Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons (47 page)

"And w
here's that?" His friend looked suspicious, as if he didn't entirely trust his companion.

"
Blind Man's Cave!" The first man laughed an ugly barking laugh. "Think about it! There are only a few places left that are not well known to everyone in the swamp, and Blind Man's Cave is the only place between here and Daconia that fits that description!"

His friend's face had grown greedy. "How far away is it?"

"It's been a few years, but I think it's about six or seven miles back to the east. She was nearly at the trail that led off towards the cave when we stumbled across her and that child, and she offered us that gold to make sure those pursuing her never made it further than Hthiss." He smiled encouragingly. "The gold we make from this score could set us up for months!"

"I
would
like to have a new horse." The second man admitted, patting his weary nag's neck affectionately. "Gerdie here has seen better days, that's for sure." His face grew doubtful. "But that chaser was awful large for a woman. She don't look like she'll be easy prey."

"She's just a woman." The first man scoffed dismissively. "Big or small, she's no match for a man." He paused a moment, then added. "Besides, there's two of us!" He seemed to sense his friend's continued reluctance. "You can even have a little
fun with her before we kill her, if you want," His face suddenly grew greedy. "but keep your hands off the child! She's mine!"

The men stared at one another for a long moment, then second man finally nodded in agreement. "Let's do it. If you really think we can catch up to her before she reaches Daconia, then I'll trust you
, this time. But you had better not be wrong!"

"I knew you see the light!" The first man laughed. "Let's get m
ov...." There was a sudden thud and he suddenly fell limply from the saddle with an arrow lodged between his shoulders.

His friend watched him fall with a dumbfounded look on his face, then gasped as there was another loud thump
and a second arrow suddenly appeared in his unarmored chest. He slid twitching from his horse to fall dead next to his friend.

Damion turned to look at Raven, who was staring down at the
men with a furious expression, her bow still in her hand. "You heard enough, I take it?"

They both carefully made their way down from their perches, then walked over to join
Veren, who had remained with the horses in case they happened to get spooked.

"
Are they gone?" The one eared man inquired in a quiet voice.

"They won't be bothering us
anymore," Damion replied, smiling at Raven. "but before Raven sent them to meet their maker, we could hear them talking about Tara and Susa. I guess they're only a few miles ahead of us, heading for some place called the Blind Man's Cave. I guess Tara encountered the men and offered them some gold if they could stop us." He smiled grimly. "She should really be more careful in who she hires, though. The men had just decided to turn back and track her down to rob and kill her when Raven's arrows put an end to their plans."

"Does she still have Susa?"
The one eared man asked with a worried expression.

Damion nodded. "The men mentioned her several times during their discussions
. If we hurry, and a little lucky, we should be able to catch up to them by dawn."

They quickly gathered their belongings
, then set off to the southeast at a brisk canter in an effort to make up time. Snowfeather circled overhead, keeping watch for danger as they quickly made through the darkness.

On
ce they had traveled several miles, they slowed to a walk to avoid alerting anyone to their presence. The road soon began to grow more difficult, and the swamp had overtaken the road for long stretches in many areas, slowing their progress even more.

After another few miles, Damion began to grow impatient.
"We're never going to find them if we're blundering around in the darkness like this!" He reined Storm to a halt. "We could completely miss the trail those men mentioned leading to the Blind Man's Cave and never even know it!"

"What do you suggest?" Raven asked, peering around through the darkness for any sign of movement.

He thought about it for a moment, then slid down from Storm's back and tossed Veren the warhorse's reins. "Keep moving until you find a suitable place to set up camp. Snowfeather and I will keep looking for this cave, then once we locate it, we'll come find you and make our plans from there."

"Ohhh no!
" Veren exclaimed, jumping down from his saddle indignantly. "You're
not
running off again!"

"You're not going to be able to follow me when I leave. Just do as I say, and find a safe place to set up camp. Snowfeather and I
will find you once we locate Tara and Susa."

"Why wouldn't we be able to follow you?" Raven asked, a baffled look on her face. "Our horses can keep up with Storm!"

Damion laughed, then wordlessly stepped several feet away from the horses, and drew in his magic, allowing his body to slip into he form of a sleek black panther.

"Oh my!" The young woman stared at his new form in wonder. She jumped down from her horse
, and slowly made her way toward the giant cat. "Damion? Is that really you?"

Damion growled menacingly, trying to make Raven nervous, then slowly began to advance on the wide eyed young woman, his mouth open wide to show off his gleaming white teeth.

Oh my!" She repeated, taking an involuntary step backwards, her eyes now wide with fear.

Damion growled menacingly, then suddenly lunged forward and bumped her gently, causing her to take an unbalanced step backward
. She tripped over her own feet, and crashed to the ground.

