The Dragon King's Bride

Chapter 19 : Beneath the Castle

"Of course thre has to be. This is a dark and foreboding castle after all." Zofia nodded and they set off again. Only when the sun was sitting lower in the sky did they find something. Garison had become as invested in finding the lowest point as Zofia was. In the study they pulled every book and every light sconce till finally there was a click. Garison moved the bookcase, as if it was a door, and they ventured inside. A staircase wound all the way down till it finally ended. Garison had been smart enough to bring one of the candles with him. Zofia stopped, turning to take it. She felt the wall before she pressed the candle to it. She had expected only one torch to light up, instead a whole stone gutter set alight, the flames traveling around the entire room before it was lit up bright. Zofia gasped at the sight. It was something magical. There were many things hidden down there. The first that Zofia noticed were books. She ran her fingers over it as Garison went to look at something else. 

"Your grace." Garison said as he picked heavy, large shackles up. Zofia looked at him, at the shackles. She moved over and touched it. There were claw marks in the thick metal. 

"It's for a dragon, see? To tie it down." She explained as she pointed to the two that were clearly meant for the talons. 

"And that?" He dropped the metal and hurried to something else. Zofia followed and looked at it with awe. "Armor?" He mused as he touched the delicate pattern on the steel work. Behind the magnificent armor there were cells, giving true meaning to the dungeon. A series of cages stacked inside them. Zofia was rather horified at the sight. It truly appeared like a torture chamber for dragons. She shuddered to think that Draegon could very well be locked up down there. There was a jailhouse in town, where people got locked up for doing bad things. It was part of the courthouse, where the bad got executed. What were these cells for then?

"For a dragon?" Zofia questioned him. He nodded, then she nodded. Zofia's curiosity got the better of her, making her climb into the head piece. It had spikes on the head, and gaping holes for the eyes and mouth. Zofia put her head through the one hole that was meant for an eye and grinned out at Garison. He laughed at her. 

"If only there was an artist here to capture the moment on canvas!" He laughed. Zofia had never heard or seen him as joyful. She laughed at him and climbed out. 

"This could truly come in handy. Mephis had said that he would fight if there was a war. Perhaps he could wear this." Zofia pointed. She squinted slightly, to see past the armor. There was another. She stepped away from it, not thinking of it any more, since the books seemed more interesting anyway. 

"Do you think the king knows about this place?" Garison asked Zofia as he looked up at the flames. 

"If you're asking me then I suppose he doesn't." She answered. She looked down at her dress, which was a complete mess of cobwebs. Her hair was full of them too. "By the looks of me, no one has been down here in ages." She said as she pulled the stringy bits off her. Zofia finally got a book in her hands, opening it to start reading. It seemed like it was a book on the destruction that dragons had caused over the years, cities that they had burned to the ground. Zofia put it aside and picked another up. She flipped through the pages, seeing that that book was about the armor that lay beside them. Perhaps instructions on how to make them. She handed it over to Garison, sure that it would interest him. 

He considered each word as he paged through the book. 

Zofia picked another book up, one bound in leather. She flipped through the pages but stopped at a word that had her frowning. Breeding.

She pressed her finger to the page as she read. 

No human woman is known to have survived the process. She read softly, but she found herself wanting to stop as the feeling in her stomach tightened even more. 

Though the offspring often survive, the mothers are torn apart from the inside out. Zofia's finger found a horrific sketch of a woman with her bulging stomach ripped open, her insides hanging out. Zofia shuddered. 

Male offspring are the strongest, being full blood dragons like their fathers. The females will carry the gene, but are unable to shift like their male counterparts. The females are able to carry the dragon offspring without any trouble. However, their offspring will result in weaker dragons. Zofia's mind wandered to Serena and how she was half dragon. Perhaps she would carry stronger children for Draegon than she would. She considered it, but a hot tear on her cheek snapped her out of it. She kept reading. 

The only other species to have been found to carry dragon offspring without trouble is elementals. Perhaps it is a cruel joke on these monstrous beings, to find their mates only to have them taken at the price of offspring. 

"Elementals." Zofia gasped. That was what she was. She stuffed the book under her arm and searched furiously through the pile for something specific. She finally grabbed on to something, the book being in leather, too. On the cover, burned in, were the four elements. Zofia opened it up to fire and grinned ecstatically at herself. She glanced at Garison, seeing that he was still deeply invested in the pages of the book in his hands. She turned her nose back to her own book, whispering to herself as she read the instructions on how to harness the powers from within. Zofia did not bother reading more. Her excitement took over and she tried what the book told her. 

"Your grace?" Garison questioned Zofia as he stared at her. He stumbled backwards as his eyes widened. Zofia felt hot and sick, like her skin was sweating profusely. She dropped the leather bound books and looked at her hands. She was on fire. Zofia moved, trying to shake herself free of the flames, but they only grew. Garison neared her, but she pressed her palms in the air, in his direction.

"Stop." She warned him harshly. Fire shot from her hands and surrounded her. 

"I'll get the king." Garison said before he started running. Zofia rubbed her hands together and tried hard to make the flames go away, but with her efforts her energy was draining too. She sunk to the floor and let the fire engulf her. She was back in that barn as a child, it burning around her as her mother screamed for her from the door. She wrapped her arms around herself and cried. 

For her mother, for her sister, for herself. 

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