Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (29 page)

"That's great news." Damion smiled in relief, knowing the
stocky little dwarves to be fearsome warriors. "How many dwarves did you bring with you?"

"Around five thousand.
If my brethren had their way, they all would have come, but I wasn't going to allow that to happen."

"Who is looking after things while you are gone?" Raven asked curiously.

"Gretta is looking after things in my absence." The fiery haired dwarf smiled gently. "My wife has proven herself more than capable of running a kingdom. I think all of the years she spent as a merchant molded her into the perfect queen. Not only is she talented at solving the random disputes and disagreements that creep up between the various families, she also has a great mind for dealing with all of the minor details that drive me insane."

"
That's because she's a woman." Raven laughed. "You men don't have the patience it takes to deal with petty details." She gave Damion a meaningful look.

"That's the truth." Garth agreed with a gruff laugh. He turned to look up at Bativa. "How's life on the plains,
Chieftain Bativa?"

"A bit more exciting than usual, your majesty." The huge tribesman replied respectfully. His face suddenly fell. "I was sorry to hear about your father's passing.
He was a great dwarf. He will be missed by many."

"That's kind of you to say." Garth told him with a sad smile. "My father was a great king. He loved his people, and was loved by his people. His name will be remember for thousands of years to come."

"Well," Damion scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure we're safe in assuming that there isn't any Etazk spies among your ranks. Let's go check in on Leia. I'm sure she'll be delighted to see you." He frowned. "I should warn you that she was a little angry with us for leaving her behind while we dealt with the spies. It's hard to say what we'll find once we get there."

They soon reached Bativa's rolling quarters and walked inside, only to find Leia sitting next to Slither on a pile of cushions on one side of the room, while the tribesmen Bativa had assigned to protect her were huddled on the opposite side with fearful expressions.

"What is going on here?" Bativa demanded of the tattooed tribesmen in a bewildered tone.

The men looked to their chieftain, then over to Leia, who glared at them with threatening eyes
. They all flinched noticeably, then one of the men looked back at Bativa with a terrified look in his eyes. "There's n-nothing wrong, Chieftain. Everything was..." He glanced at Leia once more and gulped. "Everything w-was uneventful." Without another word, the frightened tribesmen hurried from the room, leaving them all to at stare at Leia with suspicious eyes."

"What did you do to those poor men?" Damion asked, staring after the men in disbelief.

"Nothing." The young girl answered in a sulky tone, scowling at her father.

"
You had to have done something. They looked terrified!"

"I didn't do anything." Leia re
plied with exaggerated innocence.

Damion stared at his daughter
for a long moment, then looked over to Slither. "What did she do?"

"SSShe threatened to turn them all into garden ssslugsss." The huge shadowspawn hissed in amusement.

"But you can't use magic," Raven protested, staring at her daughter disapprovingly, then her expression suddenly became uncertain. "Can you?"

Leia merely looked away innocently.

"SSShe didn't need to ussse magic." Slither chuckled a deep throaty chuckle. "Knowing ssshe isss the daughter of the Dragon Lord wasss enough to convince the horssse-men that ssshe could follow through with her threatsss."

"It seems
as though Leia is turning out to be just like her father." Garth laughed, slapping his knee in amusement. "I don't know if the world is prepared for
two
of you!"

Lei
a smiled when she saw the stocky dwarf, and she quickly jumped to her feet and rushed over with a silvery laugh. She suddenly stopped before him and performed a perfect curtsy. "Your majesty." She greeted him in a respectful tone, then she laughed again and threw herself into his arms.

"Hello, little one," Garth laughed as she began to smother him in kisses. "Have you been having fun tormenting Bativa's kinsmen?"

"Not really, but since mother and father decided to leave me behind while they went and dealt with the Etazk," She scowled and Damion and Raven, "I had to do
something
to entertain myself."

They
settled down around the large table, and Bativa ordered several servants to bring food and drink.

"So what have
I missed?" Garth asked as he climbed up into one of the padded chairs around the table.

"Quite a bit actually." Damion quickly filled him in on everything that they had discovered about the Etazk, and the discovery of a new species of dragon. "
So," He summarized with a sigh. "Not only do we have two separate Etazk armies, and a new species of dragon to contend with, we recently discovered that there were a significant number of spies among our forces."

"I'm fairly certain we were able to eliminate most of them." Bativa told the dwarf confidently.
"The few that remain will be ferreted out by the soldiers. Now that they know what to look out for, it should take them very little time to flush out any spies that remain."

"What's our next step?" The dwarf asked curiously, accepting a foaming tankard from of the servants.

"Our next move is to get reinforcements to Sierra." Damion replied, snatching up a sizzling turkey leg and taking a huge bite.

"They're virtually defenseless against invasion.
" Raven agreed with a nod. "Most of the of the locals jumped aboard ships heading elsewhere when they received word about Etazk, while almost all of the city watch deserted. There's no one left to defend the city."

"
We sent Sly, Damarius, and a small force ahead to begin planning the defenses, but we need to get more men to them as soon as possible."

"It's going to take quite some time to march a force this size all of the way to Sierra." Garth grunted, scratching his beard thoughtfully.

"We don't have any other choice, I'm afraid." Damion sighed. "It's going to take a significant amount of men to repel the Etazk. We can't afford to allow them to get a foot hold on this continent."

"Chieftain Bativa!" An injured tribesman suddenly burst into Bativa's hut, causing them all to turn and stare in surprise. The man had a bloody bandage wrapped around his head, and one arm was suspended in a sling. He limped towards the huge tribesman, his
eyes wide with panic. "Chieftain Bativa! Kainpre has fallen!"

