The Dragon Seal (Guardians of the Equilibrium Series, Book 1)

Chapter 6

The darkness hung heavily around her and the spider webs hung above her. The stone walls were cold and the squareness of the tunnel gave her a constant fear that the walls would squish her to death at any moment. Her footsteps were the only thing that echo and she jumped at the sound of her own heart beat, mistaking it for something else.
    She stopped for a moment and took several breaths to ease her nerves. Her breath formed misty white clouds before disappearing. Then she started to softly sing her favorite song she learned when she was little as the tunnel started to slope down:

There once was a dragon who was fair and wise as can be
His heart was kind and his eyes were strong
And glorious as could be

He flew through the ancient seas
And over the valiant hills
To bring a flower to his love
A human name Lilly

Their love was inseparable
And she was pure as snow
His voice was mighty and hers was calm
Together they shall be

But on the day of Summer’s Eve, while he was away
The town took poor sweet Lilly
And tied her to the stake

Lilly was a maiden who was kind and sweet
And was love by all
But the town’s folk soon learned that she was
A demon bringer to be

They burned her at the stake
To send the dragon away
But all they did was bring their doom
As it was foretold by she

There once was a dragon who was fair and wise as can be
But the day he saw the flames
His heart submerged in a blacken rage

He swept through the town with a mighty roar
And flames came down from above
All because the town could not
Except their love to be.

Lilly saw her home in flames
And as she slowly died
A smile came upon her face
For seeing her dragon one last time.

There once was a dragon who’s heart was broken
And filled with grief and rage
He went and fled to a mountain range
And wept for the lost of his poor Lilly.

