꧁The Forgotten Kingdom꧂

⛧Chapter 8⛧

Ember opened his eyes, but they were covered by something. He heard voices murmuring and muttering around him.

Where am I?

".. Queen Star'Whisperer, and Prince Ripple'Wing. We are pleased to bring you the first Fire dragon we have ever see-"

Suddenly he heard a gasp of awe and the blind was removed. A white dragon was right in front of him.

"Oooooh it's so.. PRETTY!" She yelled in excitement. "We can't POSSIBLY take them as a prisoner, take them to the guest room after this!!"

She walked around him. "Oo, do all fire dragons have this kind of colored starry wings?"

"Mmmf.." They had put a muzzle around his mouth. It was probably to stop him from burning anyone or thing.

She gaped. "Oh my DEAR! Hold on just a moment!" She yelped. Queen Star unlocked the muzzle and threw it aside.

Ember was confused as to why she was doing this. "You do realize that they did that to prevent me from setting things on fire?" She floated back.

"Well if you do that then I can just get my guards. They can easily knock you back out, little one." She said.

He stared at her. "And no, I'm the only dragon in my kingdom with these colors. The others are usually ash gray, red, crimson, or rarely orange."

Queen Star looked very intrigued. "Mhm. Well you're very pretty." She mumbled. "Why don't you get some food? And get comfortable in our underwater-but-dry castle?"

That was quite a mouthful.

Ember wanted to get out, but he had no choice right now. Hesitantly he nodded.

Guards surrounded both sides of him and led Ember into a huge dining hall in the other room.

He nearly gasped at the sight. It. Was. HUGE.

He charged in and stared around in complete awe. A chandelier with diamonds on it hung on the roof above the table itself.

Ember scanned the room. He saw a door and blinked at it. "Hey, runt. Stop looking at the elevator. There is NO WAY you're escaping through it."

Elevator, huh. He luckily stopped himself from smiling, but he had a plan. He walked back out to the throne room.

"Hey! The little dragon won't escape, you don't have to guard him.." Queen Star complained.

Ember held his breath as the guards sulkily nodded and walked back to the entrance.

Queen Star came closer to him, purring at him. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you! They just ACT all tough." She landed on the ground beside him and smiled at him.

"No worries, I just got to go to a council meeting. Prince Ripple will be right here!" She said cheerily. "Now I have a meeting. See you soon!" She ran off elegantly. Her thin, long, white tail that looked like it glowed flowed behind her. Also a ribbon she wore on her neck flowed behind her too.

No wonder some pages called her 'The Queen of Elegance'.

Ember was about to enter the dining room before he heard a silky and quiet voice behind him. "Wait.." It was Prince Ripple.

He swiftly turned, jumping.

"What?" He whispered. Prince Ripple frowned. "Are you seriously leaving already?! I wanted you to HELP me!"

Now Ember was confused. "Help with what?"
"My Mom."
"What about Queen Star?"
".. She's actually planning a war. And she caught me talking to the prophet dragon."

"Now she locked me up and faked this body." He whimpered. "Please help me. You can even touch this 'body'. It's just mist!"

Ember poked him with a claw, and it went right through, causing himself to jump.

Prince Ripple was right.

He felt sick to his stomach. But he couldn't help, could he??

A clicking down the halls caused Ember to scramble to the rooms and hide in the dark shadows.

Queen Star whined. "Awww where did that dragon go?!" She hissed miserably. "Did he already leave? I was just getting started with him, I had SO MANY PLANS for HIM!"

"D- Don't worry, your majesty. We can go find another- o- or him." One of the guards yelped. Queen Star shook her head with a sigh.

"Okay, send out two patrols tomorrow." She said. She sat on the throne and put her claws on her cheek.

Ember had to get out of here as soon as he could. But NOW how? And how could he help the lost prince?

He felt helpless.