Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons (27 page)

"Seven.
We have placed four of them on the wall, and three on the upper terraces of the castle, then trained a number of soldiers to operate the machines in case there is an attack. They should prove to be quite useful in helping us defend against a shadow dragon."

The little man nodded in approval. He looked around the room at the others, then over to the captain, who was waiting expectantly. "Very well, Captain. Bring the work crews home. We have done as much as we can."

The captain nodded, then quickly left to deliver his orders.

"It's a shame that they couldn't continue to their work until they reach
ed Sierria." Lady Skie murmured regretfully. "To have the caravans begin flowing once again is the only way we are going to rebuild the treasury."

"Damion is not going to be happy to find out that Tem
pest's hoard is completely gone," Sly snorted humorlessly. "but it serves him right for dumping his responsibilities into my lap!"

"Damion doesn't care about that." Dar disagreed. "He cares more for the safety of the people than for treasure."

"It doesn't really matter if he likes it or not, it's all gone!" Damarius laughed. "I don't think there is much he can do about it now!"

They all laughed, easing the tension of the room considerably.

"I have still have a question about your machine." Dar asked Damarius, his face confused. "What happens if one of the scarlet dragons pay a visit. What will keep the soldiers from firing upon them?"

Damariu
s smiled. "I designed a series of flags that are deployed when a dragon is sighted. A red flag for a scarlet dragon, and a black one for a shadow dragon. The men are trained to only fire their machines when the black flag is flying. It was a simple enough procedure to devise."

Azel suddenly appeared at the doorway to the office, his face even more pale than usual.

"What is wrong, Azel?" Lady Skie asked the boy with concern. "You look as though you have seen a ghost!"

"There is a dragon
circling over the city!" The boy was trembling. "It's so high up that it's rather hard to tell what color it is from this distance!"

Everyone leapt to their feet and followed the boy out into the courtyard. The city guard had
already jumped into action, and a number of men manned Damarius's machines. They nervously scanned the sky, while occasionally looking to the flag that signaled when to attack.

They stared into the sky for several moments before they caught sight
of the dark dot circling high overhead, ducking playfully in and out of the clouds.

"It's too high to tell!" Dar exclaimed, staring at the dot for some hint of the dragon's color.

"Make sure the men know to hold their fire until we know for sure what we dealing with!" Sly ordered a passing officer.

They continued to watch
for several long agonizing minutes, then the dot suddenly began descend. They watched with bated breaths as the figure grew larger, though the color was still indeterminate. The beast was suddenly enveloped in a cloud bank and disappeared from view.

"Steady boys!" Sly roared in a voice that could be heard across town.

The beast suddenly emerged from the clouds, and everyone gave a collective sigh of relief as the gleaming red scales came into view.

"It's Tempest!" Dar exclaimed happily, waving to his old friend excitedly.

They watched as the great scarlet serpent lightly touched down in the center of the courtyard, then rushed forward to greet their friend.

"Greetings, my friends." Tempest rumbled in a deep voice.

"Greetings Tempest." Sly welcomed the enormous beast. "What news is there in the search for your enemies?"

"Very little, I'm afraid. Unfortunately, the shadow beasts are very skilled at evading capture."

"Have you heard anything from Damion?" Lady Skie asked in an anxious voice.

The huge dragon shook her head. "Nay. I was actually hoping that you may have heard something recently."

"We received word from him a number of weeks ago." Sly told her, shrugging his shoulders. "He was on the northern continent, investigating the rumors of attacks by the shadow dragons."

Tempest's face grew concerned. "He has not summoned me
, nor any of my kin since he left, though he
did
made it clear to me that he did not enjoy using the Dragon Sword's power to force us to do his bidding. I tried to explain to him that he should not to hesitate to use the sword if he needed to contact me while I was away, but..."

"Damion tends to be a bit stubborn
." Lady Skie confirmed, nodding her head knowingly. "Once he has made up his mind about something, it is almost impossible to get him to change it."

Tempest snorted in amusement
, causing twin curls of smoke to drift up from her nostrils. "He means well though. He shows us more respect in that one single act than any other human has ever demonstrated!"

"Is there any way that you could locate him?" Dar asked curiously.

Tempest shook her head once more. "Damion must use the sword's power to summon me before I can locate him. I won't have any clue where he is until he wants me to." Her face grew thoughtful. "I had heard rumors that one of the shadow dragons had been killed somewhere in the north, but I dismissed it as just a rumor. Perhaps I should investigate a little closer."

Sly nodded. "It sounds like something that only Damion would be able to achieve. The killing of a dragon is a feat that most armies would not be able accomplish!"

Damarius had wandered closer to the huge dragon, his eyes lost in thought. "Amazing how strong your scales are!" He ran his hand over one of the large scales. "They are unlike anything I have ever seen before!"

"Father!" Lady Skie shouted in alarm
. "What
are
you doing?"

