A man of six foot two came to make way into the Grand Hall of the castle. It was Sir Nicolas Fairbey, a loyal servant of the King's Guard. The metal gauntlet upon his hand came to fist about the hilt of his sword, Daydream. His face rested hidden behind his armored mask, his disciplined eyes now looking onto his leader. "My King, the young Lady Adalaya has gone missing. My men have come to search every inch of stone this castle has to offer, yet, we have found no sign of her." Paraxious allowed his head to fall into his palms, the worry for his daughter now coming to strike his heart. He felt sick, terrified and most of all disappointed. "And my son? Raxseis? Has he been accounted for?" "Aye, Sir. He has been, in fact, he wishes to scout with us to find her." The wise old man stood from his throne, his limbs coming to tremble beneath his weight. "At least she has not come to run away with him." He though silently, even though he loved his children, the weight of the rumors of them had come to slither truth into his mind.
"How long has it been? Since she was last seen and where?" The Knight came to straighten himself. He knew the wrath of his commander may come to strike him this day. "Two, Your Grace. She was last seen at the funeral pyre of the rapist. According to her ladies, she sent them away to be granted privacy with the remains." "Two days?! My daughter has been missing for two days! Did you think it wise, to now tell me of her absence? For all, we know she could be dead! You know as well as all others of her current frame of mind!" He began to pace, his thoughts coming to swirl as harshly as a tornado within his skull. "Raxsies knows these lands better than I do. Take him with you, if she is alive she may have gotten quite far by now. I want her returned to me in no more than three days. See yourself to the Carpathio cells. Allow my son to at last mount our greatest and hidden weapon. He will be able to cover more ground that way. The rest of you may travel by horse and horse alone."
The tall man came to bow in silence to the command, he turned upon heel and headed for the chambers of the Prince. Paraxious took a seat, tears beginning to pool within his eyes. His hands moved to ball into his long thick strands and he screamed. The pain caused by his wife's death now coming to awaken within his breast. His wails came to release some of his stress, at last, he spoke. "Oh Cambria, loving goddess of protection, I beseech you, aid my men in returning my daughter home to me."
Raxsies sat at his desk writing harshly upon a long and gold trimmed parchment. Emerald sat at his feet in silence. The repetitive scratching noise of the annoyed her. She had lived her entire life as a slave, dealt with countless things she did not care for, she knew better than to draw attention to it. "M'Lord?" She came to speak as if a mouse, her tone carrying ribbons of pleading within it. "Yes?" Was all he said in return. She had hoped that he would have stopped writing, but instead, he continued, not caring to even look at her. "Your sister, will you leave me here alone when you...go to find her?" She dropped her gaze, her dainty hands moving to rub her now aching knees. "I may have too, our horses travel much faster with only one rider. You will slow me down. I assure you though, no harm shall befall you in my time away. Mind your manners, and do as told. If you can do that, I will return to you and speak to my father about becoming your new Master."
Her lower lip came to be imprisoned between her teeth. She was nervous, her current Master laid in chains an innocent man. What would become of her with no royal to stand in the way? "What if I do not wish to become your slave? There is so much more to life than serving men and their needs. You have come to show me that." At last, he set his quill down and sighed. Emerald gave a silent sigh of relief as he did. "You can never be more to me than that, I am an heir to our father's throne, our Kingdom would never accept you as Queen, they may not even accept you as my Mistress." She looked down once more nodding her head. "As you desire my Prince." She spoke in return.
A knock fell upon the door. The Prince rushed to it, seeing it opened with ease. There stood Sir Nicolas, bowing in respect. "has he given me the permission to join the searching party?" The man came to nod. "Indeed, he also spoke of the cells, he wishes you to take flight rather than tread upon slowing soil." Raxseis turned to face Emerald. "Come girl, two more eyes will do us good." A beam of light seemed to grow within the young woman, her face now gleaming with happiness. "Yes, my Prince at once. Should I gather anything for our trip?" "No simply wear what already adorns you, I will warn, your thighs may be rubbed raw by the time we return."
