Chapter 45

Here, at least, there was architecture better suited to a castle. The walls were polished onyx; glassy enough to cast reflections in and they soared up to a vaulted ceiling crisscrossed with dark wooden beams. The ground was slabs of malachite and the same green stone soared seamlessly up from the floor to form a line of flame-topped columns that ran down the longest sides of the room. At the far end there was a dais holding the high table and set before it were two lines of dining tables—one to either side of the room—placed parallel to the lines of columns. The tables were set end to end; forming two, long, continuous pieces. A very similar set up to that of the Twilight Castle but yet vastly different.

The sound hit me first. Screeches, growls, roars, and chitters. Then waves of foul scent washed over me as we passed goblins, bogles, hags, and slimy kelpies who had changed from their normal waterhorse forms into something that vaguely resembled human. They had thick, seaweed-green