Lily of the Shadows

Chapter 3

Location-the Valdt

"Are they coming back yet?" Ravenna eagerly asked, just ten minutes after Khashmyr, Vaskin, and Manx had disappeared through the dimensional rift. Xolt gave her an icy stare and said, "They just left. It may take days for them to return."

"So...does that mean like two days or so?" Ravenna replied.

"No." Xolt said, starting to walk away.

"So maybe one day, right?" Ravenna called after him. Xolt spun around and said, "Don't you have a castle to be guarding?"

"Oh yeah, right. Well, Thorryn is taking care of it in my absence. He is an excellent guard!" Ravenna said.

"That scaly fat cow you call a dragon is guarding the Empress's castle and all the records and potions and decades worth of priceless literature?!" Xolt said in alarm.

"Oops..." Ravenna said, cringing.

Xolt called to his dragon, Sheena. Sheena was a magnificent beast, with white scales covered in light blue stripes and rosettes and silver fur lining her back. Her wings were edged in interlocking blades that could slice enemies in half as she flew, and to top it all she was a very rare breed, in fact she might have been the very last female Arctic Slicer Leopard around. Her every muscle rippled with catlike precision, showing her beauty and prowess. And she had the intelligence to match it all.

Sheena flew in, making a perfect graceful landing and she said, "What is it this time?"

"Can I come with you? Please? Thorryn really only listens to me!" Ravenna said.

"Oh no. Not again!" Sheena growled in annoyance, "Where's the mess this time?"

"In the castle. Hurry." Xolt said, climbing up and perching on the dragon's back.

"Please can I...?" Ravenna started. Xolt nodded and Sheena lowered her head for Ravenna to climb on with exasperation.
"Aren't you a paraglisp?" Xolt asked Ravenna.

"Yup." She replied.

"So...Can't paraglisps fly?" Xolt said.

"It's not like I want to!" Ravenna said in her defense. Xolt rolled his eyes and Sheena took to the sky. The dragon circled the castle a few times before she spotted Thorryn in one of the many windows of the castle, making a beeline for the archive room. Sheena landed on a gargoyle's head and held out a wing so that they could dismount. Ravenna raced after her dragon, but was no match for his speed. His short wings efficiently propelled him towards his target, and since he was barely larger than a Labrador retriever he could fly through the narrow halls with ease.

"THORRYN!" Ravenna yelled down the hall. The dragon stopped in his tracks and then landed on the ground, his little tongue hanging out as he panted in exhaustion. Thorryn was a young unknown breed of burrowing dragon as far as anyone knew, and he was built a lot like a mole salamander but with a longer neck and a prehensile tail like that of a chameleon. His feet were barren of any claws, but his skin was incredibly thick and covered in special spots that were actually able to detect the electrical signals of other living things. Thorryn's back was plated with golden armor scales and so were his four short little legs. Ravenna slowly walked close to him so as not to startle the little dragon, when all of a sudden Xolt accidentally released a small bolt of lightning. Thorryn spooked and raced away, surprisingly fast for a dragon with such short little legs.

"Nice going, genius! You scared him away!" Ravenna said.

"We wouldn't have to chase after your dragon if you didn't let him loose in the castle!" Xolt angrily replied.

"Ugh! Well, everybody makes mistakes!" Ravenna retorted as she walked down the palace hall calling to her dragon.

Suddenly she saw the copper tip of Thorryn's tail disappearing into the archive room. Ravenna raced after the little white, yellow, green, copper, and gold dragon but to no avail as he had already dove into a stack of leather bound books. He cautiously lifted one of the books in his mouth and began chewing on the cover.