ZYLA POV
" Off"
I let out a puff of air as I jumped down from the wall.I landed on my feet then looked up to see Roxy, my maid and my only childhood friend looking at me with fear and woory etched on her face.
" What's wrong, Roxy?" I asked
" My Lady, I can't jump" she replied
" Jump. I'll catch you " I said
" No, I'll hurt you" she said shaking her head
" Don't worry about me. I'll catch you" I said flashing a huge smile at her.
"If you say so" she said propping her whole body on the top of the wall which was about twenty centimeters thick.
" Here I come" she said then jumped.
I moved my body to catch her, which I did but the impact was too much so we both ended up falling with I at the bottom and Roxy on top of me.
"My Lady" she said as she quickly stood up and helped me up
" See, I said I'll hurt you if I jumped and I did." She said brushing the dirt on my trousers and on my top.
" Is there any injury" she said checking my whole body for any injury.
" Roxy, I'm fine" I said. Roxy is my friend but at times like this , she immediately moved from friend to a mother.
" Are you sure" she asked
"Yep. Now let's go" I said as I grabbed her wrists and pulled her. She stumbled due the force of the pull then regained her footing and walked by my side.
" My Lady, do you think they will notice your absence. I mean it's three weeks to your birthday and they'll need you for the preparation" Roxy said which made me pause .
" They won't, they never notice my absence" I said as I resumes walking.
" My Lady, why did we take this route " Roxy asked.
"Well, I've never tried it and I love trying new things. Besides , this is the last chance I have before I get sold out to my future family like a livestock" I said letting out a sigh .
" My Lady..." She started
" Don't worry about it, let's just forget about this topic" I said taking the folded paper from the pocket of my trousers.I opened the paper and looked at the map.
" This way" I said , pointing at a direction and holding Roxy.
Soon we got to the capital and headed to our usual spot, which was a slightly rundown library. We stumbled upon the place around three years ago and ever since then it has become our favorite spot. After few hours of reading through new novels , we decided to head back to the palace. We treked for like what seemed like ten minutes. A loud howl made us pause instantly.
The forest grew unnaturally silent, the chirping of crickets cut short. Then came the howl — low, guttural, vibrating through the trees. When the beast stepped into view, its amber eyes burned like molten fire.
" What was that?" Roxy asked as we stopped.
Howl
Another loud howl was heard and this time it was louder and felt more closer to where we stood.l held Roxy hand and pulled her which made her almost stumble. We started walking then quicken our pace before we started running.
" Ahh" Roxy groaned in pain as she tripped over a large stone, falling on the ground. I stopped and ran back to help Roxy to her feet.
" Are you okay? I asked Roxy as I helped her stand up from the ground
" Yes, my Lady" she said as she regained her footing. I looked around her dusting her clothes as I searched for any injury on her which I found immediately. Her ankle was bruised due to the fall from tripping over the rock.
" Can you walk with this?" I asked as I stared at the new bruise on her leg.
" Yes, my Lady . I can walk . You need not to worr.." The words hanged at her mouth at she stared at her front with fear and panic etched on her face.
"What's wrong, Roxy?" I asked as I looked up from the wound to the line of her sight. In our front was a wolf which looked about twice my height. It's large glowing amber eyes stared at us as it bared it's large fangs at us. Fear overtook my senses as I stared at the menacing figure at our front
" My Lady" Roxy said , shivering as she moved behind me.
" Roxy, would you be able to run" I whispered as we stared at the figure. We slowly moved backwards , careful not to alert the figure of our movement until we got to a safe distance from the wolf.
" Can you run?" I asked again.
" Yes ,my Lady" she replied.
"We'll run in three.. two..one.. run" I said grabbing Roxy hand, turning to the left and we started running.The howls and growls got louder and looked like it was more than a wolf that was after us.
" My Lady, they are many" Roxy said as she turned her head to the back to see what was after us. We took many turns to shake them off our tails.
After a while if twisting and turning in this thick forest, the howls got less louder until we could not hear it anymore. We stopped running and took in large puffs of air due to the heavy breathing we got from the running.
" I ..huff..think... I think we've lost them" I said as I tried to stabilize my breathing.
" Yes" she said.
We stood there trying to catch our breath when we heard a strange sounds like a metallic lock was being opened. The sound persisted for a while and when it stopped, the ground under us immediately disappeared and we fell through it.
"Ahh" Roxy let out screams as we slid down a slope which seems to never end as we kept going down that path for minutes. I landed on my behind as we got of the slide and Roxy fell over me.
" I'm so sorry, my Lady" Roxy said panicking as she got off me and helped me up. I stood up and looked aroI'm so sorry, my Lady" Roxy said panicking as she got off me and helped me up. I stood up and looked around to see where we are in.The air was damp and heavy, each step echoing against unseen stone walls. A faint glow pulsed ahead, like a heartbeat in the dark, pulling us forward.
" Roxy, let's go" I said holding her hand . We walked towards the source of light which became brighter as we drew nearer. We got to a hallway which was lighten by torches of fire hung at both sides of the hallway. We kept on going until we got to a point where there was a huge slab of rock. On top of the rock were torches of fire held at the edge of the circular slab.
" Wait here" I said to Roxy and moved towards the slab . On the slab was a sword as long as the forearm of a fully grown man. There was an exquisite dragon design embedded on the sword with it's mouth at the handle and the tail at the tip of the sword. In the mouth was a violet ball which has a little bit of black swirling in it . I traced the design from the end to the mouth.The dragon's scales shimmered faintly, as though breathing.
"Ahh" I moaned in pain as my index finger was cut open and blood began to drip from it. I withdrew my finger and walked away from the slab.
" What was there?" Roxy asked.
" A sword. Come, let's go"
We kept on walking and surprisingly it led to the tunnel which we normally use to leave the palace.
_
Author's POV
As Zyla left the slab , when her blood touched the violet orb, the black swirls inside writhed like smoke, hungry and alive. When all the blood was absorbed, the dragon eyes blinked open and glowed a bright golden light.
" I have finally found you my love, after all this years of wait and suffering" A voice said out of nowhere as the light dimmed out