Gypsy Magic At Hidden Star House.

Gypsy Magic At Hidden Star House - 'The Dragon Summoner.'

Keziah who had once more gone through the portal of the magical painting and was now the princess Divinia in the kingdom of Zellorgaroth again, stood on the battlements of her magnificent castle blinking her light green eyes and taking in her surroundings. Each time she went through the portal of the magical painting that was full of 'gypsy magic' it was quite disorientating at first and took her a few minutes to process the transformation. The battlements of her castle were flanked on each side by very tall turrets and the turret on the right hand side had the kingdoms flag proudly flying from it. Once Keziah felt more at ease with being back in Zellorgaroth and being the princess Divinia again she hurried down the stone steps leading from the castle's battlements that were very, very many and made her dizzy by their twisting and turning. Until she then reached the mid section of the castle where the state rooms and banqueting hall were. She reached the door leading into the largest of the state rooms and went up to the long wooden polished table where the maps of the kingdom were spread out as Sir Dayfindor had left them before he went off on his quest to find Rionnaglas. She took a seat at the table and poured over the maps herself looking at all the different sections and habitats of her marvellous kingdom.
There were four good dragons that lived in the very steep northern mountain ranges territory of the kingdom. The oldest one of them was called Gorscinda, he was the largest of the good dragons and had a big yellow star marking on his left wing. Which was highly visible against his dark green scales. He was much larger then Zatas who was the other male dragon living in those northern mountains. Zatas had lost his right eye by coming into contact with the very unfriendly and fairly aggressive race of humanoid creatures called The Xerots that lived in the kingdom of Zellorgaroth. The grotesque looking xerots had a scythe like horn protruding from the top of their heads. One of them had caught Zatas's right eye with it during a battle and he had lost his right eye completely. Zatas wore a patch over his missing eye but he still managed to navigate well when flying and cope with the daily challenges of life as a dragon. There were two other dragons who lived in northern mountain territory with Gorscinda and Zatas , they were two female dragons called Sefarena and Vidakez. Sefarena was a dark red dragon with a black tipped tail who could fly very fast and perform all sort of wondrous airborne acrobatics. The last of the good dragons was the smallest of them all, her name was Vidakez . She had shiny green scales with a strange red mark on her head that went from the very top of her head and then curved in a crescent moon shape round her eyes right to her nostrils.
Princess Divinia had met the four good dragons several times before with her father and mother the King and Queen. Her father and mother coincidentally like Keziah's father and mother in Keziah's world were also away. The King and Queen of Zellorgaroth had undertaken an extremely long royal expedition to sign peace treaties with the neighbouring kingdom of Rothzennonloren and had been gone many, many days already.
This was why Princess Divinia was in charge of the kingdom in their absence. The evil dragon Belezebour seemed to have decided to attack the kingdom whilst they were away and use their absence to his advantage.
This was why so many decisions and responsibilities were now heaped upon the Princess Divinia and she had to be strong and courageous enough to do her best to protect her kingdom properly. She remembered the good dragons as being very kind, wise and friendly and looked forward to meeting them again although she wished the circumstances were different. She hoped that Sir Dayfindor would be back soon with his friend the brave ex knight Rionnaglas who possessed the ability to summon and communicate with the good dragons and was known as 'The Dragon Summoner' .
Princess Divinia found herself getting anxious about how long Sir Dayfindor had been taking to find Rionnaglas and bring him back to the castle. She got up from the table and began pacing back and forth, walking up and down the very length of the long room and wringing her hands in anxiety. Though she still had awareness that she was really Keziah who had been transformed into the Princess Divinia by her journey through the magical painting, she still felt so much responsibility towards and love for the kingdom of Zellorgaroth and its inhabitants. She felt as though she had waited her whole life to have such a fantastic adventure and it was a role she was born for. One where saving a kingdom from the evil and tragedy that would befall it because of the evil dragon Belezebour was her one true destiny. There was a loud knock at the door, she jumped slightly and then opened it hoping to see Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas but instead found a page standing on the other side holding a silver tray laden with refreshments. She sighed deeply in despair as her concern for Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas deepened further.  The page bowed low in front of her and placed the silver tray onto the table, gesturing as he did so towards a scroll of paper that lay on it next to the food and flagon of drink. He then bowed low in front of her again and quickly exited the room.
