The Kingdom Of CalBridge

10. Ezekel

The King and Prince ventured to the Cave joined by two knights, destined to find the long lost answers of the Caverns. The gallops of the horse's vibrated the floor as they ran, the wind blowing in their hair as they followed Pierce. Arriving at the cave they got off the horses, tying them to the mahogany tree's that looked stable enough to keep the horses from wondering off.

They followed Pierce along the way with torches in the air. "This way, that way is dangerous I learned that the hard way" Pierce said taking the opposite path than before.

Walking up to the opened area in the cave Oscar scanned the area for the dragon but he didn't have to look anymore as Pierce shouted for the dragon. "Zek it's Pierce, I'm here with the King of Calbridge"

Suddenly the dragon came flying from the top of the cave, a wave of wind following him. "What do I ow this honour again Oscar"

"Again, Sorry I don't remember you" Oscar said turning his head slightly to the side in confusion. 

"My full name is Ezekel, maybe that will ring a bell" The dragon said landing on his signature flat rock.

"Yes it does, but Ezekel is a human" Oscar said with a expression that signal he caught on to what the dragon was saying.

"What is it you want Oscar?" If he wasn't a dragon he would be smiling, but even as one he smiled with his eyes.

"This language" he said pulling out the paper, "It was all over the Cavern's walls" he said holding the paper up to show Zek.

"Yes, The Blue Dragon. You may have came here thinking you solved a huge mystery but you didn't, it's nothing more than a dead man's last words" Zek said.

"What is it you mean Ezekel?" Oscar said lowering his hand.

"Many years ago the blue dragons were hunted, catching one was of more value than any castle. Acolytes and even humans tried to catch them, some only bringing back nothing more than a scale but even a scale sold for millions in the dark market so imagine how much a whole dragon would sell for" Ezekel's husky voice roared through the cave as he spoke. 

"I was one of those Acolytes who choose to hunt the dragons"

Suddenly the walls of the cave started to glow, the drawings of stickmen slowly appearing showing a story. On the wall were dragons flying and people shooting bows at them, it looked like a war. 

"When the dragons fought back after getting other dragon types to help with the war, Acolytes and even Humans rushed to the Caverns for shelter. Destined to find a way to defeat the dragons we made what we know now as dark magic. I wanted the money so I agreed to use dark magic to defeat the dragons, I was later turned into this" Zek said stretching out his wing slightly. 

"In fear of being hunted myself I hid in this cave for years and ever since the cave has shifted and I'm stuck here" Zek said.

"What about the others?" Pierce said paying close attention to the dragon.

"The ones whose vessel could handle the magic may be still out there but the ones who couldn't handle it stayed in the cave and withered away, only having one last message, The Blue Dragon" 

The cave slowly stopped glowing, you could tell Zek was sad even if not in a human form.

"I'm sorry this happened to you Ezekel" Oscar and Pierce expressed their condolences to Zek.

**

The ride back to the castle was silent apart from the horse's gallops. Studying the language trying to figure out the meaning was hard and time consuming but either way the King was glad to meet an old friend and learn something new. Speaking of something new...

When the king walked into his room to see his wife sitting on his bed he didn't know how to feel apart from love. Seeing the site of Aria in the same room as her made him feel comfortable to hug her. Although knowing it was the work of dark magic he still felt drawn to her, more than he did while she was alive. Hugging her, to him she smelled like she always did, she wasn't the undead. He felt like he was in a trance looking at her, he could stare for hours. 

Aria walked out the room feeling sick. As she kneeled holding her heart she felt angry, she couldn't control her emotions. Leaning on the wall for support she spotted Pierce looking into his Father's room before he came marching towards her.

"What the heck is that?" he said angrily with one hand pointing at his father's room and the other folded into a fist. 

"You used dark magic didn't you" He said his features lightening almost in pity.

"I had to I want to be Queen and I'm not gonna let you take that away from me!" Aria shouted causing Oscar to intervene. Aria got angrier and angrier, she couldn't seem to stay in her body disassociating every once and a while. She had what she wanted but she was angry somehow.

Oscar walked out the room with his hand on Guinevere's back as if guiding her. "What is going on here?" 

Aria felt overwhelmed by the situation, she felt cornered and felt like she was suffocating. Backing away slowly with her hand on the wall she looked at the three as if they were demons. She heard the voice of the King talking to her but it was muffled as if she was drowning in the ocean. Her ears felt like they were about to pop before the last thing she heard was ringing in her ears before she blacked out.