The Kingdom on The Edge of the World
The road leading to the capital of Orelious, Helios, was just as well maintained as the roads pervious, but it didn't compare at all to the slab stone road way we came to near noon.
We had left Straum later than I had thought we would have, but Leon explained that they had to send someone a couple hours ahead of us, so that they could inform the officials and make ready for the return of the kingdom's youngest Prince and Princess.
"Amazing!" I breathed out in surprise once we rounded a corner, only to be met with a cleared out strip of land; the stone slab road dead center and leading farther up the side of the plateau.
Loric looked over his shoulder at me and smiled.
"This is the King's Way." He stated as our group exited the dirt road and noisily merged onto the other, the horses hooves and the wheels of the wagon making a real racket now that they were traversing over tightly fitted and chiseled stone pavers.
"It was built a decade after Helios was founded as the capital of Orelious.
It connects this end of the kingdom, all the way to the south eastern end. "
"It really is quite impressive." I nodded, my claws clicking on the greyish/white stone, and my tail making a swooshing noise behind my lithe, pink form.
This was about as close to a modern road as I was likely to see in this world, if I had to guess.
And it was mind boggling to think that it had been constructed and lain without machinery.
Then again, I suppose the masons likely had magic to aid them, now that I thought about it.
"The mason's guild maintain it, and their talents are richly rewarded by the kingdom. King's Way is one of the wonders of Orelious, and several other nations have attempted to replicate it since, to varying degrees of success."
"This leads all the way to the city?" I asked, even though I was sure of the answer.
"Right up to the palace itself." Stated Serenity from within the carriage.
She was looking out, eyes wide and visibly excited.
Clearly she was more than ready to be home and out of the carriage.
Loric and Hannah had lost the battle of keeping her out of the window about fifteen minutes ago, compromising by having Loric- mounted on a horse- walk alongside the offending window.
It blocked the princess's view a little, but it put the knight and a sturdy horse between any attacks and the Princess's vulnerable visage.
"Twice a year there are great parades and festivals held along the King's Way where it winds through the city! "
"That sounds exciting." I said happily, picturing what a magical parade might look like in a city famous for housing many dragons.
"Last year I got to sit with Father in the Royal carriage during the Harvest Festival! We waved to all the people, and a pretty lady handed me a flower."
"It is a sort of right of passage." Leon explained.
He had completely forgone the carriage and was walking at my side.
Though, for sake of Loric's sanity, he agreed to walk between me and the carriage.
The Knight captain wasn't fully pleased with making me a meat shield, but I didn't mind overly much.
"Once a royal is deemed 'grown up' enough, they can start joining Father in the official processions during the Harvest Festival and the Moon Celebration that comes around during the first full moon of spring.
They are the two largest festivals across Orelious. "
As we walked the road at an easy pace, enjoying the much smoother (if a little noisier) ride, the others continued to regale me with stories of pervious parades and other fun facts about Helios.
I was getting quite excited to see this place that seemed to be filled with so much culture and- more important to myself- other dragons.
Other than my mother, I had yet to set eyes on another dragon.
And even my mother, I had seen her in the dark and she was hardly at her best. I found myself yearning to see others like myself, even if I had been a dragon for less than half a year at this point.
After an hour I noted that there was a great deal more traffic on the road.
Loric explained that there were farms and several smaller towns to the north west, and many people from there tended to frequent the King's way.
This close to the capital the use of the high way was free, and many took advantage of that.
Farther away there was, apparently, a toll to off-set the upkeep of the road.
We were passed by several fancy carriages, where I saw people either openly gawking out the windows, or peeking out more secretively.
Clearly they wanted to catch a glimpse of a royal, but seemed nearly as delighted to see a dragon on the road as well.
As much as I had become an attention hog over these last months, I didn't much appreciate being gawked at like an animal in a zoo. It was starting to make my scales itch.
"We will be coming up to the Summerset Bridge very soon.
" Stated Loric, perhaps noticing my fidgeting.
"Its even more of a grand display of our forefather's gift for masonry than the King's Way, and acts as a gateway Helios.
Guardsmen will check our identities and- in our case- send word to the palace that we have arrived.
From Summerset to the Twilight Palace is about half an hour at the pace we are going currently. "
I supposed a horse and carriage didn't go as fast as a car on the road.
My perception of distance and time still needed some adjustment.
It didn't help that a dragon on the wing was a great deal faster than any car or carriage as well.
Besides, if word was sent ahead of our arrival, then it was sure to mean that the news had traveled amongst the citizens by now.
Given the reception we received in the last two- significantly smaller- cities, I was sure that our arrival was going to crowd the streets and slow traffic way down.
I thought I was prepared for what I was going to see as we rounded the crest of a small incline. After all, I had seen several bridges before, all of them built in a modern world, designed to hold massive, heavy cars in the hundreds. I was just expecting a surprisingly long, stone bridge.
I was mistaken.
The view that greeted us, literally, had me stopping in my tracks and siting back on my haunches, green eyes wide, and a gasp escaping my maw. I heard several guards chuckle as everyone stopped with me, and Leon set a hand on my large shoulder.
"I told you." I heard Serenity giggle to my right, where she was nearly hanging out of the carriage, Hannah hovering over her with a disapproving look on her elegant, yet stern, face. Clearly princesses were not supposed to dangle out of carriage windows, in her opinion.
It wasn't just the bridge that held me spell bound, but the whole vista laid out before my dazzled eyes.
Directly ahead of us was a white stone bridge, grounded where the King's Way met the water of a lake so large that it may as well have been a sea, for how it spanned my entire view, no distant shore visible on the hazy horizon.
The Summerset Bridge was constructed out of a white stone that vaguely resembled quartz, and actually sparkled under the sunlight, almost casting a glow of its own.
