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The city was engulfed in flames, the once-beautiful buildings of the Great Market and even the palace itself were crumbling. Acrid smoke filled her lungs, but Lidea barely noticed. Swinging her sword over and over, her arms trembling due to exhaustion. One man after the other fell, some of them were strangers, others she had once known. It did not matter and she did not hesitate to cut each one of them down. Their blood coloring her steel sword into a dark maroon.
They begged her for their lives, but Lidea didn't respond and felt no remorse. She just wanted them to pay. A familiar face stepped in front of her. A face similar to her own. Alana looked older than she remembered and for just a split second she wondered what life she had lived. In contrast to the others, she did not plea with her and only stared with those same grey eyes filled with contempt.
Without hesitation and filled with childish glee, she cleaved her sister's head off her shoulders.
Out of nowhere, a figure in a white dress threw herself over the lifeless body. Lidea recognized the long brown hair that had always been carefully braided but now looked disheveled.
"If you had only died! You are just a callous bastard like your father! Never caring for what your actions will do to others!"
Lidea had stopped caring for her mother's words long ago and therefore did not stop herself from adding another body to the pile she was leaving behind herself.
"For the queen!"
A low voice rumbled over the plaza and Lidea could see Warchief effortlessly hold up Valerian and Morto. The two royals ignited at his words into a hellish red fire. His eyes were glowing orange, not dissimilar to the flames behind him.
Laughing hysterically, she watched them burn as Warchief approached her with Morto's bloody crown in his hand.
"Well, thank you, kind sir, though I wished to have heard their last words."
"Their words wouldn't have mattered to you anyway."
He placed the crown upon her head, smiling triumphantly.
"I told you, that you are a queen."
Lidea smiled as she looked over the burning city center. Now she could rule.
"Lidea what have you done!?"
His deep voice vibrated through her soul and she quickly turned to see the man who shared her grey eyes. He looked horrified as he regarded the blood bath surrounding them, and her, the cause of it.
As if his voice had broken the shield protecting her heart, a bone-shilling anguish spread through her body. She threw the sword down in repulsion as she tried to answer him while stuttering.
"Father, I ... I had to..."
The crown heated melting into her scalp as she desperately tried to remove it. All at once the corpses started to rise and look at her. Mouthing the same phrase over and over again.
"Was it all worth it, Lidea?"
Lidea woke up with a gasp, sweating and in tears. She could still feel the heat of the flames on her body as she desperately covered her ears, trying to silence the voices ringing in her mind. Her heart pounded and her chest tightened until it felt almost impossible for her to breathe. Familiar with the panic that her nightmares induced, she focused on calming down. Forcing the muscles in her chest to relax.
It took a couple of minutes, but as the memory of her nightmare subsided, her breathing returned to normal. She smiled through her tear-stained face. A bittersweet feeling filled her at seeing those familiar faces, even if it was only in her bad dreams.
Knowing it would be futile to try and sleep again, she laid on her back and stared at the ceiling above. It seemed to be made from one solid piece of stone, although she could see some irregular cracks that most likely developed after the infirmary had been built. Faint candlelight seeped through the top of her curtain wall, and Lidea realized that she hadn't noticed any daylight yet. What time was it?
Did this room have no windows?
Her curiosity together with her restless body, made her push herself upright. As she waited for the dizziness to subside, she shifted herself to sit on the edge of the bed. Her feet touched the stone floor below. She could feel the cold slowly seep into her soles but welcomed it after the memory of the flames on her skin.
Cautiously, she tried putting more weight onto her feet until she was fully standing. Though her legs felt weak, a couple of slow steps convinced her that she was able to walk.
While she opened the curtains, elation filled her at leaving the small space. She found herself in a bigger room that contained around twenty beds set up similarly to the one she had been in. None of which seemed to be occupied. As she had thought before, the room lacked any windows. The only light coming from a single candle standing on a desk across the room from her. The desk was made of the same stone material as the rest of the room, almost as if it was carved out of the wall behind it. It was framed by two wooden bookcases, containing a collection of old weathered books, bottles, herbs, and potions. The bookcases themselves were decorated with gold paint in a swirling pattern that reminded Lidea of the older furniture within her maternal grandfather's home. Maybe she was inside another noble's house. Though she couldn't imagine who.