"Hey!" Raven struggled to get back to her feet, but suddenly found herself nose to nose with the sleek black panther.

Damion stared deeply into her hazel eyes for a long moment, then licked her nervous looking face from chin to forehead.

"Uck!" She objected, trying to push Damion away as he attempted to lick her again. "Okay! Okay! I see why we can't follow! We'll go make camp while you locate Tara and Susa." She made it to her knees, then thr
ew her arms around the great cat. "Just don't take long, and be careful!"

Damion laid his head gently against hers for a long moment, then sighed heavily and turned away
, disappearing silently into the darkness.

Once away from the others, he immediately set off in search of any sign
of Tara and Susa with Snowfeather ghosting quietly overhead, his keen eyes searching for any hint of activity.

At first, it was difficult to pick up any scents other than the stagnant
smell of the swamp itself, but after an hour or so of searching, he taught himself to ignore the nearly overwhelming aroma of the marshes, and he was able to move quicker through the shadows at the edge of the road while searching for anything that may lead him to the scar faced woman's hidden campsite.

It was nearly midnight
when he finally caught the faint scent of smoke coming from somewhere nearby. He located a faint trail leading away from the road, then slowly began to follow it along, his senses alert for any sign of danger.

"There's a small opening on the back side of that stone outcropping just ahead."
Snowfeather reported to him a moment later.
"I'm pretty sure there is someone inside, but I didn't want to get too close, and alert them to my presence."

Damion
silently made his way around to the far side of the stone outcropping, then slowly began to creep forward towards the entrance of the cave.

"
Because I said so!" A woman's voice suddenly erupted from the interior of the cave, sounding irritated. "When I tell you to send some people out to deal with them, I expect you to follow my orders!"

Damion carefully slinked t
hrough the shadows and peered into the cave, which was lit by a small fire near the entrance. The cave was much larger than it appeared from the outside, and he was surprised to see that several dozen men were lounging around on crudely made cots, or tossing dice together in small groups. There was only a single weary looking horse tethered to a heavy table near the rear of the cave, which he instantly recognized as belonging to Tara.

He
scanned the cave and his eyes finally fell upon the scar faced woman arguing heatedly with a short broad chested man with a vast beard. He was dressed in rough leather armor, and carried a pair of vicious looking curved swords which he carried strapped across his back. Damion continued to scan the cave for several more moments, but saw no sign of Susa anywhere.

"For two men, and a woman?" The brutish man scoffed. "I'm not going to rouse my entire crew to
deal with a tiny group of outsiders! Why should we care if they want to wander around the marshes? The snakes will eventually take care of them for us!"

"One of those men following me is the man responsible for releasing the dragons back into the world!" She snarled at him, her pale face red with fury. "He will
not
be stopped by a few snakes! I have already sent several people to deal with them, but I'm pretty certain they have failed!"

"One of the men following you is the Dragon Lord?" The man's eyes were wide with shock
. "The man from the stories we have been hearing?" He suddenly looked confused. "But why would you wish to kill him? He released the dragons! He should be welcomed as a hero!"

"He is
no
hero!" She hissed. "He has come here to destroy our way of life! I heard him say as much with my own ears!" She suddenly drew herself up to her full height. "It does not matter. My people have allowed you to remain here to from escape justice for several months now! If you wish to continue to remain here, you'll follow my orders! Otherwise," She added in a threatening tone. "my people may decide that you are worthy to be sacrifices to our returning lords!"

The
bearded man suddenly gulped. "It'll be a little while before everyone is sober enough to be of any use. We'll ride out at dawn, and do what you ask of us. Those outsiders will be dead by nightfall tomorrow."

"Either
they
will, or
you
will." She warned him, turning away. "I need to rest. I must make it to Daconia to insure that all of our plans are ready to be set into motion." She retreated into the darkness at the far end of the cave.

Damion drew back away from the entran
ce and deeper into the shadows, then paused to consider his options. He knew that it would take a while to go and get Veren and Raven, giving Tara time to escape, but if he were to rush in blindly, not knowing where exactly where Susa was located, he could endanger the slave girl's life. After another moment's thought, he decided to play it safe, and return to get the others, hoping fervently that it was the right decision.

He turned and began to race through the shadows back towards the road
.
"Snowfeather?"
He called out silently.
"Where are you?"

"Right above you."
The huge owl replied, swooping down from the darkness above.
"What did you find?"

"Tara is in there, along with several dozen men
, mostly thieves and cutthroats from what it appears."

"Did you see any sign of the child?"

"No, but I couldn't see everything inside without revealing myself."

"If there were only a few dozen men, why didn't you just deal with them yourself?"
Snowfeather inquired, still gliding silently overhead as they quickly reached the road and turned back to the northwest.
"I've seen you take on entire armies without batting an eye! Why are you hesitating now?"