Castle Pale Crown

The dragons followed us as we made our way towards a small outpost sitting in the shadow of the mountain.

Their footsteps thudded around us.

In the yard stood large, wheel-less baskets like carriages, fitted with handles.

“I assume we ask Revian to carry us up?” I asked.

“I really do hope so.” Victor looked back towards the dark blue dragon. “What do you say, pal? Willing to take us on a flight?”

The dragon exhaled, and tossed Victor’s hair. “Hey, hey, hey!” He hurriedly tried to fix it and I laughed.

“I think that’s a yes.”

We dismounted our horses and got into the carriages. “You were right, these are more like carriages.”

“Told you.” He scoffed. “Better than dragon wagon.”

I tried to focus on his mock insult, but both of us were failing to hide our anxiety at the upcoming flight.

Soon we felt wind rattle the carriage and then with a great lurch, we grasped the handles on the side and screamed.

“Oh gods!” I yelled.

“Revian, be gentle!” Victor screamed, several octaves higher than his normal voice.

“Ha! What did you saa-AAAY!” With another lurch I was screaming with the same falsetto.

I closed my eyes, and thought I heard Revian growl in amusement.

Once my fear subsided, I opened my eyes to the window screen, and the sight stole my breath.

We soared high above the world, circling the mountain and granting me a breathtaking view from above.

Victor had already gotten over his fear and was looking out my window. We shared a smile and I wanted to thank him for giving me the opportunity to see this. But I had a feeling we were still both scared for our lives.

The idea of Revian accidentally letting go of us, and plummeting hundreds of feet to our deaths kept my tongue against the roof of my mouth. So we watched with bated breath at the grand sights.

When we began approaching the height of the clouds, I feared to look back towards the ground.

Over at Victor’s side, I saw the white walls shine the sunlight back into our eyes, and soon we were greeted by the sight of the abandoned Castle Pale Crown.

Revian took us to the landing pad where several other dragons were already there lying in wait.

It took Revian a few moments to land with us in tow, the carriage giving a slight jolt as it touched the ground.

I unlocked the door and stepped out into the bright courtyard. The chill nipped me to the bone and I wrapped my arms about myself.

Frost and snow coated the surface of everything, making the castle live up to its name. A white fortress sitting atop a black mountain.

For some reason, I felt at home.

“Thank you Revian!” Victor said, as he stumbled out of the carriage, his knees shaking.

I looked up to my brother and smiled, “Thank you!”

The dragon purred his assent and looked up at the palace.

I followed his gaze, taking in the extravagant palace as it rose before us, piercing the clouds. Beautiful white towers rose, built with intricately carved stone.

When thinking of the lair of the mighty Drakan’thar I expected him to live in a castle of dark stone in a moody dark atmosphere. But now I realized it was like the white crown atop the dark mountain. To have a black dragon rule atop that crown could make for just a striking sight.

On one section of the palace, most of the dragons were laying atop it.

“Let’s get going.” Victor patted me on the back and I got moving as I picked up my bags.

Surrounding the palace were barracks and training yards. I noticed the bodies of dead dragons and humans in armor. Lancers most likely.

The main path leading to the entry was surrounded by barren patches of soil and dead plants. I felt sad that I couldn’t see the place in its prime.

Then I turned to Victor. “How did they manage to plant things up here?”

“Magic.” Victor pointed to posts driven into the ground. They flanked ever pathway. “The entire place used to provide shelter from the cold and snow. “Without maintenance, the plants couldn’t be maintained, and we couldn’t receive a warm welcome.”

“Do you always try to make a pun?” I said while shivering.

“Well forgive my wording sense! But I shouldn’t be scrutinized for simply saying something related to our situation!”

“You know what, fair! I really would have enjoyed a warm welcome.”

“Maybe Revian can oblige you!” Then he stopped and looked at me with a grimace. “That was very insensitive.”

“Part of me actually welcomed that idea! I didn’t think much about it till you reminded me!” I grinned. “Let’s get the hell out of this cold!”

He sighed in relief as we hurried to the entrance.

We found the front doors open ajar, then we turned to Revian. “We’ll see you later!” I said, and he growled.

We entered and found an opulent marble interior. However, it was extremely eerie as we roamed the abandoned structure.

While still cold, the wind wasn’t cutting at my face.

The glass windows and shattered walls allowed for sunlight to shine through. We found more dead lancers and now a new type of corpse. These ones wore armor but their skeletons had horns and tails.

“The dragons had human forms?!”

“Only the most powerful and ancient dragons could change forms. This only applied to divine dragons though, not royal dragons, sorry.”

I shook my head. “I wouldn’t be scared of my curse if that were the case. Were the divine dragons strong in this form?”

