ARC I.
CHAPTER I.
“Present arms for Emerald Gray, Grand Priestess of the Church of the Tetra!”
Two soldiers clad in their finest armor lowered their heads, pulled their feet apart, and slammed the hilts of their pickaxes onto the stone floor. Painted upon the drab stone door in front of which the soldiers stood were the vibrant colors of a roaring ruby dragon in profile. Betwixt the soldiers stood their commanding officer facing and saluting the Grand Priestess, now an elderly lady, a widow to the First Citizen of Sheoz Shen, and a close friend of the savior of humanity—Kyle Reinhart—whose tomb she was here to visit today. She nodded her head in acknowledgement.
“No need to be so formal to your grandmother, Clause.”
The commanding officer—Clause—clicked his heels together and inhaled before shouting, “Ma’am!” He exhaled, and his personality began to appear again. He looked at his grandmother with his honest and dutiful eyes, which reminded her of how his grandfather’s looked all those years ago when he served under Kyle as his right-hand man. But those honest eyes could not conceal concern.
“Grandmother, is it truly wise to visit the Tomb of the Dragon as you are? You only recently recovered from your illness.” Clause was the splitting image of her husband at eighteen. Lean, toned muscles. Spiky blond hair. Dark blue eyes. A hardened expression that could not completely hide the softness underneath.
Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!
image [https://i.ibb.co/1q1XwgT/200311-set6-18-400x600.jpg]
“Wise? No. Necessary? Yes. I’ve not missed Kyle’s birthday since he came here, and I don’t plan on starting now. Your grandfather never missed his birthday either, until he could come no longer. Yet, I still can. And so, I must. I pray you indulge me just one more time.” Clause looked dutifully to his grandmother and sighed, defeated.
“I shall, but I pray this be not your final indulgence from me.”
“Well, it isn’t as though I can just turn back now. Spent almost a fortune on that caravan. I used to travel these distances thrice over by foot back during my adventures with Kyle and your grandfather. My, have I told you about that time Grace—well, I should say, Professor Mortimer—had your grandfather and me running around Norasia searching for materials to build the Ray? Now that my bones ache with every step I take, I would not this trip be a waste.” Clause sighed but smiled wryly and nodded. He loved his grandmother’s stories. She was the great storyteller after all, and it did not matter whether he had heard them all already.
“Alright, grandmother. But I do protest sending the guards and me out to the outer entrance like usual. You are ill, and we wouldn’t be able to hear you from there!”
“As you shouldn’t. You wouldn’t want other people eavesdropping on you catching up with an old friend, would you?” Clause was about to respond, but his grandmother interjected in time. “I shall be fine, Clause. Don’t you worry.”
“Fine, fine. But you have thirty minutes.” She nodded. “Then, it will be my honor,” began Clause, returning with his military cadence. “Guards, open the gates to the Tomb of the Dragon. Here lies Kyle Reinhart, last King of Sheoz Shen!”