Princess Divinia turned her attention to the silver tray that the page had put on the table. It was quite ornate and was deeply inlaid with crescent moon shapes and gold stars that were etched onto the high sides of the tray. It was really very beautiful, it caught the light from the big crystal droplet chandelier on the ceiling and seemed to give off an almost ethereal glow. She picked up the scroll of paper that was in the middle of the tray , broke the red wax seal that was on it and gasped slightly as it unfurled itself open in front of her. Inside the scroll was a letter from Sir Dayfindor explaining that he had indeed found his friend the brave ex knight Rionnaglas but it had taken him longer then he had expected and he beseeched her not to worry and to
remain calm while they journeyed back to the castle.
After reading this a very sunny smile lit up Princess Divinia's face and she looked forward very much to welcoming them back to the castle and beginning the strategic planning of the battle against Belezebour. She knew that Sir Dayfindor had been a knight in service of the realm for quite awhile, though she hadn't seen him in training on the castle grounds so didn't know much about his general abilities in combat. Though Rionnaglas had long been away from his duties to the realm she was sure that she remembered him. Her memories were hazy perhaps but she knew she had definitely known him before he had left the castle to care for his elderly Mother. And she definitely remembered how he had had amazing intelligence and superb abilities in every aspect required for protecting the kingdom. So much so he had impressed her father the King highly and had  become the most important knight of the realm. This was even before it was known that he had talents and abilities beyond that of what was normally required of as a knight. And he could indeed summon and communicate with the good dragons and other creatures of the realm with his own form of powerful magic.  She knew that if anyone could help save the kingdom of Zellorgaroth from the fate that had befallen it under the evil dragon Belezebour it would definitely be Rionnaglas.
She felt as though she had butterflies dancing in her stomach from the anxiety of waiting for Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas's return but she decided to eat as much of the repast of refreshments that were on the silver tray as she was able to. There were shiny green grapes, olives, different cheeses and cooked meats on a round wooden board, there were thick slices of granary bread spread with rich butter to place the cheeses and meats into to make sandwiches. There were cheese flavored crackers, crisps, boiled and shelled eggs, small cocktail sausages and a sliced pork pie with pickle next to it. In the flagon there was a lovely crisp refreshing apple juice which she poured into one of the silver goblets that were in the centre of the table and drank down thirstily.  She found that she did have a good appetite after all and that she could manage to eat quite a bit of the delicious food that the page had brought in for her. Normally when the King and Queen were there they would all have their meals together in the castles banqueting hall but now she was running the castle and kingdom on her own she did things differently. She walked over to one of the arched lead and glass castle windows and looked out into what was now pitch black darkness hoping that Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas would be back when the sun rose once more.  She noticed that there were more stars then usual in the night sky and that the moon was shining very brightly with a silvery glow and it had cast long shadows over the castle grounds.
She was pleased to note that the evil dragon Belezebour was not patrolling the night skies and that hopefully he was still in his lair in his cave in the mountains and would remain there for awhile.
She decided to try to get some sleep in the hope that the night would pass quickly and things would seem better in the morning.
