression on his face.

"I warned you not to get too close to
him!" Sly guffawed, wiping the tears of mirth from his eyes.

"That beast of yours is mad!" The little mercenary growled at Damion, casting a dark
look at the huge stallion, who stared back at him aggressively. "I've never seen a horse actually pretend to be sleeping just so he could bite you when your guard was down!"

"He was just having a little fun with you." Leia told him, hurrying over to scamper up onto the warhorse's back. "It means he likes you."

"Could you tell him to like me a little less?"

"Do you understand what you and your men need to do?"
Damion asked, still wondering if it had been wise to recruit the unreliable looking little fellow.

"Of course," Juco shrugged, still eyeing Storm suspiciously. "We are going to help the scruffy little fellow and that crazy old man there prepare
the city and dockyard defenses in Sierra." He gestured to Sly and Damarius casually. "And when the Etazk decide to finally show their faces," He smiled a vicious smile. "my boys and I get to have a little fun!"

"Make
sure you keep your men and yourself under control while in Sierra." Damion warned him in a firm tone. "I won't be happy if I found out you've been causing problems for the locals."

"I understand." The mercenary
assured him fervently, gingerly rubbing his scalp, which was still tender from his first encounter with Damion. "I'll make sure my men are on their very best behavior."

"We had better get moving." Raven told them, vaulting up into her saddle. "It's a long way to
Crete, and it's going to take some time to get the reinforcements moving north."

They quickly bid Dar, Shirk, and Lady Skie farewell, then made their way out to the trade road, where they found Juco's
Silent Shadows waiting in the large glade that bordered the trade road.

"
Take care of yourselves," Damion cautioned Sly and Damarius. "Do whatever you can to prepare the city. If the Lords of Sierra give you any trouble, tell them I gave Damarius orders to turn them all into garden slugs."

"Will do." Sly chuckled. "Make sure you get those reinforcements to us as quickly as you can. We're going to need every able bodied man we can recruit if we want to have any hope of
keeping the Etazk from making it to shore."

With one last quick farewell, Damarius, Sly, Juco, and the mercenaries started off up the trade road to the north, while Damion, Raven, Leia, and Slither set off to the south with Snowfeather drifting silently overhead on the watch for danger.

"Do you think we actually have a chance of keeping the Etazk from making landfall in Sierra?" Raven asked Damion a bit later. "With a force that size, does the city really have a chance?"

"I'm afraid
it doesn't look good." The huge warrior told her truthfully. "I'm afraid Sierra will probably be destroyed as the Etazk try to force their way ashore. Their numbers are just too great. But we should at least be able to slow them down, and whittle down their numbers before we are forced to withdraw into the mountains."

"It's a good thing Sevria is well prepared for a siege." The young woman said, though said still looked worried. "If the Etazk are able to make ground in Sierra, it won't be long before they're outside our gates."

"It won't be just an easy stroll through the mountains for the Etazk, though." The huge warrior told her confidently. "There are hundreds of places for our forces to hide out and ambush the Etazk. They'll suffer heavy losses before they ever reach the city."

"The ssspawn will sssurely exact their toll
as well." Slither hissed as he effortlessly trotted along side of their horses. "I ssspoke with many of the hoard, and told them they would gain the Dragon Lord's favor by aiding him againssst the Etazk. Many will sssurely anssswer the call."

"Every little bit will help."

That evening, they set up camp in one of the fortified encampments that had been constructed along the trade road by the road crews, and settled down around a nice cozy fire to rest.

"Do you think the new dragons can sense when I'm close, like I can sense them?" Leia asked her father, tearing into a roasted chicken leg hungrily.

"I'm not sure," The huge warrior replied after a moment's thought. "If I had to guess, I would have to say no. You said they were searching for something that had to do with me. If they could sense when you are close, they wouldn't have any problem tracking me down by just honing in on your location."

"That's true, isn't it?" The young girl admitted, her expression thoughtful. "
That's something we may be able to use to our advantage. I'll be able to sense when one of these veiled
dragons are nearby, and warn everyone before they have a chance to strike."

Damion and Raven exchanged a glance, the pride that they felt for their brave little girl nearly overwhelming them both.

"And I still want to learn how to wield a sword." The young girl reminded her parents. "I had better get started soon if I want to be able to defend myself efficiently."

"We'll find a skilled blacksmith as soon as we can, and have him forge a sword suitable for someone of your size." Damion promised her, taking a roasted chicken off of the spit
and deftly slicing it in two with his dagger. He tossed half to Slither, who caught it with an eager hiss, then took a huge bite out of the remaining half.

"I want armor too." Leia stated flatly. "I may as well get use to it now. It's fairly obvious I'll being wearing it a lot when I grow up."

"What makes you say that?" Damion asked curiously.

"Well, I
am
the daughter of the Dragon Lord," She reminded him, rolling her eyes. "That's a dangerous occupation, you know?"

"We'll see what we can find," Raven told her with a motherly smile. "but it's going to be rather difficult finding something that will fit you. They don't make a lot of warriors in your size."

The sudden rustle of feathers drew their attention to Snowfeather, who drifted in from the darkness on silent wings.

"We have company."
The huge snow owl hooted in warning as he settled down on a overhanging branch.
"There is a group of about a dozen warriors moving this way."

"Bandits?"
Damion tossed the remains of his meal into the fire, then rose to his feet.

"It appears that way.
They're less than a mile from here, moving this way on foot. They're taking great pains in remaining hidden from view, so I assume they already know we're here."

"What is it?" Raven asked, noticing the grim expression on Damion's face.

"It appears there are some bandits moving this way." The huge warrior told her, trying to keep his tone calm so he wouldn't alarm Leia. "Probably deserters from Crete. Most of the outlaw gangs in the foothills agreed to join the war in the hopes of robbing the Etazk of whatever valuables they may have, but I'm certain many of them don't have the stomach for real combat. They probably deserted the instant they realized they would actually be expected to fight."