The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

In the Shadows

The flame was grand, its light like a sun's heart flickering in the darkened space. Embers sparked from the dancing tips as if the flame exhaled in rhythmic beats, breathing and alive.

I stared spellbound at the fire that lightly pricked my skin but did not burn me. It was tempting to reach out—so tempting that my feet moved on their own, slowly guiding me inside the hidden room.

My hand lifted toward the flame, my fingers rejoicing as the heat shrouding them grew ever stronger, tenderer. My heart thrashed in my chest, beating violently as I inched closer.

A harsh chill swept through me as my fingers encountered an invisible barrier, undetectable by the naked eye. It was as if a transparent glass wall had been erected before me, keeping me from stepping too close. I couldn't breach it, no matter how hard I pushed.

I looked at the flame again, longing washing over me at the sight of her so close, yet so far away. How cruel of someone to imprison her like that—to keep her might confined behind this barrier.

"She is enticing, is she not?" Pangea stepped up beside me, her hands folded behind her back as she, too, stared longingly at the flame. "The mother of all."

I'd forgotten all about her the moment that wall had opened. I shook my head and blinked away the spell. "Indeed," I said, clearing my throat. "Is this really the star that fell and chased the darkness away?"

Pangea nodded, her gaze still not wavering from the beautiful inferno ahead. "In her most forgiving form. She is all that we see and all that we do not. She is the beginning, and without her, all we know will end, which is why we must lay down our lives to protect her."

She glanced at me from the corner of her eye, a tiny smile curling her lips. "She was not always confined within this barrier. Young dragons used to lay beneath her flame, bathing in her life-giving light. However, last time the Darkness struck, it came too close to snuffing out her light, and the dragons decided a barrier harder than diamonds would be the only way to keep her completely safe."

What a heartbreaking thought.

We stood silently for a few minutes, observing the flame, relishing in her beauty, until the question I'd been saving rolled off my tongue before I could stop it.

"You mentioned before that we may not have enough time when Nariyath proposed that we'd practice until I could remain seated without a saddle," I said, picking at the small hole in my pants. "What did you mean by that?"

Pangea's shoulders seemed to briefly tense up before dropping back down. She sighed and rubbed her neck, making my insides twist. That reaction couldn't possibly be good.

"I did not merely send my son away without reason. His unbonded soul cannot yet withstand facing the mother's overwhelming powers, but what I am about to tell you is solely information known among dragons and their golden warriors."

Yup. None of it sounded good.

Pangea grabbed hold of a piece of cloth covering the wall to her left that I hadn't noticed. She tugged the veil down, revealing a series of ancient carvings forming pictures of a story.

The first drawing depicted two men smiling with an arm wrapped around each other and a fishing spear in the other.

The men had turned their backs on each other in the next image. One faced what looked to be a dragon with a star in the background; the other stared down toward a swirling hole. One was smiling, while the other wore a frown.

I'd never seen anything like it.

The next carving portrayed two armies opposite each other—one led by a dark figure riding a creature similar to Raatak and the other led by a bright figure riding a massive dragon with a wave behind his army.