Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons (34 page)

He whirled around, peering through the smoke to locate the shadow dragon, but was stopped once again as thre
e shadowspawn appeared from the gloom to block his advance. They charged forward to attack, their eyes filled with bloodlust. The Dragon Sword flashed through the air faster than the eye could follow as he leapt forward to meet their attack, severing the legs of one beast, causing it to crash face first to the ground, hissing in agony. The flaming blade sliced cleanly through another's throat, stopping it in its tracks. Blood started spewing from the massive wound, and the beast blinked in disbelief as it saw its life spill to the soil. It collapsed to lay twitching next to its brethren, which was still clawing feebly at the earth.

The last shadowspawn scrambled back in fear, its eyes wide in fear. "Dragon Man!"

Damion casually lopped the head off of the crippled shadowspawn, then turned his full attention to the final beast, which was looking around desperately for a way to escape.

It
retreated several steps, then stopped as several dozen dragonspawn appeared from the smoke which was now obscuring everything from view. It hissed something to the smaller creatures, who instantly charged forward to attack.

Damion snarled in fury, then drew in his magic, feeling it surge through his veins. He sent a blast of energy streaking through the air
, striking the ground in front of the charging creatures. It exploded with a force the shook the buildings around it, causing several of the dung huts to collapse in upon themselves. There wasn't much remaining of the dragonspawn once the dust had settled. The sole remaining creature was the lone shadowspawn, who turned fled into the darkness.

Damion didn't have any time to pursue the creature
. At that moment, the shadow dragon burst into view, obviously drawn by the blast. Its eyes instantly locked on him and narrowed. It snarled in fury, then lashed out with its razor sharp talons, raking the air before it furiously. He danced clear of the lethal strikes, then drew in his magic and focused it on a crumbled piece of stone wall, sending it hurtling through the air and crashing into the serpent's broad head.

It
shrieked in pain and fury, then belched a huge blast of flames which completely engulfed Damion, robbing him of what little visibility he had. He didn't even see the shadow dragon's tail as it whipped through the flames, catching him across the back of the knees, and sending him flipping backwards through the air. He crashed to the ground, knocking the air from his lungs with a loud whoosh.

The shadow dragon roared in triumph, preparing to move in for the kill,
but was suddenly slammed violently to the ground as an enormous scarlet dragon fell from the night sky, landing with crushing force on the smaller beast's back.

The shadow dragon
roared in pain and surprise, then twisted to one side, throwing the larger beast from its back. It lashed out with its whip like tail, forcing the scarlet dragon back, then turned and launched itself into the air in a desperate attempt to flee.

The
scarlet dragon roared in rage, then leapt into the air in pursuit of the smaller dragon. The shadow dragon had been critically wounded by the force of the larger dragon's attack, and it was only instinct that was keeping it alive. It clawed its way through the air, its torn and bleeding wings working desperately to clear the top of the escarpment, but the scarlet dragon quickly overtook it, slamming into it at full speed. There was a tremendous crash, and the momentum from the larger beast drove both dragons smashing into the cliff side, still ripping and slashing at one another as they plummeted towards the ground.

They c
ollided with the largest platform, ripping it free from the cliff side, and sending it crashing to the ground. Hundreds of people fell screaming to their deaths as the platform disintegrated, dragging another smaller platform down as it fell.

The two serpent's continued their fall until the very last second, when the sc
arlet dragon suddenly flared its wings, allowing the smaller injured beast to crash to the ground. It landed atop the smaller creature, ready to make the kill.

The shadow dragon threw its head back and screamed once more in
agony, then fell silent as the scarlet dragon latched onto its exposed neck and ripped out its throat with a sickening wrench. The smaller serpent fell lifelessly to the ground, its wings flapping uselessly as it convulsed, then it finally fell still, leaving the larger scarlet dragon to stand over its carcass triumphantly.

The crimson beast spat out the shadow dragon's
throat, then turned to face Damion, who was still struggling to his feet. "Always laughing in the face of overwhelming odds." The serpent rumbled in a deep voice. "You've never been one to back away from a fight, have you?"

"Tempest?" Damion panted, still trying to catch his breath. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you! You really get around for someone who can't fly!"

"I can fly if
I need to!" He said defensively. He looked up at his friend, who was still perched indifferently on the shadow dragon's carcass. "It is good to see you, my friend. You have impeccable timing!" He gave her a confused look. "How did you find me?"

"I could see the village burning from miles away." She explained. "Once I drew closer
, I could see you battling with this beast." She nudged the corpse. "I saw it send you flying, and struck before it could try to finish you off."

Damion smiled up at her as he returned the Dragon Sword to its sheath. "Thank you for that, by the way."

"My pleasure." Her head whipped around. "Let me disperse these spawn, then we can continue our reunion." She rose into the air with a thrust of her great wings, then began to circle overhead. She released an ear splitting roar that echoed through the desert, causing every dragonspawn and shadowspawn to freeze in their tracks. She roared once more, and they turned and began to flee, disappearing into the darkness as quickly as they appeared.

