The Dragon Portal

Chapter Six

"No way." I said, shell shocked. "No. Way."

"I believe we knew her in the legends as Aqua, the water element dragon." He said.

"But she didn't seem like an element dragon at all! How do you know?" I asked, disbelievingly.

"It's obvious. Look at the facts." He said, leaving it silent for me to figure out.

"Alright. I believe you."

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow. Come by here at about the same time, okay?" He said, completely normal, like he hadn't just dumped a huge, new piece of information onto my head. I nodded, numbly. "Good. Can you find your way back to the inn?" Again, I nodded. He smiled, and closed the door.

I walked back to the inn, questions turning around in my head. Getting back to my room without encountering anyone, I went immediately to bed, knowing that I wouldn't be able to sleep, but not caring.

It seemed like ages, but the next morning finally came. Of course, I wasn't expecting it to come with Echo yelling in my face.

"Come on! Get up! Emma and I had the best idea on where to take you today, and we're off chores today!" Echo yelled, making me jump so high, I fell off the bed.

"Why are we off chores?" I asked, rubbing my arm where I'd fallen on it.

"Because it's a holiday! The royal family always goes around town today! Today is the day when this town was founded!" Echo said excitedly.

"Okay. Echo? Could you please stop yelling?" I grumbled at her.

"Of course I can't stop! This is one of my favorite days of the year!" Echo yelled, even louder.

"Literally every sentence you say should be ended with an exclamation point." I said, as Echo pulled my downstairs, where Emma was waiting.

"Let's go!" Emma said, not yelling, but extremely excited. They pulled me through the streets, where there was already a huge crowd of people gathered, until we found a free patch of wall to sit on. "The carriage comes right through here." Emma said.

"We'll have a great view!" Echo said, almost vibrating from excitement next to me. We waited for a long time, enough for me to start getting impatient, when we heard the sound of carriage wheels clattering on the stone streets, almost drowned out by the deafening cheering that followed it through the streets.

The carriage itself was beautiful, with its gold gilded wheels and cresting. The royal family waved from inside, adorned with jewels and fancy clothing. The cheers intensified around me, and turned into one long scream of pure approval.

"The royal family consists of Queen Lucille, King Connor, and their daughter, Princess Aria." I looked at each one as Emma pointed them out to me. Queen Lucille had wavy blond hair, and green eyes. King Connor had brown hair and brown eyes, and the princess. . .

Princess Aria had brown hair, and blue and amber flecked eyes. She caught my gaze with an intensity that I could not explain. Time seemed to slow down, until the world was narrowed to me and the princess.

Then Echo nudged me, and the connection was broken, but I still couldn't shake the feeling that Princess Aria was incredibly important in some way that I couldn't figure out.

"Aren't they amazing?" Echo said, as Princess Aria looked away.

"Yes," I agreed quietly. "yes they are."

Just then, I turned around, and caught a guard staring at me as if I were a ghost.

"Echo, Emma?" I asked hesitantly, "Do you think we could go now?" The guard turned his back, and went after the royal coach.

"Yes, we can go now." Emma said. I was up and running before she finished.

"Hey, do you mind if I go for a walk? On my own." I asked. I needed to see Firedeath. They nodded, and I went down the road that led to Firedeath's alley.

"Firedeath?" I called, stepping across the threshold.

"Yes?" He replied.

"I really need to talk to you. Weird things happened today." He came down the narrow staircase.

"What happened?"

"So, today, when the royal family came past for the holiday, the princess, she- well it seemed like she sought me out, then looked at me in the strangest way. Then, even stranger, a guard was looking at me in an equally strange way, but different from the princess." I bit my lip, waiting for his response.

"What happened next?" He asked.

"I got out of there as fast as I could."

"That's good. You really didn't know what the looks meant, right?" He said.

"No. How could I?" I said, utterly and completely baffled.

"You're right." Come on, see what I've done to the place." He led me inside, and I gasped. The walls were stained a warm, red oak color, and the floor was a teal- blue color. He motioned for me to follow him upstairs. There was two small, plain beds, and a wood counter.

"So? What do you think?" He asked, looking very proud.

"It's beautiful." I said, hugging him. "Do you. . ." I trailed off.

"Yes, what is it?" He asked.

"Can I stay here tonight?"

"Of course." He said. "Don't worry. We'll figure out what happened today." He smiled at me, and I felt at peace again.

"Thank you." The words felt too small for the weight behind them, but Firedeath looked like he understood everything that I didn't say.

The day passed peacefully. As the sky grew dark outside, I swear I heard Firedeath say one last thing before we went to bed, almost to himself, "You'll find out what it all means. Sooner or later."