Omensent: Rise of the Shadow Dragons (40 page)

"It could be worse, I guess."

The children stared at Snowfeather in wonder as he settled down to enjoy his meal. Susa walked up to watch him closer, but he hooted a warning to Damion.
"Please ask the youngling not to get too close. Something about her makes me uncomfortable. I don't like the way she's staring at me!"

"He asks that you not get too close." He told
the little girl.

"What is it?" Sh
e watched the huge owl with a captivated expression.

"His name is Snowfeather. He is a snow owl.
He's my friend."

She didn't reply, but merely continued watch in fascination.

The girls all seemed far more relaxed in his presence now that he had entertained them, but he still decided to retreat back into the fire pit. It wasn't long before Raven slipped away to join him under the stars.

"You did good with those children." She com
plimented him in a soft voice. "Susa seems to have taken quite a shine to you!"

"She's a tough little one, that's for sure
!"

"So
, we
are
going to send them to await us at Muddy's place until we return, correct?"

The huge warrior
nodded. "We'll stay here with them for another day or two so they can build up their strength, then we'll send them back to the escarpment while we continue on." He looked up at the stars. His eyes, as always, was automatically drawn to the constellation of the serpent god Draco, which glittered especially bright in the night sky. "We still have a long way to go before we can return home."

"Thank you for helping these girls." She whispered, drawing a bit closer. "I shudder to think what would have
happened to them if we hadn't encountered them!"

Damion snorted. "I don't think there was much 'we' that had to do with freeing those children.
You
had them all sprouting arrows before Veren or I could even react!"

She held up her hands helplessly.
"I just couldn't stand seeing those poor girls in shackles! I couldn't help myself! I was moving before I even realized what I was doing!" Her voice was fierce. "I've seen slavers and their slaves many times before and it never bothered me, but seeing those children..."

"I
understand." He assured her. "Everyone has always told me that I have a problem with reacting before thinking. Besides," He laughed. "if you hadn't killed those slavers,
I
would have!"

"I still wanted to thank you." She took his huge hand in hers. "You have gone out of your
way to make sure that they were warm and fed, and even got them to laugh. That's amazing, considering everything they have been through!" Her face grew quizzical. "But what will happen once this is all over? Where will we take them?"

"Maybe we can find homes for them along the way."

She gave him exasperated look. "They're not puppies, Damion! They're children! We can't just give them away to strangers!"

Damion laughed. "Of course
not! I only meant maybe we can find their families, or perhaps an orphanage that could take them in. If nothing else, we can take them with us back to Sevria. We can be sure that they are safe then."

Ra
ven let out a squeal of delight and pulled him down to give him a long lingering kiss, then turned and quietly returned to join the children at the fire side.

"Why do I have the sudden feeling that I just made a
huge
mistake?" He asked aloud. He shook his head helplessly, then quietly returned to monitor the oxen that were sizzling over the spit.

They remained
encamped for two more days while the women and children recovered, then once they were strong enough to continue, they began to prepare to part ways.

"
Continue west until you reach the upper village of the escarpment." Raven instructed Uuna, who sat with her sister at the head of the largest wagon, which was now packed with supplies and casks of water, not to mention the six little girls who were hidden among the covered goods. "Once you reach Muddy's place, tell him that we sent you and give him this." She handed the old woman Veren's heavy pouch of gold.

"And if any of the tribesmen give you problems, tell them that you are under the protection of the Sorcerer of the South!" Veren laughed. "I promise you that they will trip over themselves to lend you aid!"

Uuna took hold of her hand. "Thank you, milady!" She looked to the others. "Thank you all! We had lost hope of ever escaping this nightmare!"

"Just keep the girls and yourselves safe." The young woman told her with a teary smile. "With a little luck, we'll meet you
at the dwarf's place in a few weeks." She stepped back and watched as the oxen began to plod along at a walk, slowly pulling the wagon up the road and out of sight.

They finished their own packing, then st
arted back off towards the east with Snowfeather ghosting through the darkness overhead to scout the area.

They had only made it a half mile or so before the huge owl alerted Damion that they were being followed.
"There's something following us!"
He hooted in warning.
"It's moving fast, but starting to fall behind!"

"What is it?"

"I'm not sure, but it's much smaller than a shadowspawn."

Dami
on slowed Storm to a walk and informed the others.

"If it's already falling behind, why bother to stop?"
Veren asked with a shrug. "It'll eventually lose our trail."

Raven shook her head. "It's best not to leave something to sneak up from behind."

