Dark Wood: Legends of the Guardians by Unknown Page A

as the rarest moon. He was
so close to her that she could see the Guardian’s flame that shown so keenly
within him. “Very good. Now, look around you.” His head nodded out past the
carved path they stood upon.
    Following
his sight, she turned her chin to the cavern. It was alight with blue stars.
Her mouth parted, falling agape. The stars twinkled, reflecting off every
surface. The light of the sun may have been hidden this deep within the cavern,
but the stars shown its magnificence. Stalagmites shot up from far below,
nearly reaching the stalactites from above. The cavern was so vast that Reign
could have flown, if he’d been able, throughout the space freely. Not just
Reign, but other Dragons as well.
    “How
is this possible? Stars inside of the earth?” She couldn’t pull her eyes away
to look at Reign.
    A
low rumbled chortle coughed out of his throat. It seemed to be a sound he’d not
made in decades if not longer. “They’re Luciola. They’re quite beautiful for grubs,
are they not?” She’d never pondered the possibility if Dragons could smile, but
it seemed that they indeed could.
    “You
see, Aryaunna, you are never truly in the dark.” Though she liked the way it
sounded, it was a rather unbelievable statement. Turning once more, his long
tail, tapered in feather like whiskers, carefully avoided her. Still in awe,
she followed Reign through the mass cavern. It was the first time in as many
hours that he’d stopped drilling her with a surplus of questions. Perhaps he understood
her awe because he’d felt it himself.
    Deep
inside of the cavern Reign slowed to a stop. Aryaunna had not found replenished
warmth though she’d not faltered or ailed for the chill. “This cavern, as are
these mountains, carved by Dragon kind. The way is not made for human step.”
    Aryaunna
came to stand at his side, looking out over the chasm. “I can climb it,” she
spoke with assured confidence.
    “Your
fingers are nearly numb, if not completely. You’ve not yet eaten this day. I can
only wonder the last you had a decent meal. You couldn’t hold a proper sword,
let alone traverse this chamber.” Her eyes narrowed at the accurate note of her
state. It stilted her. “You must climb to my back.” He didn’t seem thrilled by
this idea, though not entirely against.
    She
laughed out at the suggestion. “Don’t underestimate me, Reign. The Guardians
wouldn’t have accepted the offering from someone so weak.” Rolling her knuckles
so that they would pop and her fingers would flex. Not waiting for him to
react, she slithered her body along the impossibly narrow slope, finding foot
holes that even goats would bock at.
    Taken
aback, and yet amused, Reign watched this display. Waiting to follow until
she’d made enough distance that he could move with ease. “Slowly, Ary. The
stone is like glass in many places.” Despite her focus, her lips twitched with
a smile as he called her Ary. “No, move to the left.” Her right foot had been
searching for a foothold where there was none. Balancing the toe of her boots on
the same divot, she inched herself to the left and discovered the most modest
cliff.
    In
time they made it down the vast chamber to the grotto. The water was rich jade
green. Reign had caught them a arapaima to share, a fish that dwelled deep in
the pool inside the mountain. Aryaunna watched the magnificence of Reign’s
flaming breath that roasted her fish from life to death. They ate together in
silence by a fire of driftwood Reign had gathered and lit. The aged wood burned
hot but slow.
    She
picked at the last bit of meat held in her hand. “Reign?” He looked up, the
tail of a fish hanging from his maw. A smirk twisted her mouth. He’d had four
of the great fish, and the last of hers. “Do you know why I was sent here?”
    He
slurped the last of the fin down his throat as he spoke. “Isn’t that obvious?
They sent you here to find me.”
    “Yes,
to validate my claim as Emissary.” It was no