Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) (31 page)

Before
he man could react, the tiny little sprite dashed forward and launched a kick that caught the dazed man square in the jaw with an audible crack. The man slumped back to the cold stone floor, momentarily stunned by the sudden blow, then once again began to push up, an angry expression on his pale face.

Dar scrambled over and scooped up the wicked looking dagger, then spun back to see the man had almost regained his footing. With a strength born of desperation, he swung the dagger with all his might, driving the sharp blade deep into the top of the man's head as he was pushing himself up to his feet.

The man suddenly stiffened horribly, and then collapsed twitching to the ground, the hilt of his own dagger still protruding from his head.

Shirk, followed closely by several of the castle guard, hurried into the hall
, attracted by the commotion. "What the..." He stopped as his eyes fell upon Lady Skie's prone form. "Skie!" He rushed over to her side and gently took her into his arms, then looked to Dar, who was slumped against the staircase banister.

"Assassin." Dar gasped, holding his ribs, which had been injured as he tumbled down the stairs. "He tried to stab Lady Skie, but she fell back to avoid the strike and
tumbled down the stairs."

"Grab him before he wakes up!" The bearded thief
snarled to the castle guard, who hurried forward.

"I don't think he's going anywhere anytime soon." Dar told them
, gesturing to the dagger protruding from the top of assassins head.

"Are you okay?" Shirk asked, glancing up at
Dar.

"I think so." The tiny sprite groaned, gingerl
y probing his ribs with his fingertips. "I may have fractured a couple of ribs though."

Shirk gently scooped Lady Skie up, and hurried up to her private quarters, ordering several different servants along the way to summon the castle clerics
. He finally reached her private chambers and gently slipped her into her bed.

"How is she?" Dar asked in a weak voice as he limped into the room.

"She's still unconscious," Shirk murmured in a worried voice. "but nothing appears to be broken."

Lady Skie suddenly
moaned, and her eyelids fluttered open. "What happened?" She asked, trying to push herself up into a sitting position.

"We were attacked by an assassin posing as a servant." Dar told her, slowly lowering himself down into a chair.
"You fell back down the stairs and were knocked out."

"How do you feel?" Shirk asked in concern.

"My entire body is screaming like an abscessed tooth," She laughed weakly. "but I don't think anything is broken. I'll probably be one huge bruise by morning though." She glanced over at Dar. "What happened to the assassin?"

"I threw myself into hi
s legs and sent us both tumbling down the stairs after you." The childlike sprite winced, and placed a hand against his ribs. "I managed to land on top of him, then scrambled to my feet and kicked him in the face, hoping to knock him senseless, but he still kept trying to get up to attack. I finally had to kill him."

"He's dead
?"

"Don't worry, dear one
." Shirk reassured her, his face full of suppressed fury. "Dar made certain he won't be able to hurt anyone else. He drove the assassin's own dagger straight into the top of his head."

"That's too bad." Lady Skie frowned. "He could have told us if there any more spies still left here in the city."

"Don't worry about the spies." Shirk assured her gently. "We're going to take steps to make sure that none of them will be able to get close enough to you to try this again."

One of the castle clerics hurried into the room and quickly shooed Shirk away from Lady Skie's bedside so
she could be examined.

The old bandit watched for a moment as the cleric began to inspect the young woman, then made his way out into the hall to speak with Captain Repheth.
"I want this entire castle and city searched from top to bottom for any more spies or assassins. Anyone who has joined the castle staff in the last year needs to rounded up and questioned, and I want your best men posted outside Lady Skie's chambers day and night. I don't want this to happen again."

"Understood." Captain Repheth gave him a brusque nod, then ordered several of his men to stand watch outside of Lady Skie's chambers
, and hurried off to begin the search.

"He didn't look happy." Dar commented, watching as the captain hurried off. "I think he may be a little angry that an assassin managed to make it passed his men. I don't envy the men that let him slip in
to the castle." He winced and rubbed his ribs gingerly.

"How's your ribs?"

"They hurt, thanks for asking." The tiny little sprite winced again. "I feel like I've been ran over by a herd of horses."

"You should have the cleric take a look at them."

Dar shook his head. "It wouldn't do any good. I'm not human, remember? Besides, there's really not much he
can
do for busted ribs. Luckily, Alena heal quickly. I should be fine in a few days."

The cleric appeared in the doorway to Lady Skie's chambers.

"How is she?" The old bandit asked in concern.

"Lady Skie is going to be fine." The robed man informed him in a clinical tone.
"Her left wrist has a slight fracture, and she has fairly extensive bruising, but she should make a full recovery. I wrapped her wrist in a splint, and gave her something to her ease her pain. She's resting now."

"That's a relief." Dar sighed, then winced in pain and grabbed his ribs.

"Injured ribs?" The cleric asked in mild curiosity.

"I'll be okay." The little sprite insisted. "I just fractured a couple of ribs as I bounced down the stairs." His tiny face grew pale as a fresh wave of pain
nearly overcame him.

"Come, come," The cleric told him. "Let me take a look. I may not be able to heal them, but I may have something that will ease the pain a bit."

Dar allowed the cleric to guide him into a nearby chair. "I hope Damion and the others are having better luck with the Etazk than we are."

"
So do I." Shirk agreed, sinking into another chair with a weary sigh. "Otherwise, we all may be in big trouble!"

**********

"What can you see?"
Damion silently asked his familiar as the huge snow owl circled over what remained of the Walled city of Kainpre.

