Flames of Destiny

Chapter 4

The wind rushes past my face, whipping my hair behind my ears. The orange and red sunset casts beams of light around the land, giving everything a pinky hue. I can barely hear anything, as the wind snatches it away, never letting any noise reach my ears. I never knew flying could be so much fun!

"We're flying over the Ziantha Forest," Kaelinthria tells me, making sure to pronounce it right, "It's one of the biggest forests in Sorifa. Home to many of the dragons that I know."

"Wow. It's realllllly big," I drag out the word 'really' to emphasize how big it actually is. We've been flying over it for about five minutes.

"Yeah," Kaelinthria talks somewhat sadly. I don't know why, but she must have a reason, "We're almost there."

"Okay."

The rest of the fly there is silent, both of us thinking about what's to come. I'm slightly grateful for that, not wanting to hear a lecture about the forest below us. Before I can worry about that though, we arrive at our destination.

A shimmering palace of gold stands in a valley, surrounded by large floating islands. Well actually, the palace itself is floating off the valley floor as well. The buildings are built into the bottom of the floating ground, not much on top of them other than bridges connecting them to the center building. From above it looks like a wheel with its spokes.

A large island is attached to the main palace structure with a elegant bridge. This side structure is lined with pillars and has a large arch in the center on a platform. The platform is surrounded with crystal clear blue water. It's like the portal that I was sucked into, but much larger. It looks like it can fit multiple dragons side by side through it.

Tall windows stretch across the building, big enough for dragons to launch out of. Golden balconies act as landing platforms, with majestic archways connecting the outside to the inside. Some of the buildings are partly hollow, pillars holding up the sides.

The top of the center building is a giant pool of water, with a platform in the middle. I can see a spiral staircase leading down from the platform's center. Some parts of the wall holding the water in are missing, allowing graceful waterfalls to flow down the sides of the island. Multiple other islands have glowing orbs of flame on their tops, lighting up the whole area.

I gasp in awe, trying to take it all in. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Kaelinthria smirk. She's obviously very proud of her home. My head swivels around as I look at all the dragons flying in the air. Some are carrying things in their claws, like books, scrolls, jewelry, treasure chests and various different metals. Some turn and bow in midair to Kaelinthria, who acknowledges them with a nod of her massive head.

"This place is amazing!" I blurt out. My amber eyes are wide with amazement as I continue to find more and more beautiful parts of the palace.

"Yes it is," She speaks with pride in her voice and puffs her chest out slightly. "This is my home and where I govern Sorifa from. This is Goldfire Palace."

"There are homes in this place?!" I ask, surprised. I assumed that all the rooms were probably for meetings or keeping ancient scrolls and books.

"Of course!" Kaelinthria laughs lightly at my surprise. Her laugh is sweet and gentle, but it almost shakes me off her back. When I regain my balance she speaks again, "My Sages and I live in that building over there."

"Sages?" I ask, curious about dragon culture.

"Oh, yes. They act as guardians for me, and give helpful advice on how I should govern Sorifa," She explains modestly, obviously very fond of these Sages. She lifts a claw and points to where she lives.