"I agree." Damion looked around for a moment. "Let's lead the horses behind that rocky outcrop and wait for it to catch up. I'd rather not have anything following us."

They concealed the horses, then dismounted and waited silently in the darkness for whatever was tracking them. It wasn't long before they heard the sounds of footsteps pounding up the road.

"Here it comes!"
Snowfeather warned, nearly invisible as he soared high overhead.

Damion waited until the last second, then
drew the Dragon Sword and stepped out into the center of the road, blocking the approaching shadow in its tracks.

The shadow tried to back away, but found its way blocked by
Veren, who had circled around to block any retreat. "Okay, okay!" A squeaky voice piped suddenly as the shadow threw its arms up in submission. "Don't go all barbarian on me or anything!"

"Susa?"
Damion exclaimed in shock. "You're supposed to be with the other girls! What are you doing following us?"

The little girl stepped from the shadows
into the moonlight. "I'm not going with them. I'm going with you." She said this as if the decision had already been made.

Raven appeared from the darkness. "Do you know how much danger you would have been in if we hadn't found you?"

Susa shrugged this off dismissively. "I was doing fine until I started getting winded and falling behind." She made a sour face. "I was hoping to follow you all night, then show up after you had made camp for the day. I didn't want you to try and chase down the wagon and dump me off with them again."

"Don't you want to stay with the other girls?"

She scowled. "I don't know any of those other girls. My only sister was taken away over a year ago. Sold to the salt mines, I'd guess." She looked up at Damion. "The point is, I'm
not
going to go with them. I'm going to go with you."

Damion
glared down at her. "You can't possibly believe that we are going to take you with us? We're trying to track down an entire brood of dragons right now. Unless you feel like being a quick bite for a shadow beast, you
really
don't want to come with us."

"I don't care!" The girl said in a unwavering voice. "If you take me back to the others, I'll just run away and come find you again!"

"She's a fiery little one, isn't she!" Veren said, joining them as they stared at the determined little girl, who continued to stare back at them defiantly.

"Why is it every woman th
at comes into my life has
so
damn stubborn?" Damion asked plaintively. "Just once I would like to meet a nice submissive girl that knows when to take good advice!"

"Hey!"
Both Susa and Raven exclaimed indignantly.

"I stand by my statement!" He said with a smile, although he prudently moved out of reach.

Veren laughed a gruff laugh. "You should really learn to keep from voicing those typing statements aloud." He gestured to Susa. "What are we going to do with her?"

Damion looked at the others helplessly. "Any suggestions?"

"Yes." Susa piped up helpfully. "Quit arguing about it, accept the fact that I'm going with you, and let's get moving!"

"Any
other
suggestions?"

Neither
Veren or Raven had any ideas. "It sounds like we haven't much choice in the matter." The one eared man said finally, a rather resigned note in his voice.

Damion stared down at Susa with an exasperated look. "You're really beginning to push your luck, little one
!"

"I'm not worried." She said confidently. "You'll keep me safe." She looked around. "Should I ride with one of you, or should I ride on one of the pack horses?" She asked curiously.

"This can't be a good idea." Damion muttered, turning to make his way back to the horses.

They quickly
redistributed the supplies among the other horses to free up one of the smaller ponies, then they continued to press eastward, Susa riding happily next to Damion, a look of intense interest on her serious little face.

It wasn't long before the little girl began to ask questions. "
So, if you're not a giant, what exactly are you?" She asked abruptly, staring up at him with a penetrating gaze. "You're obviously not a human, at least not completely."

"Not much for manners, are we?" He grumbled sarcastically. "If you must know,
my mother was attacked by dragonspawn while I was still in her womb. The attack left its mark upon me."

"Is that why you can use magic?"

He nodded. "I'm told that the blood of dragons flow through my veins." He snorted. "It sounded ridiculous to me at first, but the proof seems to be there."

"And are you the one we hear the stories about, the warrior
who freed the scarlet dragons?"

"Yes."

The girl's expression finally grew impressed. "They say you can still control them. Is that true?"

Damion's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You are remarkabl
y well informed for a slave girl."

Susa shrugged. "Slaves have ears too.
We hear what our masters are involved in, then sometimes share it amongst one another. Several months back I heard another slave speaking about a warrior who released the dragons back into the world. The slave said that he was using the dragons to try and conquer the world!" She looked up at him expectantly. "Well? Are you?"

"Don't be
ridiculous! I have enough problems without trying to run the world! The world can take care of itself well enough on its own!"

"But is it true that you still control the dragons?"