Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons (55 page)

"You and your brood should have remained banished." Tem
pest growled uncaringly. "Now, you and your brood shall finally be destroyed, and this fare world can finally free from your evil!"

The brood mother laughed hatefully. "You may kill me and a few of my children, but you will
never
rid the world of the shadow serpents! Another brood mother shall eventually arise and finish what I have started!"

With that proclamation, she lunged forward i
n a desperate attempt to injure or kill the much larger scarlet dragon, but Tempest was prepared for her. She slapped the crippled beast's raking talons away contemptuously, then latched down on the back of its exposed neck with her powerful jaws. There was snap of bone as the scarlet serpent crushed the brood mother's neck, then with a powerful wrench, she tore the shadow dragon's head from its body. The headless body dropped to the ground thrashing spasmodically, its life blood spurting out in a great fountain.

Tempest tossed the severed head to one side, then drew a deep breath and
released a triumphant roar that resounded through the marsh. She stood for a long moment, surveying the carnage throughout the ruins, then the great beast sighed heavily. "It is finally done!"

"I don't understand!" Damion exclaimed, staring at the dead shadow dragon in shock. "How did you know that Susa was the brood mother?"

Tempest shrugged. "Dragons can always recognize other dragons, even when disguised as a human."

They looked around at the carnage scattered around the plaza. Nearly ever shadow dragon that had been gathered together now lay dead, slaughtered by the other scarlet dragons. Huge puddles of blood pooled together to form a small lake
, which covered much of the mossy clearing.

Damion heard a woman'
s cry from somewhere behind him and turned to see Raven, Veren, and Shirk leading their horses towards him, their faces white with shock.

Raven was the first to reach Damion's side, and with another cry, she threw herself into his arms, tears flowing freely from her eyes. "I thought I had lost you!" She grasped him by the sides of his face, and drew him down to kiss him firmly. "Don't ever frighten me like that again!"

"I would have been a goner if it hadn't been for Tempest's timely arrival!" He admitted, looking up at the huge scarlet dragon and smiling fondly.

Shirk stared up at Tempest, his eyes apprehensive. "You really
are
the Dragon Lord, aren't you?"

Damion began to laugh helplessly. "So what will happen now?" He asked Tempest. "With the brood mother dead, there isn't really any way to track
the rest of them down. Those shadow dragons that still live will now just scatter and go into hiding!"

Tempest sighed. "That is true, and, like the Mother said, eventually an
other brood mother will arise, but the scarlet dragons will stop them, just as we always have. The shadow dragons will never rule this world as long as my kind still exist! We shall continue to hunt them down, until we finally rid the world of their kind!"

"So
... what do we do now?" Veren asked, glancing around the plaza, which was now quite crowded with the dozens of carcasses of the shadow dragons.

Damion shrugged. "We find
a suitable place to camp for the night somewhere away from these corpses, and catch up on some rest. I'm exhausted!"

************

They gathered around the campfire several hours later, long after the sun had set for the evening, to discuss everything that had been uncovered during their confrontation with the brood mother.

"I can't believe that both Tara
and
Susa were actually shadow dragons!" Raven said, shaking her head in disbelief. "I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes!"

"They certainly had us all fooled!"
Veren agreed. "I hadn't any clue that child was actually a dragon, but Tara," He snorted. "I actually had her pegged for an ogre!"

Everyone
laughed.

"Tempest
suspects that the brood mother somehow discovered that the Dragon Sword controls the scarlet dragons, and setout to recover it, no matter the cost." Damion told them, shifting slightly to allow Raven to snuggle closer. Ever since the battle had ended, she refused to leave his side. "After the brood failed to obtain the sword through force, she apparently thought she would try deceit. She disguised herself as a child, hoping to play upon our emotions. Then Tara pretended to abduct her, and fled here, knowing that we would follow her directly into a trap."

"What is Tempest planning to do now that the brood mother has been killed?"

"She took the other scarlet dragons to search some of the other abandoned temple
s here in Arleia." Damion told the one eared man with a sigh. "Tara mentioned that Daconia wasn't the only ruins that had suddenly been taken over by a strange dragon worshipping cult. Tempest thought that they might get lucky and locate more shadow dragons if they moved quickly enough."

"And what are
we
planning to do now?" The Jaghern asked curiously.

Damion smiled. "We go home."

"Home!" Veren broke into an open smile. "Now that sounds like a great plan!" He jumped to his feet, then began to rummage around through the packs of supplies. He quickly returned with two bottles of wine that he had purchased in Hthiss, and several copper mugs. "I think this calls for a toast!" He poured them each a mug, then passed them out with a happy flourish.

"And you'll be returning with us, of course." Damion murmured to Raven, who blushed prettily.

"Of course! I can't go back to my clan! I would be killed on sight! Besides," She smiled a mischievous smile. "I have a few plans for you, and I'll need you close to set them into motion!"

