Part Two
Wings beat and cool air tangles my hair, as an insistent throb starts pounding my head.
Willing my eyes open, I almost black out again as I look up to open sky and down to a harsh drop thousands of meters up from what must be the grass plains of the region Herum, a weeks journey from Aloura, from the castle and the queen and...
The small platform under me shifts, as I finally take in my surroundings. I'm strapped onto some kind of harness with some scaly moving thing, what even am I on?
I'm alive. The thought is the only thing
Before I can investigate further, a man I hadn't noticed looks behind his shoulder—at me.
"Ah, she's awake." My attention on the familiar smiling man before me is cut by a huge, royal blue scaled wing beating to my left.
Dragon. I am on a living, breathing dragon, headed gods know where with gods know who.
I rally my tiny flames, showing only in my glowing eyes, hands remaining put out as another, smaller reptile soars over to where I am trapped by rings of rope.
"Ah! Aurelia, glad to officially meet you. Tony, let's land real quick yeah?" The woman must read the look on my face as she adds,
"As quickly as possible."
Turns out 'as quickly as possible' meant the beasts practically death diving down towards the plains, miles below.
After one terrifying minute, we are on the ground, still leaving me nonetheless confused.
The man—Tony, with ebony skin and eyes of chestnut, unties me swiftly, helping me stand with an unyielding arm.
"Watch your stitches. They might rip if you move too fast." Because that was the sting, the ache of a fresh wound still burning across my chest every time I take a breath.
A top made of bandage wrap, covering the entirety of my chest and one wrap up over my left shoulder.
The male before me shifts, eyes assessing, surely scanning to see any imperfections in the bandage.
The knife, the trench she carved through my skin.
"Who are you." I clear some space from the fire breathing reptile, and it's even deadlier looking rider, getting about four paces before swaying enough that a female steadies me, blonde hair now braided tightly back.
"Woah, woah I've got you." I scan her pale face, then the warrior male who is still several paces away, leathers replaced by attire similar to mine but darker.
"Adeline and Antonious." I recall, " You... saved me." The male nods, as he clears a space near a groove in the ground big enough to sit comfortably enough on.
The pure, uncut fear in that moment...
Adeline offers an empathetic grin that makes me frown as she helps me onto the makeshift bench, Antonious handing me a water skin I didn't realise I desperately needed, my mouth like sandpaper.
"Well, as you've observed, I am Adeline and this is Tony. Tony is a pureblood Raptor, and I am half Vitalan, half Teragonian, but I've recently moved to Dergona. We are both friends and soldiers of Elias Rheaven. We know you two used to be close." My eyes snap up at that.
YOU ARE READING
The Shadow of Royalty
Fantasy"I don't know if I should kiss you or stab you." - Aurelia Cartozen Aria was chosen. There was no denying it and certainly no escaping it. She was chosen for the sacred role as a Regalas, forced into the deadly ranks of the elite royals, and she has...
