Sword and Shield (GxG)

Chapter Six : The Dragon : Rikhata-Nia

So.... I'm apparently a big deal.... Great.... Now I wont be able to get out of here. My plan was to get in and get out. That way I'd keep my promise and still be back with Lilian before too long. But now I couldnt. I'm trapped here. And what letter did Evangaline steal from me? It must have been important... I hope Lilian is okay.... She gets sick around now every year. We've been together for close to three years, so I know her well enough to know it can be bad, and unless she can get money to make a remedy... Oh god I need to get back to her... I need to get out of here... I need my Lilian back. 

"Nia! Focus" the Guardian man snapped me out of my worry. "Your duty as a Guardian is to serve the principals of this kingdom: nature and justice. Justice is what you believe is right, not the common code. Preserve nature, do not take life unless it is needed. Now, as a Wildling, you have additional duties. As a cultural figure of the kingdom. You are equal, if not more powerful than the royalty system, and after tonight no one will question it"

"What is tonight?"

"Not only the start of the crowning ceremony, but the recognition and acceptance of you as a leader. I cannot say your.... Position makes it any easier for you...."

"No?"

"The other kingdoms recognize the Wildling as a primarily male figure, you being so young and female is going to raise doubts over your abilities and how you became a Guardian. They're no good reasons, but folk will believe anything"

"I can understand that" I sighed, shaking my head. People would believe I was a demon because I dont follow their rules. Its not like I've killed anyone, I just placed my love where I wanted it. As the Guardian and I were walking, he stopped us at a large gate in the far back of the underground cave. 

"Here is where you will truely be tested. It is a place only Wildlings may enter, and no ordinary man, or woman, knows what is in there. You will either come out and it will be set in stone that you are our Wildling, but if you are not, then you will not come out. That said: I wish you the best" He pulled open the gates, moving his eyes away. The moment the doors were open I was drawn inside, where I could see nothing but a dark abyss. As soon as they could, the gates closed and it was black as night. Then, from nothing, a fire burst to life in what apparently was the center of the large cavity I was in. Now the fire lit the walls in such a way that shadows were cast of animals, beasts and beauties alike, though they danced on the walls with no source. The fire sent small will-o-the-wisps in large circles on the walls, which moved like the rings of a gyroscope around me. I could see the fire change color, soon I was standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded by ominous trees, sapphire night sky dotted with a myriad of stars, and there was grass below my feet, damp with dew from some rainstorm in the past. A sudden sound reverberated through the clearing, echoing in my bones. A pair of silver orbs stared at me from the dark fringes of the forest, and soon a creature stepped forward. Hide as black as to erase all light, thick enough to seem like armor, and as smooth as a stone off the sea shore. It stood nearly twice my height, on four strong legs. Wings spread out behind it like a cape, veined with faint silver just as its scaled body. The head was rather narrow like a fox's, with two silver horns buldging from it's crown. It opened it's mouth to show glittering white fangs and a purple tounge before a jet of blue flames exploded outwards from it's throat, igniting the whole chamber except the place I stood. I felt the heat of the flames but it did not bother me, and I stood my ground against it. When the dragon moved it took it's careful time to show off it's muscled body and reflective scales.

"I am not afraid of you" I said, my voice was heard a few seconds after I finished, like I was living faster than sound.

"Why?" The dragon stared at me, and seemed to be smirking.