Curse of the Phoenix

Ch.6 -Residence

       The sight of the graveyard and fallen city fresh in our minds, we flew on. I was more looking around than paying attention to where Grimm was going. Gradually another mountain loomed up above us, the majority I could see was covered in trees or bare stone, and the snow covered peak so far above it blended into the sky. Another large clearing appeared below us, and Saphira descended in lazy spirals downwards. Grimm landed in the grass with a small thump. Eragon got off of Saphira, and she sprawled herself out, her scales drinking the sun's heat and warming her. I stayed atop Grimm while I looked around a bit. Nothing looked out of the ordinary, the trees were tall and there was a warm breeze that blew through the forest.

I got off of Grimm's back, careful not to cut myself on his scales. I didn't even notice the door until Eragon opened it. I blinked again and saw the whole picture. I saw a castle, made of large, grey stone bricks that made the castle look as if it had grown up from the ground. the bricks were blanketed in vines, and there were several huge oaks that hugged the stone. The vines were a dark green and covered in hundreds of thousands of blossoms, blanketing the grey stone in white. I looked at the flowers. Then i looked again. The petals were white, but the inside a deep red. The massive amount of flowers.....I guessed that the vines covered the whole building, but, no, that couldn't be right! If it was the castle was as long as ten Saphira's placed nose to tailtip. It would have taken half a hundred years to build something that big.

Grimm, what do you think?

What do you think?

I think that there are a lot of flowers.

They smell strange. And I thought wherever they lived was a bit less flowery..

And more...

Darker, maybe.

Do you think the door was hidden? I didn't notice it was there until it was open.

You don't seem to notice a lot of things. Like how Eragon is waiting for you to go inside.

He-oh!

I snapped out of my thoughts and drew my attention to the real world. Eragon was standing my the door, a tiny smile on his face at seeing me look around.

"Go on in. You can look around all you want."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"How did this get here? Who built it?"

"Me and Saphira did."

"Just you two?"

"A few others helped." I saw as he answered he seemed to sadden a little so I didn't push the topic anymore. Instead I walked inside. The first thing I saw was the extremely large, extremely wide staircase. It seemed to be made of stone as well, and it had a large red rug draped over it. To the left and right were two huge rooms, the one on the left seemed to be a dining room, with a smaller door that led to what I assumed was a pantry. In the middle of that room was a dining table made of dark wood. At the end was a single chalice, and a large plate. Were Eragon and Saphira alone here? Under the table was another large red rug. Behind the table was the biggest fireplace I had ever seen, ten feet wide at least. At the moment there was no fire burning. The room to the right was equally large, but empty.

"What's that room for?" I asked.

"It's just extra room if we should ever have need of it. The left room is a dining room, and that smaller door leads to the kitchen and a pantry."

"What's up the stairs?"

"A set of hallways with the rooms. You can have whichever one you like." Eragon started to walk up the stairs, then he suddenly turned around. I had kept walking so I bumped into him. "Sorry. I'm so forgetful sometimes..." He walked back towards the door, and began to pull on a thick metal rung. I then realized the rung was actually the handle to another set of doors. This set was huge. Thirty feet tall, twenty wide. Big enough for a dragon to walk through. Maybe...that was the purpose? Anyways, I went over to help him. I grabbed the other rung and began to tug. The door didn't move an inch. I pulled as hard as I could, and it didn't move. I glanced over, and Eragon had his open. That only made me more determined to get mine open. I huffed and tried again, but the door didn't move. Then, suddenly, the door slowly slid back. I grinned and kept at it. Once the door was all the way open Grimm's head snaked around the side to look at me. He snorted, which ruffled my hair. Then he stepped inside and swung his head around, looking at everything.