Dragon Sword (The Dragon Lord’s Bride #2)

Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

The road wound its way down the gentle slope and leveled off some hundred yards before the main stone gates of the city. The gates were bordered by a huge stone wall some fifty feet high with battlements.

All of this, however, lay beyond the fifty-yard gap that cut the valley in half and separated the forest from the marble city. I stretched my neck to get a good look at the drop as we approached the wide stone bridge that crossed the gap. My heart dropped into my stomach when I saw the plunge. It was some quarter of a mile and ended in a roaring river that tumbled over rocks and around the curve of the hill to disappear out of sight around the bends to our left. The smooth, straight walls of the canyon meant if you dropped in there wasn’t any hope of getting out without wings.

I scooted away from the edge and pressed my side against Will. He took my hand in his empty one and gave it a squeeze. “I won’t let you fall.”

I leaned against him and snorted. “It’s not you I distrust, it’s gravity.” He gave me a curious look and I shook my head. “Just a word that means the force that keeps our feet on the ground.”

He nodded but I didn’t see too much comprehension in his eyes. I wasn’t too worried about his confusion, though as we stepped onto the bridge and walked across the gap. All my attention was on not looking down and failing. A lot.

However, Will kept me far from the edge and we reached the opposite end of the bridge with Alisa still in the lead. The gates were even more imposing from close up as the slabs of foot-thick wood towered over us. Two pointy-eared guards stood watch, one on either side of the gates. The men were slightly taller than even Will and wore smooth plates of silver armor. Their faces were smooth, hiding their great age, no doubt, and their sharp gray eyes watched our every step. They both held a spear but in opposite hands so the weapons were grasped toward the center of the bridge.

At our coming, the pair of guards stepped closer to the center and thrust out their weapon arms to block our path. “Halt!” one of them shouted.

Alisa glared at them. “Halt yourself! What is the matter with you two?”

“You know the orders of the king, Alisa,” one of the men scolded her. “No outsiders are to be allowed into the capital until further notice.”

She scoffed and waved a hand at Will. “Is Lord Thorn considered an outsider now? Especially after what he has done for us?” The guards glanced at each other with indecision. Alisa threw up her arms. “Such foolishness this is! Let us through!”

Alisa didn’t give them a chance to argue but marched between them. She swept her hands up and a soft green light came from her palm. The guards’ spears were pushed away, creating a clear path into the city. The guards themselves stumbled to the side a few feet before they caught themselves.

Will tightened his grip on my hand and walked me through them. They didn’t look too happy about our passing and one of them flung up his hand. I flinched away as a green light was thrown into the air and burst into a small sparkling firework.

We rejoined Alisa on the other side of the bulwark where she took up the bucket. “We may call ourselves even now. One entrance for one bucket of water.”

Will smiled down at her. “We’re grateful for your help.”

She scoffed. “Do not thank me just yet. The guards have alerted the king to your presence and you are bound to receive a visit from the palace guards.”

He chuckled. “We’ll be sure to accept their kind invitation. Before that, are there any welcoming doors to weary travelers? Preferably one that leads to a hot spring.”

She rolled her eyes and adjusted the weight of the bucket. “You know perfectly well, Lord Thorn, that the only private hot spring in the whole of the city besides the one owned by the king is on my parcel.”

“Is it?” he wondered as he feigned surprise. “Then it’s quite the coincidence we should be looking for a room and you have just what we need.”

She shot him a sharp eye and wagged a finger in his direction. “Mind you, you will not be getting the room for free.”

He smiled and bowed his head. “I will pay the price, whatever it may be.”

Alisa lifted her nose in the air. “I will think of the proper price later. Now hurry along before we catch a crowd. The women do like to gossip and without travelers, they are very thirsty for fresh news.”

We followed Alisa through the elegant though winding streets. The city half of the valley was rather narrow so the builders had to make do with the space provided, meaning some streets angled upward toward the higher tiers of the city while others descended to the very edge of the canyon. I saw dozens of elves go about their daily lives visiting one another, plucking the bountiful fruits and vegetables from the plants, and working away at crafts.

Unlike our more earthly guide, the majority wore elegant robes of silk and smooth cloth that trailed behind them as they walked. Their long hair glistened in the sunlight and their gray eyes flashed with life and happiness. The windows and doors in their houses were wide open and the sweet melodies of lyres and flutes floated everywhere. A few stood in their gardens weaving green magic over their vines, coaxing them to grow across trellises and up the walls of their houses.

There was one point that marred the beauty of the majestic city and its people, and that was the gap below us. Porches, decks, and other artificial structures stuck over the precipice and gave sightseers a grand view of the horrible drop. The citizens gleefully sat against the railings admiring the precipitous plunge.

Will noticed my preoccupation with the balconies and gently nudged my side with his elbow. His eyes twinkled down at me as he nodded his chin at the canyon. “Do you want to see the gap over one of those? Outside of the tower, they have the best view of the Rohkea Vali.”

Some of the color drained from my face and my mouth fell open. “Hell no!”

My voice echoed up and down the road, catching the attention of the few other occupants of the street. They turned and their eyes widened as they beheld Will and me. I shrank beneath such attention but Will gripped my hand tighter.

Alisa, however, didn’t quake but gave each of them a sharp eye. Her simple gesture embarrassed the onlookers and they quickly turned away, though more than one snuck a peek as we passed. Our ascending travel gave us a good view of the city and I couldn’t help but pause at an intersection and turn to look over the marble metropolis.

I tilted my head back and gazed up at the tower that occupied the center of the city. Its gray walls were dreary beside the marbled halls and streets, and the rough stones were like nails on a chalkboard compared to the smooth exteriors of the rest of the city. The cap, too, was garishly improper with its high peak made of rough timbers. In essence, it looked like the tower had grown from the earth and the city had been forced to build around it.

I squeezed Will’s hand and caught his attention where I nodded up at the tower. “Why is that. . .that-” My nose began to tingle. I twisted my face about but it was no use. A violent sneeze escaped me, one that forced me to stop and have a fit in the street.

Will waited for me to finish before he clasped my other hand in his. “You’re cold. We should get you to bath and bed.”

“Then hurry along!” Alisa scolded him

I could only nod as he led me after Alisa. Our guide took us toward the cliffs that towered behind the city and a faint scent of water tickled my nose. The walls of the cliffs were damp from natural springs and the coolness of the thick rock. One of those springs poured forth out of a small hole in the rocks and ran down a descending pile of stones to disappear behind a small home. The houses beside the cliff were older with marble stained with countless years of moss and the road being made not of marble but of simple stone like the tower. The homes, too, were smaller than those closer to the canyon and featured small yards with flower beds. Butterflies flew hither and thither filling their stomachs with tasty treats while birds sat in the gnarled branches of the old trees and sang their hearts out.

Alisa guided us to one of these comfortable abodes and led us down a path of small stones to the door. She half-turned to us and smiled. “Welcome to my humble little home.”