She rang a large golden bell that was on the table and soon the page who had brought the refreshments in arrived to collect the silver tray. He bowed lowed in front of her and exited the room followed not long after by the Princess Divinia who climbed up the castles long spiral stone staircase to go to her bedchamber to dream of brave knights and one totally fearless hero. She found her sleep to be quite restless though and woke several times in the night to find the room lit up by the glow of the silvery moon which was shining brightly through the windows. She thought she could hear a faint sound of a dragon roaring and screeching far in the distance and felt frightened for her kingdom and its inhabitants. She was only too glad when the sun rose and it's bright light came streaming through the windows. She quickly began to prepare for the day and chose a long cobalt blue velvet dress to wear and tied her hair back away from her face with matching blue ribbons. She then placed a gold and sapphire tiara on her head and pulled soft blue satin boots onto her feet. She hurried down the steep stone spiral staircase and into the same large state room that she had occupied the previous day. She rang the golden bell that sat in the middle of the table and the page appeared not long afterwards with her breakfast on the same ornate silver tray he had used the day before. He placed it on the table, bowed low in front of her and with a flourish exited the room. The Princess Divina reached for the warm golden croissants that were on the tray. Then she poured herself a large glass of milk from the silver jug that was in the middle of the tray to accompany them. The croissants had a chocolate hazelnut filling and were her all time favourite breakfast. While she sat at the table eating her breakfast she was disturbed by a loud metallic rattling, scraping noise that seemed to echo throughout the room even though it was coming from outside the room. The noise got louder and now seemed to have added banging and bumping noises to the metallic rattling, scraping noise. It sounded as though some sort of metal object was being scraped and banged against the stone spiral staircase of the castle. She felt fearful in case the evil dragon Belezebour had somehow managed to invade the castle and was the cause of the mysterious noise. Her imagination ran riot and she began to tremble in fear, spilling her drink over the table in the process. She just managed to push all the maps and plans out of the way in time before they got soaked and ruined. She once again rang the golden bell that was on the table hoping that the page would arrive quickly and dry the table and remove the remains of her breakfast.
It wasn't long before she heard footsteps outside the door, though there seemed to be more then one pair and they were accompanied by the dreadful metallic rattling, scraping and banging sound. The door was suddenly flung open and three people walked into the centre of the room. The Princess Divinia breathed a big sigh of relief and smiled happily for it was the page, Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas that had entered the room. The reason for the dreadful noise was revealed now too, as both Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas were carrying their heavy suits of silver armor and they had accidentally banged these against the stone spiral staircase as they walked.
'Hopefully I haven't dented my armor as we need to be battle ready as soon as possible Princess,' said Sir Dayfindor while at the same time checking his armor over.
'As far as I remember Sir Dayfindor every suit of armor for each of the knights of the realm were smelted of the finest and strongest silver reinforced with titanium and nothing could even pierce it let alone dent it ! So I don't think we have any worries in that regard', said Rionnaglas.
'I had forgotten that but it is certainly a relief. And my suit of armor definitely looks like it doesn't have a single scratch or dent on it. That would also be why they are so very heavy to carry !, ' said Sir Dayfindor placing his suit of armor carefully in the corner of the room. Rionnaglas set his suit of armor down next to Sir Dayfindor's one and they both sat down at the table and began looking intently at the maps of the kingdom.
Princess Divinia who knew she was really Keziah from our own world had begun to fret about how long she had been away from her own world. Though she knew that time passed differently in Zellorgaroth from our own world she was missing her grandparents and felt that she needed to get back to them. She knew innately that time would freeze in the kingdom of  Zellorgaroth while she was away and that everything there would wait until she could return. She turned towards the table and noticed how intently Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas were pouring over the maps. Only the backs of their heads were visible, the longish very dark midnight black hair of Sir Dayfindor  and the dark blonde starlight hair of Rionnaglas were all that she could see. This gave her the opportunity to quietly and quickly leave the room at the same time as the page did. So that when the door banged shut behind them Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas would think only the page had left the room and would not notice her exit until she was already back in her own world.