“They were. In that form they still had inhuman strength and the ability to breath fire. This building is made of stellas stone. “To carve the stone, they had used their fire to melt and shape it into the palace.” He looked at the shattered floor and ceiling that was left in a prior battle’s wake. “The damage should tell you just how strong both the divine dragons and your parents’ cohort were.”

The hallways were damaged in the battle. Walls to rooms were blasted through, and the positions of the dead dragon warriors were mangled. I began to notice that there were far more dead dragons than lancers.

Further along our walk, I began to notice some bodies wearing simple robes and around their ankles were golden anklets, with red gems embedded on them. 

"Are these servants?" 

"Slaves to be exact." Victor shook his head. "Those anklets allowed Drakan'thar to have complete control over them. He enslaved men and women from every race he could come across. A sick collection or a display of power, either reason is sickening." 

I could only nod and thank the gods that he was dead. 

Soon we stumbled upon a long hall way. It led to a room with a large door. Upon approaching it, we saw that a stone tablet with a hand indentation. The fingers were longer and ended in points, indicating a clawed hand belonged there.

Victor placed his palm on the indentation.

“Is this the throne room?” I asked.

“No. Seeing that it’s locked with a peculiar door, it might be the treasury.” Victor gave me a greedy smile and I couldn’t help but return it. “If we can open this, we might come out of this filthy rich.”

I felt the greed rise in me. “How do we get into it?”

“We’ll figure that out later. Right now, we need to focus on breaking your curse.”

The halls were bathed in sunlight but the destroyed walls had let back in the cold and snow covered much of the ground.

Up ahead I noticed a pair of double doors thrown open to the side. As we walked closer, I smelled a musty old smell. From my reading, a word came to mind. Miasma.

We looked inside and found a massive dining room.

Inside were empty suits of armor and thrown about luxurious furniture.

As I approached the armor, I noticed charred remains in the suits. Goosebumps rose on my flesh.

“This is it, isn’t it?” My chest felt heavy. “Where the Ashborn Lancers feasted on the eggs.”

“Looks like it.”

I stepped around carefully as to not disturb the bodies. I noticed golden chalices in their hands. 

Then at the head table, I saw a lancer pressed against the tall chair where Drakan’thar must have ate.

His armor was red and dark grey, and embossed with fire.

“Galebrook.” The statue came to mind, and I thought it a poor imitation of his fearsome armor.

After looking around, we left and ventured further in the palace.

We climbed some stairs and found the royal chambers. Then close by was another room broken into. On the large door frame were baby dragons carved in and paintings of dragon families.

Inside was a trashed room, with nests empty or destroyed.

In the corner, was a woman in a light blue dress that shone like crystals. She wore a necklace of large diamonds and her fingers were adorned with jewelry.

“Elori’sha.” I could only look at her with pity. After seeing the empty nests how could I feel anything but sympathy.

To my surprise, I felt like getting closer to her. I wanted to lay by her side.

“The gems look like they can fetch a really high price, but what do you think?”

“I think we should just leave her be. Plus I don’t think the others would like that.” Just as I spoke, I heard movement above us.

“So this is why they perch here.” Victor looked at the body.

“I didn’t get to tell you earlier but despite how eerie this place is, I feel like I could stay here forever.” I shook my head. “Will my curse progress faster while we are here?”

“Well how are you feeling?”

“Besides the longing to just stay here. Nothing.”

“Then you should be fine.” Victor turned to the dead queen. “Your majesty.” He bowed before turning away.

A pang of yearning went through my heart. I wanted my mother. Reminding myself my real mother sacrificed her life for mine, I tore my gaze away and followed Victor.

On the far end of the nursery, a wall of glass looked out to a garden covered by a massive glass dome.

The dead trees and plants made me long to have seen this place in its heyday. What may have been a garden of beautiful exotic plants was now just a collection of shriveled-up life.

“What are you doing in here?”

“Following a lead.”

We followed the garden path and in the far end was a pond. He approached the stone lip of the pond. It was filled with stagnant water but within the water were dim glowing forms swimming around.

“Are those fish?”

“Lunar Dragon Carp. They are rare fish from Xiantian.”

“All the way from there?”

“One thing that rich people do to show off their wealth, is keeping things alive in places where they couldn’t. “This garden was likely filled with countless plants not native to a snow-peaked mountain.” Victor smiled to himself but began to frown when he couldn’t find what he wanted in the water.

He then began to take off his boots and roll up his pant legs.

“Wait, are you actually going to hop in there?!”

“Like I said, I’m following a lead.”

I watched as Victor waded out and bent down to pick something up.

When he stood back up, my mouth opened upon seeing it.