Beating Wings (EDITING)

17 : Sulona's Throne Room ✏️

"My daughter..." My mother came to the bars of her cell and pressed her face against it. "You're alive?!"

    "It's okay, I'm here." I reached for her paw through the bars, tears streaming my face. "Who did this to you, Mother?"

    "Queen Hyla. Her guards captured me after I left the den." She explained. "They knocked me out and when I woke up, I was here in this dreadful place!"

    "Nota, try to find a key or something!" I spun around, eyes scanning for something to break my mother out.

    "Here!" Nota called at the entrance to the brig. She took a ring off a hook and brought it over to me. I fumbled with the key, but fit it though the lock and we heard a satisfying click.

    The door swung open and my mother stumbled out. She stretched her wings in the small hallway.

    "Thank you, my darling Zepth." She smiled. Suddenly her eyes grew wide. "Where is Deltul? Is he safe?!"

    "Don't worry, Mother. He is back in Tagonia safe with Grilop."

    "And why aren't you two back there with him?" She panicked herself once it came to her that we were in a place of danger. "You must go, now!"

    "Mother, we came to stop the Queen." I closed my eyes and told her. "You must fly back to Deltul and keep him safe in case I..." I couldn't finish.

    "I understand you're... a certain dragon, but you cannot defeat her alone." She remembered Nota was there too. "Well, what I mean is two young dragons cannot defeat the Queen and her guards."

    "Actually, we aren't alone." I corrected her.

    "We gathered a friend of my father's, an ex-guard, and a king and his army to help us fight her." Nota replied, her expression smug.

    "I bed your pardon?" Her mother blinked hard. "A king and his army?"

    "Yes." I replied. "We haven't much time, Mother. You must fly back now."

    "I..." She stammered. "I never really got the chance to tell you, Zepth, how proud I am of you. You have always been my bright star in the night sky. I love you."

    "I love you too, Mother." I hugged her.

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    We went back up the stairs and further down the hall of white. At the end, there was a large door.

    "What do you suppose is behind it?" Nota asked.

    "Only one way to find out..." I took a breath and pushed the door open.

    There was a room so grand, it took us a minuet to take it all in. There was a very large window of stained glass on the wall facing them, and in front of it was a crystal white throne with diamonds and other precious stones encrusted along the backrest. Upon the ceiling was a magnificent crystal chandelier lit by thousands of candles and against the wall to their right was a desk and trunk.

    Nota walked over behind Zepth to the desk. On it was a quill resting in a pot of ink, a blank roll of parchment, and a little wooden box carved with designs of little suns.

    "What's in here...?" Nota lifted the hatch of the box and inside was a dagger. The handle was decorated with pearls and rubies, and the blade was a sharp silver.

    "A dagger?" She wondering out loud. "Why is this in the throne room?"

    "I'm not sure, but let's look inside the chest." I went over to the wooden container. "It's heavy, help me lift the lid."

    With slight struggle, we managed to lift the top.

    "I see a scroll with some writing on it..." Nota examined. "And looks like something was taken out of her. Something metallic; I can sense it with my element."

    "Like armor?" I guessed. Nota nodded. They pulled out a scroll from inside and rolled it out on the desk to read it.

    Nota leaned over. "It says 'Brothers and sisters, the rest of the royal slime have been eliminated and we can finally come back and bring order. We will be welcomed as heroes for cleansing this world of the treacherous Dark Dragons. With no other royal blood in the way, I will become the ruler of all these lands and I will take our rule across borders to take over other kingdoms until we, the Suns of Kirah, shall once again...' it isn't finished."

    "Queen Hyla is their leader." I looked up, piecing everything together. "Don't you see, Nota? She overthrew King Riard and is in control of the Order. She's been killing off all the royal families and she will continue until she is the only one left. Then the dragons of our kingdom will have no choice but to let her rule over everything, and with the Order under her rule, she will kill every Dark Dragon she finds!"

    "And once she's taken care of everything in our kingdom..." Nota faced me, her eyes getting wider and wider. "She's going to expand and take over all the other kingdoms until she rules-"

    "-Everything." A different voice finished. We spun around to see none other than Queen Hyla, with armored dragons behind her. Her stare was cold and amused. "Hello again, Zepth."