A dragon from ancient

Melina stepped back involuntarily, confusion etched on her face as she shook her head in disbelief, "W-what are you?" She stammered as she tried to take in the appearance of what lay before her.

The creature lightly squinted its eyes at her, regarding her with a curious expression as if she should be aware of that.

"A dragon." It said that as if those words should hold some significance.

Yet, it had barely registered in Melina's head what sort of being stood before her.

"A dragon..." Melina repeated the words looking at the creature with utter puzzlement.

"I thought those were myths...legends..." After all, no one had ever spoken of dragons being real.

Paloma had always told her stories of dragons in fantasy worlds. Did Paloma know of such existence but decide to lie to her? She blinked in her thoughts.

The dragon chuckled, a low rumble that had the ground shake and debris from the cave walls fell to the ground. "Ah...but myths are often rooted with truth..." it blinked at her, slowly bringing its face closer to her, "...and you dear one, are part of that truth."

The dragon tried to move its legs, which were bound with heavy chains and shackles, while it made cackling noises. Its gaze held hers, its eyes burning with an ancient wisdom.

"I am a guardian, a keeper of secrets, wielder of ancient magic but it appears you do not recognise me yet." It said, its expression grim and it had Melina narrowing her eyes.

"Yet?" She asked out loud. What did it mean yet?

"Melina." It suddenly called her name after staring at her for a while, startling her. How did it know her name? Her eyes widened at the thought.

However, before she could ask, it suddenly brought out its claws to her sight in an attempt to touch her face, "You do take a striking resemblance to her." It commented as though she even had an idea who it was talking about.

"I don't understand." This new revelation was messing with her head.

Firstly, how were dragons real? And not only were they real but they were also lying here in the palace!

Was this some kind of mind game? Perhaps she was hallucinating from all the stress, she assumed but still, she was weirdly compliant with this thing.

It was a feeling she couldn't word out.

This dragon's words made no sense, and yet, a deep part of her resonated with them. She felt a connection to this magnificent creature, a bond that was inexplicable and still, something appeared to be amiss as though a part of her...

"You should leave." The enormous beast suddenly interrupted her thought, jolting her back to the present. "I sense trouble coming for you. Perhaps, we shall meet another time." It said, looking genuinely worried about her.

"Wait, you haven't explained..."

"My name is Kilgharrah. You can visit me at nighttime for your safety. Just call my name." It said reassuringly, its red eyes that resembled the colour of her hair blinking at her. "But you need to leave now." It continued, and before she knew it, the dragon breathed out on her body; a strong wave of air with fog clouded Melina and the next moment, she was standing in front of the event hall with her mob in her hand.

"There you are!" Her heart skipped a beat when she heard the familiar voice she dreaded and she immediately turned around.

"Weren't you supposed to be done with this chore?!" Ms Carlos rounded her eyes at the hall that had barely been cleaned, a spark of rage lit up in her as she stared at the redhead.

If it was not for the fact that the king seemed to have taken some kind of interest in this weakling, she would have thrown a whip at her frail body by now.

But Carlos wanted to know something else. She wanted to know why King Albert had summoned her to his room because, with her recent findings, it appeared the Savannah king had a different motive for taking her there.

"I'm sorry, I'll be done soon," Melina said but it was as if her mind was elsewhere as she spoke.

"You had better be because from now on, you'll have a different responsibility." She said, expecting some kind of shocked expression from Melina but the young girl seemed to be drawn to something else.

"Alright, Ms Carlos." Melina curtly replied before getting back to work.

Carlos harrumphed at her lack of surprise. It was as if she had comprehended that she would soon be serving in the King's quarters.

Having nothing more to say, the woman turned around and left the hall without saying one more word.

Away from there was a worried Leon as he stood with his army who were training on the grounds, preparing for the upcoming war.

"Word has reached that King Albert's troops are on their way. From my calculation, they would be in District 12 by nightfall and would arrive at the palace by sunset." Matthew, who had now changed to his armour, conveyed the message to Leon.

"I see," Leon commented and it was clear to Matthew that he didn't seem happy about something.

"Anything wrong, my King?" Matthew asked, his blonde hair covering his face as he spoke.

Leon paused for a moment, wondering if this was the right time to relay the message about Alice's marriage to Albert as the alliance that was made by the Savannah king.

He knew about Matthew's feelings for Alice and it was surely not going to come as good news to him.

"No. Everything's fine." Leon replied and picked up his sword before going to stand on the podium. Playing with the edge of the sword, he looked at one of his swordsmen, "Invite King Albert over. I would love to have a duel with him." And immediately, the knight left to pass the message.

Leon decided it was best to let the war be over before informing Matthew about the alliance or it might end up being a distraction for him, something they couldn't afford at the moment.

Darkness soon filled the Vlamunda castle, and the stench of soldiers training and swords clashing filled the air till midnight.

Melina was supposed to serve at Leon's quarters tonight but since the king had decided to train with his army all night, Carlos had dismissed her.

Now that everyone was asleep, Melina, whose mind had been unclear since her encounter with the dragon, got up from her lying position.

Her fellow maidservants, who had all gone to sleep, were unaware of her departure as she quietly made her way right to the hall where she had met the so-called dragon.

Her heart raced rapidly, imagining what would happen if anyone caught her, but thankfully, tonight, the palace guards were so occupied with the warfare that they had forgotten to guard the halls.

When she reached the front of the event hall, she picked up her lantern and headed to the alley; this time, she was strangely not scared of meeting the dragon. It was as if there was a chord that held her to that creature. It was unlike anything she ever felt before.

At first, its words sounded like some wild fantasy but a part of her resonated with it even without understanding it.

However, when she reached the end of the alley, Melina's eyes narrowed on seeing that the dusty staircase that had led her to the cave this morning was no longer there.

It was as if such never existed before, and she could as well not hear the dragons growling.

What was happening? She asked herself. Had she been hallucinating?