I walked the corridors without any sense of direction. Why the hell had I kissed Dante that way! I saw a staircase and headed downwards. All the exits were guarded by soldiers so the only way I was going to cool down was to head to the lower floors beneath the ground. For half an hour I wandered until I heard a strange noise that caught my attention. It was the wind. How was there wind all the way down here? I followed the strange whooshing noise occasionally hearing an odd voice probably from a servant. The floors beneath the castle were not as glamorous as the floors above. Damp clung to the stone walls and there was a smell of must about the place. The wind got stronger and voices got louder. The wind seemed to whisper to me in a language I recognised, it beckoned me to follow it away from the grandeur of the great halls of the upper floors down into cold damp lower floors where not even the servants slept. Hypnotically I followed the whispering in a strange like daze until I came to a door with the words ‘THE AVIARY: DO NOT ENTER’. I blinked, an aviary was a giant bird cage. Why did Dante have an aviary? Did he keep birds? Curiously I put my hand on the door latch unsure whether to open it and take a peek inside. Maybe this is where he use to keep me, I smiled to myself thinking about my new pair of wings. I could open the door a crack and take a peek, I was the princess after all. I lifted the latch and opened the door an inch. A cool breeze rushed through the crack in the door carrying the most offensive smell. My gut instinct was to slam the door shut, but something overrode that instinct. I needed to go through the door. I had to. The feeling was urgent and imperative so I covered my nose with my hand and walked in. It was like Alice walking through the looking glass. One moment I was in dark cavern corridor the next I was stood on a stone plateau looking out into the darkness of a massive cavernous void. A giant cave with great iron bars dividing the room it in half and dimly lit with flaming torches. I moved across the plateau to a wooden platform and stairs. There was a big angry sign reading ‘DANGER’ but I ignored it and descending the staircase down to the wet slippery cave floor. The light down here was poor. Only this side of the bars were lit, the other side was complete blackness. I stood quietly trying to peer through the blackness not knowing what was on the other side of these bars. Suddenly two giant circles appeared in the darkness reflect the dim light like a cat’s eyes would. I jumped out my skin nearly screaming. The pair eyes drew closer until a large violet and gold silhouette of a dragon’s head was just visible. I wanted to run, I was so scared but a voice called to me,
“Are you ready to atone for crimes you have committed raven?” The dragon asked with an air authority.
I had no idea of my previous life, but the decisions I had made back then had a devastating effect which people are still paying for now. Catherina’s tearful eyes flashed through my mind and deep down I knew that this was destiny.
“I don’t know my past, but I know that people are hurting because of it and I want to help stop that pain.” I said honestly.
The dragon moved closer revealing to me the source of the terrible smell that clung to the air in this cave. Large angry infected wounds covered the dragon’s body, so terrible and violent I burst into tears. The poor creature must be in agony. The dragon seeing my sadness explained,
“I was captured and beaten by your husband’s soldiers. The wounds you see on my body never heal because the vampire soldiers come every evening open up any healing wounds with blades and whips. I lay here in my own filth day after day, the flesh on my body rotting, I am nothing short of being a living corpse.”
“I’m sorry, I will beg Dante to free you.” I said tears running down my face.
“Your husband will show no mercy to a dragon. You pleas will fall upon deaf ears.”
“Please, there must be something I can do.”
“There is raven, but first you must prove your worth.”
“My worth?” I asked.
“I know you are planning on running away again.”
“I have too, Dante is going to kill Morgan if I do not!”
“Do not worry about the fox, she must walk her own path and you must walk yours. Fate will keep from the vampire armies that roam this world.”
“How do I know she will be safe?” I asked.
“Because she will.”
“Okay, so how do I prove my worth?”
“By taking a leap of faith.”
“A leap of faith?” I replied.
“From the highest window of the highest tower in the castle.” The dragon replied.
I paused- the dragon literally meant a leap not a metaphoric leap. It wanted me to jump off a real tower. Confused I asked,
“Is this some sort of exercise? Do you want me to fly or something?”
“No, you must not fly, you must keep the leather bondage on your wings.”
“You’re kidding.” I said flatly.
The dragon shook her head. “Because of your cowardliness I have lost many family and friends and years of my own life. I need you to prove to me that you are willing to go through any pain to bring about peace.”