Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (8 page)

"A couple of nights ago, Fedrio appeared at the inn I was staying. Apparently,
he had finally stumbled upon some information on where the weapons were being brought in from. He happened to overhear one of Ickor's teamster's make a mention of picking up a load of goods from the docks. After a little investigating, we discovered that the weapons were coming in on a ship from the far east country of Sherish."

"That explains why the weapons were so shoddily
crafted." Damarius commented, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "They are gnomish made. Sherish is the ancestral home of the gnomes."

"Gnomes?" Damion asked in surprise. "Those weapons were made by gnomes?"

Dar nodded. "It appears that way. It explains why they are of such poor quality. The gnomes are notorious for producing inferior goods."

"I've never seen a gnome before
. What do they look like?"

"They're
ugly little creatures that are even smaller than dwarves. They stand perhaps two feet tall, with olive green skin and huge bulging eyes. They're clever little creatures that can reproduce virtually any contraption that they lay their eyes on, though they tend to use whatever they happen to have on hand to build their wares." He snorted in amusement. "I once saw a gnomish sword that had been crafted from glass. It shattered the first time it struck a normal sword!"

"I'm surprised I've never seen
a gnome." The huge warrior grunted thoughtfully. "Are there many of them?"

"Thousands." Damarius snorted in amusement. "Those creatures breed like rabbits. They live in huge colonies made up mostly of craftsmen who spend their days making inferior goods, or creating new contraption
s that usually end up killing themselves and their kinsmen. I'm not surprised that you've never encountered one, though. They rarely leave their homeland. They seem to prefer remaining in their colonies, dreaming up new ways to blow themselves up."

"Once Fedrio and I located the ship,
" The fiery haired boy continued. "we waited until they finished loading the weapons onto wagons, then I followed them out of Sierra and into the mountains. Once they stopped to rest for the evening, I'm snuck into their camp and peeked into their wagons." He grinned. "They were all packed full of weapons."

"So all
of your lounging around in Sierra finally paid off." Sly grunted. "It's about time. I was beginning to suspect you were just lingering in Sierra because some girl had drawn your fancy."

"
Where is the caravan now?" Damion asked, his eyes narrowed in thought.

"About five miles to the north. They stopped to
rest in one of the campsites built along the trade route. I figured I would hurry on ahead to report what we had discovered."

A servant appea
red with a tray of sliced meat and cheese and a large pitcher foaming of ale, which he placed on the table before Dar. The childlike sprite speared a slice of meat with a small knife he produced from his tunic, and stuffed it into his mouth ravenously.

"
Now it's just a matter of following the caravan to its destination." Sly said in a satisfied tone, helping himself to a tankard of the foaming ale. "They should lead us to whoever is behind the shipments. I imagine it will be a simple thing to discover what the weapons are intended for then."

"We still don't know who hired those highwaymen to ambush
Ickor's wagons." Damarius pointed out. "Someone out there has been trying very hard to make sure those weapons never reach their destination." He glanced at Damion. "How do you wish to proceed?"

The huge man thought about it for a
moment. "I think I'll take Dar and Shirk, and follow along behind the caravan, hanging back a few miles to avoid being seen. If we're careful, we should be able to follow them all of the way to their destination. Once we identify who is behind the shipments, we should be able to figure out who is trying so hard to stop them."

E
veryone gathered in the guardhouse above the gates leading into Sevria early the next morning to await the arrival of Ickor's caravan. Several wagon trains appeared in the distance around mid morning, but Dar shook his head, indicating that they didn't belong to Ickor's caravan. The wagon train finally appeared around mid day, sluggishly making its way down the well maintained trade road towards the city. The wagons were all being pulled by slow moving oxen, and covered with thick canvas which concealed their contents from prying eyes.

"It's about time they got here." Sly complained, watching as the wagons slowly lumbered their way
down the road. "I was beginning to wonder if they had decided to turn around and head back to Sierra."

The
wagons were all flanked by rough looking mercenaries who rode next to the caravan, their hands on their weapons, and their eyes alert for danger.

"Those are a lot of mercenaries
for such a small caravan." Veren pointed out shrewdly.

They
watched as the wagon train drew closer, then to their surprise, continue passed, avoiding Sevria all together.

"Now that's a surprise!" Raven exclaimed, watching the wagons as the
y slowly rumbled passed. "Caravans
never
bypass Sevria."

