Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (27 page)

Jarom
cut the man's bonds free, then stepped back to stand next to his brother, his eyes wary.

"I
won't, milord." The man thanked him, bowing over and over in gratitude. "I promise you shall never lay eyes on me again!" He turned and dashed off into the night, leaving the bodies of his fallen friends where they lay.

"At least he didn't asked to be allowed to serve you." Sly snorted in amusement
, watching as the mercenary disappeared into the night. "We're running out of empty rooms in the castle."

Damion chuckled, then he, Sly, and the twins dragged the bodies of the fallen mercenaries
away from their campsite, and they settled back down for the evening, each taking turns standing watch while the others slept.

Chapter
11

They reached the
wall surrounding the city of Sherish early the following morning, just as the huge iron gates were being opened from within.

"Welcome to Sherish, friends, home of the gnomes." The twin knights proclaimed in
booming voices, a slight mocking overtone marring their grand proclamation. They led the way through the massive gates laughing gaily, seeming eager to see the companions' reactions.

Though they had heard many stories about the sprawling city
, the companions were still in awe at the sheer overwhelming size of the massive metropolis. Huge buildings towered high into the air, many with strange looking mechanical contraptions jutting from their sides. Some of these devises were smoking and clanking loudly, while many others lay dormant, apparently in need of repair. Most of the buildings only had entryways suitable for the tiny little gnomes, though occasionally they would pass a building that had doorways that were constructed for the use of the many humans that visited the city.

The twins motioned for
everyone to stop, then dismounted.

"It would be best if we
walk from here." Jarom told them. "It's safer for the horses
and
the locals."

"Gnomes are
infamous for not paying much attention to what's happening around them." Jacom added, shaking his head in bemusement as a group of gnomes wandered by, chattering loudly in a strange babbling language.

Thousands of gnomes wandered back and forth through the streets in a chaotic mob that strangely hypnotic to
watch. They were strange looking little creatures, with enormous black eyes and light green skin which sagged from their frames in unattractive folds. They were dressed in rough cloth robes made from burlap, and many wore thick leather aprons that were burned and scorched in numerous places. Most of the little creatures were completely bald, though every now and then a gnome with white or grey hair bobbed through the crowd, seeming almost out of place with the majority.

"Do they shave their heads for religious purposes or something?" Raven asked curiously, noticing a gnome with long white hair standing amongst a group of bald ones.

The twin knights burst out laughing.

"Nay, milady."
Jarom snorted. "They are not bald because of any ritual or religious obligation."

"Most of them have just ha
d a couple of their contraptions blow up in their faces." Jacom giggled. "I guess their hair just stops growing after they've blown it off a few times."

As if to emphasize his words, a loud rumble suddenly echoed through the city, and
smoke began to pour up into the sky in the distance.

Damion felt disti
nctly out of place as they waded through the milling gnomes, all of whom would need a step ladder just to reach his knees. Most of the little creatures didn't even seem to notice him and Storm as they slowly followed along behind the others, pausing now and then to allow the more unobservant gnomes to pass without getting trampled.

After
several miles, and several incidents of gnomes wandering between his legs, Storm began to grown unruly, gnashing his teeth in frustration every time one of the little creatures stepped too close.

"Easy, big guy." Damion murmured to him, though he felt much the same way.

Storm ignored him, his tail twitching back and forth irritably. A few moments later, a distracted gnome wandered a bit too close, and the warhorse suddenly kicked out with a rear hoof, catching the little creature square in the chest, and sending it flying through the air. It crashed into another group of gnomes who had been milling nearby, knocking nearly a dozen of them from their feet.

"Uh oh," Damion stared at the tangle of tiny bodies for a moment, then turned to Storm, who looked back at him unabashed. "Did you really have to do that?"

The huge stallion snorted contemptuously, dismissing the little creature with a flick of his tail.

"Don't worry
too much about it." Jacom reassured him.

"Gnomes are tougher than they appear." Jarom gestured to the gnome Storm had kicked, who had somehow regained its footing and was busy brushing the dust from its clothing absently.

Damion watched as the little creature disappeared into the crowd, then turned back to the prancing warhorse, who was already looking for his next victim. "I know these creatures are a little irritating, but try to take it easy on them."

