Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons (38 page)

A cheer went up from the men gathered on the wall, and many looked up at the grinning wizard with open awe.

"Hey!" Sly objected, waiting for the two burly men to reload his machine. "That's not fair!"

"There were at least six shadowspawn in that group, wouldn't you say?" Damarius
asked, laughing uproariously.

"They're not going to tolerate too many more of those! Do you have any more?"

"Maybe a dozen or so. They take quite a bit of crafting to make!"

The little man considered that for a moment. "Let's give them a little while to calm down, then we'll each fire one at a group of shadowspawn. After what we just did, they'll have to gather in groups to decide what to do. We'll target  those groups and try to take out as many as we can. If they don't attack, then we'll do it again, and then again. Hopefully they
'll lose control and attack! We can do some
real
damage to them then!"

They gathered once more in the guard house to allow the hoard time to reform, still flushed with excitement.

"I'll take my gold, if you please." Damarius told them, a smug grin on his face.

Dar and Lady Skie each handed him some coins, but Sly coughed uncomfortably. "How about double or nothing?"

Damarius shook his head. "I don't think so, my friend." He said in mock regret.

"I guess you'll just have to put it on my tab." The little man sighed in resignation.

"I going to call in your tab one of these days." The old man threatened with a scowl.

They watched the hoard for nearly an hour, giving the shadowspawn plenty of time to gather
together, then they returned to their machines, which had been carefully loaded with Damarius's exploding projectiles. They again took aim at separate groups of shadowspawn, who, as Sly predicted, had gathered into a number of large groups.

Dar fired first this time, vaporizing a group of ten or so shadowspawn, while Lady Skie's next shot struck a dragonspawn before reaching her target
, killing dozens of the creatures, but no shadowspawn. Damarius and Sly both took aim at the largest group of shadowspawn, which had gathered near the rear of the hoard, then fired one after the other, sending their deadly payload towards their unsuspecting recipients. They struck the ground in unison, decimating a large number of the beasts, and leaving a huge smoking crater in their wake.

They waited for another hour or so, then took aim at the shadowspawn, who, unbelievably, had gathered in groups once again, though their numbers had been greatly depleted.
This time they succeeded in killing more dragonspawn than shadowspawn, but they finally achieved their goal. The hoard, driven mad with anger, suddenly broke ranks and began to rush forward, intending to attack.

"Here we go!" Sly roared in a resounding voice. "Archers to the ready!" Nearly a hundred a
rchers readied their bows, preparing to rain death upon the frenzied creatures when they were finally within striking distance.

The creatures rushed across the open countryside, but was immediately forced to slow their advance when they reached the ocean of sharpened s
takes that protruded from the earth, blocking their access to the trade road. The spikes traveled for miles in either direction, forcing the beasts to try to carefully weave their way through. Unfortunately for many of those in the front of the hoard, the surge from the mass of creatures in the rear, pressed those in front inexorably forward, impaling a number of dragonspawn upon the sharp spikes.

"Relight the fires!" Sly ordered in a roar, his voice echoing throughout the valley.

Once it had grown apparent that the hoard had no immediate plans to attack, they had allowed the fires that ran through Damarius's elaborate series of channels to die out, prudently deciding to conserve the oil feeding the flames for when the hoard finally attacked. With the hoard finally attacking, it was time to put it to use once more.

They relinquished their machines to waiting guards, then gathered together
in the guard house to wait for the oil to travel throughout the channels.

"Go ahead and light it up!"

Several torches were tossed over the wall, instantly setting it ablaze just as the first dragonspawn reached the trade road. The flames flashed along the channels, weaving back and forth through the spikes, sending flames high into the air.

Several of the dragonspawn that had managed to force themselves through the spikes were suddenly engulfed, sending them squealing and flailing back through the sea of spikes.

"Hmm." Damarius commented in a scholarly tone. "They're
not
fireproof like the dragons, or like Damion for that matter. Interesting!"

"I would say that is a good thing
!" Dar chirped, watching as the hoard slowly begin to force its way closer.

"I'd say they are close enough for the archers to join in on the fun." The old wizard told Sly, who was watching in satisfaction as another dragonspawn was engulfed in flames.

Sly squinted down at the mass of creatures. "I think you're right." He agreed. He turned and raised his voice once more. "Archers take aim!" The archers, who had obviously been itching to join in on the battle, took careful aim.

"Fire!"

A hundred arrows were released as one, and rained down on the hoard. Dozens of the dragonspawn fell dead, and dozens more were horribly injured, but they continued to slowly press forward through the spikes, ignoring the dead and dying around them.

Several shadowspawn had managed to make their way through the spikes to reach the first wall of fire, then easily stepped through t
he flames, completely unharmed.

"The shadowspawn seem to be fireproof." Dar pointed out, watching as the creatures attempted to force the dragonspawn to cross through
the flames.

Sly stumped over to the closest  machine. "Take out those shadowspawn!"

