Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (36 page)

"Let me guess, a dragon."

"That's right! How did you guess?"

"His name is Scale. I asked him to create a bit of a disturbance to slow the witch
, and give us a chance to catch up."

"That may
have been a mistake."
Snowfeather hooted regretfully.
"Scale's little disturbance appears to have stirred up a bit more excitement than you may have wanted. It looks as he set several of the fields on fire a few days ago, and they got a little out of control, taking half of the town with it. The worst of the flames have been extinguished, but it appears Scale's appearance caused a large number of soldiers to converge on the area. They're preventing anyone from venturing any further to the east. I think they may be preparing an attempt to drive off the dragon."

"Was there
any sign of Leia or her captors?"

"I didn't see them, but there are several hundred peasants, and
dozens of soldiers milling about the village. They could be somewhere among the crowd."

Damion cursed.
"Where is Scale now?"

"About a half mile from the village. He is lounging in
the center of the road, blocking anyone from passing."

"I'm guessing that
subtlety isn't one of his strong suits." Damion murmured aloud, drawing looks of curiosity from the others.

"So," Sly demanded impatiently
, watching as the huge owl leapt back into the air. "What does the feather duster have to say?"

"A dragon has set fire to a couple of the farmer
's fields, and a number of soldiers have gathered to try and drive it off. They are preventing anyone from going any further along this route."

Damarius fixed Damion with a knowing stare. "And
why
would a dragon be setting fires and disrupting the peace?"

"Because I asked him to cause a bit of a disturbance in
the hopes of slowing Leia's captors." Damion made a face. "In retrospect, it probably wasn't the greatest idea I've ever had."

"
Really?" Sly said in a sarcastic voice. "I think your little plan may have backfired."

The huge warrior frowned. "Let's proceed, but everyone be on their guard.
I don't want to be caught by surprise."

They slowly made their way down the road and into the small village
, whose streets were filled with frightened and panicked people, many of whom were hastily loading horses, or packing their belongings in wagons, clearly intending on fleeing the area. The companions slowly made their way through the frightened crowd until they reached the village center, where they were stopped by a large patrol of armored Aliono, led by an older man with silver hair, and a military bearing.

"Let me handle this." Damion told the others in a quiet voice as the patrol approached.

"Oh, that's a good idea." Sly snorted, shaking his head in resignation. "We may as well just get to fighting."

Raven pulled her mare up along side the little man's gelding
, and kicked him in the leg with the point of her boot.

"Ow!"
He glared at the young woman with pain filled eyes. "Hey! I was just saying he hasn't been the most diplomatic fellow lately."

"Just sit there and be quiet!" She hissed at him angrily. "He doesn't need your help."

Sly glared at her for another moment, then moved his horse to one side, and sat rubbing his leg gingerly.

Damion motioned for the others to stay back, then nudged Storm forward to meet with the p
atrol's leader.

"Well met." The silver haired man greeted Damion, looking the huge warrior up and down with appraising eyes. "
Where are you and your people bound?"

"The highlands of
Teirsia." Damion answered truthfully. "We've had a little trouble with one of the highland witches, and have tracked her this far. We figure she's making a run for her homeland in the hopes that she will be safe there." He cocked his head curiously. "You or your men haven't seen her by chance, have you? She is being accompanied by a large Oroni warrior, and a young child."

"Doesn't ring any bells, but we've been rather preoccupied since arriving to find that a dragon had set the fields aflame
. It's still lounging in the center of the road, preventing anyone from passing."

Damion sighed sadly. "I guess we'll just have to keep moving then.
That witch can only run for so long before we finally catch up with her."

The silver haired man frowned. "Well, I'm afraid your quest will have to wait. The road ahead is being blocked
by the dragon, and every able bodied person is being gathered to assist in driving it off. You and your people look formidable enough. You will help in ridding us of this beast."

"You want us to help you fight a dragon?" Jarom exclaimed in astonishment. "Are you mad?"

"Besides," Jacom added, looking to Damion. "Can't you just..."

"You can't just go around enlisting people to fight against their will!" Raven cut the knight off before he was able to reveal anything sensitive.

