Chapter 58 The Silence of Sorrow pt5
I’m one with the shadows as I slink against the stone walls of the fortress. The night is thick all around me, the heat and weight of this historic place weighing down the air. Wind muffles my every step without me even having to think about it, and lightning begs to snap from my fingertips with every thump of my heart.
For so very long, I’ve been nothing but sad.
I’ve been a remorseful puddle of shame.
Not anymore.
Besides Thorne, Zaries and I were the only ones in Amaranthine to face a dragon that day and live to tell the tale. I faced the dreaded beast of the skies and spoke to him. I heard him tell Zaries and Elysandra what he was going to do to them and I acted.
The scars on my back are the price I paid to save the man I loved.
The scars, and years of his hatred.
Tonight that ends. Tonight he’ll realize what I did for him and who I am to him and then I’m never going to speak to the self-righteous bastard again.
One thing I’ve learned over these past few days of training is the doors to the barracks are only open for the people who bear that dragon’s scale, so I’m not getting in that way.
I also know that each barracks has direct access to the alicorn roosts high in the mountains. Those doors aren't magically bonded, and I can master the wind and fucking fly.
I make my way soundlessly through the fortress, but rather than approach the barracks themselves, I beeline for the kitchens. Alicorns are loyal beasts, and there are some up there bonded to no one. If I have any hope of breaking into the barracks, I’ll have to earn passage from them.
Dinner has long since passed, the kitchen servants have all gone to bed, so coming into the kitchen unnoticed is simple. The whole room still radiates suffocating heat, bringing sweat to my brow almost instantly. The smell of freshly baked bread and roasting meat tickles my nose and pulls a hungry growl from deep inside my stomach. I sigh in awe at a fresh loaf of bread that would be so simple to grab and nibble on as I break every rule in the Hellbane.
Focusing on the task ahead, and wistfully ignoring the temptation, I grab a small sack and begin stuffing it with apples and carrots. When the bag is as full as I can get it, I turn on my heel and rush to leave.
Right before I reach the end of the table, a glimmer of white catches my eye. There, in a pristine bowl, stands a tower of sugar cubes on a silver platter. Surely someone's breakfast being prepared ahead of time, but too perfect to pass up.
I grab a handful of the sweet squares and fill every single one of my pockets.
If alicorns are anything like horses, they’ll never be able to refuse a sugar cube.
Erring on the side of caution, I decide to only use my powers to help me climb the sheer rock walls behind the barracks. With a dagger clutched between my teeth and the bag of food tied to my belt, I slip on some thick leather gloves and begin to climb.
The rock face is more steep than the trail up here, more treacherous than the tower I fell from, but I feel no fear. Anger thrums inside my chest, warming me from the inside out. I can feel my mentor pushing me along without words. I can feel his pride just as I can feel the heat searing through my veins and lighting my path up the cliff.
I do have fire in my soul, fire that shines whenever I channel these great powers I never knew I had. I don’t know why it happens, and hell, part of me doesn’t even care. It burns so good inside me, fueling me for what I’m about to do.
The cliff seems to go by like it’s nothing. Each of my hand-holds is sure and firm. My feet never slip. I scale the cliff as if I’ve been climbing mountains my whole life as if I have no fear of death. Truly, I do not. I know I won’t die here because that’s not my destiny.
My destiny is to slay the silver dragon and avenge everyone he’s ever killed.
Should I survive, I will go on to slay every single last one of the winged bastards. I will make the fear of dragons as harmless as an old wives’ tale. A myth. Nothing more.
I can hear and smell the alicorns minutes before I reach the precipice. By the time I pull myself over the edge and into their stone paddock where they perch, the stench of them is almost unbearable.
I rise slowly to my feet, bracing my fists on my hips, and look up…and up…
On every ledge of the cliff, in every cave, and in every nook, lie sleeping alicorns. As far up as the eye can see, and then disappearing into the clouds above. No wonder they smell so strongly. No one in their right mind is going to scale a sheer cliff to clean up the feces of a creature that will run you through just for being where you don’t belong.
The captain's steeds are all nestled in their own stalls. Floors padded with rich carpets and lit with a comforting warm amber light. I spot Felonious and Shivvers instantly, as they do me.
Felonious snorts an angry, territorial sound and stomps his hoof at me angrily. Shivvers nods her head up and down before shaking out her mane, and I relax a little. Right before she whinnies an alarm.
“Shh, shh…” I say gently, walking forward with palms outstretched. “You know me. I’m not here to hurt you.”
Shivvers’ eyes narrow, but she doesn’t whinny again. Felonious, on the other hand, rears slightly and paws the air in front of me in warning.
“I come bearing gifts,” I whisper in a sing-song voice as I reach into my bag and pull an apple out for both of them.
Felonious snorts again, shaking his head angrily as I approach.
Shivvers loses all sense of alarm and practically canters towards me to nip the apple right out of my outstretched hand. She rubs her large head up and down my leg in thanks.
“See, Felonious? They’re good! Or would you rather…” I dig into my bag again, pulling out the biggest carrot I’ve ever seen, and wave it in front of him.
He raises his head in indignation, clearly insulted by my insinuation that a carrot could possibly sway him.
That is until Shivvers tries to bowl me over and take it for herself.
Felonious makes a noise like nothing I’ve ever heard come out of a horse-like creature before and charges, pushing himself between me and Shivvers and snapping the carrot out of my grip.
Startled, I count my fingers just to be sure he didn't take one with him.
With a relieved sigh, I give each of my new friends another treat as I look around the perches warily. To my sheer luck, all the other alicorns have remained asleep.
“I may get out of this unscathed after all,” I chirp quietly, feeling entirely too proud of myself. Smiling, I pat both alicorns on the shoulder and slip past them, eager to find the window I need to have the conversation I’ve been ruminating on for far too long.
I take no more than a single step before the sudden silence behind me becomes too loud to ignore. There’s no idle chewing, no clicking of hooves on stone.
But if I listen very closely, I can hear the tremble of a great beast's muscles twitching in abject terror.
If you plan on living, use your powers now!
Well.
I must be fucked.