11 Erispire

"My queen, a young black dragon has been spotted naught but thirty minutes away from where we stand," a young elven man said as he knelt in front of the queen.

"Hmmm, a black dragon… How dark was it?" A woman sitting on a throne asked leisurely.

"Midnight... darker than a starless night, a deeper black than humanly possible. The dragon was a new shade, so dark it seemed to glow," the elven messenger replied.

"Well, that doesn't sound good. The seers said 'where the dark dragon goes, death follows.' We can not risk our town, kill or capture this dragon. It must never come here by its free will," the queen said in an alarmed state.

"We will depart immediately lady Hilda," the young elf assured as he turned to walk to the center of the throne room.

Hilda eyed down a few of her armored guards. The four guards nodded and went to go stand in the center with the young elf. When all fife stood in the center, the floor slowly lowered until they were no longer in sight.

'We must stop this dragon from destroying our city. Our home will not end up like Mirden ever again.' The queen thought to her self as she put her hand up to her face and sighed.

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I felt refreshed as I drank the cold pond water. A cool breeze blew by which caused my wings to flutter, and my body to unconsciously shiver. The tiny pond was a great place to rest and recover some of my energy. The earlier battle still had me shook and wounded, and this place was open enough to react to any potential dangers.

I kneaded at the ground while walking around in a circle a few times and ultimately came at a stop to lie down. I then looked back on why the extra circles were necessary, but couldn't find out why I did them. 'Oh well, I guess it isn't the end of the world,' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes for some rest.

While I rested I noticed a group of animals steadily making their way towards me with my dragon senses. 'I can't seem to catch a break can I?' I asked myself as I got up on all fours, and faced the direction of the approaching threat.

My body was visibly bruised and slightly bleeding, but I wouldn't give in without a fight. If all the elves were as strong as Meridith, then just one more alone would be enough to kill me. In the case of elves, I would have to run or negotiate with them.

The bushes at the end of the small pond clearing rustled and opened to reveal five elves. Four of the elves had near full-body armor, and the one at the head had light padding as armor.

"This is the one," the lightly padded armor elf told the others as he pointed at me.

"Hello elves," I said as casually as possible as to not show weakness or hostility.

"You talk?" questioned one of the guards, to which I nodded.

"I am only trying to pass by, so may I leave?" I asked hoping they would let me continue on my journey.

"That will not do. You must die here or come with us to speak with the queen," another guard replied as he took a step forward and readied his longsword.

Before the guard finished speaking, my tail had started to softly pat the ground in annoyance. The patting sped up with my thinking, and I continued to whack the ground as I came to a conclusion.

"Fine little ones, take me to your queen," I stated calmly, but my dragon's pride influenced my choice of words ever so slightly.

The four guards surrounded me and the young elf led me In the direction they came from.

"Hey dragon, who were you fighting so close to Erispire, and why is a young dragon like you so badly wounded?" the young elf in the front asked as he peeked at me over his shoulder.

I thought about his question for a while before I replied. Now that they have me surrounded this could be a trap. There was also no use in lying because if he knows I was fighting there was a chance that he saw who I was fighting.

"I was fighting an elf that had just slaughtered some humans," I replied, trying to make my tone seem casual.

"Hmm, an elf? The only elf we have outside of town is Meridith, and she is strong enough to kill you in her sleep. I don't believe you," The young elf once again informed me, puzzled on whether I was telling the truth.

"Hmm, this Meridith you speak of, is she stronger than a regular elf?" I asked, if this proved to be true I would no longer fear the elves that surrounded me even in my weakened state.

"Yea, Meridith is the only reason us elves made it out of Mirden alive. She is hundreds of times stronger than a normal elf, and she tore her way through thousands of humans to make a path for our escape." Just when the elf finished, we walked out into a massive opening. There were gigantic trees with huge spiraling staircases leading up to a bridge that shot in between each tree with grand houses built-in.

On the floor were small cottages and average houses tightly packed in the form of a city. Few big buildings covered the surface of the forest floor which made the center for most of the commotion of the town.

"Wow this city is very pleasing to the eye," I complimented, looking around at the vast difference between the modern day.

"Of course, even with only nine years, our people could make even grander cities if we had no disruptions," the elf said seemingly satisfied with himself.

The elf led us deep into the city. We passed by many elves who ran into the alleyways, scared of the black dragon making its way down the street. There were other elves that seemed to have already seen everything life had to offer, and simply carried on their way, not sparing but a glance.

In the center of the town there was a tree much thicker than the others with no visible housing build onto it. The lead elf knocked on the trunk with a diameter of four times my size. When the elf finished three knocks the tree split in the middle and opened a gaping hole big enough for me to enter.

We all walked into the tree and waited in the hollow trunk. The sideways gap in the tree closed and a barely visible glass plane lifted us up like an elevator.

"Where are we going elf?" I asked and looked at the young elf to the front.

"We are going to see the queen, and please, call me Grants," the lightly armored elf said as he took a bow in my direction.

'The queen huh? I wonder how this will turn out,' I thought as the thin glass continued its slow ascension.