"It's not a pretty sight." Snowfeather informed him, staring down at the carnage below.
"Half of the city has been burned to the ground, and there are piles of dead bodies everywhere. The Etazk have built a large altar in the center of the city, and they appear to be sacrificing the survivors."

Damion cursed vehemently. "Half of the city has been burned to the ground," He informed the others in a furious tone. "an
d they have built an altar in the city's center. They're sacrificing the survivors as we speak."

After receiving the news about the Etazk's
attack on Kainpre and the departure of their main army from Salastar, Damion and the others, accompanied by Bativa and his tribesmen, immediately set off to the south, while Garth, Ignan, and Zayan took the dwarves and the remaining forces north to assist in fortifying Sierra.

Damion and the others finally
reached the remains of Kainpre after nearly two weeks of constant riding through the seemingly endless expanse of the Deolan grasslands. They rose early every morning, long before the sun had even risen, and rode long into the night in an effort to reach the walled city, which was now overrun with enemy soldiers.

They
had been quite impressed at how efficient the tribesmen were at setting and breaking camp. It usually took an army of their size hours to set up and break camp, but the tattooed tribesmen were able to accomplish it in less than an hour, helping them gain valuable time in their panicked dash to Kainpre. The Deola were also able to travel far greater distances than normal horsemen due to their superior horses, enabling them to reach the walled city far sooner than the huge warrior would have ever expected.

After ordering the main force to remain out of sight, Damion, Bativa, Raven, Slither, and Leia took a handful of warriors and slowly made their way closer to the ruined city
. Once they had crept within eyeshot of the massive battlements, the huge warrior sent Snowfeather ahead to investigate the situation.

"They're sacrificing the survivors?" Raven asked, her voice trembling with fury.

"They're probably the poor souls who refused to convert to the worship of Etaz." Damion murmured, his mind racing. He turned to Bativa. "How long will it take your men to surround the city?"

"Not long," The chieftain replied with a frown. "but surrounding the
city won't do us any good. The walls that surround the city are thirty feet thick, and hundreds of feet high. The tribesmen have always joked that the Lords of Kainpre were envious of Mercedia, and wanted to build a city that rivaled it. As long as the walls stand, my tribesmen are going to be useless."

"Well, we need to something soon if we want to have any hope of rescuing any of the survivors." Raven declared in an anxious voice.
It was obvious that she had been extremely distressed by the news that the Etazk were sacrificing the survivors.

"I'll take care of the walls."
Damion assured Bativa in a grim tone. "Just have your men surround the city and prepare to attack."

"Are you going to... well, you know," The big tribesman made an elaborate gesture.

"Yes," Damion replied, ignoring his daughter's giggles. "unless you have another way of bringing down those walls."

The tattooed chieftain made a show of thinking it over. "None that I can really think of, no." He said finally. "Go ahead and blow it up."

"That wouldn't work. The debris could injure our own forces."

"What are you going to do then?"

It was Damion's turn to make a show of thinking it over. "Do you remember when we destroyed Faldor's warehouses?" He asked finally, a huge grin on his face. "Remember how we removed the fence that surrounded the corral?"

Bativa suddenly laughed, then turned and quickly spoke with one of his tribesm
en, who immediately hurried off towards the rest of their forces.

"What ever happened to Faldor anyway?" Raven asked curiously.

"He is still working off his debt to the Deola." Bativa smiled broadly. "I have to admit, the little weasel has proven to be quite useful. He started by shoveling manure from the horse pens, but after a couple of months he suggested that we started stockpiling the manure and selling it to the various farms in the outlining foothills as fertilizer for their crops. I decided to take the chance and allowed him to run with the idea. He's been making my tribe thousands in gold ever since."

"Which you keep, of course." Damion grinned.

"Of course. He had been rustling cattle from my people for years. It's going to take quite a bit of gold to make things right." The tribesman returned, and quickly whispered something to the huge chieftain. "The men are deploying as we speak. They'll attack as soon as the walls fall."

Damion glanced at the setting sun
, which was partially obscured by gathering rain clouds. "That should be perfect. By the time everyone is in place, it should be dark." He turned to look at his wife, steeling himself for the argument that was sure to come. "It's time for you to take Leia and Slither and head for safety."

"What?" Both Leia and Raven exclaimed in outraged tones.

"You heard me." He told them in a firm tone. "I won't allow you to place yourselves in harm's way. You're going to take a few of Bativa's horsemen and head north away from the danger."

"But I want to help fight the Etazk!" Leia whined, brandishing the small sword
that one of the blacksmiths in Crete had forged for her.

"You're not ready
for a battle just yet." Damion told her, feeling a surge of pride at his daughter's bravery. "Maybe in a few more years, after you've had a bit more training. For now, I need to stay behind and look after your mother and Slither."

"Damion, I..." Rave
n started to argue, clearly upset by his decision to leave her behind, but the huge warrior cut her off.

"Do you really want to take Leia into
the middle of a battle?" He asked his wife in a plaintive tone.

"Of course not, but..."

"But nothing. Someone needs to remain behind with Leia."

"Slither will still be with her!" Raven argued heatedly.
"He'll be able to watch over her!"

"Raven," The huge warrior turned to his wife with a great sigh. "Do you really want to leave our daughter behind just so you can go and entertain yourself?"

"Well, a little." The young woman answered truthfully, her face slightly red.

"Hey!" Leia exclaimed, turning t
o stare up at her mom with an outraged expression.