    As she finished the tune, the tunnel rounded towards the left and a faint golden glow bounced off the walls and warmth started to touch her skin. She turned the corner and her jaw dropped.
    Dear Holy Mother. It’s. . . .it’s a treasure trove!!
    It was a large natural cave with stalagmites and stalactites scattered around and some even joined together, creating support columns. But the thing that made her eyes widen was the gold. Tons of gold and silver coins and gems filled to the near brink of the ceiling, forming vast hills glittering in the light of lit torches scattered around along the walls. She bent down and picked up a gold coin, flipped it in between her fingers then let it fall to the ground. It clinked upon the other pieces, the sound echoing off the walls. Maya froze and slightly shrunk inwards as she gazed around, hoping that nothing heard that.
    Quiet.
    A clearing was ahead of her, free from any piles of gold and silver, revealing the grey-brown cavern floor. She approached and gazed upon the floor, finding a single sentence carved with it:
    ‘Beware: here be home to the Guardian.’
    Maya looked up at the ceiling then around the cave. She didn’t see anything that looked like a guardian. Unless it was the skeleton sitting near the pile clad in armor. Maya walked over to it, finding a note in its hand. Taking a moment to gather her wits, she quickly snatched the note from the skeleton’s hand then quickly looked around incase she set off some kind of curse.
    She hadn’t and using the cross as a paper wight, she rolled out the old note on the ground and read the nearly faded writing quietly to herself: The pedestal is the lock, but without a key, the power cannot be obtained. The glove is the symbol; believed to be cursed unless the key has been placed. Could not escape. . .Nothing can escape. . . The rest lead to nothing but chicken scratch.
    “Pedestal?” She looked up at the massive hills of gold. Where would a pedestal be placed in here? With the cross in her hands once more, she ventured off and climbed upon the silver and gold hills, every step caused a little to slide down and making noise.
    Amongst the treasure were chests filled with old armor and others had clothing. Necklaces and rings hid beneath the coins, shiny and rusted swords alike poked out here and there, golden pitchers and silver goblets to crowns and emblems, family crest capes and shields; all scattered about in these piles of riches.
    “The guys would flip if they saw this.” Maya said to the cross, more mostly to herself but it was better to pretend to have company when no one was around in this place. It made her slightly braver though she was still terrified.
    A large mass of gold and silver coins slid down a pile, causing her to suddenly turned her head towards her right. Her brown eyes scanned the golden silver hills but nothing was to be seen.
    She took several breaths to calm her fast-beating heart.
    She walked across the piles of coins, which now bended towards the left, following the curve of the cave. At this point she could see the foundation of the castle coming through the roof of the cave, or more likely the section of the dungeon.
    She soften her steps as much as she could as she passed another skeleton, who was curled up against the stone of the ruins as if it were trying to hide from something. She clutched the cross to her chest and continued. The coin hills started to grow larger and the cave itself spreader out far and wide, making a sea of glittering treasure. Maya stopped on several occasions before moving again, fearing that something may have heard her as she climbed the hills.
    When she got to the top of one particular tall hill, she lost her breath. Before her was what seemed to be a tower, its stairs half buried by the gold. Surrounded by four pillars that supported a pyramid roof, was a pedestal. The cross in her hand started to glow brighter.
    “ ‘The pedestal is the lock’.” Maya quoted. She slid down the gold heap, keeping a hand on her skirt so it wouldn’t fly up, and climbed the stairs to the platform above. The pedestal came up to her waist and a soft white glow with little blue orbs of light formed around it, on its face was a cutout shape of a cross and above it, hanging in the air, was a glove.
    It was made of black fabric with black scales sewn into it and fingerless. The cuff dropped down to the wrist, covering it entirely. Maya gazed at it more closely then slowly reached out to touched it.
    A shock of electricity burst out of the blue orbs. With a cry, she leaped back and placed her mouth upon the burn, sucking on it. Shaking the pain out of her hand, she gazed at the problem before her.
    “ ‘The glove is the symbol but cursed without the key.’ ” Key? What key? She didn’t have a. . . . . Wait, the pedestal had an outline of a cross. . . .
    The cross! That’s it! Her mother’s cross was the key and—! Her face suddenly became stone and slowly gazed down at the cross in her hand. Why would her mother’s cross be the key? Could Oliver’ve been right? Was this cross connected to the ruins?
    Did their mother know about this?
    She was pulled out of thought when the cross suddenly flew out of her hand and placed itself in the pedestal. There was a rumble and the pedestal shifted: growing tall and short as its base reconfigured itself, like a puzzle. As it started to glow brighter, Maya backed away, shielding her eyes and as she heard a series of click-clink-clink sounds.
    Then light died down and Maya lowered her arms. The glove laid upon the pedestal and the glow had disappeared.
    She blinked. That was. . . .dramatic? She walked up to the pedestal and slowly reached out for the glove. It was smooth to the touch despite it having scales. She flip it over and found the underside also having scales. It was a bigger size than her hand and some of the scales looked a bit damaged and old. Still, curiosity got the better of her and she reached for it and slipped it on.
    The glove suddenly started to shrink.
    Maya gasped and desperately started to try and take it off. But it was like it was glued to her skin.“No, no come on! Don’t do this damn it.” She dug her nails into her arm, trying to get underneath, but she couldn’t. She switched tactics and tried to slide it off, but it wouldn’t come off.
    Then it suddenly stopped shrinking, now fitting her hand comfortably; the perfect size. Panicking and hyperventilating, Maya turned her hand over and flexed her fingers and rotated her wrist; stunned and puzzled to what as happening. The glove was light, like it was a second skin, but when she curled her fingers into a fist, the glove started glow blue. An itch bit at her shoulder and like anyone, she scratched it.
    But something was wrong.
    Her skin, where the itch was, felt like fat lump and it moved under her skin like slime. She dug her fingers into her skin and raked them down her arm.
    Her skin peeled away like wiping mucus off a toad.
    A gasp of terror left her lips as she peeled more skin away. Underneath, instead of muscles, were black scales. She dragged her nails over the scales, trying to rip them off, but nothing worked. She quickly took off her blouse, and wanted to scream.
    Her skin was actually flaking away, revealing more and more black scales.
    Maya, in a panic fit and cursing herself, striped out of the rest of her clothes and found that her entire body, excluding her head and right fingers and thumb, was clear of her skin and now covered in beautiful, shiny scales. In the glow reflected off the treasure, the scales gave off a dark to light grey hue, but when the light was casted away, they became black as night.
    She touched her breasts and arms, finding that they were still as they should be, but when she pounded her fist against her palm, it was like hitting a rock.
    She hissed and flexed her hand for a moment before running her hands over herself.  She was still slightly chubby in the tummy area, her nipples were covered, and her backside showed no trace of skin and yet the scales felt like flesh. Again she whacked herself again and whimpered at the pain.