She hurried down the steep stone spiral staircase stopping only to pick up the magical cloak from off the metal hooks on a wall where she had left it. She came to the entrance to the castle and noting that the drawbridge was still down ran across it until she reached the stone door cut into the hillside that was the magical portal back to her own world.  She placed her left hand against the stone door and the imprint of the star and crown on her left hand glowed golden with magic as she did so unlocking it like a key. Then the mists began to swirl and when she opened her eyes she was back standing in her room next to the magical painting again. As always she felt slightly disoriented after her journey back through the magical painting that was infused with Gypsy Magic. She kept looking about the room, shaking her head and opening and closing her light green eyes. She did this until she was completely sure of her surroundings and that she was herself - Keziah once more. She was sure that she could see tiny golden stars dancing in the air and when she looked in the mirror of her ornate silver dressing table she was surprised to see small golden stars entangled in her hair aswell as in the irises of her eyes. She tried to brush them out of her hair with her hands but it seemed as though they were printed onto the very keratin fibres of her hair and that they wouldn't be removed. As her hair was so dark the small golden stars only glowed more golden in contrast to it and shone like the brightest starlight in the deepest midnight sky. She quickly picked up the magical painting and put it back in her wardrobe safely until she was ready for her next adventure in Zellorgaroth. She glanced down at her beautiful silver watch which had a sundial clock face in the middle, then a sunburst design surrounding it and she noticed that it was only a few minutes later then when she had gone through the portal in the painting. This proved to her once again that time passed differently in the two worlds and that she could spend a long time in Zellorgaroth without being missed in her own world. She also noticed that it was time to go down and join her grandparents for breakfast in the kitchen of Hidden Star House. She began her descent down the steep wooden spiral staircase holding tightly to its curved bannisters as she bounded down its stairs. She had become more used to using the steep wooden spiral staircase since she had been staying at Hidden Star House and it was no longer a cause of anxiety to her. Once she reached the ground floor she began to smile at the thought of soon seeing her grandparents Charles and Eliza. Though they wouldn't have missed her or noticed she had gone, she had been in Zellorgaroth quite awhile this time and felt like she hadn't seen them for weeks. As she began her journey down the long winding hallway towards the kitchen she could smell the aroma of one of Grandmother Eliza's delicious cooked breakfasts wafting towards her. She ran her hands along the walls as she walked whistling to herself. The wallpaper on the walls had little birds on blossom branches on it and a mysterious magic made the motifs of the little birds start to whistle tunefully too. There were a few family portraits on the walls too and these joined in the merry cacophony of sound. Magic flowed in the very air of the house and in every fibre of its being since the painting full of Gypsy Magic had come back down from its mysterious attics.
Keziah entered the kitchen and tapped tunefully on the shiny copper pans hanging from the ceiling and found herself swaying to the beat that she had made. Grandmother Eliza looked up from her frying pan and caught Keziah in a huge hug of welcome.
'Have you missed me Grandma ?', Keziah asked in surprise. 
'I don't know why but it feels as though I haven't seen you for ages yet it wasn't that long ago that I saw you in the hallway and said good morning to you. Yet that almost seems like another life time ago, I hope I'm not losing my sense of time. ' replied Grandmother Eliza shaking her head in disbelief.
'No Grandmother it's definitely not that, I think it's this house. Hidden Star House has magic and mystery embedded into its every brick and tile and can make you feel as though things like time are passing differently then they actually are.' Said Keziah.
Grandmother Eliza looked thoughtful and nodded, her curly hair flying in all different directions again as she did so and said, ' That sounds like a very good explanation Keziah and one I definitely could believe in. Ever since we moved to this house I have felt that there is something special about it and some kind of magic coursing through the very air here. I was once given a very special painting by someone I loved very much, though unfortunately the relationship didn't work out. My parents were against his Romany gypsy background and forbade us to be together. He gave me a beautiful painting when he said goodbye and he told me that it was full of 'Gypsy Magic ' and that magic was in every fleck of paint and every brush stroke that it was painted with. When we moved here I brought the painting with me as it is something from Pierre that I will always treasure no matter how much time passes. I believe that maybe it is the magic seeping from it and affecting how things are in Hidden Star House, ' said Grandmother Eliza.
Keziah sat down at the rustic kitchen table and began to eat her delicious cooked breakfast-
Crispy bacon, golden yoked fried eggs, sausages, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans and fried bread. She looked up when she heard the noise of the door open and saw Grandfather Charles walk into the kitchen to have his breakfast too. He pulled out a chair and sat down to the large plate of breakfast that Grandmother Eliza put in front of him. He was humming to himself again and seemed to be in quite a jolly mood. His blue eyes were bright, his greying curly ginger beard and hair were neatly brushed, his grey trousers and blue shirt looked neatly pressed and smart and he seemed to exude cheerfulness.
'You seem to be very happy Grandfather, are things going well with your inventions ?,' asked Keziah.
Grandfather Charles set down his knife and fork, smiled and said, ' Yes Keziah, my inventing has been going extremely well. Infact since I went up into the attics and brought down those ancient objects and artefacts down to help me, I have been having the most amazing ideas and working very quickly. There has been something different about the whole of Hidden Star House since then. It seems to glow and shine with an almost celestial starlight that is quite extraordinary.'