She circled overhead for another moment or two, then
rejoined him in a clearing not far from the edge of the burning village.

"So
, here we are again!" She settled down before Damion, who was recovering from his battle with the shadow dragon. She peered at him closely. "I've seen you look worse. You'll be fine."

"Thanks for that
!" He snorted in amusement.

"
What have you been able to discover?" Tempest asked eagerly. "Have you heard anything useful?"

Damion shook off the
stunning blow he had absorbed, then turned to his friend, who sat with an eager look. "Well, that depends."

"What do you mean?"

He described their trek across the continent, and the encounters with the other shadow dragons. "I don't think I injured the first shadow dragon mortally," He said with a shrug. "But we managed to bring the second one we encountered down." He smiled smugly. "It won't be bothering anyone ever again!"

"As that one will no longer cause problems." Tempest gestured to the huge corpse a few hundred yards away.

"But the most important information we have discovered is that they first appeared to the east. We heard rumors that they were first spotted somewhere around a group of volcanic islands on the other side of Arleia."

"I know these islands." The scarlet beast murmured thoughtfully. "It would be just the type of place the brood mother would choose to make her lair. I'll investi
gate it as soon as I leave here and report back to you what I find. What do you plan to do now?"

Damion thought about it for several moments. "I think I'll continue towards Arleia. Perhaps I can learn something further that will help us later on." His face grew wistful. "Have you stopped through Sevria lately? Do you know how they're faring?"

"I stopped through several weeks ago." She told him. "They have been quite busy preparing for war."

"War?" He exclaim
ed in alarm. "What do you mean war?"

"They have built a large stone wall to surround the city, and cleared the surrounding countryside of all obstructions." She chuckled. "The area bordering the road now looks like a
porcupine's back from all of the battlements. That crazy old wizard has even devised a number of formidable machines capable of bringing down a shadow dragon! I would say that they are fairly safe from any danger that may present itself."

Damion frowned. "I think I may have blundered when I gave Sly
access to the vaults."

Tempest snorted. "There is always more treasure to be had.
I'll bring you some of mine once all of this is over." She smiled down at him. "Would you like a lift to the top of the escarpment?"

Damion shook his head with a laugh. "No
, thanks. I think we have given the survivors enough to talk about for one evening!"

Chapter 12

It was nearly dawn when he finally met up with the others in the village at the top of the escarpment. It took him several minutes to finally locate them just outside of town, nervously awaiting his return. He circled above the companions in the form of a snow owl for a moment, then dropped down from overhead, nearly frightening the feathers off of Snowfeather, who was keeping watch over the others. They both descended to the ground and Damion resumed his own form, startling Raven and Veren, causing them both to begin cursing violently.

"Are you completely disturbed?" Raven yelled at him, leaping from her saddle and charging up to him, her face a thundercloud of fury. "Who in his right mind would just leap from a cliff like that, then charge into battle with a shadow dragon?"

Veren nodded in agreement. "She's right! You'd be dead right now if it wasn't for that scarlet dragon appearing!"

"I'm glad to
see you're fine too." He laughed, an impish smile on his face.

Raven continued to stare up at him angrily.
"If you ever do something that stupid again I swear I'll make you regret it!"

Damion looked to
Veren. "Funny thing is, I believe her when she says that!"

Raven s
hrieked in rage and kicked him hard in his shinbone, then turned and stomped back to her horse.

"Hey!" He exclaimed in pain, hopping on one foot while rubbing his shin gingerly.
"That hurt!"

"Well
, you deserve it!" She snapped, jumping up into her saddle.

"
What did the scarlet dragon have to say?" Veren asked curiously.

"
Tempest said that she happened to be in the area, and decided to drop in for a visit." Damion took Storm's reins from the one eared man, then leapt atop the warhorse's back. "I told her everything we have learned and suspect from what little information we have gathered. We decided that she is going to go investigate those volcanic islands for us."

"What
's our plan then?"

"I told her that we would continue to travel towards Arleia."
He led them back into town as he talked. "She will report back with us once she has checked out the islands."

"And what will happen if she is able to locate the brood's lair?" Raven asked, her voice still angry.

Damion shrugged. "Tempest will call in the rest of the scarlet dragons and put an end to their terror." He frowned. "But that is only going to happen if they are able to destroy the brood mother. Once we locate her, we can finally return home." He failed to notice the fleeting expression of pain and sorrow that flashed across the young woman's face.

The
re was complete chaos in the town. Many of the people had watched what had transpired, and those who hadn't chose to flee into the desert were busy preparing for battle. Men were running back and forth down the roads bellowing contradictory orders to others who completely ignored them, while others watched the early morning sky fearfully, screaming in fear whenever they thought they caught sight of another dragon.

There were a few signs of organized
resistance near the outer edge of town. A large number of men were busy building a makeshift barricade in case the dragonspawn returned, while others were busy stock piling weapons in case of battle.