I would say that it was as wide as a four lane highway, and already had various carriages, horses, and foot traffic, both coming and going; a group of uniformed guards filtering through the citizens entering and exiting the capital barely seemed to bat an eye at our own procession other than one man offering Loric a respectful nod at a distance.
As breathtaking as the shiny bridge over dark blue/grey water was, it was the city at the other end that was the true magic in this scene.
Even at this distance (at least a couple kilometers if I had to guess) I could tell that Helios was not constructed in the same way the other towns had been.
Where they looked like rustic, classic, medieval fantasy, Helios looked more like it was carved rather than constructed.
If I had to put a name on it, I would have called it an elf city.
I could make out that it seemed to be mainly made from a whit stone that almost looked like it reflected the light in a way that painted it in pastel versions of the colors of a sunset.
It seemed to glow, where the Summerset shimmered.
Seemingly, the city was spread over several small islands situated in the lake, with the Twilight Palace located on a large, central island.
I could see sharp points of buildings reaching up to the sky where it stood in the center of the majestic capital.
It was a mass of spires, each one seemingly in a competition to see who could be the tallest, wile reflecting the warm rays of the sun.
This wasn't enough. Sitting here, looking at it from so far away, was not nearly enough for my hungry imagination.
I realized that, for the first time after arriving in this world, I actually felt like I was immersed in magic.
My writer's heart was dancing with excitement, and I was almost dancing in place, eager to get closer.
I had been dropped into the desperate struggle for survival, my heart filled with my mission from day one, yet at this moment- if only for a moment- I almost forgot all my troubles and just soaked in the magical ambiance for a change.
I felt my wings twitch. I really, really, wanted to fly closer.
Then I heard it, (even over the distant roar of the waterfall that I couldn't see at this distance and angle) the roar of a fellow dragon.
My eyes instantly began skimming around the skyline, hunting for a shape similar to my own.
It sounded again, and this time I realized that it was coming from behind.
I turned my head on my long neck just in time to see a huge being block out the sunlight as it flew over our us, low enough that the wind of it's wings kicked up dust, making Serenity gasp and duck back inside before could get a mouth full of dirt.
It was a dragon!
It felt kind of silly, being so excited over seeing a creature I saw everytime I caught my own reflection. But, excited I was.
This dragon fairly dwarfed me, appearing to be roughly the same size as a house, his belly scales a yellowish white color.
He had flown low enough that I could make out a few scars marring them where they, otherwise, seamlessly flowed into a single pane of yellow hide.
As he proceeded to gain height over the Summerset, I saw that the majority of his scales were a deep goldenrod color that clashed amazingly with the blue skies, making him look like a soring gold statue.
He roared once more, before gaining even more height.
He was quite small by the time I had stopped being mesmerized enough to see that he actually was wearing a leather saddle with a man seated in it.
They were too far away now for me to make out the rider, though he did look tiny compared to the dragon he was seated on.
"That was the dragon, Beryl, and his dragoon, Vanier Strouser." Leon pointed out, pulling my focus back to him.
"Strouser?" I asked, the name sounding familiar.
"My uncle." Stated Hannah, sounding disinterested as she attempted to clear the layer of dust off her charges beautiful pink dress. I was pretty sure that Serenity had chosen it so that we could match when we turned up at her home.
Leon nodded. "He is an older dragoon, even for an elf. He and Beryl have been guarding the capital since my father was younger than Serenity is now."
"I wonder if I will get that big..." I mused (my attention now off the surprise familial relationship between Serenity's nanny and a renowned dragoon).
I was both, intrigued with thinking I might get to so large a size that none would dare attack me, as well as anxious.
Being that big would have a lot of benefits, but getting so large might come with downsides too.
Leon chuckled. "Not any time soon. Not unless your current speedy growth goes on, past maturation. Beryl is an inherited dragon, serving in the royal dragon knights under the last five kings. He must be going on three hundred years old."
"Really?" I asked, surprised.
"There are more older dragons in the ranks of the dragoons than there are younger ones, and they are all spread out over the three kingdoms that entered the pact.
Each kingdom is lucky to receive even one new egg every couple years.
Like I said before, they are far fewer than you would think.
" He was also looking at the golden Beryl somewhat wistfully.
The prince really did dream of becoming a dragoon with all his heart.
"Can I fly ahead and look at the city?" I suddenly asked, to excited to just walk. I needed to fly and explore. "You said it would take about half an hour to get to the palace, right?"
"That should be fine." Said Loric, as Serenity and Hannah took their seats and the carriage started moving once again. "So long as you meet up with us again when we arrive at the palace. I need to introduce you to his highness, the king, after all. He has already been informed of your presence."
"That's fine. Its not like I can get lost. The palace sticks out, even from here, and makes for a great landmark."
Loric laughed. "True. And the King's Way leads right up to it, so our course is easy to follow."
"Good. That is the plan then."
I crouched low and looked over my shoulder at Leon.
"Want to come with me?" I asked, unfurling my rosy wings and shrugging my scaly shoulders, indicating that he should get on.
I hadn't flown with a passenger before, (Unless the corpse of a bandit clasped in my jaws counted as a passenger?) but I was big enough now that it shouldn't be an issue.
When I was hunting yesterday I practiced carrying heavy monsters and the like, to be sure that I could still fly with the added weight, and it was fine.
At least it was fine for relatively short flights.
I wasn't confident that my stamina would hold out for really long trips across the kingdom, but a half an hour over- mostly- water should be fine.
Leon's eyes widened with shock, mouth comically agape. "Seriously?" He breathed, looking me over as if it were the first time he had ever set eyes on my glorious self.
I chuckled, wiggling my shoulders once again. "Seriously."