Swan and Dragon. Dragon Empire

It was not only wealth and luxury that amazed. Simply, everything here seemed to be alive. Emerald bats hid behind paintings. The sculptures sometimes changed positions and curtsies. Magic was dormant in every corner. All the shining magic of this castle was subject to only one person – its mysterious, golden-haired master.

The chimes announced the approach of midnight. At the last blow, Edwin perked up. He scanned the lobby and the closed doors with an anxious gaze, as if expecting an intruder.

“My time is running out,” he whispered under his breath. “In a few minutes I must leave, otherwise the irreparable will happen. If you only knew what ties I have with the rooms of this castle and the empire that stretches beyond it.”

There is nothing but dense forests, Rose wanted to say, but for some reason she kept silent. She ran up the stairs after Edwin. They walked through galleries and covered passages, past columns and knightly armor whitening in the dark.

Edwin opened the door of a room, lit all the candles in it with a wave of his hand, and turned to look at Rose.

“Stay here tonight,” he suggested. “I’ll be back soon and try to explain everything. You are safe in my castle, but outside of it, death awaits you. If you leave now, then the winged enemy will find you, wherever you hide. You attract him like a magnet.”

Edwin’s quiet, threatening words frightened, and his figure, frozen in the span of the door, looked ghostly and unnatural. He silently moved from his place and walked towards the end of the corridor. Halfway through, he turned around, theatrically waved his black cloak and said goodbye:

“Tomorrow you will find out everything,” there was a note of pain and subtle disappointment in his voice.

Rose was left alone in an unfamiliar, richly furnished room. How tasteless and worthless the decoration of the royal palaces seemed to her now, in comparison with the gloomy luxury of her new chambers.

Beautiful ball gowns lay on the bed. Rose chose one of them and tried it on. It fit her, as if it had been made to order for her.

She sat on the edge of the bed and waited for the owner of the castle to return. She was afraid that the dream that overcame her in these fabulous palaces would never end. The candle flame was so quiet and steady. As soon as Rose looked at these lights, there was no trace of her determination to stay awake all night. The princess’s eyelids became heavy and sticky. She soon fell asleep.

Edwin went down to an underground laboratory littered with ancient manuscripts. They all need to be deciphered. And then what? Who will win the final victory? So many years have passed in search of the right spell. These years were filled with impotent rage and a desire to free themselves. And now a distant gap appeared, and the almost extinct guiding star began to shine. Now the thirst for revenge has cooled a little, but has not disappeared.

For today, he has already fulfilled his duties, but before sitting down to his usual work, it is necessary to check how the wonderful guest got there. Edwin arranged the new papers on the shelves, checked the old ones in place, and left the laboratory. The lock on the strong, oak door had long been rusty, but it was not needed. Edwin ran the key crosswise across the smooth surface of the door, now no one can open this door even with a crowbar.

A narrow, spiral staircase with sharp turns led to a secret passage to the room where Edwin had left the beauty. It is unlikely that the guest expects that he will enter her not through the door, but by pushing the wall mirror. She is, after all, the daughter of a man and does not yet know that in a real castle every third painting and statue must contain a special secret.

He pushed back the mirror frame and slipped into the room. He learned to move so easily and silently that only his hair, sparkling like the rays of the winter sun, distinguished him from the shadow.

The beauty slept peacefully. Edwin moved closer to the bed to get a better look at it. Here is the one pursued by evil fate. What fate awaits her in the dragon’s deadly embrace? Is she guilty of being born the daughter of a king and a witch.

For a long time Edwin did not take his intent, studying gaze from her. His cold heart was touched for the first time. For so long a man’s foot has not stepped into this castle. And now a princess has appeared in the enchanted world. She curled up into a graceful ball among the clothes scattered on the bed. The skirts of the puffy dress surrounded her with a scarlet halo. The drooping eyelashes touched her cheeks, but there was something wrong with the hair. Edwin lightly touched the dark-haired head with his hand and found confirmation of his guess. One strand was missing.

And the girl continued to sleep so serenely. She looked like a beautiful china doll. Edwin even got scared when he imagined how she would become one of the statues in his collection.