Damion laughed a bit uncomfortably, then looked to Shirk. "And how about you, Shirk? What are your plans now that this nightmare is over?"

Shirk shook his head. "I don't rightly know, milord. I'm still just a criminal here in my homelands, and with all of my men dead, I don't really stand much of a chance of survival out here in the wilds."

"You can always return with us to Sevria. We can always use good people."

"Sevria?" The bearded man repeated blankly. "Where is Sevria?"

Damion chuckled. "On the
southern continent, in a little valley in the Godstear mountains."

"The mountains, eh?" He considered it for a moment. "I guess it's
a sight better than dying out here in the middle of a swamp! Count me in!"

Veren
raised his mug in the air. "Let's drink a toast, then! To returning home!"

"To my new home!" Raven beamed happily.

"To a fresh start!" Shirk raised his mug.

"To finally getting out of this stinking swamp!"
Snowfeather hooted from a nearby branch.

Damion laughed, then drained his mug, and held it out for a refill. "To having another drink!"

Chapter 19

They set off for Hthiss the following afternoon,
following along the main road at a leisurely pace, ignoring the few patrols that they passed. The patrols, in return, took one glance at Damion and prudently decided to follow his lead by ignoring the fact that he, Veren, and Raven were clearly not Arleian, and allowed them continue on their way without incident.

When they finally reached Hthiss, they were greeted at the gates
leading into the city by Silsias, who came running up to the companions with a tight grin on his face. "Greetings, my friends! I'm happy to see that you survived your quest!" His face fell. "I don't see the slave child you had set off to save. Surely you were not too late?"

"No, Silsias. She was still alive when found her
," Damion assured him. "but we discovered that she wasn't exactly what she appeared to be." He shrugged. "Isn't that how most things are?"

"That's surely the truth!" The Arleian agreed with a nod. "What about that slave chaser, and those dragon worshippers?"

Veren laughed. "Let's just say that they will not be bothering anyone any longer."

Silsias clapped his hands together happily. "Well then, my friends! Why don't we get you settled in for the evening, and then we can drink to your success!"

They quickly found a suitable inn, then adjoined to the taproom to enjoy a nice meal and have a few drinks.

"So
tell me everything that happened!" Silsias insisted eagerly, taking a tankard of ale from a serving girl with a nod of thanks. "You say the cultists have all been killed?"

Damion exchanged glances with the others. "I'm not really sure that you are ready to hear everything that happened. I
'm not sure you would believe me. You'd probably think I'm mad!"

"I don't accept that!" Silsias refused to give up. "It can't be
that
unbelievable!"

Damion shrugged. "If you say so." He spent the next hour, and several more tankards of ale, explaining the events leading up to the confrontation in Daconia.

"You're the Dragon Lord?" The man exclaimed in shock. "You're the man that released the scarlet dragons?"

Damion nodded.

"And that child and slave chaser were actually dragons in disguise?"

He nodded again. "I told you it was a bit much to swallow."

"You did, indeed!" Silsias nodded numbly, then took a long drink from his tankard. "You know, I think you were right. I really wasn't ready to hear all of that!" He suddenly looked confused. "But why would they attempt to hide as humans? I would think that they would be in far less danger in their true forms!"

Damion shook his head. "The
scarlet dragons have been scouring the world in search of the shadow dragons ever since we discovered their return. I guess they felt they were far less conspicuous posing as human cultists in some remote ruins."

"Were you able to kill all of them, or did some of the shadow dragons escape?"

"Most of the shadow dragons hiding Daconia were killed, but the brood mother assured us their were still many others in hiding. The scarlet dragons shall continue to search them out though."

"Then there are still more of those things out there?"

"I haven't a doubt that there are still a fair number of the beasts running loose, but without their brood mother to direct their every step, they will no longer be as much of a threat."

"That doesn't really make me feel much better, you know." Silsias told him with a sour look.
"Just knowing those beasts are lurking somewhere out there will haunt my sleep for years to come!"

"I guess you will think twice before offering to help a stranger next time, now won't you?"
Veren asked with a laugh. "You never know who they could turn out to be nowadays!"

They lingered in Hthiss for a couple of days to rest and regain their strength, then after
bidding Silsias farewell, they set off to the west, eager to be on their way.

It took them
a week to reach the border between Veiria and Arleia, then nearly three weeks of traveling at night to finally arrive back at the upper village of the escarpment. They were relieved to find that the barricades blocking the road into the city had been removed, and life had resumed back to normal. Repairs to the platforms that had been destroyed by the battling dragons were nearly complete, though the lower village still bore many scars from the hoard of dragonspawn that had descended on its helpless inhabitants.

They slipped into town largely unnoticed by the locals, and quickly made their way to Muddy's place. The dwarf seemed genuinely overjoyed to see them again, and immediately
showed them to his finest set of chambers, and he didn't even try to overcharge them for their use.