Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (14 page)

"
All these mysterious men wanted was for you to start some sort of disruption?" Shirk asked skeptically.

"Aye
, I swear!" The gaudily dressed man nodded emphatically. "They only wanted me to arm some mercenaries, and start some trouble throughout the area," He made a face. "though they
did
want me to ambush a few of our own weapon shipments before they reached Crete."

"They what?" Shirk asked in surprise. "They ordered you to ambush your own wagons
?"

Faldor nodded emphatically. "
I was to make sure several of the caravans were ambushed somewhere in the mountains. I tried to explain to them that we didn't want to operate too close to Sevria or we would run the risk of alerting the Dragon Lord to our activities, but they insisted that the caravans had to be ambushed in the mountains. They didn't seem to worry about the Dragon Lord finding out what we were up to." He suddenly turned pale, then turned to stare up at Damion in pure terror. "Oh gods, help me!" He pleaded in a faint voice as he realized at whom he was staring.

"
That raises more questions than it answers." Dar murmured quietly. "Whoever these two mystery men are, they have gone through a lot of trouble to set this all up. But for what reason?"

"Is there anything else that you can think of th
at you may have left out?" Shirk asked Faldor, slapping him in the side of the head to get his attention away from Damion.

"I-I
don't think so, milord." He stammered fearfully. "We never got the chance to put our plans into action. These howling savages made sure of that!"

"I think he has told us everything that he knows." Damion told Bativa. "Since it was your people his plans were aimed at, I think it's only fair that you
should decide his fate."

The huge clan chief smiled. "I couldn't say it better myself
." He gave the gang leader an evil smile.

"Show me mercy, milord!" The man cried, falling over to beg at Bativa's feet. "Please! I beg of you!"

"What are you going to do with him?" Raven asked the tribesman curiously.

"Kill him, of course." Bativa smiled, winking at them slyly.

Faldor started squealing in terror, struggling desperately to free himself.

"Actually," The huge man's voice dropped to a whisper.
"I thought we would have a little fun with him. We'll drag him back to camp and let the children pelt him with rotten vegetables, then we'll put him to work shoveling manure for the next few years. Once I think he has paid his debt to my people, we'll set him free."

Damion and Raven
began to laugh uproariously.

"Will you return with us to our camp?"

Damion shook his head. "I think not. We still have many responsibilities waiting for us back in Sevria, not to mention our daughter."

B
ativa sighed heavily. "At least you were kind enough to invite us to this wonderful little get together."

Everyone laughed, then Damion, Raven, Dar, and Shirk watched as the Deolan tribesmen disappeared into the darkness, dragging their squealing
prisoner behind one of their horses.

"Well, that was entertaining!" Shirk laughed as they started off towards Crete.

"And enlightening." Dar commented, his eyes lost in thought. "These two mysterious men seem to have gone through a lot of trouble for nothing."

"What possible reason could these men have had to want the lowlands in chaos?"
Raven pondered, her expression dumbfounded.

Damion shook his head. "It's hard to say without knowing who these men are. Once we get back to Sevria, I'll have Sly and Veren look into it. They have a number of contacts throughout the area. They may be able to identify
who these men are for us."

Once they reached
Crete, they found rooms in a small inn near the edge of town, and settled in for the night. They set off for Sevria the following morning at a brisk, mile eating trot, eager to make their way home.

They spent the next two days making
their way through the mountains, passing the occasional caravan of wagons as they steadily made their way north.

It was their third day
into the mountains, and the sun was just setting, when Snowfeather suddenly dropped from the sky to land lightly on Damion's shoulder.
"There's a group of riders coming this way."
He hooted, fluffing his feathers absently.
"They seem to be pushing their horses rather hard."

The
companions pulled their horses off to the side of the road to await their arrival. They could soon hear the sounds of horses galloping in the distance. After a few more moments, the riders appeared, moving along the trade road as quickly as their horses could carry them.

"That looks like Axel
at the head of the group!" Raven exclaimed as the riders drew closer.

"The page that Sly likes to pawn his work off on?" Shirk asked in surprise. "What's he doing out here
at the head of a patrol?"

They pulled their horses back out into the
road to block the path.

"Lord Omensent!" Axel cried out in relief, bringing his tired mount to a stop before them.
"Thank the gods I've found you!"

The patrol also reined in their mounts, but remained several dozen paces from t
he companions, their faces pale, and their expressions fearful.

