8. AURELIA

Chapter eight

AURELIA

F rom what I could see beyond the masked purple flowy veil, I caught glimpses of the outside world, watching the Celestials glow above me. It separated me from the Forbidden Forest and the large structural castle I was supposed to live in, like any other princess would.

It was the same sky that I had seen a million times over. Boredom took over me, as I longed for something new and exciting. The Forbidden Forest, standing brilliantly tall, calling my name, lined outside my tower. The forest had trees that would reach higher than the simple hedges in the garden, magical and majestic, towering up toward the sky. A sickening blackness that only aroused curiosity.

The magic tethered to the forest called my name, pleading for me to draw near. An electric hum rattled in the air that I knew was tied to the forest itself. It tasted like desire and freedom, which I so badly craved.

Glancing to the left, I surveyed the gardens and the castle that so patiently sat there. The top spires held windows with stained glass with various colors across them, making me wonder who stayed in those rooms. And my father knew them better than me. I knew the enchantment wouldn't allow them to see me, but often, I wondered if they saw past the blur and if they had a curiosity about me as much as I did them.

My elbows ached from resting them on the railing surrounding the only window in my tower. It had only one room with a small washroom and stairs. I got lonely often, but I just turned to my books. The only education I received was from my grandmother and the books I read. Many talked about the Forbidden Forest, old traditions, and magic from the Old Religion that was now banned from all surrounding kingdoms.

With a groan, I turned toward my bed, flopping face first. Lifting my face, I covered my messy pink hair, and grabbed the book I had started last night on the nightstand next to my bed. I had read it many times and was halfway through it yet again.

All I did today was read and go to the castle for dinner. No one spoke to me, which was understandable. I didn't want to talk to anyone, either.

My hand felt the soft fabric that caressed my fingers before my eyes caught up. The book had a red velvet covering delicately wrapped around it. The golden words flickered in the moonlight that shone into my room through the cutout window. "Hunted and Killed" were traced along the front in spectacular cursive, the words etched in and ran deep into the book's fabric.

Scalebornes have a 10% chance of living. Most kingdoms will put bounties on Scalebornes and have a competition to see who could find and kill them first, obtaining their golden blood from their death. There have been cities in the South that have worked together to find them and split the earnings of the kill. In Sicik, they created teams, hunted a local Scaleborne, and split the gold once killed.

I knew my chance of living. Ten percent echoed again through my head. The only reason I was alive was because of this stupid tower. But I didn't want that anymore. I wanted to explore the Forbidden Forest. I wanted to be heir to the kingdom that was supposed to be mine.

Looking down at the page, I saw a hand-drawn shield in the corner. I had seen it before, but never paid any attention to it. Getting up, I walked closer to a light flickering in a sconce near my bed to see it better. The shield was diamond-shaped, and the middle split into four different sections. The first section had flames flickering up, the second next to it had a swirl resembling wind or some sort of air, the third section a mountain peak, and the fourth a wave. The diamond shape was outlined in a layer of gems and thick, dark ink. Wrapped around the drawing, the words said, "Fire, Air, Earth, and Water." with the word "Scalebound" scribbled at the top.

Thinking about the word ‘Scalebound', I had never seen or noticed it before.

I glanced over the stairs as I heard footsteps coming up. Who was it? I wasn't expecting anyone. "Hello?" I muttered through my nervous lips.

The scratchy, familiar voice that had been a part of my upbringing, reading me stories each night, said, "My dear!"

Sighing, I realized it was Nana.

"Hello, grandmother," I sighed, relieved it wasn't anyone else. "You're here late," I exclaimed. Usually, we had our lessons during the mornings, but she wasn't feeling well today and had called them off.

"I had to make sure you were okay," her voice crackled. She was getting older, moving slower. I knew that, but I didn't want to accept it. She was one of my only friends in the world. One of the few people that understood me. Even though I sometimes hated her for what she did to obey my father. She knew that I had been getting more and more restless. I had been up in this tower for twenty years, with my grandmother raising me.

"I am not sure how much longer I can take being up here," I stated grimly as I walked over to the window, resting my chin on the base. "This literally will be my death sentence," I said with a puff of air out of my mouth, swirling a small amount of dust found along the grout near the window.

My grandmother stood still, which was abnormal from the amount of times she had heard me complain about my tower. Usually, she would rattle off about some sort of statistic or myth that I had repeatedly heard, but this time was different.

She tapped her foot against the stones, the slight thud filling the silence.

"What if," her voice trailing, "We go outside and train?"