The books within didn't help her, as what was left of the faded lettering, was incomprehensible to her. It seemed to be written in a foreign language, but none of the ones Lidea was acquainted with.
Another glance at the small candle next to her, made her abandon her rummaging through the healer's workspace. She didn't think that Crystal had left it to burn for her sake. It was far more likely that she had planned to return soon. Lidea wasn't ready yet to be shooed into bed again and made her way to the entrance. The flickering candlelight illuminated a big iron door that was etched with barely visible images. The door was bigger than should have been needed for an infirmary. Probably made more for show than for practicality. Affirming her belief that she had found herself in the home of a rebel noble.
As she pondered who it could be, she opened the door with more effort than she would have normally needed. Immediately her mind quieted down as she stared in front of her. Slowly walking forward, she could barely grasp what she was seeing and wondered if this was yet another dream.
Instead of standing in a dark hallway, she stood on a platform looking over a sprawling city below. But what really got her attention, was that everything seemed to be surrounded by a massive dome of stone. As if the city had been built within a cave that had to be at least forty meters high.
Enchanted by what she saw, she didn't even notice that she had walked to the end of the platform until she bumped into a hip-high wall that prevented her from tumbling down. The city consisted of several oval-shaped levels, that decreased in size as you climbed lower. It almost looked as if she was standing in the stands of a theater in which the fast-flowing river at the bottom of the cave was the main performer.
The houses looked similar in style to the older ones she knew in the capital, with the key difference being that they appeared to be carved directly out of the cave itself. All of them looked as if they had been deserted for a while. A mossy substance had overtaken most and glowed softly, making it bright enough to see even without sunlight.
At the point where the river entered the cave, an impressive structure stood. As high as the cave itself, it consisted of five different spires. All of which were covered with arch-shaped openings, except for the middle one. Instead, a huge statue of a lizard-like creature was carved upon its wall. Its head was held high and proud with striking red jewels for eyes. One of Its front paws stood on the river entrance, its claws extending over it. Behind the creature, big wings extended out to the nearest two spires. Lidea knew what the creature was, even if she had never seen one before.
"Dragon..."
"Correct."
Lidea almost jumped out of her skin at the voice behind her. She turned to see the healer leave the infirmary. Her soundless footsteps making Lidea feel uncomfortable.
"I thought that Morto had commanded to destroy everything?"
A mischievous smile graced Crystal's face as she went to stand beside her.
"They destroyed the actual dragon order. The one that had stood above ground. This is the shelter that was built for emergencies. Even if he had known about its existence, the magic barrier surrounding it was created by some of the strongest magic holders in history. He wouldn't have stood a chance."
Lidea nodded in understanding as she looked over the whole city, trying to convince herself that this was all real.
"You are up early. Didn't sleep well?"
Lidea just grunted a confirmation in response, waiting for her to suggest that she should return to bed. Instead, Crystal put a hand on her forehead, tilting her head as she checked her temperature.
"At least you aren't running a fever. Although I want you to rest, it is good to see you up and about. If you don't mind, we could go for a short walk. I have been doing my best with washing you, but there is no running water here. A couple streets down, there is a bathing house closer to the main building."
As accustomed as she was to the battlefield, Lidea hadn't spared a thought about how much she must have reeked by now. Stopping her impulse to sniff herself, she nodded at her suggestion. Glad at the prospect of a bathe.
"You seem to be in less pain, considering that you can move your head now. I will quickly go and grab some things, then we can go."
As she walked away Lidea found herself smiling while she looked at the houses around her. She tried to envision how it must have looked like when people had lived here. Though if she had to believe Crystal, this had only been a shelter, so maybe no one had ever lived here.
As the healer returned, they made their way toward the bathhouse. Drawing nearer to the main structure, she wasn't able to shake the eerie feeling coming from it.
"If no one could enter this place... Why did they leave?"
Crystal looked up at her, seemingly distracted by her own thoughts.
"The dragon riders?"
"Yes, why would they leave this place if nobody would be able to attack it anyway."
"Well, dragons are beings of flight. This place might be big, but it is nothing compared to the freedom of the open sky. Besides, they had found another place to live where they were free to do as they please with nobody to interfere."
That tidbit of information piqued Lidea's interest. She had never considered what happened to the riders after they left. Somehow she thought that they had been hunted down or battled with others until their extinction.