"It looks as though they are trying to avoid anyone discovering the contents of their wagons." Damarius's eyes were lost in thought. "They're not taking any chances
on losing this shipment. Word must have reached them that the last shipment never reached its destination."

"That would explain the mercenaries." Damion nodded in agreement. "Ickor must have hired them to help protect the
caravan from more bandit attacks."

"So what's your plan?" Sly asked as the wagons disappeared into the distance.

The huge warrior shrugged. "We're going to follow them. They'll eventually lead us to whoever is behind the shipments."

"Can't you have Sly, Dar, and Shirk follow them?" Raven asked in a slightly pouty voice. "You
do
have a wife and daughter waiting on you here at home, in case you had forgotten."

Damion smiled. "Of course I
haven't forgotten," He drew her close. "but this is important, and I want to make sure that we don't wake up one morning to find out that there is an army sitting outside of our gates."

The young woman frowned. "I'm going
with you, then. Sly can stay here with Damarius and Veren to look after the castle, while you, Dar, Shirk, and I follow the caravan. I'll ask Lady Skie to care for Leia while we're gone. I'm sure she'll be happy to help."

"I suggest you go and make your arrangements
then." The old wizard suggested. "You don't want the caravan to get
too
far ahead of you."

"The horses are already saddled, packed, and ready to go." Dar chirped helpfully. "I'll have the stable boys prepare Raven's mare
, while you hurry up to the castle to speak with Lady Skie, and kiss your daughter farewell, of course."

Damion and Raven hurried up to the castle to find Lady Skie and their daughter
playing together in the nursery adjoining their private chambers.

"
We have had a slight change in plans." Raven told Lady Skie as she scooped Leia into her arms. "I've decided to accompany Damion, Dar, and Shirk as they follow the caravan of weapons through the mountains. I was wondering if you would look after Leia while we were gone?"

Lady Skie smiled. "Of course I will, dear ones.
I enjoy spending time with our little one. How long do you plan on being gone?"

"It may be a few weeks before we return.
We haven't any idea of wagon train's destination, and this may be the only chance we get to find out exactly what those weapons are intended for."

"Sly can handle anything that may come up while we're gone
," Damion assured her. "and I'll ask Veren stay close by in case you need him."

"I shouldn't need him." Lady Skie took a sip of her ever present tea. "Little Leia is an angel compared to you when you were her age." She gave the huge warrior an amused look.

Damion laughed. "I bet she smells better than I did, too." He went to his daughter, who was happily watching him from her mother's arms. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her nose. Leia giggled, then threw her arms around him and nuzzled him close.

"
Don't worry about anything here." Lady Skie told them reassuringly. "Just be sure to take care of yourselves, and come back to us safely."

After
saying their farewells, and smothering their giggling daughter with more kisses, they hurried back towards the stables. They ran into Veren along the way, who also heading toward the stables to see them off.

"I want you to stay close to Aunt Skie and Leia while we're gone.
" Damion told him as they hurried through the castle. "I want to make sure that my daughter is safe while we are gone."

"What could possibly happen to her?" The one eared man asked with an amused snort.
"She's in a castle surrounded an entire village of people who adore her. Besides, her father is the Dragon Lord. Everyone knows that you would tear this world apart if someone was to harm her. She's probably one of the safest people on the continent!"

"Never the less, I want you to stick close to them, just in case."

"I'll make sure that they remain safe. You know that I'd give my life for that little girl if I had to."

Damion smiled gratefully. "Thank you, my friend. I'll rest easier knowing that you are
watching over her."

They found the others waiting for them outside of the livery.

Sly stood next to Storm, holding the warhorse firmly by the bridle, an angry expression on his scruffy face. "This damned horse bit me again!"

Damion rolled his eyes. "When are you going to learn
not to turn your back your back on him?" He gave the shaggy stallion a hard look. "Didn't I ask you to stop biting Sly? You know he'll whine about it for the next month!"

Storm looked away innocently.

"I'm going to start muzzling this beast before getting near it for now on." The little man threatened, handing Damion the reins, then scampering out of reach in case the enormous warhorse attempted to bite him again.

"He's only being playful
." Raven defended the great brute, who nuzzled at her gently. "It's his way of showing you that he likes you."

"I can
live without him liking me so much."

"That caravan is several miles ahead of you by now." Damarius reminded them
, trying to hurry them along. "You had better get moving. You don't want them to get too far ahead of you."

"Make sure you keep an eye on Leia." Damion reminded Veren.