“What should I do now?” He shook his head in sorrow. The question drowned in silence, without even disturbing the princess’s sleep.

Edwin went to the window, clasped his hands behind his back, as if he were still a prisoner, and looked longingly at the sickle of the month.

“Evil genius,” he whispered, “since you brought me out of my dungeon, I have disobeyed you for the first time.

Memories inspired melancholy. Edwin hoped that the girl would sleep until morning. And in the morning it will be easier to come to terms with the facts than during a dull nauseating night. Business awaits him now. He must practice magic long before the decisive battle. There is little time left, and the challenge to the enemy has already been thrown.

When the lord of the castle left the room, a stubborn black-haired head rose from the pillow. Rose squinted at the flame of candles and could not understand if someone came here or if she was just dreaming about it. What happened was more like a dream, because in reality the mirrors do not move from the walls by themselves, opening a loophole for wizards.

Rose sat up in bed and examined the luxurious furnishings. So, then, she got into the wizard’s castle. She could not name her new friend otherwise. His power over living things and inanimate objects like statues and candles seemed unlimited. Now she need to find out what he started and for what purpose he allowed her to enter his dwelling.

Rose quietly got up and left the room. The castle was huge. Will she be able to inspect all its chambers for the rest of the night.

Long corridors branched out like labyrinths. Rose chose her path at random. She tried to open one of the many doors, but it was locked. The princess tugged at the carved handles in vain; not a single door gave way.

Rose abandoned her vain attempts and ran down the narrow corridor. Her steps were light and silent. She herself was surprised at the speed with which she rushes past the walls decorated with tapestries and various door niches. It seemed to her that now swan wings would grow again and help her soar up. Dreams were interrupted by a sharp sound. An open door creaked in a low stone niche. She swayed on hinges, as if from a strong wind.

Rose hurried there. She had to bend in three deaths to squeeze through the low doorway. An unsightly door led into a tiny living room. There are several armchairs, a sofa and a table. There was only one picture on the wall.

A small chandelier dangled from the ceiling and dropped cones of light onto a brightly painted canvas. The artist depicted an autumn forest in the picture. Contrary to all the rules, from a distance, the painting looked tasteless, and close up the landscape was transformed. The freshness of early autumn emanated from it.

Every detail of the landscape looked alive: a crimson maple, an orange oak, fallen leaves on the water of a muddy stream. And the imagination painted the endless forest. Rose smelled wood, mushrooms and oak bark. As soon as you touch the canvas with your hand, it will be transferred to the picture, turning into a tiny drawing.

With a huge effort of will, Rose managed to look away from the canvas. In order not to succumb to the magnetic influence of the landscape again, she began to study the oak panel to which the painting was attached. The girl’s fingers slid over the carved patterns. The panel was scratched in places. Rosa ran the tips of her nails over the scratches, as if she was involuntarily looking for some kind of cipher, the solution of which would open a cache.

One deep scratch on the surface of the panel was shaped like a swan feather. Rose pressed down on her, and the panel creaked out, revealing a bottomless black hole. Bursting out of the dark void, the wind hurled dry, yellow leaves in her face. The peaceful murmur of the river reached the ears. A second later, the outlines of trees began to appear in the darkness. Rose stepped forward and felt solid ground under her feet. As soon as she crossed the permissible border, a terrible creak of a sliding panel was heard from behind. Rose turned sharply, but, to her surprise, did not find the previous wall. There was a forest behind the princess. Fallen leaves rustled underfoot.

At first it seemed to Rose that she was transported through a hidden hole into another dimension. After all, the leaves on the nearby birches were made of copper, and the air saturated with river moisture caused dizziness. Although it was unlikely that a secret passage could lead to another world, there must have been a magic line behind the wall, through which one could overcome many miles.

Rose moved away from the birches with clinking copper leaves and wandered towards the river. A arch bridge led to the other side. Moonlight blazed a glittering path across the inky waters of the river.

The night cavalcade rushed past the opposite bank with a noise. A nondescript-looking carriage stopped next to the bridge.

