Legend of the Sand

~Chapter 11~

As I pulled down the handle the door swung open, almost knocking me out.

'WOOOOO.'

Luna was hanging from the crystal lights whilst Onyx leapt around in circles, causing chaos and mess. My jaw dropped as I looked left to right, everything was in tatters, from the curtains to the carpets. By the looks of things the boy had the same expression as me.

'Stop this at once!'

A womans voice boomed from behind us. The queen walked past us and into the room, followed by another dragon I assumed was hers. It squished through between us and followed closely behind her. Perhaps it was normal to have dragons here. It was white, gold and silver with elegant feathered wings and a slim body. Its head was thin and long with intense turquoise eyes, gleaming like sapphires. It radiated a light silvery aura from its smooth perfectly pointed scales. It reminded me of the queen.

'I said STOP!'

The queens voice echoed through the now silent hall. Wind and water swirled around her fingertips like miniature hurricanes. She aimed them at Luna and Onyx. For a moment I thought she was going to harm them and was about to intervene but I watched as they flew past the dragon and the girl, instead hitting the walls and spreading over everything damaged, reminding me of the water splashing over my hands and feet in the oasis. I missed the desert. Sort of.

The moment it splashed up against everything it mended itself, sewing the individual stitches of the material curtains and rugs back together and smoothing the cracked walls. In only a matter of seconds everything was back to perfection. Somehow only I seemed to be confused and amazed by this, everyone else acted like this was perfectly normal, maybe this was a normal thing that happened sometimes.

'If you are to even touch this stuff again there will be consequences! And keep away from that dragon too.'

'Yes your majesty.' Said Luna embarrassed. Onyx tried to make a dragon like smile that ended up looking  more like a semi-terrifying growling face.

Luna scurried off through another exit, most probably out to cause trouble some place else, perhaps that bad blood from the dark kingdom really did course through her veins and she couldn't help herself but to do something bad.

Onyx trotted over to us, inspecting the Queen's dragon and sniffing me as if to apologise for what he did. I gave him a gentle pat on the nose and looked back at the Queen, who was fidgeting with a bracelet around her fingers, it looked like the same craftsmanship as mine.

'Is that bracelet the same as mine?' I asked blatantly. She smiled, the glittering metal reflecting in her bright eyes.

'So you did find my bracelet.' She sounded pleased as she lifted up my sleeve to inspect it more carefully.

'Uh yeah, I guess so!'

She chuckled, 'It means Auryon the Dragon Queen, from the prophecy.'

I couldn't help but be curious, Luna had told me the same thing.

The Queen sighed. 'Auryon, we need to talk.'

'About what your majesty?'

'Please, call me Leora.'

'Whatever you wish, so what did you want to say to me?'

She looked around, checking for anyone who could be listening in on our conversation.

'Follow me, we need to go somewhere more private.'

I nodded slowly, trying to contain my questions that were attempting to break out.

She told the dragons to stay put as she held onto my hand. She lead me through a number of hallways and rooms with elegant decorations, too decorated and extravagant for my liking. As we walked I took everything in about this place. Something just seemed off, I'm not sure what it was but every instinct in my body told me something here wasn't quite right, it wasn't the Queen or the people or the place, something else, I couldn't put my finger on it, it was like some aura surrounding the place that made me uneasy.

'Auryon! Auryon are you there?' The Queen asked, waving her hand in my face.

'Huh! Yeah!' I put on a smile.

'Ok, just through here is my quarters, no one will disturb us here, don't worry.'

I nodded my head again and looked at the door that stood in front of us. Big and bold, made from a silky, silvery blue wood with intricate gold designs of dragons etched into its surface. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a key to open it. As if the door had a mind of its own it opened itself as soon as the key had unlocked it.

Inside her room was an elegant white bed with posts stretching up and hanging a layer of material between them, around the bed there were multiple wardrobes, probably filled to the brim with fancy clothing and dresses. The walls were a silvery white colour with blue flowers sprouting out of it here and there. On the far side was a large window that overlooked the kingdom. I followed her as she walked over to it, my shoes clicking and slipping on the overly-polished, marble floor.

'You see,' She said gesturing out the window, 'this is my kingdom; your kingdom too. We need to protect it, we need your help... because you're the only only one strong enough to stop him.'

'Who's him?'

'The King of Darkness. Your father.'

'So its true what Luna said. You are my mother then also?' I asked, my breath catching in my throat. I didn't quite know if that was a good thing or whether to be terrified from all this pressure.

'Yes Auryon, it's complicated, I don't want to talk about it.' She replied bluntly.

'I see, I-I won't ask about it then.' I said, attempting to hide my surprise and fear.

I stared out the window at the village below us, from here the people were tiny like ants, hurrying about, carrying baskets of food, children running about and people on somethings that looked like birds.

'What does the King want?' I asked, still staring out the window.

'Power. Our dragons. Many things. He is greedy.'

'Our dragons?' Suddenly Onyx came to mind, who was hopefully behaving himself, sitting quietly somewhere and not breaking anything.

'Yes, to kill them, to absorb their power for himself. Some say he used to have a dragon himself but he killed it... to gain power. He doesn't just want dragons though as I said, he wants war, Auryon. He wants to control both our kingdoms and everything in-between... including you.' She turned her gaze to floor, 'Especially you.' She added silently in a scared tone.

'I realllyy don't like the sound of that. Not only do I not like that idea but I also had a dream not too long ago. That I was there and he killed a dragon, absorbed its life-force. I don't know if that has anything to do with anything but must stop this too. There must be a way to stop him and his greedy desires.'

'Then it's already begun.' She locked eyes with me. 'The dreams and the foreseeing will come too then...'

'What does foreseeing me-'

'You are the only one to stop him. You are the only one with control of all 4 elements. You are Auryon the Dragon Queen. You have to save us.'

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