Sweet Waters Throne

Does he die from Aryan’s sword? Where was she all this time, where was this fighting taking place? Aurora thought if she knew where the fight will take place instead of when, then maybe she can outsmart her own visions and save her husband.

Although she never told Artemis about the nightmares, Artemis knew something was off with his wife but he never asked. He thought she was overcome with stress and the terrors of what was going on outside of Aurora’s Hill.

The number of people dying in Blackmount exceeded in the next week, both civilians and guards. Artemis thought the riot would fade with time and people would go back to normal and forget that he burned Old City, although it’s like with each coming day the people grew more wroth as the king remained silent. The sigil of House Arteides was burned as Artemis’s men watch, the houses which raised the king’s banner had to lower it down for fear of their house being burned or killed.

Those who supported the king dared not to say it loud, although they knew it was only a matter of time before Artemis stops the riot once and for all, they still believed in him.

Aurora made a decision to go to Dark Town, her ancestral home and where the great House Morrow once stayed and ruled over all kingdoms with their dragons. There was something rich and tapestry about Dark Town to her, it’s land was as people say, covered with dead bodies all over the place and the ghosts still roamed in Dark Town.

Could she summon the ghosts? Aurora questioned her own strength and powers, she read in one of the books that Visera gave her about magical powers of seers. They cannot only see the future, but they can also summon the dead and have conversation with them, ask them questions and if the dead are kind enough, they may answer.

She also learned about the powers of dead Dark Crawlers, and that once a Dark Crawler dies, their power doesn’t die with them but lingers outside their graves for eternity. Only a strong seer can have access to that power, and if she was strong enough, may be she can access the power of all dead Dar Crawlers since the begging of House Morrow.

.....

Not all dragon riders of House Morrow were Dark Crawlers because not all of them had powers, but for those who did have powers, Aurora wanted them for herself.

Hence she took Vizoro to the skies of Blackmount once again, this was her first time up in the sky after she had just laid three eggs. Aurora noticed the extreme weight gain on Vizoro, she was heavier than before and even when she flew, the dragon needed a lot of time to stop before continuing with the journey.

A flight from Blackmount to Dark was supposed to be short, maybe four to five hours for a dragon. But Vizoro took eight hours because of the frequent stops along the way, and when she land down to rest, it took another twenty minute for her to get the strength to fly again.

This terrified Aurora although she did give her dragon all the rest she needed, but still she felt as if something was wrong with Vizoro. Maybe the death of her mate affected her, and although she didn’t know much about dragon grieving, she could see how somber her dragon was and not in her usual spirit.

Aurora landed right in front of Lord Spider’s castle, the thud on the ground was heavy it nearly led to an earthquake. But that didn’t stunned her, it was the presence of Huyana ─ the blue dragon which caught her off-guard.

The beautiful blueish dragon was a few yard from Lord Spider’s castle, outside a cave and from the look of it, Huyana was feeding from two goats who she had just barbecued. Aurora knew her grandmother was here, but what was she doing in Dark Town, in her mind Visera was with her daughter, who happened to be Aurora’s Mother ─ Huyan of House Guyan in Forewater.

“When did she come back? And why didn’t she return to the capital?” asked Aurora, but there was no one to answer her question, maybe if Vizoro could talk then perhaps she would have answered her.

Aurora climbed off her dragon, then she whispered to Vizoro, “Rest now my sweet child” she said in Low Moor. Vizoro adjusted herself and fell to sleep right there, then suddenly Lord Spider showed up with only a shirt without pants.

The lord was also holding a cup possibly full of wine because he looked drunk, a man with his clear sense wouldn’t walk outside without pants. Lord Spider gasped when he saw Aurora, then he suddenly knelt down. “Your Grace, I… I wasn’t expecting you” he said.

“I, or we? Did you mean to say we didn’t expect you?” Aurora corrected her, “Where is my grandmother?” she asked.

“Um… inside Your Grace”

The Lord Spider remained down on his knees as Aurora passed through the gates, there were no guards to guard the castle, after all the castle itself was half burned with nothing of value which would interest a thief to steal.

“You may rise my lord”

Lord Spider got up and started to follow Aurora, “How… have you been Your Grace?” he asked.

“As you can see my lord, we are under attack and our own people want to see us dead” replied Aurora but she knew this was just a distraction from the imp, hence she decided to ask questions which she knew he was avoiding them. “How long has my grandfather stayed in here?”

Lord Spider stuttered, “Um… she… it’s been three weeks Your Grace” he finally managed the courage to speak.

“Three weeks?” Aurora halted and turned to look at Lord Spider, “Does she know about what happened in Old City? And the riots?”

“We are literally at the end of the world Your Grace, we heard about the riots today from a passing traveler”

Aurora sighed, “And why aren’t you dressed?” she asked this without thinking.

“Your grandmother and I were…”

Aurora interrupted, “Don’t you dare say another word. Aren’t you too old for this?” she asked him with a disgusting look on her face, the last thing she needed to know was that her grandmother was still getting laid.

The Lord Spider being a funny little man managed a smile, “I still get hard dear child, and I am known as the ladies man, perhaps you should have asked around about me”

“I know about your reputation, in Blackmount, Green Town, Raven and for god sake even across the Silent Sea. They say you whored yourself in Whitebridge and Arkala for years vising brothel after brothel” Aurora was pissed off, she was actually angry at the imp.

However, the imp couldn’t care less who was angry at him or who was not. The Lord Spider was already a little man, and hence he always said he would never let anyone make him feel little again.

“Lydia and Ingiam had the best wet girls in the realm, trust me nothing prepares you from a warm cunt. I find myself finishing off just by looking at them” he replied with his vicious smile while looking at an angry Aurora, he was doing this to enrage the queen even more.

“You think this is funny, don’t you? My grandmother is not one of your girls in brothels”

“No she is not, she is the love of my life. She was the first woman I intended to marry before her father shipper her off and wed her to your grandfather. I am not the bad guy here Your Grace, and I may have a reputation but Visera knows me more than anyone else. We are both adults now and we know what we are doing” This time Lord Spider was serious, he locked eyes with Aurora.

Aurora continued to walk towards the main entrance of the castle, Lord Spider sighed and tried to keep up although his short stunted legs wouldn’t allow him to. He had a huge head which was bigger than his body and short feet which hurt during extreme cold days and not to mention it was winter.

The castle used to have many chambers a millennium ago, now it was reduced to just two chambers which survived the doom and that’s where Lord Spider spent his days. Most of the parts were covered with soot and blackened out, possibly from a dragon’s flame. The castle was a symbol of the war which took place years ago and claimed the lives of Morrow descendants and their dragons.