Free Omensent: Revealing the Dragon (The Dragon Lord Series) by Barry Gibbons

last letter with a bit of wax, then looked to Axel, who had been sitting quietly by the door. "Take these to the messengers and make sure they leave immediately. Time isn't on our side right now."
    "Of course, milord." The young man hurried off towards the stables.
    "I guess we'd better gather what we'll need while we're gone." Raven told the others. "It may be a while before we return."
    Sly sighed heavily, then stared mournfully at h is half empty tankard. "I'll go inform Damarius that we would like his company on this trip, then I'll go prepare the horses." He hastily drained the tankard's contents, then heaved himself up from his chair. "I have the feeling this is going to be a very interesting trip."

Chapter 5
     
     
    The golden robed man hurried into the dark chamber, his pulse racing. The God of the Underworld would not be pleased when He discovered what had transpired. The loss of their fleet would set them back months! All their careful planning had been destroyed in one fell swoop, leaving them unable to start the invasion the dread god had ordered them to launch.
    He quickly made his way to the center of the dark chamber, where a huge fire of shadowy black flames burned atop a stone altar. He dropped to his knees before the shadowy flames and pressed his face to the floor, then waited patiently for Etaz to acknowledge his presence.
    "Is everything prepared?" A raspy voice asked in an endlessly echoing voice.
    "The armies have been gathered as you commanded, Master, but I'm afraid there is a problem."
    "What kind of problem?" The raspy voice grew harsh, and the ground beneath hi m began to tremble.
    "A warrior appeared in our midst claiming to be the Dragon Lord," The man in the golden robe reported quickly, bracing himself for Etaz's wrath. "He had a dragon with him, which set the all the ships we had out in the harbor aflame. The entire fleet is lost!"
    The shadowy flames instantly doubled in size. "Our fleet has been destroyed?" The ground began to shake even more violently.
    "It has, Master," The man cringed fearfully. "There was nothing we could do to stop it. The warrior appeared out of nowhere and disrupted a performing of the sacred rite, then started asking questions to those assembled."
    "What kind of questions?"
    "He wanted to know if we were planning to go to war, and if so, who with." He hesitated. "He also wanted to know if it the rumors of you returning to the world were true. We tried to subdue him, but he was capable of wielding powerful magic, and somehow managed to slip away when the dragon attacked."
    The shadowy flames burned even higher, licking the stone ceiling of the temple, then slowly began to recede. "Draco ." The raspy voice whispered in a endlessly echoing voice. "Draco must have something to do with this. He must have sent His children out to disrupt my plans!"
    "Why would the Dragon God take an interest in what we are doing?"
    "Because He has always taken a great pleasure in seeing my plans fall apart around me." The raspy voice was dripping with contempt. "But this time the Dragon God will pay for His interference." The flames leapt towards the ceiling once more. "Gather all of our forces, and set plans to invade this Dragon Lord's homeland."
    "But, Master," The golden robed man cringed fearfully. "How will we move our men ? All of ships have been destroyed!"
    "Then build more!" The voice boomed deafeningly. "I want our men ready to move when the time is right!" The flames slowly died down, and the ground ceased to tremble. "We'll just see how much the Dragon God enjoys witnessing His Dragon Lord as he is bent backwards across one of my altars."
     
     
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    They all gathered at the stables the following morning at dawn to say their farewells. The castle servants had loaded the supplies and readied everyone's horses before they arrived, and Damion found his enormous shaggy grey warhorse waiting with an unhappy look in his intelligent eyes.
    "Storm bit another