Wings of Fire: Greed and Glory

Chapter 9

"Shhh!"
Magma covered his mouth.

So many questions were pouring into his mind. Why is she here? Why is she a guard for the castle? How did she see me coming?

Just as he opened his mouth to start asking questions, she interrupted. "Come on, we have to hurry before anyone sees us." She lifted her head and looked side to side for any other dragons who might see them. She lifted him off the ground, took his talon in her's, and darted down the hallway, along with him. He struggled to keep up with her.

The castle hallways were black stone, lined with orange bricks. There were several torches attached to the walls to keep the place lit up. There were still no guards in sight. As they got further into the castle, the warmer the black stone floor got under his talons.

Magma took a sharp right, down another hallway, but now there were grey stone doors. Everything here was supposed to be nonflammable just in case any accidents happened, he guessed. He'd only been here once with Sulfur for a memorial service for all the HeatWing soldiers who had died in the HeatWing/CloudWing disagreement.

Magma opened a door to the right, and closed it right away behind him. They seemed to be in an armory room. There were helmets and chest plates on shelves and several black spears lined across the walls. But still no guards. Where were they?

Magma put on her own helmet then grabbed a helmet and a chest plate off the shelves. "Here, put these on so they think you're a guard." Scorch put on the armor. They were a little big on him since he was just a dragonet and this was probably a full grown HeatWing's set of armor. He could only see though the top half of the eye holes but this would have to do.

"Come on, we have to get to Queen Volcanic's throne room before we get caught," Magma said as she reached for the handle on the door. "Wait," Scorch insisted, grabbing her arm. "What's going on? How did you know how to stop me in the entrance? How did you know I was going to spy on our own queen?" He used the term "queen" lightly, for Volcanic was hardly a queen to him.

Magma opened and closed her mouth a few times. "I'll tell you later, but for now, you have to trust me." She looked at him with her wide, amber eyes, as if trying to persuade him through her thoughts. "Fine," he huffed, "but I'm going to need a very good explanation after this."

She have him a big smile and flung the door open. "Come on!" They rushed further down the hallway and took a left up some stairs.

Still no guards.

At the top of the stairs was another hallway with more doors and hallways which Scorch didn't pay much attention to. Too many questions inside his head.

The hallway continued to the right, but before Scorch could take the turn, Magma pulled him to the side and covered his mouth. Kind-of a forceful way to keep someone quiet if you asked him. She leaned in on him, still covering his mouth. He could feel the heat coming off her scales.

Nearby voices woke him from him daydreaming about his thoughts. Guards? Scorch peaked his head around the corner. The hallway lead into a huge, circular room full of HeatWings. Only HeatWings. There were orange tables with eye-catching valuables on them like flashy gemstones and handmade pottery. He guessed there were no plants here because it would be too hot for them to survive this far into the castle. It was built into a volcano.

On the left wall was a map of Skardaska, not paper, but drawn onto the wall. The Heat Kingdom seemed to stand out on the map. Maybe that's because the kingdom was the only place they bothered to color. The rest of the map was black and white.

At the end of the room, straight across, were large doors with fancy dragon designs and several red and orange gemstones embedded in the steel. Several guards wearing the same armor as him, crowded around the doors.

Must be the throne room. And I'm betting I'll find the Queen inside.