Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (53 page)

"How did you convince them to help?"
Snowfeather squawked in surprise.

"I killed their king."
Damion shrugged.
"They apparently weren't very fond of him, so nobody really seemed to mind. They wanted to declare me their new king, but I refused, and gave the crown to Grediff instead."
He gestured to the gruff old man, who was staring in fascination at the huge snowy white owl.
"Did you notice anything else while you were searching?"

"Not really. There are so many people in this city that it's rather difficult to locate anyone, especially if they are trying to remain hidden."

"What did he say?" Raven asked anxiously. "Did he find any sign of Leia?"

Damion frowned and shook his head. "He said there's just too many places for them to remain concealed."

The young woman looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Don't worry, milady." Grediff assured her in a gentle voice that seemed wildly out of place coming from the grizzled old battle master
. "We'll turn this city upside down until we find that little girl. Almost every able bodied person in Teir is assembling." He suddenly laughed. "In fact, I've heard reports that even the thieves and cutthroats of the city are joining in the search."

"We had a bit of a run in with a few of them when we first arrived." Jacom
told him, still watching Sly in amusement.

"They quickly realized they chose the wrong people to mess with." Jarom added, chuckling in glee as Sly finally slid out his chair to the cold stone floor, and began snoring thunderously.

"That explains it, then." The gruff old king nodded knowingly. "They're probably eager to see you reunited with your daughter so you return home. Having you around is probably bad for business."

"How will your people
carry out their search?" Damarius asked curiously.

"Once the gates have all been sealed, t
hey are going to search each building, and question every person. If they are located, they have been commanded to fall back and wait for orders. That will give you time to make it to wherever they were found."

Several more blue robed priests appeared in the doorway to their chambers and stood staring at the king apprehensively.

Grediff sighed heavily. "I guess I had better get back to work. Mika had filled nearly every position of power with his cronies and lackeys. Now that I have the crown, most of them have disappeared, knowing my intense dislike for them. That leaves me with a lot of official positions that need to be filled. It may take me a while to fill them all." He cast Damion another dark look, then made his way from the chambers with the priests following closely behind.

They spent the next two days nervously awaiting news
that the city had been sealed, and that the search was underway. Sly, Damarius, and the twins took advantage of their extended stay, eating, drinking, and sleeping in massive amounts, claiming they were just building up their strength for the battle that was sure to come. Damion and Raven spent most of their time pacing the common room, nervously awaiting news from the king.

Grediff finally came stump
ing into their chambers late one evening, long after the sun had set for the evening. "Good news," He told them in a rusty sounding voice."The city has been sealed, and we are preparing to begin with the search." He made his way across the room and dropped into a chair wearily. "They will begin at dawn, starting with the southern most part of the city, and continuing north until every inch of Teir has been searched."

"That's a good plan." Damarius grunted approvingly. "If they haven't been found by the time the search has reached the palace, we can move on towards the north gate."

"That's the idea." Grediff nodded. "I figured you wouldn't want to waste more time than you had to waiting for word from the search parties."

"You look exhausted, Grediff," Damion told the gruff old man. "Haven't you been getting any sleep?"

"You're joking, right?" The old man yawned. "I haven't slept more than three hours since you decided to give me the crown. Every time I try to sneak away to rest, those vultures somehow manage to track me down." He made a face. "I suspect that they believe that if they can wear me down enough, I'll just give in and give them what they want."

As if on cue, several functionaries suddenly appeared in the doorway, their eyes locked on the weary king.

"See," The gruff old man sighed. "not a moment's peace."

"Let me handle this." Damion told him. He slowly rose to his feet and walked over until he was towering over the suddenly frightened looked men. "The king has come to a decision regarding you and the other assorted
functionaries. He has decided
not
to have you all beheaded, at least for now. Please pass this on to your other colleagues. That will be all." He stared at the men with a menacing glare.

The men turned white, and turned to stare at their king, who merely yawned. They glanced once more at the enormous warrior who towered over them, then turned and hurried away, tripping over one another in their haste to escape.

Damion looked to a pair of Teirsian soldiers who were standing watch nearby. "You men," He barked at them, causing them to jump nervously. "Have all updates of the search sent directly to me here. Your king will be going to his quarters to rest. Make sure that he isn't disturbed by anyone," He gave them a hard look. "or else you'll be answering to me." He turned and walked back over to the others. "And that's how you handle that." He plopped down in a chair next to Raven, a satisfied look on his face.

