Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons (16 page)

Damion looked up from tending the horses
. "Do you think we'll encounter any problems crossing?"

The one eared man shrugged. "We'll have to pass through
a couple of checkpoints to cross the border. The terrain becomes rougher the closer we get to the border. The trade road runs through the pass that is one of the few ways between our countries. The border crossing there is closely guarded by both our people and the Deirians. There is a small village in the neutral area between our borders. We'll be able get more information there, and replenish our supplies."

Damion nodded
. "Let's hope we don't encounter any problems. I'd rather not be delayed. We've still a long way to go before we reach Arleia."

They finished making camp, then Damion sat back against a tree with a large piece dried beef. He gazed up into the night's sky, his eyes
automatically finding the constellation of the dragon god, Draco, which seemed to shine brighter than usual as it stared down from the heavens above.

The sound of
ruffling feathers caught his attention as Snowfeather drifted in from the darkness, a large rabbit clutched in his beak.

"Damion!"
The great snow owl sounded agitated
. "There are a dozen or so dragonspawn heading straight for the camp! They're being led by a couple of shadowspawn!"

Damion leapt to his feet, and drew the Dragon Sword. "Dragonspawn!" He hissed a warning.

Veren leapt to his feet, then he and Damion simultaneously melted into the shadows cast by the fire and waited for the dragonspawn to appear. It wasn't long before several of the dragonspawn burst into view, their snakelike eyes searching the camp for victims.

Damion
stepped from the shadows and lopped the head off of the closest creature sending it flying off into the darkness. He cut down two more, then drew in his magic and released a blast of force that sent yet another flying backwards into the darkness. Four more burst through the underbrush and into view, snarling in rage, but he quickly cut them down with a series of deadly blows.

Veren
leapt from the darkness and sent a heavy dagger whistling through the air, lodging it deep in a charging dragonspawn's throat, then quickly fell back as two shadowspawn burst into view. "Whoa! They're bigger than I thought they'd be!" He drew back to Damion's side. "Got any advice?"

Damion nodded. "Take the horses and stay out of the way
! This is probably going to get messy!"

Veren
fell back to where the horses were picketed and gathered them by their tethers, then quickly led them away from the campsite.

The two shadowspawn
stared at Damion from across the fire for several long moments, then, without a sound, they moved forward, each circling to opposite sides, clearly intending to attack from both sides simultaneously. One of the creatures suddenly lunged forward, swinging a heavy steel clad club, while the other launched itself at his legs, its razor sharp claws slashing.

Damion
easily side stepped their attacks, and kicked the first creature hard in the chest, sending it flying backwards through the air, where it crashed hard into a tree. The second beast leapt forward once again, slashing at the air in front of his face with razor sharp talons. He danced clear if its wild swipes, and lashed out with the Dragon Sword, lopping off one of its arms at the elbow. It shrieked in agony, grabbing the stump where its arm had been, then stumbled back as the other shadowspawn lurched forward, still dazed from its collision with the tree.

Damion waited until the creature was within striking distance and then launched forward, the Dragon Sword held hig
h. The dazed creature raised its arms instinctively to ward off the blow, but he suddenly dropped the blade low, running the beast through. It shuddered once as it stared down in disbelief at the blade lodged in its chest, then he ripped the sword free, allowing its body to fall limply to the ground.

The other shadowspawn hissed in fury at Damion, s
till holding the stump where its arm had been, then it turned and fled into the darkness, seeming to almost melt into the night.

Damion watched as it disappeared, then he turned and kicked th
e dead shadowspawn over onto its back. It looked quite similar to the one that they had encountered on the way to Sierria.

"Ugly creatures."
Veren grunted, leading the horses back into the ruined camp. He wrinkled his nose distastefully. "I guess we're going to have to find another place to camp. That smell is going to make it hard to sleep!"

Damion laughed. "
It doesn't smell much worse than you! Why do you think I always try to stay downwind of you?"

"Three weeks in the saddle
does
tend to make a man a bit fragrant!" Veren laughed. He handed over Storm's reins. "Let's move. With a little luck, we may be able to get a little sleep before dawn!"

They reached the border between
Jaghera and Deiria around midday the following day and found it heavily guarded with a score of grim looking soldiers mounted on swift looking horses. They were able to pass through the first checkpoint with little difficulty thanks to Veren, and they proceeded on into the village at a cautious trot.

The village was like many others
that Damion had visited since leaving the protection of the sheltered valley in which he was raised, with booths filled with goods lining the streets, and operators calling to passersby in the hope of hawking their wares. Wagons laden with goods on their way towards foreign markets crowded the streets, forcing them to stop several times to wait while the passing teamsters stopped dead in their tracks to hurl vile insults at one another.

