Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (38 page)

The companions exchanged glances.

"You have been very helpful." Damion withdrew several coins from a pouch at his waist and handed them to the boy. "Thank you for everything."

The boy's eyes brightened, and he smiled happily. "Thank you, milord!" He turned and hurried off towards the village.

"Finding that boy was a lucky break." Jacom murmured as they watched the boy hurry off. "We could have searched for days without discovering this trail."

"There are signs that someone led some horses this direction recently." Jarom pointed to some
hoof prints in the soft soil at the edge of the road. "It seems the boy was speaking the truth."

"Now we just need to decide
which way we're going to take." Damarius told them scratching his beard thoughtfully.

"What do you mean which way?" Raven asked in confusion. "The boy told us that they left taking this trail. We're only
two days behind them. Why would we want to take another path?"

"The boy said that the
man that was leading the witch once told him that the trail eventually joins back up with this trade road." Damarius pointed out. "They won't be able to travel as quickly along this trail as we could on the road. If we continue along the trade route, we could gain ground on them, possibly even catch up with them."

"That is an interesting plan." Sly conceded with a nod. "It's a bit chancy, but it
could
work." He looked to Damion. "The decision is yours. What do you think?"

The huge warrior thought about it for a long moment. "Let's do both." He decided finally. "
Sly, you and the twins follow the road, while Raven, Damarius, and I continue along this trail. With a little luck, we may be able to trap them in between us."

"It's nearly sunset now." Damarius pointed out. "Are we going to get rooms for the night and set off at first light, or press on until night overtakes us?"

"Let's keep moving. We can still get a couple of more miles behind us before it gets too dark." He looked at Sly. "You and the twins go ahead and keep following the road. Move as quickly as you can, but keep your eyes peeled for the place this trail rejoins the trade road."

"And if we find them?"

"Just follow them at a safe distance until we can catch up." Damarius told him with a frown. "That witch is capable wielding incredible magic, and only Damion and I would have any chance of countering it."

"He's right." Damion agreed
. "You wouldn't stand a chance against her, and you don't want to endanger Leia. Just remain far enough behind them to remain unseen, and wait for us to catch up."

"
You can count on us." Sly looked to the twins. "Let's get what we need and get moving."

Damion, Raven, and Damarius watched as they
trotted off towards town, then remounted their horses and set off up the scarcely visible trail, moving carefully to avoid injuring their horses.

After an hour or so, the trail widened
a bit, allowing them to nudge the horses into a trot, but it soon grew too dark to travel any further, and they were forced to stop for the evening next to a shallow stream to make camp.

"How far ahead of us do you think they are?" Raven asked once they had set up camp and looked after the horses. "Do you think Snowfeather may have seen their campfire?"

Damion shrugged. "It's possible, although I'm sure he would have already let us know if he had located them."

"Where is Snowfeather anyway? Damarius asked
curiously. "I haven't seen him since we arrived at the village."

"He went hunting. I'm sure he'll be along before too long."

Just as Damion said, the great snow owl sailed down from the darkness above a few minutes later, a large rabbit clenched tightly in his talons.
"Here you are!"
He hooted, dropping his prey next to Damion's bedroll.
"I found Sly and those two knights still moving along the road, but couldn't find any sign of you."

"Sorry about that."
Damion shrugged.
"We discovered that the witch that abducted Leia found a path that led them around Scale, avoiding him and the fires he set altogether. This trail is supposed to eventually rejoin the trade road, so we decided to split up. Sly and the twins are hurrying on ahead in the hopes of cutting down their lead."

"And if they find them?"
Snowfeather asked, ripping into the rabbit's belly voraciously.

"They're going to follow them until we catch up."

Raven brought Damion a steaming bowl of stew, and a huge chunk of bread that they purchased while in the village, then nudged him and looked at Snowfeather suggestively.

Damion smiled. "Once you have finished with your meal," He asked his familiar aloud for Raven's benefit. "Could you go see if you can find any sign of Leia or her abductors?"

"Of course."
The huge owl chirped, ripping a piece of flesh from his prey and swallowing it whole.
"This scrawny thing won't be enough to fill me up anyway."
He tore another piece of flesh free from the rabbit and gobbled it down.

Once the huge owl finished his meal, he launched himself into the air
, and went to investigate the area.

