The Queen of Elysium

Chapter 75 - The mother of Dragons

Darish is the first to wake. Dusk is sleeping peacefully beside him, while across the tent Dawn and the twins are also in deep slumber. Not wishing to wake them, he slips from the bed and steps lightly in bare feet.

Outside, the firmament is somewhere between grey and light blue and the final stars are winking out. Even though it is summer there is a crispness to the air in their hidden valley. All around, the jagged mountains are like dark teeth against the lightening sky, reflected in the dark mirror of the lake.

Everything is perfectly still and it is as if the wind itself is holding its breath, waiting for something to happen. Though a wood elf, he has always felt an affinity for the earth and there is something about the gravitas of the ancient stones surrounding him that demands reverence.

A beam of sunlight shines between two peaks, flooding the valley with liquid gold. The light licks across the mountainous maw causing it to blaze as if on fire, while its warmth caresses his chilled skin.

"What a stunning sight."

The words cause Darish to start. He was so absorbed in watching the sunrise that he had failed to hear Dusk approaching.

Without turning away from the view, he responds, "I am humbled by the majesty of the dawn."

"I do hope that you prefer dusk," the Dragonite croons in a husky tone, before laughing and putting an arm around Darish's back. They stand in silence until Dusk scrunches Darish's thin linen nightshirt in a fist. "You know, my view would be even more glorious if you were not wearing this."

Even without looking, he can sense Dusk pouting. Regardless of how unencumbered Dragonites are by modesty, Darish does not feel comfortable wandering around unclothed in front of his amore's sister.

"Let us go for a dip." Dusk pulls away and streaks off, his muscular body plowing into the water.

Hesitating for a moment, he leaves the nightshirt in a pile, and dives into the lake. He hisses in shock as the frigid water sluices around him and gooseflesh peppers his skin,

Toned arms wrap around him from behind. Dusk's burning lips brush against his neck, teasing the flesh beneath his sensitive ear and causing his pulse to race. "Do not worry, light of my life. I will keep you warm."

This is a world away from his life in the forest, yet again he is not the same elf he was then. With fire behind him, cool water before him, steady earth beneath his toes and the majesty of the sunrise above, he has never felt closer to nature, nor happier.

.....

After breakfast, they set off and around two hours later the Red Palace comes into view. It is an odd sight, built hundreds of feet off the ground, on a plateau partway up a mountain. With a sheer escarpment directly below the battlements, the only way in is by flight.