The three came to make way down into the cells, the pathway was wet and more often than not they found their faces touched by the hanging moss above them. The sound of iron chains could be heard moving across the stone, a pattern of soft breathing now coming to visit their ears. "Where are we going? What is down here?" Emerald came to question, there was a certain fear now surging through her veins. Her once smooth copper skin turned to gooseflesh and she shivered. The Prince came to smirk darkly, as they came to round the bend of the corridor. "A dragon." He spoke looking to her. He took note of the small bumps that now littered her frame and came to give voice once more. "Your body already knew that. It is why every fiber of your being is telling you to run. What you feel is dragon fear. Have no worries though, this one has been tamed for over two hundred years."
The tall Knight came to hand off a long whip to his Prince, the hilt, and endpoint made of pure metal. "Fly safely My Lord, it has been some time since this wretched beast has been allowed to take to the wind." With that he vanished, moving to gather with the rest of his men. Emerald came to walk forward before her keeper, her curiosity now beginning to bloom. There behind iron bars nearly as tall as the castle storm gates slumbered a dragon. It rested coiled up like a snake, it's tail wrapped around its nose. It was platinum in color, but its captivity had come to dull its scales. At full length, it stood over one thousand feet long and stood over seventy feet at the shoulders. "It is beautiful, I have never seen a dragon in all my life. My Master told me that they did no exist. That they and their tales were only humanities way of keeping themselves interested in the unknown."
Plucking a ring of keys from the wall nearest him, Raxseis saw the lock unlatched and stepped inside. "Your Master was a foolish and blind man. I am sure he came to choke upon his words when he was consumed by this very dragon. It is not the only that we hold in our possession either." He moved forward to unlock the large bolts that secured the flight path before the iron gates. With a steady pace, the Prince saw the gate fully opened leaving nothing but a small road and a sheer drop to be seen. The slave came to tremble, memories of the years of abuse from the old man surging through her mind. Half of her felt remorse, another life had been lost in innocence. The other half, however, felt pride, Raxseis had once more shown his admiration for her.
"Come, it is time we mount and begin this search. I am eager to see my sister returned to our father. I fear he may kill over if she is not found, or worse, found dead. He moved to take her hand, leading her up the long and spread wing of the beast. They came to tread carefully over the translucent leather of the bull's wings. After what seemed like forever to the both, they came to sit upon its back. Raxseis handed her off a thick lock of its mane. "Hold tight onto this, and do not look down if heights tend to unsettle you." She did as told and suddenly the fear crept in once more. Her throat felt tight, it was hard to swallow. Her world had just come to be expanded and now she set atop a giant mythical, no saddle or reins to secure her placement atop it.
To the Prince it was second nature, he took hold of the ivory mane of the Wyvern, his grasp allowing the whip to unravel. "Sia'to excra ven." He spoke in the mother tongue of Halotia. With his words, the whip came to set fire, its serrated hooks now coming to thrash against the softened scales of his mount. The dragon roared awake, the pitch of his vocals summoning rocks and dust alike to fall from above them. The sound of pain came to radiate from within its breast, its nostrils coming to smoke and curl fog above its small cage. It stood hesitantly rising to its hind legs to steady itself. Emerald came to whimper at its cries, she could nearly feel its pain. "Must you beat it? Does it not trust you enough to heed your command?" She said weakly as the bull came to walk into a run. "They heed only the command of pain and white magic. Now hold on it won't be long now."
The silver serpent came to breach its prison, its wings now fully expanded to a length of eight thousand feet. The charge was a lumbering and uncomfortable one, its heavy mass leaving small craters in the soil beneath its stride. The air current came to slice around its wings and suddenly it leaped towards the sky. With every beat his wings made, the grasses and trees below came to bend and kneel to their will. The air was cool and crisp so high in the clouds, it was then that Emerald lost all fear. She knew the feeling of a boot at her throat and knew that somewhere, somehow, she would free both herself and the fabled creature.
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