"So they still exist? I thought there were no dragon riders anymore?"
"They still exist. Far away from here."
Lidea looked at the woman beside her. Her answer was short and she realized that the healer wasn't planning on giving her that information. Honestly, it already surprised her that she had been as open with her as she was until now.
"So if this place is so well defended, then how did the resistance get in here in the first place? Are there dragon riders that are part of the group?"
Crystal shook her head, quickly dispelling Lidea's enthusiasm at seeing a dragon rider in person.
"From what I know, the resistance was started by some dragon riders. After the order left, they gave the volunteers who were going to stay, a key to this place. At least that is what I have heard, nobody from that time is still here now. I think most have given up on Lynoës."
It surprised Lidea that nobody was still there. The purge of magic had only happened some thirty years ago, but then again the dragons had been gone for longer. Something told her, that the truth was a bit more complex than that the riders had wanted more power within the kingdom. She wondered what other half-truths she had been taught.
"So you haven't been here from the beginning?"
"I arrived a couple of years ago, Warchief has only been here for a year now."
Lidea was surprised by her answer. She thought they had been here for far longer than a couple of years. How did Warchief get to lead this group if he had only been here for a year?
"What drove you to come to Lynoës? I imagine that isn't easy to live here when you look like... I mean with your appearance."
A red blush colored her cheeks as she fumbled her words, not knowing if they would offend the peculiar-looking woman beside her. The healer seemed to be amused by her awkwardness as she smiled brightly.
"Now I need to know. What do I look like to you?"
Lidea gazed at her for a moment thinking of what she was going to say. She honestly didn't know what Crystal was. She had heard of other humanoid races but the only ones that she could recall were elves, demons, and the undead. None of which, she thought Crystal belonged to. Digging through her memory, she tried to find a good answer, only to find it as she was staring at the healer's pixy-like face.
"A faerie..?"
The woman stopped walking to look at her. As if to ask if she was serious. Lidea assumed that she looked sincere enough as Crystal promptly started to laugh.
"A faerie, that is a good one. From all the things that you could pick, you say the one thing that does not exist. You really know nothing of the magical world do you?"
Lidea could feel her face heating up and shrugged at her question.
"I don't know if you noticed, but magic is not very present here."
"Sorry sorry, you are right. I shouldn't have laughed at it. If it makes you feel better, nobody can guess what I am. So let me make it up to you. My father was a human of the Udrän, while my mother was a sea demon living on the southern Udrän coast."
For a moment she stared at the healer. Not able to conflate the image she has of a demon, with the person standing in front of her. At least it explained her Udräsh accent. Although, she now wondered if she should be more careful around her.
"Don't look so wary all of a sudden. You, humans, are always so judgmental. The only thing I did, was help you."
Lidea would have turned even redder if it had been possible. Feeling ashamed of how she immediately changed her perception based on what she was. In this morning alone, she had already learned that most of the things that she was taught were wrong. There was a big chance that she hadn't been properly educated on the other magical races either.
"My apologies. I shouldn't have done that. I will try to be better but I clearly have much to learn."
Crystal kept a disgruntled look on her face until she had the idea that Lidea understood where she had gone wrong.
"You better learn quickly. Most aren't as understanding as I am. Although my mother did eat people, so maybe in my case you weren't that far off."
The look of shock on Lidea's face set off the half-demon into a fit of laughter.
"Ow, it will be so much fun with you around."
Lidea rolled her eyes at the remark and continued following the meandering road in silence. She wondered just how long they had to walk still, her legs feeling weaker with every step. They were almost at the first spire and she could see now that some of the houses in this area looked a lot better. She assumed this part was where the resistance had chosen to live. On the level beneath them, she could see a bigger area with no houses in sight. Wooden swords and training puppets stood at the side of the field, making her smile. It had been a long time since she had been in a real exercise field.
"This way, princess. It is time for me to draw your bathe."
Lidea frowned as she looked over her shoulder to find Crystal standing at the entrance of a house that had a similar shape to the infirmary they had just left.
"I had really hoped that you forgot about that."
A smile dazzled her lips but the look on her face was confusing to Lidea. At first glance, it looked to be joyful, but she could read a deep sadness in her eyes.
"I never forget."
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