"You're such a bully!" Raven laughed affectionately.

"I never thought about trying that." Grediff admitted with a chuckle.

"Would you care for a little advise?" The huge warrior offered.

"Of course." The gruff old man sat forward eagerly. "I can use all of the advise I can get right now."

"Stop trying to eve
rything all at once." Damion told him reasonably. "Find yourself a handful of people you can trust, and start delegating authority. You can't run an entire kingdom by yourself. There aren't enough hours in the day. You need to find good people who you can depend to handle the job, then trust them to handle everything."

"It's never been done that way in Teirsia." Grediff told him with a frown. "All decisions are always made by the king. That's the way it's always been."

Damion shrugged. "Then you had better get used to never sleeping again."

The old man frowned. "Perhaps that's not such bad advise. I'll give it some thought." He heaved himself to his feet
with a grunt. "I'm going to go get a little rest. If there's any news, let me know immediately."

He slowly made his way from the room, followed closely by the two guards Damion had threatened.

"He's going to kill himself if he keeps up this pace." Damarius noted, carefully combing the remains of his dinner from his beard.

"He'll be fine." Damion disagreed
. "He'll catch on quickly. At least, I hope he does." He frowned. "Otherwise, we might actually have to give the crown to Sly."

Chapter 1
9

"It's useless." Boris murmured
in a quiet whisper. "They're not allowing anyone to leave. The gates have been sealed, and there are dozens of soldiers barring anyone from attempting to depart."

"The elder spirits and
I have underestimated the Dragon Lord yet again." The witch hissed angrily, her burning eyes glaring under her hooded robe. "We never dreamed that he might challenge the king and seize control of the city."

The news that the Dragon Lord had
challenged and killed the former King of Teirsia had traveled through the entire city within hours of his victory. And, perhaps even more disturbing, he had also explained his reasons for appearing in Teir, announcing to everyone that
she
had abducted his daughter, and may be hidden somewhere in the city.

As soon as
she heard this news, they had immediately gathered their belongings and set off for the safety of the highlands, with herself and the child hidden in the back of a rickety old covered wagon Boris had managed to purchase from a nearby livery.

S
ince the Dragon Lord revealed that it was a highland witch that abducted his daughter, she had been forced to hide the child and herself in between some empty crates they had stacked in the back of the wagon to allow Boris to blend in with the dozens of other wagons and caravans that clogged the streets of Teir.

The child immediately began wailing and thrashing, refusing to remain still or silent as they attempted to make their way out of the city, forcing
her to use her magic to put the retched little beast into an enchanted sleep, silencing her screams and cries of displeasure.

It t
ook them several days of slowly plodding through the crowded streets of Teir, narrowly avoiding several brushes with Teirsian patrols who were inspecting every wagon and caravan they encountered, but she and the child had managed to remain hidden, and after what seemed an eternity, the northern gates finally came into view.

"Did you try to bribe the soldiers guarding the gate to let us through?" She asked quietly, peering out of a tiny rip in the canvas that covered the wagon in an effort to see her surroundings.

"I did," He whispered back, eyeing a pair of soldiers who trudged passed. "but they refused. They are terrified of the Dragon Lord, and won't risk displeasing him."

"Then take us
to another gate!" She snarled vehemently.

"It will do us no good, Mistress." Boris informed her in an emotionless tone.
"The city has been completely sealed. The soldiers will not allow anyone in or out of the city until we have been located."

"It's only a matter of time before we're discovered!" She hissed in frustration. "We have to get clear of the city, and make
it up into the safety of the highlands. Once there, it should be fairly easy to throw the Dragon Lord off our trail, and leave him and his companions floundering in the maze of granite formations."

"
Nothing has been easy when it has involved the Dragon Lord, Mistress." Boris grumbled, his voice barely audible. "He has somehow managed to track us halfway around the world, easily avoiding numerous attempts to kill or delay him and his companions. I have the feeling that the granite mazes of the highlands will not slow him long."

She snarled at him angrily, but had to admit
that he was correct. She had done everything she could, and used every bit power given to her by the elder spirits to try and stop him and his companions, but the Dragon Lord and his friends had somehow emerged from these attacks unscathed, and now, they had her trapped inside of the city with little chance of escape.

She snarled again, then
forced herself to calm down, and drew a deep trembling breath. "There is no other way, then." She growled finally. "We're too close to achieving our goal to stop now." She slowly pushed the canvas concealing her and the child away, and rose to feet.