Unable to answer, Penelope pressed herself closer to Steph's side in a gesture of comfort.
"Friends!" King Edrick called for attention and the murmuring crowd fell quiet. "Now that we are gathered again, please allow me to assure you once more that you are in no danger tonight. Those runes"—the King gestured to the lines of light crossing the floor of the pit—"ensure that the dragon can not escape the confines of the arena."
The King stepped down from the dais and strode towards the outermost circle of Rangers. An attendant rushed to meet him and pressed a small torch of silver flame into his hand.
The King knelt down and touched the torch to the floor, where another complex web of etchings illuminated with lines of silver light, spreading to enclose the guard of Rangers.
The King passed the torch back to the attendant, who returned to his station at a nearby alcove. Rising, the King gestured grandly at the new pattern of lines.
"These runes ensure that no ghost, ghoul, fae, nor any other manner of wraith, may cross this threshold. Stationed before you are our most prodigious Rangers, trained in the newest arts of spectral combat.
"They wield weapons, shields, armour, and alchemy of entirely new craft which not only subdue the phantom nature of our enemy, but harness this same power against them!"
Soft cries of awe rippled through the crowd and the King stepped back to the dais, taking seat on his throne beside his wife, who observed the proceedings with a straight back and stony expression. Though the Queen's face seemed impassive, her eyes were aflame. Whether with fear or anticipation, Penelope couldn't say.
"What is this madness?" Steph hissed from Penelope's side. She peered up at him, his face pale and drawn with distress. "He's going to get himself killed."
Penelope squeezed his hand tight and touched her head to his shoulder, her heart in her throat as she turned to watch Ethan step towards the sphere with purpose.
"Prepare!" King Edrick shouted.
Abruptly, the outer circle of Rangers facing the emptied ballroom floor spun on their heels to face inwards, bucklers raised towards the pit.
Motion along the upper balconies caught Penelope's eye. Stationed in sections cleared of guests, standing beside flaming braziers of silver fire, Rangers raised short bows notched with arrows. Though their strings remained slack, the archers' sights were fixed on the pit below.
"BEGIN!" the King cried.
With a great swing, Ethan struck the crystal with the sharpened tip of his club. The sound of shattering quartz echoed through the hall as the sphere burst into shards, crumbling to white sand as they scattered across the floor.
The dragon unfurled itself in fluid motions, shaking out its long, ethereal fins like a cat recoiling from water.
Its snout was rounded, much like a snake, and the spiked scales of its long, serpentine body were translucent as moonlight. Beneath the frosted transparence of the creature's skin writhed countless globes of misty colours; liquid golds, brilliant fuchsias, and burning corals spun together like schools of carp as the beast stretched and flexed its bright silver claws.
Penelope felt a wave of pressure roll through her bones and the hall fell unearthly quiet as the dragon growled. The soundless thunder rumbled through Penelope's chest in a way that was all too familiar.
Beneath it, Penelope could feel the faint siren chorus of the ferrifae, a gentle tugging harmony that swelled as the dragon bristled.
Ethan poised himself on the balls of his feet, shield tucked against his side, as the dragon swung to face him.
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Marmalade's Love Potion
RomanceIn the final days of autumn, a young princess climbs her favourite tree clutching a folded star of paper to her aching heart. Contained within its crisp lines are recountings of her dreams and darings... and a plea that she might, at last, be welcom...
Chapter 22 - Battle - Part 1
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