Prince of Dragons

Chapter 21 - Golden light

At the end of the afternoon, in the distance, the mountains became visible.

"Darfith lives somewhere over there," Enorwin mumbled to himself. He felt a wave of excitement rising in his body. Soon, very soon he would get the chance to slay a dragon. It would be a payment for all the days he had coped with the presence of his disrespectful, uncivilised companions.

He turned his head to look at the worst of all these companions, the one who had so openly defied him yesterday: Arwund Marholdson. "Is there a place we can stay for the night nearby?"

Arwund thought to himself. "If I'm not mistaken," he said, "Hadufried, the duke of Dracherwold, has a castle no so far from here. You may be able to convince him to let us stay here for a while."

"That's not a bad idea," Enorwin said. If he could make the duke allow them to stay in his castle, they would be a lot safer from the Servants of Darfith than otherwise. Perhaps Enorwin could even convince him to join forces with the Flaming Lands in the battle against Darfith's army. It created a lot of opportunities.

"Do you know where it is?" Enorwin asked.

"I think I can find it," Arwund said.

"Good," Enorwin said. "Guide the way."

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It took them two hours to find the castle, but then, surely, they rode up to the gates.

Enorwin looked at the huge building, which lay on top of a hill. It was so different from the castle he had grown up in. His father's castle had not been under siege in a very long time, to the point that easily breakable windows had been built in the outer towers. That was not the case here. The walls were grey, cold and undecorated. On the battlements, groups of guards were watching the surroundings, armed with bows to defend the castle in case anything should happen. The drawbridge was currently down, but it could immediately be raised in the event of an attack.

A guard called out to them in Northern. He was standing in front of the drawbridge and was armed with a halberd that glistened in the lasts bits of sunlight. Enorwin deduced that he had asked who the strangers were.

Enorwin descended from his horse, suddenly painfully aware of the fact that his mare Lanhilla had been stolen. Holding the reins of his new, white horse, he told the guard, "My name is Enorwin. I am the crown prince of the Flaming Lands."

Maréin said something in Northern, probably translating what Enorwin had just said; the prince was able to make out a few simple words.

"Why are you here?" the guard asked, according to Maréin.

"We are on a mission for my father, the earl of the Flaming Lands," Enorwin said, immediately translated by Maréin. "We seek shelter, and we were wondering if His Grace the duke would be willing to offer us a place to spend the night."

The guard nodded. "Wait here," he said, before turning around and walking through the gate, crossing the courtyard and disappearing into the main building. Another guard immediately appeared to take his place.

The group waited for many minutes, until the guard returned at last. "His Grace wants to receive you now."

"Thank you," Enorwin said. He beckoned the others to follow him into the courtyard, where a group of servants immediately hurried towards them to bring the horses to the stables. The prince of the Flaming Lands walked towards the great wooden doors of the main building, pushing them open.

They entered a great hall, the walls of which had been painted in intricate Northern symbols. A fresco on the ceiling depicted the fight between a knight dressed in a golden suit of armour and a dragon whose scales were just as golden. The knight was as tall as the dragon and wielded a huge, two-handed sword, which he raised to deal the final blow to the already weakened monster.