"Do you think Leia will still remember me?" Raven asked in a subdued voice
, settling down next to Damion, a wistful look in her eyes. "It's been months now since I last saw her, and she's so young. Do you think she may have forgotten me?"

"Of course not." Dam
arius told her, trying to wipe away some gravy that had dripped into his beard. "You are her mother. Children have a way of instinctively knowing their mother, even when they've been apart for extended periods."

"But what if that witch has cast some sort of spell upon her to make her forget?"

Damion shook his head, "It won't do us any good to start worrying about what the witch may or may not have done to Leia. Let's just concentrate on rescuing..." He stopped, overcome with the sudden feeling that they were being watched. He jumped to his feet, his hand on the hilt of the Dragon Sword.

"What is it?" Damarius asked,
rising to his feet with a concerned expression. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think we're alone." The huge warrior murmured in a quiet voice, his keen eyes scanning the darkness
for any signs of movement.

Raven grabbed her bow
, and rose to her feet. "Where?" She asked in a quiet hiss.

Damion shook his head. "I don't know, but they're there. I can feel them."

They stared into the darkness for any hint of an attack, but they saw nothing. An unnatural silence had suddenly fallen over their camp, and the uneasy sensation Damion was feeling soon overtook Raven and Damarius.

"Do you see anything?" The old wizard hissed, his voice scarcely above a whisper.

Damion shook his head. "They're out there, though, I can feel them."

Storm began to snort and paw at the ground
aggressively.

They waited tensely
for several more moments, then Damarius finally cursed. "Enough of this!"

The hair on Damion's arms suddenly stood on end, and he could clearly feel the surge of energy as the old wizard released his magic.

An explosion of light suddenly lit the sky above, turning night into day, as millions of tiny sparks showered down, lighting everything for thousands of feet in every direction.

"Damion!" Raven screamed in warning. "Look out!"

Damion twirled around, the Dragon Sword held at the ready, and was struck dumb by what he saw. Standing before him, made up of a thick filmy black smoke, was a shadowy form in the shape of a man.

"More of the witch's tricks." Damarius snarled in disgust as two more shadowy forms materialized before them.

Raven notched an arrow and sent it flying at one of the shadowy forms, but it passed through its insubstantial body without effect. "What are these things?"

"Shadow warriors." The old wizard
told her grimly. "The witch summoned them to deal with us. I'm guessing that she's starting to get desperate. Shadow warriors are from the darkest regions of the netherworld. To raise one is unbelievably dangerous."

"Well,"
Damion sounded dubious. "We have three here to deal with. Any suggestions?"

Damarius shook his head. "I've never known anyone who has
actually encountered one. I've only read about them in old books."

"So you don't know how to stop them?" Raven asked, sending another arrow flying harmlessly through one of the smoky forms, which slowly began to advance towards them.

"Nothing really comes to mind."

The sparks overhead slowly began to flicker out, casting the camp into darkness once more.

"I'm not going to let a couple of shadows stop me from saving my Leia!" Damion snarled, drawing in his magic, and sending it flowing down into the Dragon Sword. Flames suddenly leapt from the blade of the mythical sword, lighting up the campsite once again.

The shadow figures hesitated, cringing back from the
light given off by the searing flames.

"They don't seem to like the light given off by that fire." Raven pointed out quickly
.

Damion lunged forward and lashed out with the
fiery Dragon Sword, slicing through one of the smoky figure's upraised arms. The severed arm instantly dissipated, and the figure released an inhuman screech of pain and rage.

"It certainly didn't like that!" Damarius stumped over and picked up
a tree branch which was laying nearby. Drawing in his magic, he made an quick gesture, and the end of the branch suddenly burst into flames. "Let's send these creatures back to the netherworld."

Damion lunged forward once more, slicing several more large pieces
from the shadow warrior, which screeched again, and began to break apart into tiny greasy looking wisps of shadowy smoke. One last blow sliced the unearthly creature in half, and its screeching cry suddenly faded away into nothingness.

Damarius let out a wild howl and charged another shadow warrior swinging his f
laming branch wildly. The insubstantial creature moved with unearthly speed, avoiding the flames with ease, and lashed out at the old wizard with a swipe of an insubstantial sword which suddenly materialized in its hand.

"Watch yourself!" Damion warned his elderly teacher, charging at the other shadow warrior with his sword held aloft.