“I have a good healer,” he led me through the ground floor of the castle. “She’s normally in the kitchens.” “In the kitchens?” I repeated. “Apparently they’re the perfect place for brewing up potions. You would know. You’re a mage.” “I have never willingly stepped foot in a kitchen in my life, except to steal food or wine. Any potion that requires cooking, just hasn’t had someone motivated enough to work around that aspect.” We stepped down three steps into the kitchen and stood for a moment overwhelmed by the activity and heat within. The kitchen was rawer than the part of the castle we had previously been in, the stone less finished, less regular in cut. The walls were grimed with smoke, and the floor worn uneven. Light entered through a series of small windows set high on the walls, open to let in the air, and the door to the kitchen gardens, which also stood ajar. A chicken pecked in the open doorway, ignorant to the massacre of its ilk wi

Armoured and armed, we returned to the courtyard and I cast a portal. “Aperianu.”The Temples of Seigradh were buried deep within the forest on the border of Nerith and Uyan Taesil. Even the irreverence of mankind had not dared to touch this forest. It was one of the oldest in the world, the trunks of its trees wide and its branches and roots tangled. It was said that its roots systems had become so enmeshed that it no longer existed as a forest of many trees, but all were part of one.There had once been a path to the temples, but the root system had long tossed the stones aside, or curled over them, so that the way was often lost beneath greenery. Pilgrims determined the way, instead, by the stone monoliths that marked the path, though even these were often swallowed by the forest.Water gathered in puddles on the ground, though the greenery was so thick, if there was mud from a recent rainfall, we were kept from it. Fairies with eyes like black be

Due to the nature of magic around the Court of Light, the portal opened at the gates into the town. We both looked up automatically, the winding stone roads guiding the eye to the gleaming white walls of the castle in the center of the township, the terraces spilling greenery over the edges, and the open windows billowing the sheer curtains out. We could see the brightly colour courtiers strolling the walkways. From the gathering of minstrels, and the number of courtiers on the terrace from the main hall, Queen Leamoira was entertaining outside. We approached the gates, and the guards saluted us. “Prince Akyran, Princess Ecaeris!” I grumbled under my breath as we began the slow climb through the tidy houses with their white-washed walls and dark wood. “Oh, shush,” Akyran smirked. “When you marry a prince, it makes you a princess.” “Siorin

As the day aged into afternoon, we gathered on the terraces overlooking the town below as the arrival of the dignitaries from all over our world formed a parade winding its way up into the castle, serenaded by bards and showered with the petals of flowers. “I see Aurien,” I spotted him by his golden hair which had been left free like a magnificent coat. “As if he is hard to spot,” Akyran replied with a hint of jealousy. “He stands a head over most others.” “He’s just jealous,” Rivyn grinned enjoying his twin’s reaction. “Ecaeris hasn’t exactly been secretive over her admiration for our golden friend.” “I just whole-heartedly believe it is unnatural for dragons to wear clothing,” I replied innocently. “It must be so inconvenient for him.” “I’m just glad he’s married, and being dragon, entirely faithful,” Akyran spoke over my head to Rivyn. “Or I’d be chaining her to the bed.” “You could do that anyway,” I suggested, and Akyran’s eyes lit fiercely. “I could,” he agreed putting his

Between the craftsmen manufacturing new nets and Akyran’s people searching the city for every net that they could find; they were prepared for our return. Akyran rolled out the map whilst we ate around the great table with the leaders of his army, and he divided them into teams. As we finished the meal, the terrible call of the creatures echoed overhead and we all looked up instinctually, although all that we could see was the arch of slate overhead. “We must endure another night of this,” Akyran said. “As the plan relies on them being in the underground caverns. In the morning, we will begin netting, and by afternoon, between Rivyn, Daerton and Ecaeris, we will burn the monsters to ash.” “I’ll be back in the morning then,” Rivyn declared and cast a portal, the wind whipping the edges of the map so that Akyran had to use his hands to pin it to the tabletop until the portal closed again behind h