The Eternal Fire (13+)

Chapter 4

Inferno walked through a hall lined with paintings of birds and rabbits. He saw Tempest scoff and turn her head away from the artwork. Crimson led them to a large double door and the guards gripped the handles, pulling them open to reveal a massive throne room. The king and queen, as well as their daughter, Princess Dusk, sat on their thrones, waiting until their guests were close enough.
The Elements bowed, spreading their wings. "Your Majesty," Inferno greeted.

King Axel, Queen Fern, and Princess Dusk gave a slight bow of their heads.
"So sorry to ask this of you," King Axel said. "But we need your help finding Maroon."
Blade stepped forward. "When did you last see him?"

"Last night in his room," the queen answered. "We sent out most of the guards-"
"But they keep coming back empty-handed!" Princess Dusk cut her off. Queen Fern shot her daughter a glare.
"Do you think he might have run away?" Tempest questioned.

The king shook his head. "Unlikely. I can't think of any reason why he would run away."
Aquarius spoke up. "Could an assassin have killed him or taken him?"
King Axel spread his white wings to their full length. "If so, their punishment is death!" he roared.

"If anyone hurts one scale on my brother..." the princess growled.
Inferno glanced at the door, thinking about how often royalty were targets of assassins. If a dragon didn't like how someone was acting or affected them personally, they could murder them themselves or hire an assassin to do the job for them. "Your Majestys, we would like to inspect Prince Maroon's room, if that's alright. There may be a clue to his disappearance."

"We would?" Tempest echoed.
Inferno slapped her with his tail. 'Shut up, Tempest! Before I BITE you!'
The king looked at his wife. Queen Fern nodded. "You may inspect our son's room. Bloodstone, please show them the way."

The white guard turned tail, walking up a staircase. The Elements followed. Making their way to the second floor of the castle, Bloodstone stopped at a door and opened it. Inferno stepped inside the prince's room. The bed of cotton was at the far side, tucked in a corner.

A desk was beside the wall stone, a window over it looking out over the Diamond Sea. Inferno spotted a scroll with ink written on the paper. Picking it up, the dragon read it.

Mother and Father are thinking about attacking the Ruby Kingdom.
I keep telling them that King Dingo and Queen Cactus will send their army. That will certainly put an end to trading with them.
I don't want another battle to happen in this already bloody war.

"Hey, look at this." Inferno put the scroll down and came over to where Blade was standing. "Where these claw marks always here?" The Element of Fire studied the wall.
"No," Bloodstone said, walking over. "We do checkups on the royal family daily and no dragon has ever seen these."

"Claw marks on the wall... Was the prince ever unhappy?"
Bloodstone shook his head. "Not that I recall."
Inferno nodded, glancing at Aquarius. "Blade, go inform the royal family we found something."

After the green dragon stepped out of the room, Tempest spoke. "I don't think Prince Maroon ran off. I think he was kidnapped."
"Who would kidnap a prince?" Aquarius asked. "And for what reason?"

"A lot of reasons," Inferno told her. "Emeralds, not liking them, revenge." He glanced back at the desk, thinking about the scroll. "Also, I found a scroll on the prince's desk. It said something about the king and queen attacking the Ruby Kingdom."

Bloodstone tilted his head. "Do you think King Dingo and Queen Cactus took him?"
Tempest shook her head. "Maybe, but I don't think so. The border of the Ruby Kingdom is too far away from the castle."

Blade stepped back into the room, folding his wings. "Princess Dusk suggests the Saphire Kingdom."
Inferno looked at him. "The Saphire Kingdom? What would King Tapir want with Prince Maroon?"

"That's what the princess said."
"I guess we could go to the Saphire Kingdom..."
Tempest snarled. "I'm not going to the Sapphire Kingdom! The air makes my scales feel weird. And what if Shard attacks again?"

"Okay..." Inferno breathed. "Then how about you and Blade stay here, and Aqua and I can go?"
The purple dragon rolled her yellow eyes. "Fine."
Inferno flicked his tail. "Come on, let's go. We don't have time to spare."

The four dragons rushed out of the room and down the hall, going down the staircase. They stopped in front of the king, queen, and princess, bowing.
"Your Majestys, we think we may know who has taken your son," Inferno said.
Queen Fern nodded. "Please, find our son."

"We will," assured the Element of Water. Inferno, Aquarius, Tempest, and Blade exited the Jade Castle and took off. "Inferno, what if King Tapir's army catches us? We're not exactly welcome in the Sapphire Kingdom."
"We'll say we're there to find Prince Maroon. Not to invade," the red dragon answered, feeling the air under his wings.

However, worry clawed at his heart and stomach. If King Tapir's army did catch us, what then?