The guard grinned, then took careful aim at the shadowy creatures, and fired. His aim was impeccable as the projectile travelled through one of the shadowspawn's back at a downward angle and struck a large stone at the side of the road, shattering into a thousand pieces and showering the other shadowspawn with deadly splinters.

"Nice shot! The little man approved. "Continue to take out any shadowspawn that you see!"

The bodies of the dead and dying dragonspawn began to pile up, impeding those still struggling forward, but the hoard still continued to press forward, bent on destruction.  A number of the crazed creatures managed to make it through the flames, but were quickly cut down by their archers.

Wave upon wave of arrows continued to fall upon the creatures until fully half of the dragonspawn, and all but a handful shadowspawn were killed. It was nearly dusk when the hoard finally gave up and retreated back across the field, leaving their dead and dying behind.

A huge cheer went up from the people as they watched the creatures flee in fear. They had been working for months to insure that they were prepared for this scenario, and it was immensely satisfying to see that all of their effort had paid off.

They looked out at the carnage that they had managed to reap upon the hoard without the loss of a single man. The dead and dying lay in piles, riddled with the arrows from their archers, or impaled upon wooden stakes. Dozens of charred corpses were scattered throughout the dead, many still burning, producing a noxious smoke which was nearly impossible to breath.

The craters left behind from Damarius's projectiles dotted the open field, and a number of dragonspawn had taken refuge inside, hoping to avoid the deadly projectiles being hurled from the old wizard's machines. The guards manning the siege machines took notice of these creatures, and began to amuse themselves by using them as target practice.

Sly and the other
s were still watching the hoard when Azel came rushing forward in a panic. "Dragons!" He warned them, pointing towards the north. "There are three dragons heading this way!"

They whirled to see three dark silhouettes on the horizon, growing larger and larger as they drew closer.

"Are they scarlet dragons?" Lady Skie asked, squinting up at the beasts overhead. Every man, woman, and child stood waiting for what seemed an eternity, her question hanging in the air, then one by one the dragons dropped from the sky, belching their scorching flames down upon the town.

"Is it me, or do I smell
stagnate water?" Raven asked, delicately sniffing at the air, then wrinkling her nose and making a sour face.

"That would probably be
Arleia." Veren nodded knowingly. "It's one great big stinking swamp."

It had been nearly three weeks since their encounter with Slither, and they had yet to encounter a single person traveling on the trade road.

"How far do you reckon we are from the border?" Damion asked curiously.

Veren
sniffed at the light breeze. "I'd say perhaps two days. You can already feel that the air is a bit more humid."

They set up camp
under a rocky overhang as daylight approached, then after a meager meal from their dwindling supplies, they settled in to get some rest.

It was an hour or so after dawn when Damion
suddenly awaken by Snowfeather's familiar hoot.
"There is someone coming this way!"

Damion rolled to his feet
and nudged Veren, who had fallen asleep on his watch, then quickly shook Raven awake. They could clearly hear the sound of hoof beats getting closer, along with a strange rattling that grew louder and louder.

"Be on
your guard!" Damion warned them as a dozen men on horseback appeared in the distance, followed closely by several wagons being pulled by oxen.

"Slavers!" Raven hissed in warning.

Damion's face fell flat as his eyes fell upon the first of the three wagons, which was little more than a cage with wheels. It contained several sick and injured looking children that wore heavy chain manacles on their wrists and ankles.

"By the gods!"
Veren exclaimed in fury. He drew his sword and stepped forward to join Damion.

The horsemen led the wagons towards the shade of
the outcropping, then called for a halt as their eyes fell upon Damion and Veren blocking their path. One of the riders nudged his horse forward until he was a few feet from where they stood, then stopped, staring down at them contemptuously. "Pack up your camp and move on!" He commanded imperiously. "This is our campsite now!"

"
Do you want to do this or shall I?" Damion asked Veren, who was still cursing vehemently under his breath.

Before the one eared man could answer, there was a sudden
flash and a loud thud, then the offending man abruptly tumbled from the saddle with an arrow lodged deep in his throat. Damion and Veren turned to see Raven, a fierce look in her eyes, reloading her bow again and releasing it in a single fluid motion.

They
were dumbstruck as four more of the mounted slavers fell dead from her onslaught. The last four tried to react, but they didn't stand a chance against her sudden ferociousness.

The men controlling the wagons tried to spur the oxen forward, but were quickly dispatched by
the fierce young woman, who rushed forward to the first caged wagon. She moved to the back of the wagon and tried to wrench open the door, but it was firmly locked shut. "Damion!" She cried, tears streaming from her eyes.

Damion shook off his amazement, then rushed over to her side. He took hold o
f the barred door with one hand and easily ripped it free from its hinges.

Raven rushed past him and into the cage. The chi
ldren recoiled from her in fear and many of them cried out in terror, but she began to quietly assure them that they were safe.

Veren
quickly searched the bodies and located the keys to their shackles, then tossed them through the bars to the young woman.