Rose did not expect to hear the familiar whistle in the sky, but the song of the dragon’s wings reached her at the most unexpected moment. Rose shuddered all over. After all, Edwin warned that outside the castle walls she would be left without protection. She should have obeyed his advice, not rushed to find trouble.

The shadow covered the moon. As soon as she saw a luminous spot in the dark sky, Rosa rushed away. She managed to reach the bridge before she heard the wild, frantic roar of the Golden Lord.

It was necessary to cross to the other side of the river as soon as possible. Rose’s footsteps echoed from the stones of the bridge. Flaming torches cast light on the princess’s marble-white shoulders. The scarlet dress made her an excellent target for the dragon.

Rose bent over the parapet, but the cold and darkness of the water forced her to give up the idea of throwing herself into the river abyss. All the same, the beast will guess that she is hiding under the bridge. At that moment, a winged shadow fell on the stone bridge. Flames of torches hissed and fluttered from a gust of wind.

By the way, the carriage door opened, and a lanky man in a long cape and a wide-brimmed hat, casting shadows on his face, came out.

“Help!” Rose screamed, hoping he would hear her. And he noticed her. Their gazes met and sank into each other. What Rose saw in his eyes. Only grief and darkness. Still, this accidental traveler was her last hope of salvation.

Rose rushed to him across the bridge. Lush skirts prevented her from running, and the ring on her hand lit up with such a bright light that it could compete with the eyes of the dragon. Amethyst always shone when the winged pursuer approached.

The girl could already feel the burning breath on her back. When she reached the middle of the bridge, she stumbled over a stone and fell on her back. Blood oozed from the injured leg. Rose raised herself in her arms and wanted to get up, but sharp claws wrapped around her waist.

Rose grabbed the parapet and the stones protruding from the masonry. For a moment, the dragon’s grip loosened. The golden wing landed on the bridge. The intolerable shine of the scales hurt her eyes. The dragon’s paw stepped cautiously onto the bridge, blinding with its golden sheen. Claws screeched across the cobblestones, leaving deep scratches.

Rose screamed and covered her face with her hands, fearing that the dragon would hurt her. And when, plucking up courage, she opened her eyes, she was numb with surprise. Next to her stood a silent youth in a black cloak.

“Edwin!” Rose whispered and was surprised herself as her tongue turned to call this arrogant, unfamiliar person Edwin. He had the same dazzling curls, the same azure-blue eyes, glaring fiercely and haughtily. What unknown force could so harden his pale face.

“This is a dream,” thought Rose, and at that very moment Edwin disappeared, a golden dragon towered in his place. He let out a heartbreaking cry, grabbed the princess and rushed up with her.

Rose has no strength left to resist. She watched the river and the bridge and the belated carriage disappear from view. The dragon picked up speed. In his claws, he clutched the prey, which almost escaped him.

THE JUDGMENT OF FATE

The castle towers appeared in the distance. In the blink of an eye, the dragon overcame the snow-covered valley and flew up to the highest spire. Here he unclenched his claws and released his victim.

Rose landed on the castle roof. She tried to get to her feet. Darkness reigned around, the wind howled. Snowflakes circled in the icy air. The slippery stone floor made all movements clumsy and useless. Rose was looking for something to grab onto, and groped for some kind of support.

Suddenly several torches flashed. Holding on to the support, Rose knelt down, pulled herself up, and then her palm brushed against a cold, sharp object. The girl looked up and saw that a huge monster with bronze wings and the head of a goblin was rising above her. Her hand brushed against the claws on his leg.

Rose drew back from him. She looked with horror at the gloomy monster looming over her. He stood motionless, as if he had no intention of attacking at all. The glare of the fire gave it a majestic and ominous look.

Only now did Rosa realize that in front of her was a bronze statue. Probably, the sculptor tried very hard to create such a gloomy creation. Even after making sure the monster was not alive, Rose was still afraid of him. She crawled away and came across the same statues. There were many of them here, dozens of bronze monsters, frozen on pedestals.

Two rows of silent, ugly figures stretched on either side of the Rose, forming a kind of gallery of fear.

Meanwhile, the dragon landed on the roof. There was enough space for him too. It hung over the Rose like a sparkling rock. The girl prepared herself for death. Now nothing could save her.

