Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (33 page)

"You dare to question our honor?" Jarom snarled in fury.

Jacom
didn't say anything, but instead, reached for his sword, his face mottled with rage.

"Enough!" Damion roared, his impatience reaching a boiling point. He nudged
Storm forward until he stood between the knights and the Aliono warriors. "We haven't the time for this right now!" He turned to glare the the twins. "Put your weapons away, and stand down." He growled, causing the knights to flinch back uncertainly. He turned towards the patrol's leader, a dangerous look in his eyes. "Let us pass." He looked down at the man, who suddenly shrank back fearfully. "We do not have the time to spare to sit around trying to convince you that we're not responsible for the disturbances in the area. Take your men, and leave us in peace," His eyes flashed dangerously. "before we remove you from our path."

"You can
not threaten me!" The evil looking man protested, backing his horse up several paces.

"I just did
." The enormous warrior snarled furiously. "I'll not waste another second on you. Be gone, while you still can."

"Ah, damn." Sly sighed, reaching for his sword. "I have the feeling this is about to get ugly."

Raven, knowing that the violence was about to commence, suddenly spurred her mare forward until she was next to her husband. "Behold!" Her voice rang out, startling everyone, and causing all eyes to turn towards her. "Fall to your knees before the mighty Dragon Lord, lest he bring his wrath down upon you!"

All eyes shifted back to Damion, some full of fear, others full of disbelief
.

"T
he D-Dragon Lord?" The evil looking man stammered fearfully, the color draining from his face. He looked timidly to Damion, who glowered down at him with a expression of promised death. "Y-You're the Dragon Lord?"

Damion merely stared at him
menacingly, not bothering to answer.

"He is," Damarius declared in a ringing voice, riding up to join them. "and you men stand between him and his only ch
ild, who was abducted by fiends who now flee unrestricted through your lands!"

One of the men in the patrol suddenly came forward and whispered desperately into his leader's ear. The man's face
suddenly took on a sick look, and his hands began to tremble.

"Stand aside now," The old wizard continued in a grand tone. "
or forever shall your fates be sealed!"

A large number of the patrol quickly pulled their horses to the side of the road, clearly wanting no part in any further confrontation.

The patrol's leader looked back at his men, then slowly turned back to Damion, who continued to stare at him with a dangerous expression. "Please, forgive my impertinence, milord." He apologized in a fearful tone. "What can we do to make up for delaying you?"

"You can tell us if anyone else has passed through this way recently." Raven stated quickly, not trusting her husband's answer. "
The people we are searching for may have passed through here a few days ago."

"We only arrived here today." The man apologized
helplessly. "No one has passed us through here except for yourselves."

Rav
en frowned. "Has there been any recent reports of a highland witch in the area?"

"A highland witch?" The man seemed confused. "None that I have heard, and that is something that would be known to everyone. The highland witches are not welcome in Alio
on, and are usually executed if discovered within our borders. The Aliono do not consort with dark spirits, nor do we tolerate those who do."

"Enough talk
." Damion growled suddenly. "We're wasting time sitting here. Let's get a move on."

"One last question," Sly looked to the bearded man. "Where's the closest village in the area?"

"About twenty miles to the northeast, milord. There is a small fisherman's village built on the banks of the Arjio River."

"That should be our next stop
then." Sly told Damion. "The locals in the village may have noticed them as they were passing by." He turned and looked pointedly at the leader of the patrol. "Thank you for your help, friend. That will be all."

The Aliono
hesitated for a moment, but after another glance at Damion, he nodded, and gestured for his men to clear the road and allow them to pass.

The companions started back off down the trail, slowly passing the Aliono patrol
, who looked quite relieved to see them leave.

"That was rather tense." Damarius commented once the patrol had disappeared from sight. "I thought for a moment it was going to get violent."

"If it wasn't for Raven's quick thinking, it probably would have." Sly grunted, nodding at the young woman approvingly.

"We'
ve used that technique before," She said with a shrug. "I figured it might work again. With my love's towering reputation, most sensible folk won't risk a confrontation with him. I thought we could use it to our advantage."

"Brilliant!" Damarius congratulated her. "I'm surprised I didn't think of it
myself."