"Huh?" The old wizard looked around at the others, then up
at Tempest, who was staring down at him with a puzzled look. "Oh, sorry about that!" He said, hastily backing away. "I guess I forgot myself for a moment." He looked at his daughter, who was staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. "I was merely examining how tough a dragon's scales would be to find out if my machine will be able to bring down an attacking shadow dragon."

"What machine is th
is?" Tempest asked in a troubled tone.

Damarius smiled and gestured to one of his creations. "It is my greatest accomplishment! This machine can fire a t
welve foot steel tipped projectile over a thousand yards! There has never been a machine quite like it!"

Tempest leaned forward and examined the machine closely. "It looks
like a fairly simple design."

"Not so!" The old man disagreed. "There are dozens of components inside of this machine that were extremely difficult to make! A person cannot see the complexity
of the inner workings unless they have my designs!"

"May I see your designs?"

Damarius thought about it for a long moment, then his face took on a cunning look. "I will let you see my designs," He smiled, and brushed his brow lock from his eyes. "in exchange for one of your scales."

Tempest laughed. "
Done!" She reached back and plucked a loose scale from her hip, then placed it onto the ground before the old wizard.

Damarius laughed happily, then produced a large piece of parchment that had
been folded many times. He quickly unfolded it, then handed it to the huge towering dragon.

She examined the designs closely for a number of moments, then looked down at the old wizard
, who was happily examining the dragon scale which was perhaps two foot wide, and three feet long. "And now that you have completed your designs, what do you plan to do with them?"

"I haven't really given it any thought." He muttered distractedly. He pulled out a dagger and started to
test the scale by stabbing it violently. The blade failed to penetrate the scale, even when he had Sly give it his best effort. "This is an incredible substance that your scales are made of! I must test it immediately!"

The test that the old wizard
had in mind consisted of a three foot thick log that was buried deep into the ground about five hundred yards from one of the machines. When it was finished, only a dozen or so feet of the log was sticking out of the ground. Then once he had attached the dragon scale firmly to the log, the old man's experiment was ready.

There was a brief
argument over who was going to be the one to make the shot when Dar, Sly, and Damarius all tried to climb into the machine simultaneously. They argued for a number of moments before Lady Skie finally ended the argument by climbing into the machine and taking the shot while they were busy bickering amongst themselves. They all turned and watched in surprise as the large projectile was launched from the machine faster than the eye could follow. It flashed across the open field with deadly accuracy, and struck the dragon scale dead center, exploding into millions of splinters. When they finally examined the scale, they found it completely unharmed. The steel tipped lance, however, had evaporated into dust, and the tip was found thirty feet away in a mangled mess.

"Damn!" Damarius snarled in anger. "These machines are useless if a shadow dragon attacks!"

Tempest had watched in amusement as the old wizard conducted his test, all the while pondering the designs and their future implications. "Would you be open to another bargain?" She asked the fuming wizard, who was still pacing back and forth cursing under his breath.

"What sort of bargain?" The old man suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"I will give you the secret to making your machine effective against shadow dragons," She lowered her head down to stare at the old man closely. "in exchange for your designs." She held the parchment up between two claws.

"My designs?"
Damarius exclaimed in horror. "But that is the only copy! Without them, we can never make any others!"

"My thoughts exactly." The great beast r
umbled. "You are a wise man. You can see what harm this weapon could bring if this design falls into the wrong hands, both to your kind
and
mine!"

"Listen to what Tempest
says!" Dar urged. "We need to be able to defend ourselves! Besides, the world doesn't really need another weapon, does it?"

"But I worked for years to
perfect those designs!" The old man protested stubbornly. "It was a labor of a lifetime!"

"Fa
ther!" Lady Skie said in a dangerous tone. "You have dozens of other designs for contraptions that you have dreamed up!"

"But
this
one actually worked!" He whined. He stood there conflicted for a long moment, then nodded his head in agreement. "Very well!" He surrendered, throwing his hands in the air. He gave his a daughter a dirty look, then turned back to Tempest. "Give us the secret to making our machines effective against the shadow dragons..." He groaned. "and the plans are yours."

"Done!"
The huge dragon raised the parchment to her mouth, then breathed a small puff of flames which instantly consumed the old wizard's designs.

Damarius nearly fainted as he watched his work go up in flames. "I think I need a drink." He murmured in a sick voice. He looked at the dragon. "And what is the secret?"

Tempest stared at them for several long moments. "The only reason I reveal this secret to you is that I know that you understand the gravity of what is happening." She looked up at the massive castle. "This place is called the Serpent's Keep, built by my kind to represent the bond between the scarlet dragons and the man that released us from enslavement. This place will always be guarded by the scarlet dragons, so this secret must
only be used against shadow dragons. It must never be used against my kin!"

"We understand." Dar told her
, looking around at everyone to make sure they understood the gravity of her words.