Damion noticed that
there wasn't much difference between the Jagherns and Deirians, except for one obvious characteristic. Jagherns had much darker skin, probably from their many years of toiling in their fields, while Deirians were far more fair skinned from spending their lives wandering through the shaded forests of their homeland. Despite their rather minor differences, the two races intermingled here with little friction as they went about their daily business.

They located a n
eatly kept inn ran by a jovial Jaghern and his short chubby wife, and after taking advantage of their bathhouse and scrubbing away the layers of dirt that had gathered on the journey, they made their way to the common room where they enjoyed a meal of hearty stew made from beef and vegetables, freshly baked bread, and home brewed ale that the innkeeper proudly informed them was his best batch to date.

"This is almost as good as the ale the dwarves brew." Damion commented, draining his mug. "Sly w
ould absolutely love this stuff!"

"Thank you kindly, milord!" The innkeeper said happily, bringing them another round. "I obtained the recipe from a Dierian many years ago, then spent
nearly a decade perfecting it. It's a labor of love! I can sell you a cask to take back home to you friend, if you'd like!"

Damion sighed regretfully. "I'm afraid it will be a while before I'm able to return home." He was struck with a sudden inspiration.
"Do you know of any messengers willing to undertake a fairly long voyage?"

The innkeeper smiled. "I
believe I could locate someone for you."

"What do you have in mind?"
Veren asked curiously.

"I thought I would send Sly a gift, along with word of what we had discovered
so far." Damion grinned. "I'll compose a letter to accompany several casks of ale back to Sevria."

Veren looked to the innkeeper. "Any news from Deiria?"

The man's face fell. "The news
coming from across the border is not good. Many different areas of their forests have been set aflame and continue to burn uncontrollably, and several of their villages have been destroyed. The Deirians are terrified!"

"Have they closed th
e border?"

The innkeeper shook his head. "The border remains open for now, although strangers to their lands are closely watched."

Damion handed the man several coins, and thanked him for the information, then sat back with his tankard. "At least border is still open." He murmured as he watched the man waddle off.

Veren
grunted in agreement. "We'll still have to deal with the roving patrols, though. Some of them enjoy harassing travelers, especially foreign travelers."

The following morning,
Damion spent several minutes composing a letter that would accompany three large casks of ale back to Sevria, then after handing the letter and a large pouch of coins to pay for the provisions that they had obtained from the innkeeper's wife, he and Veren retrieved their horses and set off towards Deiria.

They were stopped briefly as they approached the Deirian side of the border by a number of pale skinned Deirians armed with long bows
, but after answering a few quick questions they were allowed to proceed, though the warriors continued to watch them closely until they were finally out of view.

"That went
better than I expected." Veren said once they were out of earshot. "That could have gone much, much worse!"

"It's not like we have an army at our back." Damion pointed out. "I doubt they would be too concerned with a couple of
ordinary travelers on the trade road."

"You're not exactly what I would call 'ordinary', Damion." The one eared man laughed.

Their next encounter was with a patrol of a dozen Deirians mounted on swift looking horses which were tiny when compared to Storm. Damion and Veren were approaching the edge of an extensive forest when the patrol rode out of the shadows to block the trade road with arrogant expressions.

Their leader, a thin faced man
with pale blond hair, stared at them disdainfully for a long moment. "What business do you have being here in our lands?" He asked, sneering at them belligerently.

"We are just passing through your lands
," Damion answered, trying to ignore the man's impertinence. "and our business is our own."

"Well
, you had better reveal what that business is, or you can just turn around and go back!" The thin faced man snarled, his pale face growing red.

Damion stared at the man for a long moment, his patience
quickly wearing thin. "Stand aside and let us continue our journey." Damion growled menacingly. "I haven't the time for any more delays."

The man seemed somewhat taken aback by the ferociousness in Damion's voice, then suddenly seemed to remember he had a dozen men at his back. "And if we refuse?"

Damion drew himself to his full height, towering over the much smaller man. "Then I'll remove you from our path!"

The Deirians drew thei
r long bows with practiced ease and leveled arrows at Damion and Veren.

Veren
groaned. "Does this happen a lot when you travel?" He asked, slowly edging his horse behind Storm.

"I'm afraid so." Damion replied, drawing in his magic.

Another group of riders suddenly appeared from the forest and rode up to join their countrymen.

"What is the meaning of this?" The leader of th
e new group, a young dark haired woman demanded, her chestnut eyes flashing. She was dressed entirely in black leather and spoke with the tone of someone who was used to having her commands obeyed.

The thin faced
Deirian had suddenly grown pale and his companions lowered their long bows. "Th-These travelers refused to answer our questions when asked what their business was in our lands, milady."

"And why did you stop them in the first place?" The woman snarled. "What harm could two travelers
possibly do?" She drew her horse along side his, then backhanded the man hard across the mouth. "We have more pressing concerns to worry over right now!"

The thin faced man reeled from her blow, but somehow managed to keep his saddle. "Of course, milady." He answered through freshly split lips. "I just thought..."