The Rogue Rider (An Inheritance Fanfiction)

Chapter 19: The Punishment

The city lay in a large open valley with the river flowing right through the middle. Lush green forests sprouted from either side, with plains of grass spread in between where herds of livestock grazed. Fields of crops lay on either side of the valley with small figures toiling alongside wheat, barley and fruit trees. Small fishing boats were anchored along the banks of the river with yet more figures casting lines over the side.

Stone buildings made from magickly smoothed granite made up the centre of the valley. They were large structures, with massive openings for doors that a dragon could quite easily fly through. There were four such buildings, all facing each other with a square in the centre made from the same smoothed stone. It looked like a landing pad of sorts, and was big enough to fit a number of dragons comfortably.

A path wound from the buildings and up the side of the mountain, right to where the true sight lay. The city, if you could call it that, was built into stony side of the mountain. The entrance was a gaping opening that arced hundreds of metres upwards. The outside courtyard was made from grey cobblestone bricks and stuck in a semicircular shape, with the path entering from the very top. More, smaller openings, dotted the mountain side, hundreds of them, varying in size. Each of these holes had a balcony on the outside with stone fencing along the edge. Some had the entrance covered up with a white canvas like sheet.

And there were dragons everywhere, of all differing sizes and colours. But these were different than the more wild creatures they had seen thus far. Many had saddles on their backs, and adorned on those saddles were the dragon riders. Riders from the four different species that could form the bond. When they spotted the approaching party the dragons turned toward them, falling in behind Arya and Firnen.

Many cast curious glances toward the new member of their order. Ragin studiously ignored them, and instead focusing on the entrance of New Doru Araeba growing steadily closer. Akaysha glanced around her a little nervously as she took in these other riders and their dragons. The more younger faces watched the two of them curiously, but made no effort to approach. The others simply flew beside them without even so much as a glance. Ragin gritted his teeth, gripping Akaysha's saddle with a little more force, the dread he had been feeling for the past week increased tenfold. It was like they were trapping him, making sure he would not be able to escape, even if he found a way to try.

Firnen flapped his wings a couple of times before beginning his descent to the ground below. They landed solidly on the stone, the ground shaking at the force of the dragons doing so. Akaysha closed her wings closely to her side, and followed Firnen's tail as they began to walk into the mountain. Most of the dragons stay outside with their riders, but a few of the more curious ones followed them in. It was an unusual phenomenon for a rider and dragon to arrive that they had never seen before.

The inside of the mountain was no less spectacular. It looked as though it were made by the dwarves. Stone arches stretched far above their heads, holding up the semicircular roof, which was only visible dew to the enormous crystalline sphere hanging down. A red/orange light burned from within and heat cascaded from it like a fire. It illuminated the many doorways lined on either side of the main hall, leading down mazes of corridors the wound deep into the mountain.

More riders could be seen walking along the edges of the hall, chatting together and watching the proceedings with interest. That being said, there weren't as many as Ragin had first thought. So far he had counted maybe fifty or so riders, all of different ages and species. The rest must have been out or hidden away among the long corridors of New Doru Araeba.

As they reached the end of the hall Firnen came to a stop and Arya dismounted the dragon and slid down his foreleg to the ground. Ragin followed her example, as did the other five riders who had travelled with them. A dark haired, pale looking man greeted the elf with a slight bow.