Blood of the Dragon

Book 7 in the POWER Series...

Zaar and Flynn continued to escort the visiting Myronian monarchs throughout Castle Krillian as they headed directly towards the throne room hoping to meet with the Dragon King and Queen of Westoria.

It seemed that their matter was rather urgent and needed immediate attention, judging by their current speed.

Meanwhile in the throne room at that very moment, Draxus and Lillian were both seated upon their thrones, curiously awaiting their guests’ arrival and to hear what could be so terribly urgent.

They hardly ever received visitors, especially from other races and this sudden and unscheduled visit was out of the ordinary for everyone involved.

“Just remember what we spoke about earlier on, my love.” Draxus reminded his wife calmly as he reached out his hand to hold hers in the space between them.

And as she too reached out her hand to take his, Lillian smiled while replying her reassurance.

“Don’t worry, I understand.”

Suddenly the twin doors leading into the throne room creaked open as Zaar, Flynn and several armed soldiers escorted their guests inside one step at a time.

As soon as she saw the Myronians, Lillian was beyond baffled by their intriguing appearances.

Not only did they look incredible, but she was also excited about meeting a new race of creatures for the very first time.

Crossing the length of the room and coming to stand before the large stairs that led up towards the thrones, Zaar stepped forward to make the announcement to his seated King and Queen.

“Your Majesties, may I introduce to you the Myronian King and Queen.”

“Thank you Zaar.” Draxus spoke with a nod to his dear friend as Zaar then stepped off to the side, accompanied by Flynn who did the same.

Now the Myronians were the ones stepping forwards.

And out of respect, they both bowed down before their generous hosts; the Dragon King and Queen.

“Your Majesties, we are humbled by your graciousness in welcoming us with such warmth and kindness.” King Tillion began their introductions aloud.

“I am King Tillion, ruler of the Myronian race…” he turned his head to the side, gesturing with his outstretched arm towards Saphira now as he added more.

“And this is my wife, Queen Saphira.”

Saphira stepped forward, bowing her head once respectfully.

“Greetings Your Majesties.” she proclaimed.

Standing off to the side, Lillian quickly noticed the younger looking Myronian wearing white, still with her hood up over her head and the Dragon Queen became curious as to who she could be.

Before she could stop herself, Lillian found herself asking.

“And who is this?”

Tillion turned to glance at Yolani for a moment before smiling.

“Forgive me, Your Majesty for excluding her in our greetings. Yolani is my wife’s personal bodyguard. She travels with Saphira everywhere she goes.” King Tillion explained.

“I see.” Lillian replied with a nod and a slight smile.

“Can she remove her hood?”

Tillion seemed a little confused by the request made by the Dragon Queen.

And naturally, Lillian went on to explain in order to ease the visiting King’s comfort level.

“I prefer to look at someone face to face when first meeting them. I’m sure you understand.” Lillian admitted.

“Of course. My apologies Your Majesty.” Tillion agreed.

He then turned to face Yolani, gesturing with a wave of his arm and an expression that told her to remove her hood as instructed.

And Yolani then reached up and did exactly that, sliding the hood off her head to reveal her full features to everyone there in the throne room.

Including Flynn.

And as soon as he met eyes with her from across the room he felt something stirring from deep within.

Something that he couldn’t even understand or control.

Yolani’s long straight blonde hair was almost white in colour and up in a high ponytail at the back of her head.

Her white irises stared directly ahead, and her lips pouted.

Her entire ensemble was in the shade of white, with gemstones and delicately designed embroidery decorating each and every piece of clothing that she wore.

As he stood there, simply staring at her in awe, Zaar standing beside the Veemon noticed and gave him a gentle nudge in the side to bring him back to the here and now.

And snapping him out of his daze like state, Flynn frowned as he shook his head for a second, folding both his arms in over his wings tucked in behind his back.

“My, such a beautiful bodyguard.” Lillian praised Yolani.

“And so young, I might add. She must be extremely well trained to be guarding someone as important as yourself, Queen Saphira.”

Saphira beamed proudly at the compliment.

“You are too kind, Your Majesty.” she replied.

“Yolani is our best fighter and has been trained in the art of combat since birth.”

Deciding to get the conversation back on track, Draxus finally spoke up with his deep and penetrating voice echoing out across the throne room.

“King Tillion, I believe you have come here with a rather important matter to discuss? Unless I was incorrectly informed…” he suggested.

“Yes, of course.” King Tillion agreed, nodding his head.

“We have travelled far from the safety of our home to ask you humbly for your assistance with a serious issue that we are currently facing.”