Sparks of green and red danced across the dragon’s scales. A flash of blinding light forced Rose to close her eyes, and when she opened her eyes again, the golden pursuer had already disappeared. In his place, Edwin stood and studied the wedge-scale brush. One might think that a plate gauntlet made of gold and with claws was fastened on his arm.

The bright shine of the metal slowly faded away. The disfigured hand returned to its former appearance. A smooth wing flashed and disappeared behind the young wizard.

“I warned you,” Edwin remarked, not without reproach. His previously calm voice had a threatening note.

“So you are a dragon!” Rose exclaimed. She watched the one whom she had recently considered her friend. How she had not previously guessed about his duplicity. Of course, his ideal human appearance could mislead anyone. Who could have guessed a bloodthirsty dragon in a beautiful, silent youth.

“Why did you run away?” Edwin asked, trying to hide the bursting rage. “Do you have any idea what danger awaited you on the other side of the river? If you had time to cross the bridge, even I would not be able to free you.”

“So you’re not going to kill me like those peasants?” Rose inquired suspiciously, crawling backward from the terrifying, stately figure wrapped in a dark cloak.

“What for?” Edwin asked a counter question. “All the same, you won’t be able to give out my secret to anyone. I will never let you out of this castle again.”

He walked with slow, firm steps towards Rose.

“Suppose you run away,” he said after a little thought. “You will survive under the bullets and arrows of the enemy and return to your kingdom, which has now become the scene of a bloody battle. The Queen will try to remove the spell from you, but it will be completely useless. The stigma that was put on you in the courtroom attracts a dragon. In human form, I am still capable of pity, but in the form of a dragon, nothing can hold me back. Relatives can hide you behind a door bound with iron. But I will still find you and bring you back.”

“Why do you need me?” Rose crawled away from him, as far as possible, trying not to touch the terrible statues, lined up in two lines. The snowfall made it difficult for her to see.

Edwin waved his hand and a protective, shining film surrounded them, preventing the snow from falling into the enclosed space.

He shrugged casually as he considered his answer.

“You will be the decoration of this castle,” he said finally. “Because dragons are collectors, they want the best.”

“But I’m a human, and people get old.”

“If you stay here, you will never grow old,” was the answer. “To stay forever young, you have to become either a sculpture or a fairy.”

At these words, Rose almost choked with horror.

“All those statues in the lobby and corridors,” she began to recall, “were they living people?”

“Almost everything,” Edwin corrected.

“How could you do this to them?”

“I have not been my own master for a long time. I got eternal life and an evil, vengeful heart as a gift. I must retain power over my own subjects and at the same time I must obey the orders of others. In saving you, I took the first risk of breaking the law.”

Rose now felt the ancient, superstitious fear of the dragon. Although there were no signs of fierce hatred in Edwin’s behavior, his eyes, burning with insane fire, inspired fear.

“I don’t think we should turn you into a piece of marble,” Edwin decided. “The walls of this fortress have enough magic to preserve your beauty.

“Thanks for that,” Rose whispered. After so many misadventures, her sense of humor finally began to return.

“Will you put me on this roof or closer to the torture chamber?” She asked.

“I’m not as villainous as I seem. Do not take for the truth everything that superstitious people come up with. They do not realize that, in people, I am first of all admired by intelligence and courage.”

“Courage?” Rose asked.

“Yes,” he confirmed. “After all, to save the troll, you need to be very brave.”

Rose stared at him in surprise. It seemed that there was no such intimate secret in the world that he would not know about.

Edwin removed the protective film with a light wave of his hand and invited Rose to follow him. A black flag with the dragon’s coat of arms fluttered on the spire of the pointed tower. Through this tower it was very easy to descend into the warm chambers of the castle.

“Someday I’ll show you what’s going on under the castle cellars, in the bowels of the earth,” Edwin said as he walked.

“It’s interesting,” Rose agreed out of courtesy, “but I would like to know why the bridge over the river is so dangerous.

Limping slightly, she followed Edwin down the spiral staircase. Each step hurt, but Rose tried to keep up.

