Omensent: Rise Of The Shadow Dragons by Barry Gibbons

Author:Barry Gibbons [Gibbons, Barry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2012-02-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

They arrived at the shanty town at the base of the escarpment as dawn broke two days later. The town consisted of several dozen rude huts built from dung and sand, and was inhabited by several hundred sun scorched people dressed in long flowing robes that were caked with grime. Most of the people ignored them as they slowly passed through the town, seeming not to care as they moved to finish their tasks quickly in an effort to avoid the coming heat.

They had nearly reach one of the ramps that led up the face of the escarpment, when several men approached dressed in filthy robes that were stained and encrusted with wine and bits of old food, overlaid with a layer of fine sand. They carried an assortment of old rusty weapons that looked as though they had been scavenged from a junk heap, and many of the men were behaving oddly, wandering behind the others with blank expressions while mumbling incoherently.

"You will go no further!" One of the men bellowed arrogantly. He was a large man, standing nearly seven feet, with huge hairy arms and long greasy hair which hung in long braids that reached the center of his back. He had the swagger of a bully that had never been on the receiving end of a good beating. "You cannot continue without paying tribute!"

"Let me handle this." Raven murmured to Veren and Damion in a quiet voice. "And who are to demand tribute?" She asked the man in a haughty voice.

"I am Ver, son of Ler, chief of the Sun Lizard tribe!" He sneered arrogantly. "It is my tribe that control these landings, and no one passes without paying tribute!"

"And what amount will suffice?"

The burly man chuckled, revealing a mouth full of rotten teeth as he smiled. "Five hundred gold," His eyes suddenly locked on Storm, who was pawing at the ground aggressively. "and that stallion!"

The young woman held up her hand as Damion snorted in contempt, then pulled out a heavy pouch of gold. "I will give you one hundred silver pieces to leave us in peace." She offered to the man, who was still staring at Storm greedily.

"And the stallion," Ver demanded firmly. "or your shall go no further!"

"It'll never happen." Damion told him in a flat voice. "I'd suggest you take her offer."

"You shall not pass without giving me that stallion as tribute!"

"How about a wager?" Veren asked suddenly. "We'll put the stallion up against our guaranteed safe passage up the escarpment. You and Damion can fight until there is a winner."

The man looked at Damion, who was slouched over in the saddle, partially concealing his size, and quickly dismissed him as a threat. "Bare handed! No armor! No weapons! I'll beat this... freak senseless, and then take my horse when I finally tire of knocking him around!"

"Done!" The one eared man agreed. He looked to Damion with a smirk, which quickly faded away as he noticed the young warrior's expression. "I figured it would the quickest route to dealing with this.

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