Travel The Distance

Chapter 8

*Katsuki's POV*

I slumped forwards in the throne, sapped of all of my energy. Who knew sitting in one stupid fucking chair could cause all the energy in my body to be stripped away from me. My bones hurt and I was jittery as if all of the nerve-ends in my body had been fried. My wings and tail didn't help the situation, they just weighed me down. "What the fuck just happened." I groaned to myself. I closed my eyes and concentrated as hard as I could so that my dragon 'limbs' retracted back into my body. "You have just taken on the mantle of the Dragon King. All dragons and users of the dark arts are now loyal to you. You have rejuvenated the land. You have inspired hope for the spirits of nature."  Ground Zero's voice grumbled in my head. I sighed slightly and dragged my hand down my face. It was a lot to take in that I was suddenly a king. I mean... I wasn't complaining, but it was very sudden. "That's all well and good, but there are only 5 dragons, excluding myself, left," I grumbled to Ground Zero. I heard the dragon snort as if I had said something extremely amusing to him. " Were you not listening. You're also the ruler of dark magic users and nature spirits. Do you even know what that means? You rule all of the mythical creatures in Endeavour. Those villagers down there, they're your people. Nymphs and naiads are your subjects." Ground Zero groaned exasperatedly. I rolled my eyes as I felt my body slump due to exhaustion. "Yeah. Yeah. Whatever." I yawned as my eyes fell closed and I fell asleep.

My dreams were filled with images of past Kings and Queens. They were all so grand and majestic. I felt small and insignificant standing next to them, and trust me, that was no easy feat. With every monarch that I saw, their souls left their bodies and enter my own through my chest. It was like their advice and tutelage was being given to me. The final monarch was a woman. She was tall and had tanned skin which glistened in the sunlight. She was staring down at her land as enemy armies began to march over the mountains. Their pounding footsteps vibrating through the earth. The Queen's orange and purple eyes strayed from the scene to look at me. "You will do well, Katuki." the woman said in a voice as smooth as silk before she transformed into a glowing ball of purple light and hit me in the chest. As soon as the light entered my chest, I sat up in the throne with a gasp. 

I blinked a few times to adjust my eyes to the sunlight streaming into the room. It took me a moment to remember where I was, but something seemed different about the throne room. Once I actually paid attention, it wasn't hard to figure out that the room wasn't covered in greenery as it had been the previous day. The floor was made of polished oak wood with a deep, ruby red carpet which led to the throne. The walls weren't covered in ivy and vines but were instead decorated with orange tapestries, decorated with a black dragon wound around a dagger. There was no longer a hole in the roof, instead, when I looked up I was met with wood rafters and a ceiling. The sunlight which had blinded me when I woke up was flooding in through the gargantuan windows which were all around the room. I gaped at the magically repaired room around me. "What the fuck," I whispered to myself in awe.    

I wandered around the dawn light, taking in the magically restored castle. The once decrepit and frankly repulsive castle had been restored to its former glory. The plethora of rooms, used for random and inexplicable purposes. The marble fountain in the courtyard which had a water nymph statue spraying water into the basin. The multiple portraits and statues of previous Dragon-men monarchs displayed in a long hall. The entire castle could only be described as magical. I knew that I had to go and collect my idiots from the foot of the mountain, and I knew that when I brought my tribe to the castle, all of those villagers and some nature spirits would follow. I can't explain how I knew that it would happen, it was just a gut feeling. I sighed and looked around the room I was in.

 I had made my way around nearly the entire castle until I found my way into the royal suite. I guess, my bedroom? The room was bigger than any place I had slept in before. You could probably fit 4 or 5 of my tents into the room and still have room to spare. My tent was quite big as well. I could comfortably pace in it. There were large double glass doors which led to a balcony. The balcony overlooked the lake and forest which I had seen from the previous day. The once murky and green lake had turned a beautiful shade of blue. It seemed impossible to have water so blue and fresh looking. I could see through the water, even from so far away, to see the rocky bottom. The forest looked... breathtaking, to say the least. The forest's canopy was a healthy emerald green colour. The sight of the restored forest made my heart skip a few beats in joy. It made me so inexplicably happy that I wasn't sure what to make of it. I sighed heavily and ran a hand through my spiked hair. I couldn't stand there and stare at the sight forever (though I wished I could). I walked back inside from the balcony and out of my bedroom (for I had decided resolutely that it had to be mine), promising myself that I would look into the other two doors in the room when I returned.