Keziah looked up from her breakfast and nodded, putting her long dark hair back into a hair tie as she did so. She was aware of the glistening golden stars that were now entangled in it but the same as with the tiny golden stars that were now in the irises of her eyes, her Grandmother and Grandfather seemed not to notice them.
Once more she began to fret for the kingdom of Zellorgaroth and it's inhabitants and miss being there as the Princess Divinia.  As she ate her delicious cooked breakfast she was trying to think when it would be best for her to go back to Zellorgaroth and continue her adventures there as Princess Divinia. As extraordinary and fantastic as her adventures there had been so far she still felt very torn between the two worlds and her responsibilities in each. Her Grandmother Eliza had left the kitchen briefly after she had served them their breakfasts but she soon returned carrying a little wicker basket. She placed the wicker basket down on the rustic kitchen table far from the food and Keziah noticed that the basket seemed to be moving slightly. She felt curious about this and didn't know whether to be slightly alarmed or fascinated. Grandmother Eliza smiled happily and said, 'Your parents arranged a special Christmas surprise for you Keziah and it's in this basket. Would you like to open it ?,'
Keziah sprang up from her chair and walked towards the front of the table and took the lid off the wicker basket and looked inside. She was amazed to find a beautiful black kitten with four little white socks in the basket. There was a card from her parents explaining that the little kitten was a special Christmas gift because of her love for animals. She picked the little kitten up from out the basket and gave it a hug. The kitten purred contentedly and mewed softly, nestling into her arms.
' I know !, I will call him Sooty Socks ! ,' exclaimed Keziah in delight.
'That's a brilliant name, I'm so glad that you like your surprise Christmas present from your parents. Perhaps you could go and phone them to say thank you in a minute . Grandfather Charles and I will look after Sooty Socks while you do so. I will get him a saucer of milk and a bowl of kitten food to have while you are gone,'said Grandmother Eliza.
Keziah dashed out the kitchen and down the long winding hallway towards where Hidden Star House's telephone was kept. It was situated in an alcove just before Hidden Star House's library. In the snug alcove there was a little mahogany telephone table with the ceramic and brass handset on it next to a pad of paper, pens, a telephone directory and an address book. There was also a mahogany chair that was there to sit comfortably on while making and receiving telephone calls. Keziah sat down on the chair and picked up the handset brushing off cobwebs from it as she did so and dialled her parents mobile number. Her mother Angel answered the phone pretty promptly and was very pleased to hear about how much Keziah loved Sooty Socks and told her that the holiday was proving very restful and just what her and Keziah's father needed.
Once the call was over Keziah made her way back towards the kitchen humming happily to herself. This part of the hallway was carpeted in a patternless thick plush red carpet but Keziah noticed that after every step she made on it there were golden stars left imprinted on it where her feet had been. She found this quite intriguing and began almost dancing down the hallway, stepping backwards then gliding around and taking rhythmic steps forward once more. She did this so she could see the way the pattern of golden stars left by her dance steps lit up the previously blank carpet. On the hallway walls in this section of the house were more portraits of  her ancestors and she found as she danced upon the carpet passing them by, she could hear a merry melody of music and song coming from them. It seemed that they wanted to provide an accompaniment to her dancing with their magical music. Once she had nearly reached Hidden Star House's kitchen again she turned to look back at the hallway carpet behind her and saw that golden stars left by her footprints had began to burst into tiny explosions of light almost  like fireworks and were fast fading from the carpet. She entered the kitchen feeling very merry and full of life after her dance in the hallway and smiled happily at her Grandparents. Grandmother Eliza had fed Sooty Socks and given him a saucer of milk and placed him comfortably back on his blanket and cushion in the wicker basket. He was washing his little white paws and purring contentedly to himself. Keziah stroked his head and gave him a little kiss on his nose. Grandmother Eliza offered to carry him upstairs to Keziah's room for her and Keziah nodded in agreement. Grandmother Eliza set Sooty Sock's wicker basket down on the upstairs landing and made her way back down the curved wooden spiral staircase to the ground floor of Hidden Star House. ( Sooty Socks - panther changeling ( note)) Keziah put Sooty sock's wicker basket down on her circular embroidered rug while she opened the door of her mahogany wardrobe