Omensent: Wrath of a Dragon God (19 page)

Raven let out a whimper, and tears began to stream down her cheek
s.

The
old man glanced at Damion, his face suddenly turning deathly pale, and he started shifting back and forth uncomfortably.

"There's something else, isn't there?" Damion asked, noticing the man's sudden nervousness. "You've left something out, haven't you?"

Garret gulped audibly, then nodded. "Right before those two boarded the ship, the bald man came into this shack and gave me a message." He looked at Damion. "The message was for you, milord."

An icy shiver of fear ran down Damion's spine.
"And what was this message?"

"The man told me that you would eventually arrive here,
" The old sailor reluctantly told him, his expression one of a man who knew he was condemning himself to a gruesome fate. "and I was to tell you to return to your home. He told me to tell you
not
to follow, lest your daughter's life be forfeit."

A cold knot began to form in the pit of Damion's stomach, followed quickly by a nearly overwhelming sense of
fury. It took every ounce of self control that he possessed not to explode into a rage. After several moments of struggle, he finally asked, "Did he say anything else?"

The old man sh
ook his head. "He left without another word. I could hear as they cast the lines and sailed away, leaving me here to die."

"
Do you have any idea where they were heading?" Sly asked the old sailor, who had laid his head back against the wall of the shack wearily.

"Back towards the east, I would imagine." Garret croaked in a tired voice. "That was what they hired
us to do anyways."

"What are we going to do?" Raven cried
, staring up at Damion with fearful eyes. "We must get my baby back from those monsters!"

"And we will."
Damion promised his frightened young wife. "It doesn't matter where they flee, we will follow them and get our daughter back!"

"What's the plan?" Sly asked with a worried expression.

"We'll head out for Sierra at first light." Damion's expression was one of tightly controlled fury. "We'll find a ship willing to take us to the eastern continent, then pick up our search from there."

"What if they d
idn't head east?" Raven asked in terror. "They could be heading north, or west!"

Damarius shook his head. "That's very doubtful
. If the woman
was
a highland witch, the only place she would go is to the highlands. Although they're not well known, enough people have heard of the highland witches to recognize them if they saw one, and then everyone would know that there was a witch loose in the area. Magic users are still viewed as evil in most lands, so there are very few places that she would not be in immediate danger if spotted. The only place where she would be safe is in her homeland."

"Then that's where we're going." Damion decided, his expression like granite. "We'll head out at first light
, and find a ship in Sierra that's bound for the eastern continent." His eyes flashed with suppressed rage. "And once we're there, we'll track down this witch, even if we have to rip the entire continent apart to find her!"

"What about the witch's warning, milord?" The old
sailor asked. "The bald man swore that they would kill the child if you followed!"

"They wouldn't have gone through
all the trouble of kidnapping her, just to murder her." Damarius pointed out reasonably. "They targeted Leia for a reason." He turned to Damion. "Didn't Slither say that the dragon god, Draco, was planning on retaking this world
through
you?"

Damion frowned. "
You think that the dragon god may be behind all of this?"

The old wizard shrugged. "I wouldn't rule it out
. These are momentous times in which we are living. I wouldn't be surprised if a god, or several gods, were involved."

"That could be a problem." Sly grunted worriedly. "The gods deal harshly with those who ignore their commands."

"I don't care what the gods command!" The huge warrior snarled angrily. "I will destroy everything that they put it my way if it means we get our daughter back!" He shook his head. "I need some air." He stood, and quickly made his way from the shack.

Once outside, Damion slowly wandered towards the crudely constructed dock that reached out into
the hidden cove. He hadn't felt this helpless since his father had been killed. He had desperately been trying to stay composed to keep Raven from completely losing her cool, but the thought of his daughter at the mercy of these murderers was nearly more than he could bear.

"
I haven't seen you look this angry since your father was murdered."
Snowfeather hooted, gliding down from the darkness above, and settling gently on Damion's shoulder.

"Where have you been?"
The huge warrior asked aloud. "I haven't seen you in two days."

"That shadowspawn kept looking at me like I was a light snack, so I thought it prudent to keep out of its reach."

