Scoril screamed. It was all she could do to hold herself together. Her cried echoed down the stone halls of the palace, and everyone knew to give her a wide berth in case her intensity of emotion lead to an explosion of powerful arcane magic.
Jett had betrayed her. He had always been unfaithful, Scoril had put up with that. She had turned a blind eye when he brought home Kestrel, but this she could not ignore.
She had been replaced. After years of friendship, at loyally standing by his side, she had dropped her like an old sock and made Kass his queen. They were about to have a perfect little family of her own, and it was more than Scoril could take.
She took off to the skies, escaping through the balcony window. As soon as she reached an appropriate height where no one would be in the danger zone, she let it all out. Bolts of arcane magic shot out in every direction, piercing the sky and hitting the ground like lightning. Above her, a cloud broke, and magically infused rain began to fall. It had a fiery pink glow to it.
Tears fell from Scoril's numerous eyes. She had to get Jett back. She just had to.
That was when one of her eyes caught sight of a sign in the market district, and she began to make a plan.
Jett wouldn't get away so easily.
Hermann and Landon wandered the streets of the Forgotten Kingdom. They stayed far enough away from the palace to avoid detection, but they were on a special mission.
It wasn't an official resistance mission per say, but Hermann had figured that while everyone else was figuring out
how they were going to overthrow Jett, someone had to start figuring how life would look
after. Sure, Age would be queen again, but what would life look like for the ordinary civilian of the clan when there wasn't the tension of war looming over their heads?
Of course, neither Hermann or Landon had ever lived in the city itself, so they had to see what life was like with their own two eyes before they started making plans. Once they had more of a lay of the land, they might even start reaching out and talking to the dragons who still lived in the city.
"There are a lot of empty buildings," Landon observed.
"The clan is still growing," Hermann pointed out. "Besides, this leaves lots of room to build different businesses that a clan needs to survive. Like sure, there's a tavern and a forge and a handful of shops, but what about weavers and seamstresses? What about food stores and restaurants? What about tanners and farmers and armorers and all those things?"
Just then, the two young dragons saw a large shape fly through the skies, heading directly towards the palace. It was a large breed of dragon, one neither Hermann or Landon had seen before.
"Hey! Where are you going!" Hermann shouted after the dragon.
"Hermann! You can't do that!" Landon hissed. "What if that's one of Jett's dragons! We have to be careful!"
"I think he's new!" Hermann hissed back before calling out again. "Hey you! Big guy! You can't go to the palace! It's dangerous!"
The large dragon wheeled around in the sky and banked down towards the two young dragons, landing in front of them.
"What do you mean the palace is dangerous?" He growled, moving closer to loom over the bogsneak and mirror.
"We just mean there's a Shade-touched king ruling the clan with an iron fist and who won't hesitate to kill anyone who opposes him," Landon explained.
"Well, that might be a problem," the newcomer huffed.
"What do you mean?" Hermann asked curiously.
"My charge is in there, I can feel her," the guardian shuffled his feet restlessly. "if she's in danger, that's all the more reason to go. I must protect her, it is my one duty in life."
"Okay, well, maybe there are ways to do that without getting yourself killed," Hermann pointed out. "How are you going to protect her if you're dead?"
The guardian stared at her as if the thought had never occurred to him. "You have a good point," he admitted. "I'm Hackett, what's your name?"
"I'm Hermann, and this is my best friend, Landon!" Hermann exclaimed. "Now, do you know who your charge is?" She wasn't familiar with the term, but it sounded important.
"All I know is she's a spiral. I caught a glimpse of her flying around the palace, as though hiding from something, then sneaking in through a window," Hackett explained.
"We don't know too much about the dragons in Jett's court, unfortunately," Hermann sighed. "We're kind of... removed... from that part of the clan. But! We'd love to help you out!"
"Really?" Landon asked. "Are you sure that we can trust him?"
Just as the question left his mouth, there was a bright pink light in the sky, and bolts of arcane magic shot out all over the city. Just then, it started to rain fiery pink droplets, which singed Hermann's scales.
"We need to get out of here!" Hermann exclaimed, darting into the nearest building and urging Landon and Hackett to follow.
The three dragons huddled from the storm, listening to the sound of raindrops pounding against the roof. Hackett looked antsy, but they couldn't leave. Not now. But Hermann could tell that something had gone very very wrong at the palace, if Scoril was angry. This could be the shift that everyone was looking for.
Well, with the arrival of Hackett, I officially have at least one of each breed in The Forgotten Kingdom!!!
Coli was Virtue, Gelato and Bahat, all made it through alive! Virtue is level 6, Gelato is level 4, and Bahat is level 8!
