Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (60 page)

They all rushed to follow, and were soon all laughing in elation, overjoyed to have everyone home safe and sound.

Lady Skie immediately took Leia into her arms, weeping in happiness, and refused to let the young girl down, clasping her tightly to her chest in relief as she continued to cry uncontrollably.

"Welcome home, Dragonkin." Tempest greeted the huge warrior
as he slipped down from his saddle. "It looks as though you have been successful in your quest."

"We were," Damion replied in a grave tone. "though a
terrible price was paid for our success."

"Massster
!" A anxious hiss suddenly emitted from a nearby shadow. Slither stepped into the light, then dropped to his knees in respect. "Massster hasss returned!"

"I have," He told the prostrated beast, motioning for
it to rise. "and thanks to you, we were able to follow, and eventually rescue, my daughter from her abductors."

The one armed shadow
spawn slowly rose to its feet and looked over to Leia, who struggled down from Lady Skie's arms and wandered over to stand next to her father.

"Leia," Damion gently lifted the young girl into his arms. "this is Slither. He helped us find you."

"Thank you, Slither." The young girl squeaked in a piping voice, staring at the great beast fearlessly.

"It wasss
my honor." Slither hissed, bowing his head to the girl respectfully.

"Allow me to take my family inside
and see to their needs," The huge warrior told Tempest and the shadowspawn. "I'll return once the others have been brought up to date."

"Asss you wisssh, Massster
." The one armed shadowspawn silently melted back into the shadows.

They ordered several nearby soldier
s to see to the horses, then they all hurried inside to warm themselves by the fireplace. They gathered in Damion's office, and settled around the long conference table, still laughing and cheering in celebration.

Dar disappeared
momentarily to order the kitchen staff to bring them food and drink, then quickly returned, his face alight with excitement.

They all took turns holding Leia, who seemed to be quite happy being the center of everyone's attention, and they all marveled at how much she had grown during her absence.

Lady Skie began to weep again as she clasped the young girl tightly to her breast, but stopped mid-tear when she finally took a good look at Damarius, who had lost a significant amount of weight, and now had the hard, well toned muscles of a man half his age. "Father!" She exclaimed in astonishment. "You look wonderful!"

"I do, don't I?" Damarius smiled smugly, flexing one of his arms to show off
his chiseled physique. "I think this little adventure was exactly what I needed to get the blood pumping again."

Several servants arrived bearing a number of trays of food, along with several bottles of elven wine and a large glass of goat's milk for Leia, who gave it a suspicious sniff, then wrinkled her nose in disgust.

They all began to eat while Damion slowly recounted the entire story, stopping only to answer the occasional question. It was several hours before he finally reached the end to their frightening tale.

"After Leia killed the
witch, and Estheryal drove Draco back to his place in the heavens," He finished the story with a shrug. "we made our way to Naquia and hopped aboard Captain's Harper's ship. We finally made port in Sierra three nights ago."

Dar, Shirk, and Lady Skie looked
flabbergasted by what they had just heard, and sat staring at Damion in shock.

"So," Shirk
seemed shaken by their tale. "
all
of the gods are now free to return to the world?"

"I'm afraid so." The huge warrior frowned. "Apparently, when Draco took a direct hand against me, He violated the pact between the gods that
kept them from returning, and altered the destinies of all mortals, preventing the gods from being able to keep tabs over their worshippers. They'll return to watch over their children, if nothing else."

They all turned to stare at Gwynth, who calmly took a sip from her wine goblet.

"Is it true? Will the gods start returning now that the accord has been broken?" Dar asked the old woman hesitantly, afraid of what the answer may be.

"I'm afraid so." The old woman
answered, her tone regretful. "Many of them have been waiting for eons for the accord to be broken so they may return to this world and begin the old wars anew. Now," She shook her head sadly. "there is nothing stopping them."

They all stared at one another with grave expressions.

"Well," Sly started in a philosophical tone. "what's done is done. I'm not going to sit around and worry what may or may not happen. We managed to save Leia, and prevented the dragon god from fulfilling His plans." He took a long drink from his goblet, then burped thunderously. "That's all that really matters."

"I'll drink to that." Shirk raised his tankard, then took a noisy drink.

***********

After making sure that both Leia and Raven were both safely tucked into bed,
and ordering a pair of soldiers to stand watch outside of their chambers, Damion finally returned to the courtyard outside of the castle, and found Tempest and Slither still patiently awaiting his return.