and brought the magical painting out from in it and placed it down next to her. Sooty Socks became very alert and attentive when the magical painting was near him and looked fascinated by it. He stretched out his front paws and made biscuits in the air in front of it and seemed to want to get as close as possible to the magical painting. Keziah watched his behaviour in wonderment and felt that she was drawn to wanting to go back to Zellorgaroth instantly. She stretched out her arm and watched as it disappeared into the painting then she felt the pulling sensation as the rest of her followed, the mists swirled and the slight feeling of disorientation took over until the mists cleared, and she found herself back on the castle battlements as the Princess Divinia. She heard a low, rumbling growl coming from beside her, and she turned round in surprise to find that Sooty Socks had jumped through the portal in the magical painting as well, and had been transformed from the tiny kitten into a huge majestic black panther. He was still wearing his little blue collar and bell so she knew it was definitely him though these had grown to suit his new larger fiercer feline frame. She was amazed by his startling transformation but realised that it made sense to her as a tiny kitten wouldn't be as much help in a battle as a huge majestic black panther would. He now had very sharp long claws on his huge paws, sharp  fangs in his fierce-some jaws and a very long thick whip like tail. Though despite his new fierce appearance he still put his head in Keziah's - now the Princess Divinia hands and nudged her to stroke his velvety soft fur. She was surprised at the velvety soft smoothness of the huge shiny black panthers fur but she also faced a conundrum of what to call him now he was a panther and not a tiny cute little kitten. She found that the ideal name for him came to her quickly - 'Mystery'. After all it had been the mysterious gypsy magic in the painting that had transformed him into his new guise.
'We must go down into the middle inner most reaches of the castle now Mystery and find Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas, 'she told him. She led the way down from the castles battlements down steep stone steps that led into the castles top floors and then down further stone steps inside the castle that finally led to the middle floors and back into the state room where Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas were awaiting her return.
On hearing her and Mystery enter the room Sir Dayfindor looked up from the maps on the table and said, ' Princess Divinia where have you been ? We noticed that you were gone and have been worried about you. We thought that you must have needed to go somewhere with the page. And who is that magnificent beast that you have with you ? '
Princess Divinia gestured towards Mystery who was standing loyally at her side and said, ' This is my loyal black panther Mystery who was a recent present from my parents. That is where I disappeared to, the page told me to come down to the stables for a surprise and I was expecting to find a new horse not a panther ! Yet I found this magnificent black panther called Mystery was my surprise and I'm overjoyed to have been given him. I think he may also be useful in the battle against Belezebour the evil dragon as he is exceptionally fast and very strong and a powerful hunter.'
Rionnaglas lifted his dark blonde head up from the table then stretched, yawned and walked over to pat Mystery on his soft black velvety smooth head. Mystery purred appreciatively and put his head into Rionnaglas's hands and seemed very taken with the brave ex knight of the realm and dragon summoner.
Sir Dayfindor coughed and cleared his throat and asked Rionnaglas when he was going to begin the dragon summoning ceremony to summon the four good dragons of the northern mountains.
The sun had risen high into sky by now and was shining beautifully over the kingdom and Rionnaglas decided the conditions were just right for them to go down into the castle grounds so he could perform the dragon summoning ceremony.
The three humans and the one gigantic black feline made their way down all the steep stone inner castle steps until the reached the back entrance of the castle and walked out on the grassy combat training grounds usually used by the knights.
They all walked up to a large circular indentation in the grass and Rionnaglas took four silver compasses out of his blue leather bag and placed one at the top of the circle , one at each side and one at the bottom of the circle. He waved his hand over the circle to set the compasses in motion while chanting the dragon summoning incantation. The needles on all four silver compasses pointed to north as this was where the good dragons lived in the northern mountain reaches of the kingdom. Suddenly the middle of the circle burst into high reaching flames of green, red, black and yellow that danced higher upwards into the sky. When the magical flames finally subsided in their place were left the four good dragons of the north - Gorscinda, Sefarena, Zatas and Vidakez.
