Dragon of Storms

Chapter 4

 Stone. Stone. And guess what? More stone. It was all that filled Reyna's senses. It smelled of stone, looked like stone, felt like stone. She'd been stuck in the tunnel for a long time, maybe a few days. It became apparent that it wasn't a tunnel, but rather a whole cave system. Which meant that for all Reyna knew, she was deep under the ocean. However unlikely, it was still a possibility.

She'd been following the soft glow that seemed to come from nowhere in particular for forever. The light was just there, it existed with no source. Multiple times Reyna had thought that it was just around a corner, and was met with, you guessed it, stone. Any hope the princess held sputtered out quickly, but she kept moving. Whenever she felt like stopping or giving up the golden-brown eyes flashed in her mind, urging her to go on. Reyna wasn't sure why or how, but it always happened, and she felt like she needed to go on, like those beautiful eyes would be waiting for her on the other side of the caves, like if she gave up, it wasn't just herself she was giving up on, but also those eyes or whoever the eyes belonged to. However strange, it kept her moving.

The food Reyna packed was starting to run out, and so was the water, even though she had been rationing it. If she didn't find a way out, she'd starve or die from dehydration. Neither sounded good. The first day, her mind wandered to her father and Lord James. What were they doing? Did the kingdom think her dead? The second day she started thinking of her mother and the promise her father had made. He broke it so easily, but why? The rest of the time had mostly been filled with that question.

Reyna had come up with multiple answers, mostly revolving around the King's need for control. He thought that the king rules, while the queen is just a figurehead. The marriage was his way of ensuring that she didn't take the throne on her own. Because Gods forbid a woman rule this kingdom without a man at her side.

Law stated that once the heir turns eighteen, they could take the throne, and the king and or queen would have to give it up. Law also states that one cannot rule by themselves, they need someone by their side to balance out their ideas and opinions, so the power is slightly more balanced. But if Reyna was queen, she could bend the rules slightly. That was probably why the King was doing this now, almost eight months before she became an adult. At least, that's the way Reyna saw it. There could be another reason for all she knew. Her father was a tricky bastard after all.

On the third-ish day, the caves began getting warmer, which Reyna hoped was because she was getting closer to the surface. It was unlikely, but she could hope. As her footsteps echoed through the tunnels, so did the flicker of light. It started to get bigger, brighter. Hope flared in the princess's chest, but she quickly squashed it down, though her limping pace quickened.

A minute later she entered a cave like tunnel, filled with light, coming from cracks in the ceiling. Plants crawled through the rocks, covering the room. Reyna's leg was screaming as she went further in. There didn't seem to be any way out, not one big enough for her, and there was only one exit besides the tunnel she'd just come through. In the center of the room sat a large jagged rock, except at the top part. The top was smooth, and a strange mix of gray and blue.

A beam of light hit the top of the stone, illuminating it from behind. Reyna could make out the dark silhouette of something on the inside. "What the hell," She breathed out. With the light on whatever it was, she could make out small details, like little veins of white, and the small jagged edges making it look like scales. When the light moved away, the silhouette disappeared from sight. Closely inspecting as she got closer, Reyna could make out that the jagged stone beneath was more of a pedestal, with the thing sitting on top of it.

Again, a beam of light came from behind the rock, but this time, the silhouette seemed to stretch, showing its long neck, wings, and tail. It was no rock, rather an egg. A dragon egg.