Alistair and The Dragons

Chapter 22 - New Powers

Alistair's POV

I looked up from the book I was reading when the was a knock on the door. I slowly got up, unsure of who it would be at this time of night. I cracked open the door, letting out a relieved breath when I saw it was only Xander.

"What's up?" I asked, opening the door for Xander to come in. Xander stayed put, making no indication on coming inside.

"We were clearing out the previous kings room and were wondering what you wanted us to do with his belongings." Xander questioned, keeping his eyes trained to the ground. I frowned, hating the treatment and at the mention of the king.

"Throw it all away." I said, turning to close the door. Xander nodded and began walking away. Then I remembered something. The king had said I didn't know what the amulet did.

"Xander wait!" I called, stopping him from rounding the corner. Xander stopped and began making his way back to me. We met in the middle.

"Yes, my King?" Xander asked with a stoic expression.

"Bring all his things to me." I said, "Except his clothes." I added, not caring about those.

"Of course, my King." Xander said, nodding again and speed walking away.

"Stop calling me that!" I yelled, narrowing my eyes at his retreating form.

"Never." Xander called back, finally showing some of his actual personality. I smiled and walked back to my room to wait.

Within minutes there was another knock at my door. I stood once again and opened the door wide, letting Xander and a few other guards to drop the boxes inside. They all bowed and left me with the old kings things. I took a deep breath and kneeled down in front of the first box.

I opened the lid and let go of a breath I didn't know I was holding. What was I so worried about? The only thing in this box were old looking knick knacks. There was a wood carving of the Elf King himself, random statues of birds and a few other things.

I shut the box and moved onto the second one. I lifted the lid and as soon as I did, a dusty smell filled my nose causing me to sneeze. I shook my head to rid myself of the feeling and let my eyes roam over the contents of the much smaller box. I furrowed my brows, picking up one of the many drawings in the box. They looked to have been untouched for years. Every drawing was of the same girl. Different poses and backgrounds but every drawing was the same girl.

I turned a few of the drawings over, looking for any sort of writing but there was nothing. No name. No initials. Just blank other than the beautiful girl sitting on the page. I continued to pull the drawings out until I got to the very bottom.

I frowned, staring at the hunting drawing. The girls eyes were blank, no life in them like the other drawings. She was laying against the grass. Almost lifeless. I quickly threw the drawings back in the box and shoved it away. I turned myself around to the third box.

I pulled open the lid, my eyes widening when I saw the contents. I pulled out multiple old books. Some you couldn't even read the title of anymore. I was excited to have something new to read, even if they were owned by the Elf King. I stacked the books behind me as I took them out. I reached my hand in for the last book, stopping when my fingers touched a leathery surface.

I pulled the book from the box and turned it over in my hands. It was in decent shape, a few scrapes here and there but nothing major. I opened the book to a random page and gasped. Inside sat a sketch of a painting. It was intricate with small details looked to be added later on. This had to be the old kings journal. I ran my hand over the sketch onto a the words wrapping around the drawing. I read the first few words out loud softly.

"Portal to Fedoran..." I trailed off, scanning the other words on the yellowing page. I flipped the page, finding another page about a different portal. I flipped a few more pages through my fingers but stopped when the portals changed into different kinds of jewelry.

My eyes widened at what these items could do. I flipped another page and froze. Drawn on this page was the very amulet hanging around my neck.  It's title in this book was Dragon Amulet. The sketch was almost exactly what it looked like but not quite, giving me the impression the king had never actually seen in. After starring at the drawing a few more seconds, my eyes switched over to the writing around it.

Dragon Amulet. The Dragon Amulet glows bright at random times it seems. No consistency.

I frowned. The old king never knew about the Portal Pond then. Strange.

I have reliable sources telling me that the amulet is more that just a shiny necklace. It gives you the natural ability to somewhat understand the monsters and it can control the beasts that roam our...

The word 'our' was scratched out furiously, I could barely make it out.

my skies. They are a plague. If what my sources say are true. This amulet can control the beasts with just a thought.

There were a few more small paragraphs around the amulet but just that one alone made my head hurt. There's no way it could do all that. I had never been able to control any of the dragons...but I had never really tried. I sighed and stood up. I kicked the small box with the drawings in it under the edge of my bed and stuffed the kings journal under one of my multiple pillows.

I picked up the first box I had gone through and set it outside my room silently. I caught Xanders ever watchful eyes for only a moment before shutting myself back in my room. I didn't want to speak to anyone right now, especially an elf. I pushed the other boxes out of my way and pulled my shirt off as I walked to my bed.

I turned my head away from the large mirror on my wall as I passed it and dropped onto my bed. There was a small hiss of displeasure from inside the cluster of blankets but I simply pulled the small dragon from his hiding spot. I cuddled him to my chest and fell into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

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There was a little cameo in this chapter of sofisticateduniwhales story