The Dragon Crown - Prologue

The Dragon Crown

Prologue

The Queen of the Seelie Court of Fairy stood on a cliff above the rocky beach with angry waves rolling up and crashing against stone and sand. Sea spray thickened air whipped through her soft daffodil color curls and billowed the soft silver folds of her down feather gown out around her tall willowy form. Her back to the sea, she surveyed the boiling mountain before her with spring time green eyes. Lava rolled from the crevice and the earth shuddered around her.

She knew it was a dream but a true telling at once. This place and this time were real. Only she was not. The Goddess had brought her here to see it.

"Mother," the Seelie Queen whispered. "My all mother, what hath brought me here to be witnessed?"

The presence of the Goddess was made known to her by a thrumming across her mind. At times she appeared as a solid figure, yet more often just a weighted thought or instinct. The Seelie Queen felt her pulse quicken as the volcano rumbled again and the Goddess pressed her more intently. A voice that held the echo of thousands of women's voices whispered in her thoughts.

"This is where they shall come from below again. The King of Below Ground gathers his strength."

The Queen let out a frustrated sigh across her garnet colored lips. Long had the children of the Goddess endured the strife inflicted on them by the Below Ground Horde, the Famorians. Every court of Fairy had come together in union to raise up their powers and drive the Famorian horde back below the Earth and sea centuries ago. The power of Fairy had slowly faded since then because time had allowed them to forget. There were those even in her own court who had let the years of peace make them softer and indulgent things. They had stopped listening when the Goddess spoke to them. Their brightness had dimmed without Her blessing.

"They will have a greater strength than my people, Mother."

"Yes. My children forget why they are."

The Seelie Queen shivered, then dropped to her knees as the waves viciously bashed the rocks below her to loft its salty mist upward to her. She grasped her hands before her and pleaded with their Goddess.

"Help me protect them."

The Earth growled, rocks vibrating around her. A bright wave of lava burst from the mouth of the volcano. It brought with it a long thick bottom boat, enchanted not to burn and steady held down the mountain side. The Seelie Queen knew what that boat held, scouts for the Famorian horde had now broken above ground. Their King would soon be making his plans.

"I will help you," The Goddess whispered.

The Queen closed her eyes and prayed fervently to thank her Goddess. She felt a soft touch against her cheek as if she were being comforted, but when she opened her eyes she was still alone on the cliff side.

The Goddess continued, "There are seven in the world of mortals that are more than their birth. They are blessed of Immaculate blood and will bring my children together against the Below Ground King. Without all seven you will fall. The creatures of fire and earth will come to the call of the first. She is a slave in the city of Turna."

A solid figure appeared before the Seelie Queen. The Goddess stood tall and transparent with a shining face that was too bright to see her features. That echoing whisper continued, now from her unseen lips instead of into the Queen's mind. "Find the slave named Aderyn. But she must rise and rescue herself."

The Goddess lifted her hands above her head and a dark hued red crown appeared in her hands. White and yellow jewels rose along the delicate spires as if the crown were a wisp of flame.

"When she knows herself she will wear The Immaculate Dragon Crown." Then flame broke out in front of the Seelie Queen. The ground beneath it churned under the flame, rolling up and forming a dragon the size of a ferret. It came to life as the fire extinguished and unfurled its red leathery wings. The body was a darker crimson than the wings with black feet and tip on the tail.

The face, which could have been that of a ferret except for the longer muzzle and scaled skin, turned to the Seelie Queen and gave her curious yellow eyes.

The Goddess began to fade, "The fairy dragon will bind to her and be her familiar. Take her with you to Turna so she may find her master and begin her trial into her Immaculate Crown."

"As my Mother bids, I will do happily."

The Goddess disappeared into that sea spray air. The Seelie Queen lifted the small dragon into her hands as the dream faded. Together, they would change the fate of the slave named Aderyn.