Chronicles From the End of an Age

Mother of Dragons - 30Yrs BTA

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Anastasia heard the footsteps of the dragon behind her reverberate through the ground. Each scratch of talons against stone reminded her of a blade being sharpened. It was ominous and repetitive, but she refused to look back. Instead, she walked as fast as her bare feet could manage, trying to ignore the heat radiating from the burnt rock underneath her feet. Her eyes were lowered to the ground, her rag of a dress blowing slightly under the hot wind that passed by them.

"You have no need to be scared, you know," the dragon behind her spoke with as much kindness as the beasts could.

She wondered if she should reply. She still didn't understand why she had been asked to come along with the dragon in the first place. Her mind was racing with possibilities. Were her parents in trouble? Did they die in the mines? If they did what would she do with her younger siblings? She couldn't look after them all by herself, not without a job, or income. Her eighteenth birthday was still three months away, she wasn't allowed to hold a reasonable job yet. Even if she did she couldn't just leave her brother and sister home alone.

Not being able to help herself, she glanced back at the dragon guiding her. He was a fire dragon, maybe thirty years old based on his size, and he had several scars lining his chest and snout, though what could scar a dragon she didn't know. Despite his fierce demeanour, he did have kind eyes, intelligent and concerned... for a dragon anyway. He saw her looking at him and gave a small smile.

"Don't worry, Anastasia, I think you'll find that your life might be turned around after this," he told her.

She quickly looked forward again, forcing her breathing to remain calm. What did he mean that her life was being turned around? Was she being rewarded for something? She hadn't done anything really of note... not that she could remember anyway. All she really did was make sure her brother and sister were being taken care of. She wondered what they would be doing now? A close friend of hers was looking after them while she was being taken away by this dragon. Would she ever see them again? She had barely got to say goodbye.

"Here we are," the dragon said as they reached the end of their corridor, walking into what Anastasia could only call a throne room.

Dragons liked everything to be big, far bigger than they needed to be, and the room was no exception. The same scorched black stone spread out hundreds of metres in every direction, with massive pillars of the same colour holding up a roof far above them. There would easily be enough space for even one the elder dragons to fly within, comfortably. At the far side of each wall were gaps that a dragon wouldn't be able to fly through, but it allowed the fresh air from outside to breeze through the castle. If you could call the air of the fire nation fresh at all.

Up ahead of them were five other humans, all as dishevelled and confused as she was. She didn't recognise any of them, but she guessed they were all around her age. There were two boys and three girls, all with brown or black hair and torn rags of clothing. One of the boys had a pair of sandals, but the rest had bare feet, scorched by the very ground they walked upon.

Another dragon was in the room, sitting atop a raised podium with a regal appearance and powerful aura that reminded Anastasia of being too close to a fire. She felt the need to raise her hand to protect herself from invisible flames, but ignored it, not wanting to show weakness to the dragons around her. She recognised this other dragon. She was Athaer, queen of fire. Imposing and frightening. From what Anastasia's parents said, Athaer was far from the worst dragon, and she certainly treated her human subjects far better than the previous fire monarch, but there was just something about her that made Anastasia hesitate.