𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗛𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿 - 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑙

Chapter 6

     As they were dragged toward the city by what Eclipse had figured out were RainWings, she caught a glimpse of tall stone walls circling a clearing, one side submerged in a hill. There was an archway with moss, vines, and lichen growing at the top, and the plants cascaded down the stone walls. She knew this place better than anywhere else, but it was a little bit different.

     The camp! She realized. But... it's different, because no Drolgons live there yet. And I'd guess the city we're going to is the ruins that are next to the camp in my time. Too bad it gets destroyed at some point...

     At last they arrived at the city. There was a big wall surrounding it, with a guard posted in a watchtower on either side of the gateway and on evenly spaced out intervals on the wall.

     Eclipse, Raven, and Spark were pushed through the gates, and Eclipse found that the city was huge. There were war camps nearest to the gate, and quick healing stations near the camps. Beyond that, there were shops and tents with merchants calling for possible customers. And even beyond that, there were tents and buildings for SandWings and NightWings to live in. there were also deep rivers and lakes for SeaWings to live in, a big swamp for the MudWings, a forest for the LeafWings and RainWings, and hives for the SilkWings and HiveWings. The SkyWings mostly chose to live in the mountain range, along with some BirdWings, although the BirdWings chose to live mostly in the forests of the city. The IceWings chose mostly to live in very cold places in the mountains as well.

     Right in the middle of the city, there was a palace. There were twelve huge towers in total, eleven circling the biggest one in the middle. Each of the twelve towers had a huge stained glass window, and Eclipse could just see the design on each of them. There was a BirdWing, a SkyWing, an IceWing, a SandWing, a RainWing, a NightWing, a SilkWing, a HiveWing, a LeafWing, a SeaWing, and a MudWing. Then on the biggest spire in the middle was the biggest stained glass window, and there was a colorful dragon that had huge wings, a tail with lots of spikes on the end, lots of spikes behind her horns, and was breathing fire. Her scales were a glittery crimson-orange, with white spots. Eclipse hadn't realized that the lakes, forests, and swamps beyond the ruins of the buildings in her time were actually part of the city as well. The wall around it had been thoroughly demolished in her time.

     Eclipse, Raven, and Spark were hauled all the way to the palace, and were dropped in front of two burly guards with spears who were standing in front of the palace door, one a female SandWing, and the other a male LeafWing.

     "We found these three in a hollow near the city," the leader RainWing told the guards. "We intend to present them to the queen, and she will decide what to do with them."

     The guards eyed the RainWings with a hint of suspicion, but then stepped aside.

     "The queen is making battle plans at the East camps at the moment. She will be back soon," the LeafWing said.

     Eclipse, Spark, and Raven were pushed inside, and were greeted by a fidgety young NightWing just inside the door. She had silver scales around her ankles and dotting her nose. Her scales were a very dark brownish-black, and she looked a tiny bit like Starspeaker. Maybe she was related to him. Maybe she was one of his ancestors. Eclipse guessed she was maybe four years older than Eclipse. Well- if Eclipse had been alive in this time, at least. If she was, Raven would've been a year older and Spark two years older.

     Eclipse also guessed that the NightWing was the queen's helper, because of the ink stains on her talons, the way she always looked ready to do anything someone asked her to, and how tired she looked.

     "H-hello," she said quietly to the RainWings, glancing nervously at Eclipse, Raven, and Spark.

     "We wish to speak with the queen, when she is back," the leader RainWing explained.