"What is it, Axel?" Damion asked him, a shiver of worry suddenly running up his sp
ine. "What has happened?"

"
Something terrible has happened!" The boy was in a near panic. "Lord
Veren has been murdered!"

"What?" Damion asked in shock.
"Someone has murdered Veren?"

"That's not all, milord!" The young man rushed on desperately. "
It's your daughter!"

"Leia?" Raven cried out fearfully. "What's happened to my Leia?"

Axel's face was deathly pale as he turned to the young woman. "She's been abducted!"

Chapter
7

"Thank the gods you've finally returned!" Lady Skie cried in relief as they burst through the door of Damion's office
two nights later. "We didn't have any idea where we might find you!"

"We were already on our way back to Sevria when Axel found us." Damion told her, trying to keep his panic at bay. "He
told us that someone had murdered Veren and abducted Leia, so we rushed back as quick as we could."

Lady Skie burst into tears, then ran to him
and threw herself into his arms. "I'm so sorry, Damion! It's all my fault!"

"Nonsense." Sly growled. His face was grey with exhaustion.
"It's that pair of maniacs that are to blame."

"What maniacs?" Raven, unlike Damion, was nearly in a panic. "What has happened to my Leia?"

"It happened four days after you left to follow Ickor's wagons." Lady Skie sobbed, still clinging to Damion in despair. "I had just put Leia to bed when two people burst into the room and went straight for her crib. I tried to stop them, but one of the men hit me across the face." She gestured to an ugly bruise beneath one eye. "Veren rushed in to keep him from killing me, but the other man attacked him from behind and stabbed him in his back!" She began to sob again. "They killed him! They killed Veren, and took Leia!"

Damion led the weeping woman over to one of the chairs near the meeting table, then returned to
guide his distraught wife into another, noticing that she seemed on the verge of fainting.

"That's when Damarius appeared
and tried to block their path." Sly continued for Lady Skie, who was still weeping uncontrollably. "Before he could do anything, one of the men apparently used magic to blast him across the room."

"Is he okay?"

The little man nodded wearily. "He was just knocked senseless. He may be old, but he's tough as nails. He's downstairs in his chambers resting right now." He glanced at Axel, who had been standing in the doorway. "Have some servants bring us something strong to drink," He looked at the exhausted young man a little closer. "and then take yourself to bed. You look dead on your feet." He watched as the boy hurried off, then continued. "After they snatched up Leia and knocked Damarius senseless, they somehow managed to make their way through the castle unseen until they reached the main doors. They killed the soldiers standing watch, then slipped out of the castle and disappeared. I had the city sealed immediately, and the men watching the gates swear that no one had left the city since that morning, but we searched the city and castle from top to bottom three times, and..." He shrugged and shook his head.

"What did these men look like?"
Damion asked in a calm voice, but inside he seething with a terrible anger, tinged with fear for his daughter's safety.

"The man that hit me was huge, almost as big as you." Lady Skie
answered, trying to regain her composure. "He was bald, and he wore a thick leather armor. I didn't get a good look at the other man. He wore a long grey hooded robe that covered his face."

"That's the description Faldor gave us of the men who hired him
!" Dar exclaimed in surprise and shock.

"Now we know why they wanted him to cause as much mayhem as he could." Shirk said shrewdly. "It was all just a diversion to draw us away from
Sevria. They wanted Damion gone so they could snatch Leia."

"
Why would they want to take my baby?" The tears had finally began to break through Raven's shock. "What possible reason could someone have to take our child?"

"Maybe they believe they
can extort a ransom from us for her safe return." Shirk suggested, scratching his beard thoughtfully.

"Who in their right mind would try something so insane?" Dar asked, his face baffled. "
Everybody
has heard the stories about the Dragon Lord. They must know that Damion will tear this world apart looking for them!"

"I doubt the stories of Damion's prowess bothered these people much." A rusty voice came from the doorway.

Everyone turned to see Damarius standing in the door.

"Father!" Lady Skie cried, leaping from her chair and rushing to his side. "You should be resting!"

"Ah, I'm fine." The old wizard told her, waving her off irritably, though he did make use of a cane as he made his way towards the long meeting table. "A man can only lay around for so long before he starts going mad." He slowly sank into a chair, obviously still in pain from his experience. He sighed heavily, then looked to Damion. "Those were not normal people, by any means. The one who wore the hooded robe was a very powerful magic user. I didn't even have a chance to act before he hit me with that blast. You are the only person that I've ever encountered with such power."