Steep steps from the tower led directly to the library. Most likely, it was the largest room in the castle. From floor to vaulted ceiling, there were bookcases lined with books. Narrow ladders led to the upper galleries and the highest shelves.

Rose had never seen so many books in her life. There were old folios, weighty volumes of spells, collected works of unknown authors, and small collections of poems in morocco bindings. The colorful covers of novels about knights and fairies attracted attention.

The bulk of the library consisted of magic books. Rose took from the shelf an encyclopedia of the most insidious inhabitants of the magic world. It provided information about gnomes, trolls, water spirits, but not a word about the island of sorcerers.

She wanted to get a guide to unicorns, but Edwin called her over to the wall with a map on it. All those countries that Rosa had ever heard of occupied only a small corner on it. Further on, a cold ocean turned blue, on the other side of it were several principalities. The human world, which Rose believed to be endless, turned out to be only the top of the map. And right in the middle, the borders of a huge empire were marked in emerald color, on which the dragon’s coat of arms flaunted – a scarlet heart, bound with a golden crown. Forests surrounded the empire with a black line. Beyond it stretched the seas and bays of mermaids. The island of sorcerers was outlined with a silver stripe.

Rose did not immediately find on the map that very ink river with a bridge thrown over it. Across the river lies the city of spirits and strange ruins.

“The knights of the order of elves gather in these ruins at night. They are nimble and cunning, but not dangerous to me,” explained Edwin.

“And the city of spirits?”

“Ghosts live there. Of course, you can go there on a small excursion, but if you stay there for more than an hour,” he paused and whispered, “you yourself will turn into a ghost.”

“You were there?” Rose asked.

“Repeatedly. There is nothing interesting there, except for architectural monuments. And it would be foolish to expect good from communication with local residents.”

“And what are these badges?” Rose jabbed her finger at the map.

“Outside the city of spirits there is a gate, they lead into the abyss, where one veil once imprisoned a black miasm. They are marked with this symbol,” Edwin began to explain. “The rest of the signs indicate the places of sinkholes and quicksand. All the land beyond the bridge is contaminated. As I flew over it, I often felt the weakness and the bad intoxication that the black plague causes.”

“I saw people who quietly rode around this land.”

“Are you sure they were people?” Edwin asked after a little thought. “After all, we are all like people and, nevertheless, we are not. One must be very discerning to distinguish the true form from the mask.”

Rose nodded in agreement with his simple and cruel truth. She herself did not know the difference. I didn’t understand that there is nothing in common between representatives of two different worlds. An example of this was the wizard standing in front of her. Even his pale, soulful face and smooth, weightless movements perfectly copied the spontaneity and grace of the dragon.”

“The bridge and the castle are so far apart,” Rosa turned her gaze back to the map. “Is it possible to overcome such a space as quickly as I do.”

“It’s your indiscretion,” Edwin chided her again. “If you trace your life line, then you can understand how imprudent you were from the very beginning. Over the course of my life, I have learned one truth: eminent persons suffering from kind-heartedness very often become victims of betrayal.”

“And what happened in your life, besides raids, fires and robberies?” Rose asked boldly.

He chuckled, but then a blurry veil of sadness and longing twitched his eyes.

“You don’t understand,” he said. “Perhaps I was mistaken about you, now you are not the chosen one, but just a curious person who looks at me like a magician.”

“Unwittingly, I became a participant in the events, which even now I am afraid to give an explanation,” “after a pause, he continued. “I saw the fall of a great power. I was both a ruler and a prisoner. But for people all these are empty words, they prefer to stick to their version about me and others like me.”

His hand slid across the map, as if re-delineating cities, and pointed to an empty, gray spot, completely inconspicuous among the motley lines and signs.

“It’s over,” Edwin sighed. “And time cannot be turned back. Now I’m a famous villain to the whole world.”

“But your coat of arms is on these lands,” Rose pointed to the emerald borders of the empire. “What kind of people settled here?”

Edwin chuckled cheerfully, almost humanly.

“Those whom people called evil,” he replied. “And, in my opinion, they are a stronger, unreachable race. In fact, this is not a people, but a whole element and only one and only creature – the dragon – can keep it in obedience. Only the dragon agree to obey these proud and powerful creatures.”