Chronicles From the End of an Age

The Passive Flame - 20Yrs BTA

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Sakary was oddly aware of the sound of her claws clicking against the stone below her. It reminded her of the beat of wings before rushing into battle, or the suspenseful drumbeat of some performance. The dull firelit walls of the castle didn't do much to calm her nerves. Every step she took felt as though she were falling further into some dark abyss. A place she could never return from. Her heartbeat with rapid intensity and the red scales on her tail caught the light as the tip anxiously twisted back and forth with every step.

She knew she shouldn't be nervous. She had done nothing wrong after all. It wasn't her that had been lying to the queen for decades. It wasn't her that had played a role in the prince's death. But that thought didn't help the uneasy gurgling of her stomach as she pulled her wings close to her body. Despite her innocence, it might not do anything. Not when one of the most trusted dragons in the nation had betrayed them all, and she was rather close to said dragon. She couldn't just refuse to come either, as that would only make her more suspicious.

"Come on Sakary. You're innocent. You know you're innocent. She will know it too," the dragoness murmured to herself as she continued down the castle corridor.

As she walked a strange smell touched her snout. She came to a startled stop, tilting her head as she took in the scent. A smoky, burning scent flooded her, and her eyes widened in a slight panic. She forgot about her nerves for a moment and accelerated into a quick run, her four legs propelling her forward along with a swift flap of her wings. As she got closer to the scent the castle corridors became shrouded in dark smoke, the air becoming significantly harder to breathe.

Being a fire dragon, it didn't bother Sakary too much. Even if she was fire-starved, the smoke wouldn't harm her. But she knew that it would be quite dangerous for the many human servants that lived within the castle. It was also rather strange to see something burning with smoke, as it wasn't something a fire dragon's flames usually caused unless the fire they caused got out of control. In a castle made primarily of stone, that seemed incredibly unlikely. There was only one place that could produce something like this.

"No, no, no, no," the dragoness murmured as she approached what she knew to be the entryway into what was widely known throughout the castle to be the garden.

As she rushed inside she was met by a wave of heat, forcing her to raise her wings somewhat to shield herself. Her eyes were wide as she looked around. The once green foliage was now red and yellow, burning with savage intensity. The stream that once ran through the centre had evaporated, leaving scorched stone in its place, and the tree in the centre seemed to sprout as a large bonfire, smoke billowing from the top and spread over the roof.

Sakary looked around in horror, feeling the dread in her increase substantially. The garden was one of the most looked after areas of the castle, one that everyone living there eagerly praised and honoured. For someone to burn it down was unheard of. But as she looked around the burning garden, her eyes found a dragon sitting in the centre of it all. Their red scales glimmered softly in the red firelight, and their eyes were turned toward the flaming tree as if entranced by the burning flames. It only took a moment for Sakary to recognise the elegant form of queen Athaer. Horror was replaced by confusion as Sakary began to walk into the burning room. The sound of her footsteps must have alerted the queen, as she turned to see the approaching dragon.

Athaer gave a short nod of greeting, "Sakary. I'm glad you came."

The words seemed normal enough, or at the very least, no less absent and authoritative than how the queen usually spoke.