    Again it felt like hitting a rock.
    She moved her arms, bended over, and walked around the pedestal. The scales moved with her, never hindering her movements and so light it felt like she was naked. She gently closed her right hand into fist and silently wished that whatever happened would come undone. And just like that, the scales retracted and literally slid over her body all the way to the glove, revealing her skin undamaged now glowing and pure like snow. Like it had never peeled off.
    The old scales on the glove fell off and was replaced with the new ones on her body. Maya watched with amazement as every scale shrunk and placed themselves upon the black fabric covering her hand. When everything had settled, she took off the glove and placed it back on the pedestal and felt a slight breeze over her buttocks.
    Now she was naked.
    She let out a small screech and threw her clothes back on, thankful that no one around to witness that. Truing red as a beat, she peeked around then gazed back at the pedestal. She dug her fingers into the grove and pulled out her mother’s cross.
    The sound of coins sliding drew her attention to the cave. She froze as the pile behind her continued to have a landslide of coins. Slowly glancing behind, she watched the treasure slid till a curve blade with a black scaled spine was revealed. Maya squinted her eyes at the blade then they grew wide. Grabbing the cross, she slowly backed up until her foot hit a gold pile. . .
    And some coins clinked under her foot.
    She immediately crouched behind the pedestal, trembling in fear. Stupid klutz, now she really did it. Something was sleeping down here and she was to end up awakening it at this rate.
    Another landslide of coins sounded like a death sentence to her ears. Then another slide of coins followed by another, another, and another, and another.
    Then a deep breathing.
    Shaking with cold sweat, Maya slowly peeked from behind the pedestal. Black spots now dotted the golden and silver hill. She swallowed hard and noticed that the cross to glow light blue again. She gazed down at it and black runes started to fade in upon its surface. She rubbed her eyes and tried to focus but the words were too blurry.
    She stood and placed a hand upon the pedestal, more accurately over the glove, to steady herself. Glancing back down at the runes, she suddenly watched them come into focus. She lifted her hand off the glove; the runes became blurry.     She placed her hand on the pedestal.
    Blurry.
     She placed her hand back on the glove.
    Clear.
    So the cross and the glove are connected. She thought. Putting the cross down for a moment, she slipped the glove back on. This time it behaved like a glove should and no scales emerged upon her body, nor did her skin peel off.
    She grabbed the cross and read the runes again, and they were as clear as crystal, though the language was a bit strange: ‘Da Mee Kiw’.
    The floor around her suddenly lit up, glowing light blue like the cross and five white lines carved into the floor around the pedestal. Like fire on oil, the white lines started from five corners and spread out wide, connecting and overlapping. Maya watched and followed every line before stepping out to see the whole picture. Her eyes widened as more clear runes appeared on the floor.
    It was a pentagram.
    She knelt down, and surprisingly was able to see the runes in English. ‘Of ancient magic flowing in the veins of the chosen, thou must read and invoke the dragon seal. Then a Word of Rite will bound you two for eternity. Thus will complete the ritual.’
    She looked at the cross. Bound? To what? Her eyes gazed at the runes upon the cross. Was this the Word of Rite? She tried to pronounce it in her head, then she spoke to herself quietly in trying to say it right. “Da Me—”
    A sudden hill of gems and coins rattled shook like an earthquake, then thrown into the air like a volcano erupting, cutting her off. Startled, she took a step back and slipped, hitting her head on the stone platform. With a groan, she rolled over and dragged herself down the treasure hill, tumbling and rolling. The scales quickly covered her skin and this time, materializing out of thin air and forming around her head, was dragon skull to serve as a helmet.
    With a long shout and closed jaw, the hollowed eyes had a black fabric in them but was thin enough to allow her to see, giving this empty eye socket illusion. It had four pointed bone horns on either side stretched out from the top and growing smaller as they followed down along the cheek bones.
    “Who dares to preform the ritual?!” A deep voice bellowed through out the cave. There was another rumble and many coins and gems rolled down the hills along with Maya till she came to a small valley in between the hills. She scrabbled and pressed her back up against the far hill facing the away from the direction the voice came from.
    “Greedy thief!” The voice roared so violently that it shook the very walls of the cave. “You think this gold is yours to claim?! No, you're here for my power! Fool! You think yourself worthy? No unworthy soul may take my power!”
    There was a sudden burst of fire in the air and fear washed over Maya. She made a run out of the valley and slid down the gold heap. There was a heavy footfall from somewhere in the cavern but she did not dare to stop.
    Running out of breath and stamina, she pushed through till she saw the clearing. But suddenly, the curve blade with a black scaled spine came from the side of her vision and swept her off her feet. She crashed into the gold heap and slid down head first into the clearing. She rolled across the caver floor and quickly looked up as the cross made a clink-clink sound while bouncing across the ground.
    She scrambled to grab it, but when her fingers touched it, a large long shadow loomed over her. She slowly looked up as two red-orangish eyes with slit black pupils started angrily at her from a couple feet away. The creature, enshrouded black smoke, lunged forward. She quickly spoke in a loud voice while raising the cross up at it: “DA MEE KIW!”
    The creature suddenly collapsed on the treasure trove. The cross left Maya’s hands and flowed up into the air, slowly spinning and glowing brighter. Then it emission bursts of lightning, which and suddenly hit Maya in the chest.
    A glow outlined her body as she was lifted off the ground. Her chest tightened and every fiber in her body was constricted with pain. Her screamed of agony was mixed with the sound of a roar, then was then thrown across the cave, hitting the wall and falling to the ground with a hard thud! She raised her head, finding the creature in the same state she was in moments ago and too was thrown across the opposite side of the cavern. She unsteadily got to her feet and wobbled back to the tunnel from which she came.
    But the curve blade came again and swiped her off her feet. “You will not escape here alive!"
    She fell forward then looked over her shoulder as the enshrouded beast was suddenly hovering over her. Its claws came striking down fast and hard upon her small body in all the beast’s furry and rage. The weight was like a two ton brick and took every breath away from her as it pounded upon her chest. It hurt, even though the scales were covering her, it felt like they weren’t even there to protect her. A black paw came pressing down up her. Its claws digging into her body.
    She felt a rib crack.
    With a cry of pain, she rolled out of the way when there was a slight pause between the attacks, but she couldn’t muster any energy to get away. She laid on her belly, which was the worst position to be in with a rib pressing against her lungs. A fierce, angry growl was near her ear and hot burning breath could be felt through the skull helmet and scales. “Die, spineless coward!”
     She closed her eyes, knowing she was going to die.