A Dragon's Heart (Book Three in the APK Trilogy)

Chapter 49 | Past and Present

Hey Team,
Thank you for your patience, here is Chapter 49. We are getting close to the end of the book now, maybe only two or so Chapters left?
I'm in a rush so will type more soon,
Much love,

Daisy xx

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Chapter 49 | Past and Present

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"I have stood for thousands of years
and have not faltered;
the day I met you,
my legs shook."

- thesolitarywordsmith

(Promptuarium)

*

OBSIDIAN

Obsidian stood with his arms folded firmly across his chest, leaning against the side of a towering archway. The archway was one of the many that lined the side of the shimmering diamond hallway, opening the space to the fantastical landscape that was sprawled below. Obsidian studied the magnificent view with a coldly distant expression fixed on his face.

Behind him, he could feel the stares of the two guards boring into his back. If he were a lesser man, he suspected that he may have already exploded internally from their fierceness of their gaze, but as it were, he was simply trying not to say something sardonic that may or may not result in his arrest.

Behind the two guards stood a door, and from beyond that door, the sound of muffled sobbing still echoed. Obsidian was trying hard not to think about the scene within the room, but he had endured for an hour already and his patience was beginning to wear thin.

He shifted slightly and felt the gazes on his back sharpen. Resisting the urge to turn around, he bit his tongue and rolled his eyes instead. He had sworn he was not going to retaliate. No matter what happened.

Staring out at the impressive scenery that lay beyond the archway, Obsidian vaguely entertained himself by searching yet again, for the form of a dragon amongst all of the glittering white diamond. His search was pointless however, Unabonan and Anthemin had vanished ever since they had led him to the Palace, and while Obsidian felt his might have some inkling as to just where they had disappeared off to, it was definitely not in his place to follow.

He squinted against the glare for another moment before looking away completely and wondered again, why any-one would choose to live here. His eyes were throbbing after only an hour of enduring the brightness, he could not imagine being drowned in such a light every waking hour of the day.

Initially, when Obsidian had first passed through the colossal waterfall and was spat out the other side, he was convinced that he had gone blind, so piercing was the light emitting from the Kingdom. As his sight had gradually adjusted, Obsidian was able to absorb the view that sprawled before him, mythical in its majesty.

While Obsidian had heard plenty of tales regarding the Palaces in the Sky, part of him had always taken these legends as nothing but that, mere myth – tales of wonder, spun by wishful humans who sought a reprieve from the mud and toil of the mortal world. Many had claimed to have been there. Most of them were insane.

Upon witnessing the Kingdom for himself, Obsidian discerned that all of the tales had been false. Nothing that he had heard could have prepared him for such extravagance, for the glistening, shimmering structures that twisted elegantly out of the cloudscape and reached for a sky that was the palest shade of blue Obsidian had ever seen, for the diamond Palace that was destination of the two dragons flying in front of him, the sheer size of it more breath-taking than any dreamed up legends could have ever comprehended. He understood now, why those who spoke of this place were insane. To find out such a wealth existed, only to realise that the priceless gemstone that was so coveted by humans, was as good as brick to these people, would be enough to drive any man crazy.