The Royals of Silvercrest

37

Queen Celeste's POV:

The entire stadium rattles as a large grey dragon flies past.

I feel a rush of adrenaline, feeling the power as one by one, dragons fly past, shaking the ground and filling the air with the sounds of shrieks. The first, a medium sized dark grey scaled dragon named Greystar whips past, forcing a large gust of wind to blow. My hand flies to my crown to keep it in place. My heart races in my chest. Then mere moments later, a golden colored dragon, Blaze, flies past followed by a light pink dragon Vex, and then at last, a blue one, Frostbite. We all watch as they make their way weaving through the air before landing upon the ground.

So far the matches had only been dragon riders pitted against one another.

The matches went as follows:

Rider . and Blaze

As a trumpet sounds off finishing the race, the crowd erupts. Then silence falls as all heads turn toward the center of the crowd toward the judge. An older gentleman, he stands in a white cloak and silver armor. He steps forward, holding up a grey flag for all to see, announcing the winner.

"I declare GreyStar and his rider Wilkinson the winners of this race!" He announces

The stands erupt with a mixture of joy and displeasure at the news. Hands trade gold pieces to pay off and gather bribes made for the races.

Today was the first day I had gotten out for leisure since Raelin was born. King Shane had me out for public appearances afterwards but it was never outside the castle. I was never too far away from my child. King Shane however was gone quite often. In the beginning I would question, asking trusted staff members as to his whereabouts but even they wouldn't say. Eventually his attention for me seemed to fade once I was with child.

Now that I had given him a daughter, he seemed even more displeased.

I watch as Vex and Blaze take off again.

Their vivid colors gleaming in the sunlight.

They loop through the sky, weaving around one another like braids.

It was a beautiful display.

They separate, extending their wings and looping around in an arch.

This was simply one of many training exercises they instill into dragons, I had learned from King Shane. When moments were good, he spoke often of the dragons, their beauty and destruction. I watch as they move gracefully in the sky, playing with one another. Then without warning, Blaze opens his jaws, letting out a roaring fire that envelopes Vex's rider. Vex, on instinct, curls her body to avoid the blast, screeching in pain before flying off. We all watch in horror as the body falls. In an instant Vex is back, moving with determination and rage as she breaks through the clouds from above, latching her claws into Blaze's neck.

The dragons screech out, talons ripping into flesh, blood dripping from open wounds as they claw and bite at each other. There is no answer as to how it started but the blood bath is far from over. Blaze opens his mouth erupting a storm of smoke and fire. There is a large chunk of flesh missing from his chest. They scream at one another as they fall from the air, colliding with the ground with a force that shakes us all. The crowd screams in panic and runs for the doors. I am rushed out by my guards, shoved into a carriage and quickly wisked away before I can even process everything that just happened.

Once the area was evacuated, knights were sent out to survey the damage.

It was discovered that Vex had been killed along with Blaze's rider.

Blaze had managed to take off, his whereabouts unknown.

Now, with his rider gone, he had no need to return.

Nor survive.