"Slither wouldn't try to eat you." Damion chuckled despite his anger. "He knows that you are my familiar, and one of my closest friends."

"I hope so
,"
The huge owl chirped dubiously, rearranging several of his feathers that had been dislodged by a gust of wind.
"but I think I'll continue to stay well out of his reach, just in case."

"Did you see anything unusual in the area?"

"Everything seems quiet for now. There's a storm brewing out at sea that will probably make landfall sometime tomorrow, but otherwise, there's nothing unusual happening."

"Did you happen to fly anywhere near Sierra?"

"Of course. It's only a few miles to the east."

"Good. We'll
be heading there first thing in the morning. We're hoping to be able to find a ship heading east that will be willing to take on a few more passengers."

"And if
you
don't
find a ship?"

"Then we'll take one."

Chapter 9

They arrived at the port city of Sierra around midday the following day
, after bidding farewell to Garret, who, to everyone's surprise, announced he would not be returning to the eastern shores.

"You're not returning home?" Damarius
asked in surprise as they prepared to set off.

The old man shook his head. "The sea was my home, and since that witch and her puppet
was heading east, I think I'll just stay here." He sighed. "It's just as well. I'm getting rather old, and settling down in some remote little cabin at the edge of the sea seems rather appealing after recent events." He gazed out over the clear blue water of the cove, his eyes thoughtful. "When that witch took my sight, I thought my life was at an end. Now that I can see again, I think I'll remain here and enjoy my remaining years." He snorted. "Besides, I'm not going anywhere near that witch again. If she went east, I'll remain here in the south. The gods willing, I'll never cross paths with that devil woman again!"

They
finished saying their farewells, then set off for the nearby port city of Sierra. The last Damion saw of the sailor, he was already hard at work repairing the rickety shack the old man now called home.

They reached the outskirts of the city around midday
and immediately set off through town, drawing the usual amount of attention that was commonplace wherever Damion went.

"Where should we hea
d first?" Sly asked curiously.

"The docks." Damion grunted, staring
out at the dark clouds that were churning out at sea. "That's where the ships are."

They reached the docks an hour or so later, just as
the storm made landfall and released its fury upon the port city.

"It may take us a while to locate a ship willing to carry us east." Damarius commented
, mopping the rain from his face. "These docks go on forever."

"Let's check out that tavern." Damion pointed to a nearby building
that had been constructed from stone collected on the beach. "A lot of the ship captains gather there while they're in port."

They checked their horses at a nearby livery, then started toward the building.

A loud hoot, and the sudden flapping of wings drew their attention to Snowfeather, who was descending from the rain drenched skies uncontrollably.
"Coming in hot!"
The huge owl squawked, still flapping his wings in a futile effort to stay aloft.

"I've got you!" Damion dove forward, catc
hing the huge owl before he struck the ground, landing face first in a mud puddle.

"Thanks for that!"
Snowfeather hooted with a sigh of relief, hopping onto a clean patch on Damion's back.
"The rain made my feathers too soggy to fly. They're too soft for this type of weather!"

Damion slowly hauled himself to his feet, and turned to his snickering companions, who all suddenly found somewhere else to be looking, then to
a number of sailors who stood nearby laughing in glee at his misfortune. "If I hear one more laugh, I swear I'll stroll that person straight out to sea and hold their head under the water until the bubbles stop."

The drunken sailors all jumped fearfully, then hurried off, eager to get away
from the enormous warrior.

"You're such a bully
!" Raven laughed, holding out her arm to give Snowfeather a place to perch while Damion attempted to strip off the worst of the smelly muck.

Once
the rain washed off the worst of the mud, they hurried inside of the crowded tavern, then stopped to scan the room for an open table.

"There's one." Damion started to make his way across the room, ignoring the sudden silence that had fallen upon the crowd.

"Damion?" A gruff voice suddenly broke the silence.

Damion followed the voice to a table in the corner of the room, where
a short man with long braided hair, and a meticulously groomed beard sat, an enormous smile on his face. "Captain Harper?" He asked in surprise. "Is that you?"