Välikirja: The Wyvern's Pact

Chapter Seventeen - It Comes to A Close

Dedicated (again) to my best friend! She's the reason why I'm writing this book! ♥

Look! There's a subtitle now! And look, there's an edited cover to fit the subtitle into it. Happy reading!

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Chapter Seventeen - It Comes to A Close

          Unlike the Aethelgard that I knew, this place was well-lighted and had more windows, which made it look even brighter.

          "Please! I'll try again," a lady in an elegant dress told an old man. "I can do it next time."

          With crossed arms, the man shook his head. "No, I realized how young and innocent you still are." Though weak and shaking, his voice was laced with power. Perhaps he was a strong man who just grew old; still, he was to be respected and obeyed. "You're still too young for this responsibility, Elfreda, and so is your sister."

          Magister Elfreda? Th-that lady...She was Magister Elfreda?

          She was still young, almost as young as me. But her features—her sharp nose, blond hair, her insistent voice—all belonged to Magister Elfreda. What was she doing? What was she pleading the old man for?

          The old man walked towards the door, but before he could leave, she pleaded once more, "Please, father! Besides, who will take charge?"

          "Xarthan," he answered flatly, then he left, leaving Magister Elfreda speechless, stunned, frozen in position.

          The place turned black again, then we were brought to the castle's rooftop. Standing near the edge was a man several years older than us, his hair a little longer than Aiden's hair, cut right before the bottom of his ears. His arms were crossed as he talked to Elfreda's father. This man must be Xarthan.

          I heard Magister's Elfreda's voice in my head with a voice that resembled that of Carina when she talked about Remekiah. "Master Xarthan would take charge?"

          When I looked over my shoulder to catch a glimpse of the library window, I saw Magister Elfreda gazing at Xarthan. Her eyes sparkled as she did, and her face gleamed with joy and love. Now, I understood what she was feeling.

          Safia and I were taken to a new place again. People were hurrying down the stairs, shouting and screaming. I made Magister Elfreda out from the crowd, who was arguing with another girl even though everyone else had nothing in mind but to hurry down the stairs for some reason unknown.

          "—That evil dragon is going to destroy this castle if we don't help him! He needs us, Radella. He needs me." She shook her head. "No. I need him."

          Magister Radella groaned, holding her sister's arm to be able to drag her down the stairs. "He's our mentor, Elfreda!" Tears threatened to pour down her face as she struggled to convince her sister. Unfortunately, her sister was very hard to convince. "He told us to get everyone—including ourselves—to safety, and we're supposed to obey—"

          "—Don't tell me what to do, Radella." She then tugged her hand off her grip and ran up the stairs.

          Boom! The castle shook, and everyone screamed even louder, making me fling my hands up against my ears. Then, through the screams, I heard a loud roar, not a roar of a normal animal, but a dragon's.

          The next thing I saw after the darkness was a white dragon, Lohikäärme, spitting balls of fire at Xarthan. Xarthan, however, only deflected those fireballs with a firewall in the air. Xarthan was a firestarter, then.