They pressed on down the well maintained road until late evening, then
Snowfeather suddenly dropped from the sky and settled on Damion's shoulder.
"There's a small village just ahead. It appears to be a fishing village that has been constructed at the edge of a river."

"Did you happen to notice if there was any way to cross the river?"
Damion asked silently.

"There is a bridge not far
from the village that leads across the river."
The huge owl hooted, preening his gleaming feathers.
"It looks as though it may be the only place to cross for miles."

Damion informed the others
of Snowfeather's discovery, then nudged Storm into a trot, eager to reach the village before they stopped for the night.

When t
hey reached the tiny fishing village a few minutes later, they found the road leading towards the group of crude huts blocked by a rather flimsy barricade manned by a dozen of the local fishermen. They approached the roadblock, being careful not to appear aggressive, though their hands lingered near their weapons cautiously.

"Halt!
" One of the fishermen, a portly middle aged man with sun baked skinned and huge hands, demanded in a harsh tone, stumping around the pile of rocks and sticks that had been used to create the roadblock. "We're not taking visitors. Just keep on moving down the road, and there won't be any problems."

"That's not a very friendly attitude, neighbor." Sly
commented in a deceptively mild tone. "Do you always greet travelers this cordially?"

"Only since a number of locals
here started disappearing." The man stared at them suspiciously. "A patrol rode through here this morning, but they didn't bother to leave anyone behind to help protect the rest of us, so we've taken matters into our own hands. No one is allowed through here until we discover what happened to the others."

"How long ago did they disappear?"

"Three days ago," The man answered gruffly. "Not long after some strangers arrived in search of rest and supplies."

"What did these strangers look like?" Damion asked in a casual tone.

"There were three of them, an Oroni warrior, a woman, and a young child. The warrior was a huge fellow who did all of the talking. The woman was dressed in a hooded robe, and took great pains to conceal her features. Most of us figured she was someone's wife who had ran off with another man, taking her child with her." The man's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Which one of you was the husband?"

"None of us," Damion grumbled unhappily. "The child that they had with them was my daughter
, Leia."

"They abducted your child?" The man
didn't sound surprised. "That explains why the little tyke wouldn't stop wailing and struggling. The poor little thing didn't stop crying the entire time they were here."

"What did they do while they were here?"

"They rode in at dawn, three days ago, on horses that were half dead from exhaustion. They rented a room in the local tavern, and the woman and child disappeared inside the room while the man purchased supplies and new horses." The man shrugged. "They set off a few hours later."

"And
when did those people vanish?" Damarius asked curiously, stroking the tangles from his long beard absently.

The sun baked fisherman shrugged. "We're not exactly sure
. It was a day or so before anyone noticed that they were missing. That's when we sent word to one of the patrols who are stationed nearby."

Damion and
the others exchanged looks.

"Are the man and woman who abducted your child responsible for our missing locals?" The
man asked in an outraged tone.

"Possibly." Damion frowned. "Which direction did they head when they left?"

"They crossed the river and took the road leading to the northeast."

"We need to follow them." Damion looked down at the man
, his expression grim. "We'll need to get supplies, then we will continue on our way."

"We're not going to stop for the night?" Sly sounded disappointed.

The huge warrior shook his head. "I want to keep moving for a couple of more hours. We're gaining ground on them, and every second we're on the road gets us that much closer."

"We can at least get a hot meal before we set off." The little man protested with a scowl. "It'll give the horses a chance to rest. We've been driving them
pretty hard."

"Is there anywhere we can get a hot meal
, and maybe a few drinks?" Raven asked, cutting through their squabbling.

"The inn usually has something edible on the spit," The old fisherman answered hesitantly, still watching them with suspicious eyes. "but I'm still not sure if we should trust you. How do I know you're not the ones who are responsible for those missing?"

Damion sighed in exasperation, then, faster than the eye could follow, he drew the Dragon Sword from its sheath, and leveled it at the surprised looking man's chest. "Friend," He stared down at the man with hard eyes. "I'm beginning to lose my patience with you. If we wanted to harm you and your friends, we wouldn't attempt to hide the fact. Now," He lowered his voice to a menacing growl. "stand aside and allow us to continue in our quest."

The man's sun baked face suddenly turned deathly pale, and he took an involuntary step backward.
"F-Forgive me, milord! O-Of course you may continue. M-May the gods aid you in y-your quest."