Gorscinda was the largest of all the four good dragons, he was a male dragon with a yellow scar on his left wing and he stepped proudly forward from out the circle towards the Princess Divinia, Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas. Zatas who was the smaller male one had to wear a patch over his missing eye which made him have the comical appearance of a pirate like dragon but he still managed to fly and cope brilliantly with just the vision that was left in his remaining eye. Zatas also trotted forward from out of the circle and bowed his head low in front of them and swished his tail high in the air. The next to step forward from out of the dragon summoning circle were the remaining two female dragons - Sefarena and Vidakez. They bowed their heads low in gesture and then they both made a pleasant musical sounding roar in acknowledgment of the Princess Divinia, Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas. Rionnaglas looked overjoyed that his dragon summoning ceremony had been completely successful straightaway and he began walking around the circle collecting up the silver compasses and placing them back into his blue leather bag. He had the most amazing magically sparkling bright blue eyes which could cast a lasting spell of mystery and wonderment over anyone who was drawn to look into them. His  once long starlight blonde hair had been cropped close to his head since he had left the service of the realm but his very handsome features suited either style. Sir Dayfindor was very different in looks to Rionnaglas, he was much, much taller with dark hair that fell around his pale, angular face and swept down around his shoulders. His greenish blue eyes didn't have the same sparkling effect that was found in those belonging to Rionnaglas but they were still bright and crystal clear.  Both Sir Dayfindor and Rionnaglas were very fond of the beautiful regal Princess Divinia and both wished for a chance to win her hand in marriage if only her royal parents would consent to her marrying a man that was not of royal blood. Princess Divinia herself was drawn more to Rionnaglas, she found him spellbindingly handsome, was enraptured by his stunning blue eyes and felt as though she was almost magnetically drawn to his whole personality and countenance. He had magical runes tattooed on his calves and on his arm which symbolised his connection to his spiritual mystical and divine magical abilities. She remembered admiring him from afar when he had previously been a knight in service to the realm and she had seen him in combat training on the castle grounds. She felt as though she didn't know Sir Dayfindor who was an honest admirable knight of the realm very well as he had never been noticed by her until he had ridden up to her castle to warn her of the impending danger from Belezebour the evil dragon. She was aware though from the way both men behaved in her presence that they found her entrancing and intriguing. She shook her head and coughed loudly to try to get her mind back to the present moment and the dire dangerous impending situation from Belezebour the evil dragon. It hasn't been long after the dragon summoning ceremony since a scout in employ to the realm had come galloping back on his lightning fast steed with the unfortunate news that Belezebour had decimated several villages in the West of the kingdom with his ferocious flaming dragon's breath. Living in the west of the kingdom of Zellorgaroth on the outskirts of the villages were a huge herd of deer like creatures called The Elkantras. The Elkantras were exceptionally fleet of foot and fortunately had been able to survive the attack by Belezebour by galloping swiftly southwards and taking refuge
with the clan of Werebears that lived in the southern cavernous regions of the kingdom. The Werebears were a hybrid fantastical race of creatures that were a mixture of grey wolves and big black bears. They were strong, agile, intelligent, powerful and on the whole generally quite friendly though they would fight in battle to protect the kingdom if needed. The Werebears were also very happy to shelter the Elkantras from the evil dragon Belezebour and try to keep them safe.
It now seemed that it wouldn't be long before Belezebour would have flown back to the mid part of the kingdom of Zellorgaroth and towards the castle once more. The castle was on the right hand side of the large river that flowed into a deep, murky sea and also had several tributaries springing off from it. On the right side of the river before the castle grounds there was a beautiful forest full of ancient high trees and bushes where a clan of nomadic tribespeople lived in tent like settlements. They were called The Toriaen Tribe and had mystical knowledge, rituals and spiritual powers. The other humanoid races and animalistic races of Zellorgaroth often went to the Toriaen Tribe for health  healing, magical powders and potions and help.
The four good dragons were being brought up to date with the present situation concerning Belezebour the evil dragon and his atrocious attacks on Zellorgaroth. They were going to plot strategic counterattacks with the help of Rionnaglas, Sir Dayfindor and the soldiers in employ to the realm.