"I'm truly sorry, milady," The silver haired man told her in a regretful, but firm tone. "but the safety of the villagers takes precedence over your quest for your witch. You and your companions are obviously seasoned warriors, and that is something we will desperately need if we are to succeed in driving that beast off."

"Are you sure it's a dragon
, and not just a large lizard that is basking in the sun?" Damion asked. feigning a skeptical tone. "Peasants tend to embellish their stories, I've noticed, and the sighting of a dragon would be a good cover story for someone's carelessness with a torch."

"It's a dragon," The man told them, a haunted look in his eyes. "I saw the beast for myself. I've never seen anything so big in my entire life!"

"I'll make a deal with you," Sly said suddenly, rummaging in his pack and withdrawing a wineskin. "You and your men have a drink with me, while Damion goes to have a look at this dragon. If it turns out you actually
do
have a dragon on your hands, we'll help you drive it off."

The silver haired man looked at the wineskin
with longing. "Is that wine?"

Sly shook his head. "It's a little something some friends of mine brewed up." He grinned. "A couple of sips of this
, and you'll be ready to take the beast on all by yourself!" He glanced sidelong at Damion, then winked.

"You and your men enjoy a drink with Sly." Damion told the man, sliding down from Storm's broad back
, and handing the reins to Raven. "I'll return once I have seen this dragon for myself." He turned and hurried off through the crowd, leaving Sly and the others with the patrol, who were all focused solely on the little man's wineskin.

As he
drew closer to the edge of town, he noticed several of the buildings were charred by fire, while a number of others had burned completely to the ground.

He emerged from the village, following the road through the smoldering remains of the farmers' crop
s, and soon found Scale a half mile or so from the village, lounging lazily in the center of the road.

"D
amion." The enormous scarlet dragon greeted him gravely.

"Scale." Damion returned the greeting. He looked around at the smoldering fields meaningfully. "What happened here?"

Scale looked around at the ruined crops. "I did that," The great beast confessed in a regretful tone. "but it wasn't exactly what I had planned."

"What
did
you plan?"

"I searched for your child's kidnapper
s for a while without having any luck, so I decided to try and cause a bit of a commotion in the hopes of slowing their escape." The enormous scarlet dragon shrugged. "I started a small fire, but it quickly grew out of control. I guess I should have thought things out a little better."

"It happens to the best of us."
Damion snorted in amusement.

"The worst part of it is that it was all for nothing." Scale
grumbled unhappily. "Either the witch that stole your daughter had already passed through before I arrived, or she bypassed this place altogether. I have seen to it that no one has passed through here since I arrived a few days ago."

The huge warrior
frowned. "Perhaps she still in the area. We haven't had the chance to search the village yet. We were stopped by a patrol and pressed into aiding the local soldiers in running you off."

The dragon chuckled, sending twin curls of smoke drifting up from his cavernous nostrils, then rose and stretched his wings. "What would you have me do now, Dragonkin?"

Damion thought about it for a moment. "Can you get into contact with any other scarlet dragons?"

"Of course."

"Good. Locate another dragon willing to aid us, and send them to Sevria to let Tempest and the others know what we have managed to discover. Once they are on their way, head to the highlands of Teirsia. Do your best to make sure that the witch never reaches the temple with my daughter. Do whatever is necessary to stop her, but make sure you do
not
harm Leia."

"As you wish
." The great beast launched itself into the air with a single thrust of its powerful wings, and quickly disappeared from sight.

Damion quickly made his way back towards town, his mind racing. The idea that Leia's abductors may have turned aside without them knowing
was almost enough to send him into a panic. It could take them quite some time to locate their trail again, and that was time they couldn't afford to lose.

He was met by a small crowd at the edge of town who began to cheer as he approached.

One of the men gathered, an elderly old farmer, stepped forward, an expression of amazement on his weathered face. "By the gods, lad! What did you do? How did you drive that beast off?"

Damion shrugged. "I asked it
to leave." Without another word, he made his way through the crowd of cheering peasants, leaving the old man to stare after him in astonishment.

He found the others waiting in the plaza where he had left them,
still in the company of the Aliono patrol, many of whom were laying sprawled out on the hard cobblestones snoring happily.

"
Damion, my old friend!" The silver haired man greeted the huge warrior in a slurred voice. "We were just wondering if you had gotten lost."