Page 43 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
Time for the third and final goal of the day.
The castle had many stone parapets, but only a few of them peeked out beyond the dome and would give me access to the dragon. Understandably, those few spots were heavily guarded, and most people were smart enough to give them a wide berth.
I was smart, but certainly not most people.
The south parapet was a crumbling mess. According to Vession, the king and queen allowed it to fall into disrepair simply because of how often the dragon was there. The stone walkway jutted out just past the dome, but the opening was too small for the dragon to get through. As a result, the dragon simply beat at it or flamed it in frustration until giving up and flying away.
It was the perfect place for me.
Zariah had insisted on me visiting him. I could think of no better way to cement my influence on the queen than by having it reported back to her I had an alliance with her precious dragon.
With proof that my ritual to fend against heat had worked, I was feeling invincible. What couldn’t I do?
I climbed the spiral staircases quickly, not even caring as I got out of breath. I emerged onto the stone parapet, the edge of the dome just above me. Crossing under the edge of the dome, I stood on the boundary between where the dome ended and the open sky began. For a moment, I stared at the vast blueness above me.
It was beautiful.
RRRRAAAAWWWWRRRR!
I jumped as the dragon roared and swooped down, casting a massive shadow over my head and lunging straight for me. Getting a bad feeling, I dove back under thedome as a wave of fire passed over my head, singeing a few stray hairs.
I may be resistant to heat, but even I wasn’t stupid enough to take a direct blast of dragon fire to the face.
“Zariah! It’s me. I’m visiting like you asked.”
I poked my head up again, inching just out from the dome, but close enough to dive back if needed.
The dragon shrieked in challenge and lunged at me, fangs and teeth aimed straight for my head.
“Shit!”
I ducked down beneath the safety of the dome; the dragon crashed into the lip and screamed in pain.
Rolling from my back to my stomach, I scuttled even further backwards.
“Zariah! It is me! It’s Zephyr! Do you not remember?”
Maybe he didn’t remember things in his dragon form that experienced in his human one?
“Zariah! I?—”
A burst of fire shot right at the lip, forcing me to throw myself to the side as the wave of heat rolled past me.
Ok. He definitely did not know who I was, or the ‘friends’ thing was off the table. Either way, I was done.
Objective three was a failure. Two out of three goals completed was nothing to sneer at, but I felt unsettled as I left the raging dragon behind me and descended the spiral stones steps.
Chapter
Twelve
Istayed away from the dragon after that, and the queen stayed away from me. For a few months I lived in a constant state of paranoia, convinced the Fireguards would try to drag me away again and finish the job the queen had started.
But it didn’t happen.
I didn’t see L again.
Eventually I relaxed, and the months chugged on. I graduated from being a scribe apprentice to a full researcher. They left me alone to pursue my own studies with blood magick as long as I presented frequently on the topics of research they also wanted.
