The King In Bronze

I awoke to a an unfamiliar, yet familiar ceiling. I recognized the shape of its arched peaks and its decorations, but it was different from how I remembered it. The ceiling I remembered as bright and exuded royalty had gone dark, now only lit by the faint dancing of torch light. I sat up to find myself staring down long and grand corridors aligned with large crumbled pillars and rusted decorations. The halls were dim, but they went on far and high, seemingly for miles, and the ceiling being about ten stories above us. I could see large chambers at the ends of some of these halls, but they were so big and far that the distance made them hazy. Just up ahead, the aftermath of the dragons roar hung from the arches above. The spike jutted from the ceiling, nearly reaching half the entire height of the corridor from above. Black threads hung from it like vines and its texture looked like dark decaying skin with rashes and infection.

Mag had also woken up from the cold and dusty floor, her eyes with heavy bags. It was clear that she had not slept at all. I tapped her shoulder, startling her from her quietness.

"Oh... Hast thou slept well?" She asked gently.

"Fine, but you don't look so good." I said.

"Ah, I didn't sleep a wink." She said.

"Is it about Fesha?" I asked knowing I should tread lightly.

"Somewhat, but something else had been bothering me the whole night. I felt as if someone was watching me." She said.

I got chills down my spine, but these halls were massive, so much so that there was fog in the distance. She could have imagined it in her insomnia, so I did not dwell on it further.

"Let's just forget about that and eat yeah?" I said.

She smiled gently and began taking her stuff from her bag. As she set up her little apparatus for starting a fire until she suddenly froze up. I looked at her and she reminded me of something she had told me a bit ago.

"Ah, I almost forgot, the miracles of mine god are no longer mine to cast. If only there was another way we could've triumphed over Fesha, but alas, I have said the name of my god, for I know her frightening strength." She spoke with reverence.

I thought quick to think of a solution. "Don't worry, we'll... we'll use the torches, there's dozens we can choose from."

With that, we began cooking the last of our food supply on the sharp, upward facing prongs of a torch's design. The flames in these torches had no fuel, but instead were floating between several prongs, prongs that we skewered our meat on to cook.

After our meal, we began wandering the halls, aiming for the first chamber in our sights. We walked around the giant hole that was once covered by the false sky, looking down to see the dimly lit bodies of Fesha and the dragon in the field. The sky we had once had guiding us is gone. It was impossible to keep track of time now that the sky was no longer our light. Still, we persist without our guide from now on. 

The walls at each side of us had large archways that led into more maze like corridors, all lit by the strange branch like torches. The flickering light showed the cracks and craters that covered the walls. We walked around large piles of rubble, presumably chunks from the walls, in our trip to the far chamber ahead. As we approached, the fog began to clear and the size and details of the room became much more apparent. The chamber was large, much taller and wider than the corridor we had just walked through. The room was circular with five thick pillars that stood along the perimeter of an inner circle, creating a large pentagon. The pillars were decorated lavishly with golden bases and carved inscriptions in the marble, the details now being dulled and decayed.

As we walked further in, a giant ball of light formed high near the ceiling at the very center of the room. The light illuminated the space around it, providing a gentle glow to the area. When I looked to Mag, she continued walking, seemingly unfazed. Perhaps this was just another strange miracle, but Mag was too entranced by what was ahead to explain it. In the furthest pillar from us, an ornate throne was embedded into it, its edges and armrest coated with gold and silver strands. A tall figure sat atop the dusty throne, its dull bronze shown in the light. I noticed a hint of green, white, and red that had divided the figure's stomach in half horizontally. The ground surrounding the throne had patches of grass and flowers, the same ones that were in Fesha's field. The patch of color I had seen on the figure's stomach was that of Vinnuluses and red flowers growing from a large open cut that split the figure's bronze armor. The trims of the armor were dull and the white cloth that draped through it was heavily stained in dark splotches. The figure's face was skeletal and his skin dark from a long time of decay. Atop its head was a dirty crown of twisted gold and silver adorned with a dull red jewel. The jewel however, was not a jewel, but was an old dragon scale.

I stared upon the figure, his story told from just this one encounter with him, even after his death. He was without a doubt the king of Caelum and the same man in bronze armor that was in my dream last night. I looked over to Mag who stayed silent for some time. Tears flowed down her cheeks gently as she stared in silence.

"I remembered something. Fesha's gardens were always so beautiful. She'd always nurture flowers to full bloom, and we'd play in them all day as children... To think that gentle girl could do this to her own father." Mag spoke while still looking at the fauna that took over the king.

"Magdeline..." I spoke without thinking, realizing that her name had finally come back to me.