"But will someone see me? The fire. It will stand out."

"We will be quick," she said swiftly, giving me a rebellious smirk, hiding the fact that she knew how dangerous this was. She did it so fast that I would've missed it if I had blinked. She knew how close we were to the Forbidden Forest and that anything could reach us if I were to train outside. I was grateful that she was more lenient today compared to last night and the harshness she portrayed.

But I just wanted out of the scale-forsaken tower.

Nana quickly reached a small rose off by the cobblestone wall of the garden and smushed it, killing the roots. Immediately, the veil of my tower crumbled down. She broke the tethered connection to the magic, breaking the link. When it came to the magic from the Old Religion, anything done that lasted more than an hour needed an energy source. Needed some sort of connection.

Usually this is shown as the object looking translucent, a different color, weakened, or even having a small purple layer radiating from it. I didn't even notice the rose and had no time to guess that it was the medium for the hold of my veil for the time being.

Passing the line of where the purple veil disappeared, we made our way out into the small grassy field outside of my tower, near the Forbidden Forest.

The moon shimmered along the dark grass, the sweet honey flowers warming my senses as I savored the outdoors. Closing my eyes, I breathed in the flowers from the garden and the ones that wrapped along the vines outside my tower. Being barefoot, I took in the feel of the blades of grass between my toes and enjoyed the brief moment.

"You ready, child?"

I was never ready. I despised my abilities more than most would if they had them. It meant that I was cursed and discarded to the side, hidden away like the precious jewels of an unused crown.

Nana gave me another one of her mysterious looks, the moon catching the glimmer in her eye. She circled her arms large in the air, collecting amethyst smoke. The mist started to turn into a large wolf-like monster. Panic flooded my stomach as its fangs grew longer and longer until it leveled a stare at me. The eyes were an empty void of purple as it sunk low, ready to pounce. Lunging in my direction, the beast was wild and ferocious, poised to tear me apart.

I gulped, raising my hands in defense, calling to the flames that showed themselves as speckles of red life dancing across my fingertips, outstretching them to the wolf-like creature. A pillar of living flame shot through my hands. The creature dodged my magic and began to encircle me in a predator-like motion.

Creating orbed fireballs, I launched them at the wolf before me. Its fangs flared out, a scowl furrowed from his beady eyes as he hissed, ready to attack again.

I moved my arm swiftly in the night sky, conjuring up a larger fireball, ready to hit him with it.

A growl formed from the pointed teeth jutting from his upper jaw. The fireball in front of me was gathering more flames, expanding with the energy sizzling beneath my skin. He sprung toward me, yet again, his claws outstretched, the purple smoke wolf ready to rip me to shreds, when I hurdled the flame in its direction, watching it vanish entirely. The smoke faded, seeping into the dark forest to my side.

I collapsed on the soil, breathing heavily, a disappointed glance on my grandmother's face. "You have no endurance, my dear," my grandmother said, approaching me. She was right.

I wanted to protest, anger rising in my cheeks. "That's what staying in a tower all day does to you," I blurted under my breath, unsure if she would hear me.

"Get up. Again," she said, turning around, filling the sky with more purple-smoked creatures and monsters for me to fight. I sighed, knowing that it was something that I had to do if I wanted to be outside of my cage for a few more hours.

We did it for longer than my body was prepared for. I was gasping for air and struggling for breath as I fought more wolves, bears, snakes, and giant spiders. I was exhausted and about to give up when she conjured up a creature I hadn't expected.

Nana was quick this time. Her eyes darkened, and her arms flew through the air with a veracity and fierceness I didn't know someone as old as she could muster. She twirled and side-stepped, looking back at me with curiosity and intensity as she released a winged creature with purple smoke.

Its wings were filled with holes, the head slimmed, and its teeth gnarly and gnashing out. The talons were long and almost curled. Horns were sticking out from the top of its head and throughout the rest of its body. I had never seen this creature before, yet the dread that pooled in my stomach recognized it immediately.

"A Deathly," I whispered, pulling new energy into my movements. The purple-smoked creature flapped in the air, being six feet tall. It screeched. Its eyes were pits of blackness. The ferocity of the winged beast stirred the blood in my veins, its leathery skin and feral teeth seeming to have the urge to devour me whole.

I looked at my grandmother to see her reaction. She heard me and nodded in acknowledgment. How did she know about the Deathlies?

The winged creature flew straight toward me, quicker than the others. It saw me and immediately painted me as the target. The body and wings were a membranous purple-gray, an unnerving entity making me recoil. Gasping, I fell backward, the Deathly weaving toward me.

