The Fate of a Dragon Witch

The Gilded Knight

*mentions fear of heights*

~~~Roman's point of view~~~~~

Roman walked through the quiet streets of his home town. It was early morning and the sun had yet to rise. Roman often took walks in the morning to calm his mind and to think. He had so many thoughts running through his mind as he listened to his boots crunch on the rocky road. He frowned as he thought about what he had heard the night before. A group of guards had returned from patrolling the border between his home, the Variegate Kingdom and the Dark Kingdom. They were wounded and half the group died that night from their wounds. The group explained that the king of the Dark Kingdom intended to conquer the Variegate Kingdom. They were on the cusp of war. Roman sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He would rather give his own life before allowing their kingdom to fall. He owed their king his life. The thought made him smile and he remembered the first time he had met his best friend and king.

---

"I dare you to climb that wall!" A boy sneered at him "if you can't I'll beat up the other kids." Roman rolled his eyes. He was an orphan. He grew up in the orphanage right outside the castle walls and he often acted out grand adventures in order to keep the bully from hurting the younger boys. That day was no exception.

"I'll have you know I am an amazing climber." He scoffed then moved over to the wall. He glanced back at the other boy and stuck out his tongue.

"Be careful Roman, wouldn't want to fall and die!" A high pitched voice called and he grinned as a young boy in a green tunic ran over to him.

"Alright Remus, I'll be careful." He stated, ruffling his hair. He then returned his attention to the wall. He carefully chose his hand holds then his feet holds and began to scale the wall. He felt adrenaline shoot through him the higher he became and a grin grew on his face. That was the day he realized how much he loved adventure. He reached the top of the wall and stood triumphantly on the edge.

"Made it!" He yelled down at his friends. They clapped for him and he looked up. His breath caught in his throat at the view. It was beautiful. The sun was setting over the lake far in the distance where he could barely see the tips of mountains. He could see villages and cities scattered over the country side. Everything was bathed in the orange light of a fading sun. As he scanned the landscape he realized that there was so much he hadn't discovered, his world grew.

"Hey idiot, how are you going to get down?" The bully yelled and Roman suddenly realized how high he really was. His knees began to trembled and his eyes widened in fear. He swallowed and sat down, he had no idea how to get down. He mused over his options, the wall was too high for him to jump down... He could always try to climb down the way he came up but he could slip and fall. He pulled at his hair nervously, his only fear was the fear of falling. He wasn't afraid to get into a fight, he wasn't afraid of the woods like the other boys and he didn't need a candle to help him sleep at night. He was afraid of heights.

"Roman?" Remus called up to him and Roman gave him a shaky smile

"I'm fine Remus!" He called. He breathed in and turned around very slowly he began to crawl down the wall, his arms trembling like jelly. As he began his trek down a group of soldiers rounded the corner.

"Scatter!" One of the other orphans yelled. The soldiers always chased them away from the walls, mainly to keep them from climbing. Roman glanced down and right as he did his hand slipped from off the wall. He fell the last few remaining feet and expected to land on hard ground. Instead he landed on something soft. Roman peeled his eyes open slowly and looked up. The soldiers were staring at him in shock.

"Y-your majesty!" They gasped and that was when Roman realized he was on top of a person. He jumped to his feet and spun around.

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry!" He cried as he helped the boy up. He was the crown prince of the kingdom and Roman had just squashed him. "F-forgive me!" He bowed. He heard a chuckle then the boy in front of him broke into a loud laugh. Confused Roman looked up