“An issue?” Lillian asked, as if to confirm.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I’m not sure if Your Majesties are yet aware of our situation, but we have long since been a peaceful race and kept to ourselves deep within the forested area…” Tillion explained.

“That is, until we started noticing more and more of our kind mysteriously going missing while out hunting and foraging.”

“Missing? As in unexplainably unaccounted for?” Draxus asked.

Nodding, Tillion replied.

“Yes, Your Highness. Never to be seen again. We didn’t really seem to notice until the numbers of missing Myronians had reached the hundred mark. And by the month’s end, it had reached the thousands.”

“Thousands? Do you have any leads at the moment?” Draxus continued to interrogate while his fellow King went on to explain their predicament.

Tillion turned to the side, meeting the glance of his wife this time before he replied to the Dragon King’s query.

And upon facing Draxus once more, Tillion spoke with a somewhat nervously hesitant tone to his voice.

“Actually, we know who is responsible, yes.” he spoke simply.

“Although, we have not even a fraction of his accumulated power to even consider confronting him. To put it quite simply, we would not dare to confront him, for fear of the repercussions.”

Tillion seemed solemn now.

But Draxus didn’t seem to show even a glimmer of fear.

“Tell me the name of the one responsible.” the mighty Dragon King commanded.

King Tillion inhaled long and hard before exhaling the exact same way.

After all, this was why they had come to Westoria… to seek assistance from the Dragon rulers in ceasing their continued problem and to put a stop to Kulnarik’s evil doings.

“I don’t suppose you’ve ever heard of… Emperor Kulnarik?” Tillion queried hesitantly.

And as soon as he had spoken the emperor’s name aloud the entire room froze with a mixture of both fear and disbelief.

Everyone seemed to know who this person was… that is, everyone except for Lillian.

“Who is he?” she asked no one in particular, turning to glance at her husband.

Giving her a side glance and nothing more, Draxus finally spoke a response aloud after learning who it was that was causing so much trouble for the Myronians.

Indeed, Draxus knew exactly who Kulnarik was and of his many horrendous deeds performed in the past.

To many different races of creatures.

And all in the bid for more power.

But never did he think that he himself would have to face off against the Emperor who lived somewhere so far away that it felt like another world entirely.

“You are certain that the Emperor is the one responsible for these disappearances?” Draxus asked one last time, as if to clarify.

Tillion bowed his head.

“I am, Your Highness.” he replied.

“Believe me, bringing you this news is not a task that I take lightly, nor is it something I wished to have to do. But the lives of my kind rest upon my decision made here and I need your support to confront such a powerful enemy.”

“And you’re absolutely certain that you wish to confront him?” Draxus queried.

“Once it is done, there is no undoing it. You will officially become an enemy of the Empire.”

Tillion looked helplessly up at the King and Queen seated before he and his wife.

“I have no other choice.” he admitted.

“King Draxus, Queen Lillian, would you choose to side with us in noble cause?”

Queen Saphira suddenly stepped forward, holding out her hand as she spoke gently to the Dragon rulers.

“Please know that we would hold no grudges against you, should you choose not to assist us in this. We are simply asking here today.” she pointed out.

Seemingly mulling the decision over, Draxus turned to glance at his Queen just as Lillian turned to glance back at him.

And in her expression, the Dragon Queen had already made up her own mind regarding the decision they would have to make.

But Draxus was less impulsive…

Less emotional than the Queen.

“Give me until tomorrow morning to come up with a decision.” Draxus finally spoke aloud with his booming voice.

“In the meantime, you and your kind are welcome guests here at Castle Krillian. We invite you to spend the night here in the safety of the castle walls until our next meeting tomorrow morning. By then, a decision will have been made.”

Although not getting the exact answer that they had wanted, both King Tillion and Queen Saphira looked somewhat grateful for Draxus’ hospitality as they smiled and bowed their heads respectfully.

“You are too kind, Your Highness. Your Majesty. Thank you and we look forward to receiving your decision tomorrow morning.” Queen Saphira spoke up now, taking her husband by the arm.

Although they were grateful for the hospitality, King Tillion was concerned that if the Dragon rulers did not agree to assist them, their kind would basically be doomed to face extinction.

This was their last chance to solve the problem without having to go to war with the emperor.

“Servants, escort our guests to their chambers for the evening.” Draxus commanded.

“Ensure that they are well-cared for and given whatever they desire during their stay.”

“Come dearest.” Saphira urged Tillion forward to walk along with her and Yolani, but a sudden voice calling out stopped her in her place.

“Queen Saphira, a word if I may?” Lillian spoke, rising from her throne and beginning to descend the staircase to where her guests stood.