Storm ignored him, and trotted sideways several steps
so he could stomp on another gnome's foot.

They pressed on until midday, then paused to allow the horses to drink from an elaborate fountain
that had been constructed in the center of a large public square.

"I've never seen anything like this before!" Raven exclaimed in wonder, looking around at the
numerous contraptions being constructed by several different groups of gnomes. "What drives these little creatures to build such devises?"

The twin knigh
ts shrugged in unison.

"Why do bees buzz?" Jarom asked
philosophically.

"Why does the wind blow?" Jacom pondered. "It's just what they do."

They ate a quick lunch of cheese and dried beef while they watched as the little creatures continued to labor on their odd looking machines. Though the gnomes were quite small in stature, what they lacked in size, they made up for in sheer numbers. Dozens of the gnomes swarmed forward to aid in assembling a huge catapult, which had been constructed from massive iron beams. Within minutes, the huge siege machine was ready to be tested, and the tiny gnomes quickly began to draw back the catapult's enormous arm.

"I have the feeling that we should retreat to a safer distance
." Damarius told everyone, leading his horse a bit farther away from the catapult, whose long throwing arm was beginning groan under the tension of being drawn back. "Something doesn't look quite right about that machine."

They retreated a hundred or so yards, then turned to watch as the gnomes finished drawing back the catapult's arm. One of the gnomes, who
was dressed in a strange looking, heavily padded suit, carefully climbed up into the basket that had been constructed at the end of the enormous arm and settled down.

"They're not actually
going to..." Damion started in disbelief, just as one of the other gnomes yanked back the handle controlling the catapult's trigger.

The massive siege machine
's arm suddenly lashed forward, launching the padded gnome from the basket, and sending it hurtling through the air. The little creature travelled the length of the large plaza in the blink of an eye, then slammed into the side of a building with bone crushing force.

"Ouch!" Sly winced in imagined pain. "That had to hurt!"

"Huh." Damarius grunted. "I guess it
did
work."

A solitary gnome suddenly c
ame wandering up from the crowd, and walked straight up to Damion. It circled the huge warrior several times, rambling all the while in its strange rattling language.

Damion stared down
at the little creature in confusion. "Can I help you?"

The gnome ignored him, and instead, produced a long tape measure
with which it quickly began to take measurements.

"What's it doing?"
Raven asked nervously.

"It seems that it has taken an interest in Damion." Damarius laughed, watching the little creature with interest.

Damion looked around at the others helplessly, then sighed in exasperation. Reaching down, he grasped the odd looking little gnome by the back of its robe, and lifted it up until they were eye to eye. "What are you doing?" He growled at it irritably.

"Taking measurements." The little gnome replied in a squeaky voice, blinking its large black eyes rapidly. "What's it look like I'm doing?"

"
Why
are you taking my measurements?" Damion asked, ignoring the others, who were snickering in amusement.

"I was trying to calculate how much force it would take to
launch someone of your size exactly one mile from this plaza."

"Why would you want to do that?"

The little gnome rolled his eyes. "We're trying to develop a way to travel from plaza to plaza without being forced to walk. There is another plaza exactly one mile to the south of here with a large net set up for catching someone. I need to have your exact measurements so I can figure out exactly how much mass makes up your person, and how much force it would take to fling you exactly one mile."

"You want me to climb into one of those things?"
Damion asked incredulously. "Are you insane?"

"
It's not so bad," The little gnome assured him quickly. "as long as you don't hit any buildings along the way."

Everyone turned to look at the gnome who had just flown across the plaza, and was amazed to see it
was back on its feet, though it still looked a bit unsteady.

Damion looked back at the little creature with a flat expression. "No, thanks." He told it in a bland tone.

The gnome looked crestfallen. "You're not a very helpful fellow, are you?"

It was Damion's turn to roll his eyes.

"What is it about you humans that makes you so unhelpful?" The little creature gave him a stern look. "And the bigger the human, the more unhelpful you are. The last human that I encountered was almost as big, and just as unhelpful.
He
tried to boot me across the plaza, however." Its eyes suddenly grew doubtful. "You're not going to try the same thing, are you?"

Of course not." The huge warrior lowered the odd little creature
to the ground.