CHAPTER THREE - The City Of Heiligdom

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Timber followed Lord Frost through the sanctuary of Heiligdom and looked around in awe. This was where she started her life. This was where she played before she was moved outside the gates of the city. She thought it was beautiful. They passed by a covered walkway that led from one road to another over a beautiful coy pond. Timber could see beautiful old homes covered in vines and climbing flora along winding, grass-lined stone roads that followed one of the river branches. Flower bushes grew wild along some areas and were taller than Lord Frost. Timber could see from her vantage point that none of the roads were level. Many of them went softly up and down.

When they entered the main town square, which was lined with shops of every kind, and trees for shade, Timber felt her jaw fall open. It was as if she were in a fairy tale. Directly in front of her was a pool of crystal blue water and a white marble statue of an open book with words etched into the stone. Timber read them quickly in passing. They were Bible verses of encouragement.  The castle and cliffs in front of her took her breath away. She could hear the waterfalls coming from the cliffs under the castle that fell to the lake below. Beside her, Lord Frost smiled at her reaction and advised her to brace herself once she was on the main steps leading to the castle. Timber wobbled a little when the steps moved but she steadied herself quickly and looked back at the most beautiful city she had ever seen.

At the top of the steps was a beautiful cobblestone courtyard lit by hundreds of small floating orbs that reminded Timber of lightning bugs. It was lined with trimmed hedges. There was a mature tree showing off its colors of red, gold, and orange in each of the four corners and a variety of annuals and shrubs behind the low hedges. In the center was another fountain but this one was different. It was a beautiful, solid piece of round marble that was defying gravity. It was floating above the bottom by two feet. The water at the top of the slowly rotating ball seemingly came from nowhere and it fell into the pool below like a light rain. There were wooden benches along the courtyard, some of which were occupied by conversing people in fine fabrics. Timber recognized them by their ears. They were elves.

After they walked into the castle through a set of massive oak doors on which were carved an intricate sun design, they turned left, rather than walking up a grand flight of stairs that had draping vines and intricately stunning candelabras. She was taken down a beautiful hall with polished marble floors and a light blue runner leading to the end of the hall. Timber could see a trio of large arched windows at the end bordered by tall white statues of women with wings and torches.  Lord Frost led her into a set of doors into a room just off of the hallway. Timber glanced around while her low cream heels clicked on the floor. To her left, Timber could smell the kitchen through a closed door. To her right, there was another door that led to the unknown. After a few doors, Lord Frost opened one. Henry was sitting by a roaring fire with Aiyanna sitting by the window both waiting patiently for her and Lord Frost.

"Come, Henry," Lord Frost said.

Henry got to his feet, hugged Timber, and they both followed Lord Frost through the door on the right and down a spiral stone staircase that seemed to go on for ages. Timber could smell dust, ink, candle wax, and parchment. Lord Frost stopped in front of a door and opened it with his magic. Inside seemed to be the only place that Lord Frost did not have wired with electricity.

"Where are we?" asked Henry.

"The catacombs," said Lord Frost, magically lighting several dozen candles at once.

The room they were in was not as grand as the rest of the castle. It was quite modest and rustic. The circular walls were bare stone but they were not very visible behind the impressive number of shelves. There was a small fireplace with a badly cracked mirror above it to Timber's left. In the middle of the room, there was a large desk and four chairs placed on a group of cowhide rugs. The desk was still covered with dusty parchment, an open bottle of ink, and a quill with the black ink dried solid on the tip.

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