"Massster," Slither dropped to his knees respectfully.

He motioned for the beast to rise, then looked up at Tempest, who watched the shadowspawn with an odd expression. "Was there any problems while we were absent?" The huge warrior asked curiously.

"Nothing that we couldn't handle." Tempest assured him dismissively. "The dragonspawn began to grow a bit unruly for a while, but Slither managed to keep them under control."

"The ssspawn believed the dragon god'sss return marked the beginning of a war with the humansss." Slither explained. "They began to gather in preparation of thisss war, but Draco sssuddenly returned to Hisss place among the heavensss. The ssspawn feared that their actionsss upssset Him, and quickly ssscattered, hoping they could appeassse Him."

"It's been quiet ever since." Tempest finished the story with a shrug.

"Thank you both for watching over Sevria in my absence." He told them gratefully.

"It was our honor." Tempest rumbled respectfully.

He looked to Slither. "I wish to reward you for all your help." He told the shadowspawn. "Without you, we may have never been able to rescue Leia. You have proven to me that you are an honorable creature, worthy of great respect." He drew the Dragon Sword from its sheath, then stepped up to the crippled creature, who watched him with curious eyes.

Reversing his grip on the hilt, he placed the Dragon Gem against the stump of the beast's
lame arm, then drew in his magic. "This may be a little painful." He warned, releasing his magic through the glittering gem.

Slither
suddenly grabbed his crippled arm and hissed in pain, his eyes wide with shock. At first, nothing seemed to happen, then the scaly flesh around the stump began to writhe and pulse, slowly stretching and growing until the missing section of the shadowspawn's arm had completely reformed.

The hulking beast raised its new arm in amazement, and flexed its claw tipped hand several times experimentally. "Thank you, Massster." He hissed in
genuine gratitude, still staring at his newly formed arm in astonishment.

Damion stared at the shadowspawn for a long moment. "I also wanted to give your one last gift." He took a deep breath. "You have shown me great deal of
loyalty over the last couple of years, Slither, and to show you that I am truly grateful for everything you have done," He glanced up at Tempest, who seemed to already know what he was thinking, and nodded her approval. "I release you from your pledge. You are free."

"But Massster..." The beast hissed in objection.

"I am no longer your master, Slither." He told the shadowspawn. "I am your friend. You can just call me Damion." He smiled. "I'm also ordering that you be allowed to come and go in Sevria as you please, and will be setting aside a set of chambers for you here in the castle. For now on, you will always be welcome within these walls. You can consider the Serpent's Keep your home."

Slither seemed to be at a loss for words, and for several long seconds, he merely stared at the huge warrior in disbelief. "Thank you, Ma...
Thank you, Damion." He finally grumbled in gratitude, seeming almost overwhelmed by the huge warrior's gift.

"And what can I do to thank you for your help, old friend?" He asked the enormous scarlet dragon.

"There is no need to thank me, Dragonkin." Tempest rumbled proudly. "The scarlet dragons will always be ready to help you whenever you are in need."

"Thank you, Tempest."
Damion glanced towards the heavens with a heavy sigh. "At least we were able to defeat the dragon god, even if it
did
free the other gods from the accord, allowing them to return."

"Defeat the dragon god?"

They turned to see Gwynth standing a few feet away, her expression unreadable.

"Draco is far from defeated, Dragon Lord," The immortal old woman told him, her voice wise. "
You may have foiled His attempt to steal Leia away, but I fear that will do little in stopping Him from carrying out His plans. "No, I'm afraid all that you have managed to do is stall Him for a time."

"Does that mean He'll try to come for Leia again?" Damion's asked, looking up at the castle fearfully.

"No, Draco is no longer interested in the child." She told the huge warrior reassuringly. "Now that the other gods have also returned to this world, He has more pressing issues to deal with."

"As long as he stays away from my daughter
, I don't care what He does." Damion growled in a flat voice, staring up at the flickering constellation above.

"Your daughter is safe from the dragon god." Gwynth assured him. "Estheryal will make certain of that," Her expression became worried. "but it's what
is yet to come that you should be concerned about."

"And what is coming?"

The legendary old woman didn't reply, but merely stood in silence, staring up at the heavens, a sad expression on her face.

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