Dragon of the Flames

Chapter 5

Shadow had summoned Sweet and Clay in the utmost secrecy. She had handpicked a loyal servant fairy to fly to their dorms. She had given it the task to send them a dragon scroll, a very special letter, enhanced to only unroll in front of it's destined recipient. Such a scroll made it impossible for anyone else to read it, if they ever got the chance to intercept the fairy.

The two dragons, in the silence of the night, hidden by the new moon's darkness, swooped through her open window. Shadow's room was on the top of the north tower, with a clear view on the east tower. She could clearly see that no one in the East tower had seen anything. Clay frowned at the sight of Shadow's glittering eyes. Sweet, on the other side, wasn't able to hold Shadow's gaze.

"Sweet, Clay." The Queen of Dragons cut short the formal welcoming, knowing her friends would understand they could talk freely without the hex watching their every move.

"I am not getting married." Sweet looked up at Shadow's words, confused, and Clay growled, his eyes almost slits.

"How do you expect the Hex to change their minds?" he retorted, a grin stretching slowly on his face. "I'd be glad to kick Azure out personally, if that's what you mean. I found him in the gardens this evening trying to burn off the pegasus's mane off. He's got nothing better to do than be a jerk." Clay grunted, seemingly even more annoyed now that he thought about the prince.

Shadow sighed. "Yeah, I know he's not the greatest dragon I've met... but I know someone who can change him." The golden dragon stepped towards Sweet, who couldn't even start to understand what her friend meant.

"Wh-what do you mean?" she squeaked, afraid Shadow would get mad again at her like she had gotten mad at the table today. Shadow wasn't angry though, not anymore. Her objective was soulfully focused on her ingenious idea.

"I've got an amazing plan. What if we switched roles, switched appearances? I want to go explore the world. You can. You've got no obliged duties here, nor does your brother. You could take my place, literally. You would be me, you could live my life, learn from Elder Mana herself and play my part in the castle. I, on the other side, could go on adventures. It's perfect!"

Sweet's eyes grew wide. The prospect of being offered the role of queen, and the duties to play seemed gigantic, much to great for her to manage. She had never understood where Shadow found all the energy and enthusiasm she had and spread it to others, but she admired her friend, and she saw in Shadow's eyes, the thirst for adventure like she's never seen before.

"Think about it Sweet! You could help Azure become a better dragon, as his wife. You like him. You might have even more feelings than like for him, I don't know! It's your only chance. The hex wants me married as soon as they can. I don't know what they're trying to do, shunning me from the truth like this, but if I had the liberty you had, I could find out and unearth this whole conspiracy, and I'd have you on the inside to help me. We could send each other letters... this is possible, I tell you!"

Clay turned his head from Shadow, to Sweet, then back to Shadow. A tension hung in the air as Sweet processed Shadow's words. Clay, on his side, couldn't believed it. How would Shadow ever get away with this? Sweet was completely different from her. To make things even more difficult, an appearance changing changing spell wasn't simple. Although, knowing Sweet... the pink dragon was amazing with spells. Shadow clearly knew what she was doing.

"I don't know how I'd be able to take your place, you've got such a busy schedule, and I'm not as great of a flier as you are, and the marriage..." Sweet's words trailed off, as she realized Shadow's proposal was starting to enchanted her. She believed, just like the golden dragon, that there was perhaps hope for Azure's character and hope in finding out why the hexagon was acting so mysteriously. No queen had ever been married to a royal before, to her knowledge. What was the hex up to?

"How are we going to swap places?" asked Sweet, as Shadow ushered her friends toward an open book resting on a nearby table in the room. Sweet peered over to read on the molding paper some words of wisdom.

"The Mirror of Dawn. This elven artifact is a beautiful standing mirror with a thick silver frame and decorative opals, rubies and amber incrusted on the sides. If two beings pass through the magical mirror at the same time, they can exchange appearance. If anyone witnesses the exchange, they will be immune to the spell. To reverse the spell, the two beings must pass through it together another time."

Clay shook his head, as Shadow beamed. He hadn't heard of such an artifact before. How could they be sure it existed, and how would they find it before Shadow's wedding? Shadow seemed to read his mind as she spoke up once again.

"Elder Fae keeps this particular mirror in his office, since the mirror's value is inestimable. The best part is he's gone off for an urgent meeting out of the castle and he won't be back before dawn. Our chance is now or never." she assured her friends, as Sweet shivered and Clay grinned mischievously, reflecting Shadow's excitement.

"Why do you want to be me so much?" piped up Sweet, speaking with a boldness she didn't know she had in her.

"Don't you see it? I want to go outside, Sweet, I want to go on adventures! I want to explore the forbidden Jade Forest, to see the volcano Flen'Dihir with my own eyes! I also want to understand why the hex is acting so suspicious, and I need to find some real archives about Edna, and the previous Queens before me, to understand this marriage stuff. The hex is acting so secretive about my own wedding, and I can't just fly out of the valley as myself with this... impending event. I have to do some research in Tarus's ruins, and ask the rest of dragonkind if they know something that I don't."

Sweet sighed softly. "If you think I'm the dragon up for it, then I trust you." The pink dragon nuzzled her friend affectionately, and Shadow rumbled happily, pumped at the idea. She looked at both of her friends with newfound excitement in her voice.

"Okay, so listen me out, this is how we're going to get into Elder Fae's office..."