Damion
quickly leapt up and led the injured tribesman to an empty chair. "What do you mean Kainpre has fallen?"

"The
Walled City has fallen to the Etazk." The tribesman explained in a weak voice. "I had ridden to the city to deliver Chieftain Bativa's demands that the Lords of Kainpre send men and supplies to help combat the Etazk, but the lords refused to even see me." He drew a deep shuddering breath, then continued, a note of pain in his voice. "I had rented a small room in an inn near the northern gates, and had just returned after failing to gain an audience with the Lords of Kainpre, when I suddenly heard the sounds of fighting coming from nearby. Dusk had already fallen, but the torches that lined the streets provided enough light for me to see that a large force of men were attempting to overpower the guards protecting the city gates."

"The Etazk infiltrated the city?" Raven guessed, her expression horrified.

"They did indeed." The injured man confirmed with a grim nod. "Once they slaughtered the guards, they raised the gates and more Etazk began to pour into the city. That's when the slaughter really began." He shook his head sadly. "The people of Kainpre didn't stand a chance. I somehow managed to fight my way through the gates, and stole a horse from an Etazk soldier that I managed to kill, then I set off as quickly as I could." He sighed again. "By the time I finally looked back, half of the city was already in flames."

"Gods!" Garth exclaimed in shock. "The Walled City of Kainpre has fallen? I would have never thought it possible!"

"All of those poor people!" Leia had tears in her eyes.

"Now we know where that second army is located." Damion growled angrily.
"But how did the Etazk managed to get so far south without anyone discovering them?"

"They must have found a secluded area somewhere
along the coast far to the south." Bativa murmured, his face a thundercloud. "They had quite a bit of time to gather their forces and make their way north before we ever even learned there was a second army." He looked to his fellow tribesman. "What happened next?"

The tribesman shrugged. "I hurried north as quickly as I could, stopping only once in a small village to get patched up." He gestured to the bandage on his head. "Once I reached
Mercedia, I alerted the city watch, and sent word up to the Council."

"You didn't inform the Council yourself?" Bativa asked in surprise.

"I thought it best to bring the news directly here. The Council knows that we're at war, and Mercedia is safe from any outside force once the city has been sealed."

"But what about the Etazk that may be
inside
the city?" Raven asked pointedly.

"I made sure to include a warning to have the city scoured for anyone who may be an Etazk." The injured man reassured her. "I explained how they managed to take Kainpre
by overpowering the guards and raising the gates, and warned them to take steps against it happening in Mercedia. By the time I made it to the gates leading north, the city guard had already been assembled, and they were stopping anyone that fit the description of an Etazk."

"This certainly changes things." Damion frowned. "We can't march
all of the men north as long as there is another force running around unchecked."

"But we can't split up our forces." Bativa disagreed with a frown. "That's exactly what they want us to do."

"I don't see where we have any choice." Damion sighed helplessly. "We have to get forces to Sierra, but we can't leave these Etazk to slip up and ambush our forces from behind."

"How many men would
you estimate attacked Kainpre?" Garth asked, his expression speculative.

"I couldn't say." The tribesman shrugged helplessly. "There were several thousand, at the very least."

They sat in silence for several long moments, still shocked by the news of Kainpre's destruction.

"Why don't you just take
the Deola to Kainpre to deal with the Etazk, while the rest of the army goes to Sierra with Garth and his dwarves?" Leia asked in a reasonable tone. "The Deola will be able to move much quicker than the rest of our forces using their horses, and they know the area better than anyone. That will leave Garth and his kinsmen free to help prepare Sierra for a siege. The dwarves are some of the finest builders in the world. They should be able to help Sly and Damarius with constructing the city's defenses."

"That's true." The fiery haired monarch
puffed out his chest proudly. "Give us a week and we'll have that city defendable. Give us a month and it will be impregnable."

Damion stared at his daughter for a long moment, then broke into a wide smile. "I like that idea." He nodded at his daughter approvingly.
"If we move quickly enough, we should be able to retake Kainpre
and
reach Sierra before the Etazk even set out of Salastar."

"It's the best plan
that we have." Bativa agreed. He looked over to Leia. "Do you have any other ideas that may help?"

"Well," The young girl scratched her head, her expression thoughtful. "We can send Slither out to contact the dragonspawn. and have them locate where th
e Etazk landed before attacking Kainpre." She suggested, glancing up at the hulking shadowspawn. "Once the spawn have located where they came ashore, we'll be able to destroy them and their ships, and take steps to prevent any more Etazk from landing."

The huge tribesman stared at Leia for several long moments
, then he turned to look at Damion. "What are we even doing here? We can just have little Leia lead the army. The Etazk wouldn't stand a chance against her!" He looked back to Leia. "Anything else?"

The young girl made a show of thinking it over. "Not that I can think of, but I'll let you know if something comes to me."
She looked at the tribesman in mock disapproval. "You know, for an experienced warrior, you sure seem to overlook the easiest solution when faced with a quandary. I guess it's lucky you have me along to guide you in the right direction."

"
Thanks." Bativa murmured in a flat tone.

She smiled at him innocently. "No charge."

They hastily finished their meal, then hurried outside to assemble a force to accompany Garth's dwarves to Sierra.

"I had my men make camp on the south side of the encampment." Garth informed them as the started to make their way through the muddy lanes that crisscrossed the camp. "I thought it might be best to keep them separate from the rest of the men."