Curse of the Stars Book 1

Chapter 15

Chapter XV

Stygian skirted along the edge of the wall under the cover of darkness. She blended right into the shadows that peppered the trees. For once she was grateful for her coat of midnight, before she remembered why she had to go through this wall in the first place.

I wouldn't be doing this in the first place if I had never been cursed!

Stygian had hoped the constant clatter of the quarries, no matter how muffled by their distance, would somewhat drown her out. But all was silent at night, it was as if the whole city ceased to breathe when darkness took over.

A high pitched cry echoed over the mountain summits and Stygian paused her prowling to look up in fear. She thought she saw a shadow, its wings gleaming like brandished silver, sailing through the star speckled ocean of the sky.

It's a dragon. She realized in great wonder. The ice dragons perhaps? She wondered if they only came out at night. Were the humans a threat to them too or did they worship all dragons like they had worshipped her and Turbulence?

A spark rippled through the air, but it was just the quick reflection of the beast's silver armoured scales as it did a sharp turn in the air and disappeared past the summits beyond.

It's gone into the Last Rugged Wilderness. Stygian's heart pounded with anticipation. Maybe it was another sign, like the white stag. Stygian continued to slither forward.

Stygian continued for most of the night. The city was so huge that the wall never seemed to end. She couldn't tell how close she was to reaching the end either, not as long as these trees blocked her view. The tangle of brush grew so tangled and dense that eventually Stygian was forced to climb atop the wall. It took her a good ten minutes of calming her breathing to gather her courage.

What do I do with Calliopel? She fretted as she stared down at the fox. It didn't seem as concerned as she felt. Maybe it was small enough to wriggle through the deep thicket, but there was no way a dragon of her size could do it. Maybe someone like Turbulence...

That sneaky little... She shook the thought of Turbulence from her mind. She didn't want to think of that sly know-it-all. Would Turbulence take over as a god again if Stygian mysteriously disappeared? How would the humans react?

Stygian tried not to think of that either as she clambered up the wall on quiet claws. The tips of her wings brushed the lip of the wall as she pulled herself onto its flat surface and she winced at the sound. She froze at the top but there was no movement, no shouts of alarm.

Do they really think themselves so safe and protected with these walls that they didn't think to post lookouts? From what Stygian knew of humans and their war tactics, that didn't seem like a very smart thing to do. Still, she was grateful, in this case.

As expected, Calliopel disappeared beneath the embrace of branches until his shining red coat was extinguished by darkness.

I hope he finds his way. It was uncanny, how the fox could sort of read her mind. Stygian took a deep breath and lurked across the wall, pausing every time the smallest sound reached her ears. The city twinkled under the moon in shades of silver and deep set blue, with the dancing of thousands of flickers of firelight quivering through the cold.

~*~*~*~

A shadow huddled in a lonely alleyway. He wore a cloak and blended into the darkness of the cobblestone houses where even the moon could not reach him.