It swooped down and nipped at my face, but I rolled over before it could touch me. I struggled to breathe, not having been as nervous when fighting the other creatures. Why was I more nervous with this one?

A scream escaped my throat as it swooped back down toward me. I couldn't remove my eyes from its lifeless eye sockets, somehow glaring into my soul. Cora was right. It looked like death itself.

Before it could touch me, I lifted my arms, lifting a flame circling me, protecting me from the Deathly. It swung over the top of my head, its tail dipping into the fiery inferno. It started to screech in response, the fire slowly overtaking its body until it froze and crippled down to the ground. The purple smoke dwindled into nothing.

I could feel water streaking down my face. My chest heaved. It was horrifying. Of all the creatures I had studied and memorized, that one was the worst and most horrific monster.

It made me think of the disease caused by its touch. I was reminded that cities of the Clandike Kingdom were suffering from the touches of these creatures, and there was nothing that I could do about it.

But other kingdoms relied on us for our seeds and produce.

This creature would damn not only our kingdom–all kingdoms would starve.

It needed to be stopped.

"I think you're ready," Nana said, slightly out of breath.

"Ready for what?"

"Let's go back inside. There's something I haven't told you." Her words started to slur, hiding a secret between them. My breathing stuttered. What more secrets did she have? What more was she hiding from me?

Our footsteps echoed along the spiraling brick path, the cool cobblestone sending shivers through my feet, while lush greenery enveloped the walls, flourishing with life. My heart sank with the thought of returning to my tower, but I obeyed my grandmother and did so.

As we arrived at my bedroom, I collapsed onto the bed, my gaze fixated on my grandmother. Exhaustion seeped into my bones, but anticipation coursed through me. What secrets did she hold, waiting to be revealed?

"There's a myth from those that practiced old magic that there's a dragon egg hidden on an island." I squinted to concentrate on her fiercely, not wanting to miss a word that escaped her mouth. "An island near the North West seas. It is said that this egg can grant a single wish and that only Scalekind can see it." She paused and looked at me.

"Only one?" I added, attempting to comprehend her words completely.

"One."

"Why is it there? The egg?"

"It is said that it protects the gates of the locked dragons. The rest of the dragon species. Once a wish is granted, it is said that it would release the remaining dragons back into the world."

"That's great news!" I exclaimed. My eyes enlarged. Dragons could repopulate the earth. They didn't have to be extinct anymore. I thought of all the possibilities. They would probably still be hunted and killed, but at least there would be more. They could protect each other. Right now, it was almost as if they were helpless.

"It could be. However, don't you think they were locked up for a reason?" Her question drove deep into my chest. I wondered why they were locked up.

She had a good point. Who was guarding the gates? Why offer one wish?

"Did the old magic lock them up?" I asked, inquiring about those who participated in the Old Religion. "And why?"

"I am unsure, child," she said as she turned toward the window that swallowed the moonlight.

I thought about all her words. If there was an egg that could grant one wish, and if I were to reach the egg…

"I could stop the Deathlies," I quickly said, cringing at my fight with the one earlier. "I could wish them away," I said, realizing there was a chance.

I started to fidget and move with the idea of leaving this tower and searching for the dragon's egg.

"Would you let me leave?" My eyes were glimmering with hope at this point.

She neither confirmed nor denied her answer. A slight smile grew on her face that showed that she would let me decide. She was finally going to give me a choice. It felt that I was never granted a choice. Could I be trusted with a decision?

"How do I get to the egg?" I asked, desperate to end the Deathlies–to make a difference in the kingdom.

"There's a map. I had it locked with me. However, this week it has been stolen. I am worried that the wish will be used for evil in the wrong hands. With that wish, someone could be turned into the king of the land. If not lands ," she emphasized. I thought of Cora and her trips. There were groups of people looking for something every time they traveled. Could they have been looking for the map? "Someone could wish away a whole population, turn the time back a hundred years, have the ability to bring people back from the dead, kill people with the flick of their hand. The possibilities are dangerous and endless."

"I see," I responded, understanding the dire situation with this lost map. "Do you know who has the map?" I asked.

"I am unsure, but it must be someone close to the king. And everyone close to the king will be at the masquerade ball tonight, celebrating Tobias as heir to the throne." My throne. Of course they would keep it on their person when the map led to such a world-changing and dangerous wish. As the image of the golden dragon relic glimmered before me, one thought stood strong in my mind: Tobias would not be heir much longer.