The great dragon was still falling, tumbling through fluffy cloud banks. If not for him extending his wings, he would have already gone ballistic and formed a new crater in the ground below. When I eventually lost sight of him, I leaned closer to the edge, searching for a sign.
Violet stepped closer, lifting her arms to hug me when she suddenly began to cry out in pain.
I turned to face her, my eyes opening wide with shock. Her hands were glowing purple, and whispers of a strange rhythmic melody were pouring out of her mouth. It wasn't her voice, though.
The melody was growing louder and louder before stopping altogether. And looking up, I could see the broken body of my friend Avrae. He was floating right in front of me; I couldn't believe it. His eyes were dark, though, and there wasn't so much as a spasm of muscle. It felt strange to be seeing the mighty dragon in this way, utterly lifeless.
Violet's chanting seemed to be evolving into a beautiful dance, and a dark purple aura began to emanate from her body, following her around like a candle blowing in the wind. When she stopped, she was holding her hands out in front, channelling streams of exotic energy into the dead husk of the dragon.
I nearly had a heart attack when they both started to shake uncontrollably, with their dreadful screams only adding to the horror. Avrae's eyes were flickering with blinding orange light like a carved out pumpkin lantern on Halloween, and within an instant, he was awake.
Coughing up balls of smoke and wheezing violently, Avrae looked as though he was dying all over again. 'Food!' He lunged through the air towards us before dashing aside at the last possible second. 'Got you.'
I couldn't help but laugh. 'Can you chase after that monster and find out where it's going? Trust me, you can't miss it.'
He grumbled. 'I just died! Why don't you go, Jayk?'
I counted backwards from ten. 'I can't fly, Avrae. Will you help me or not?'
'Hmph.' That was all he said back to me before he flew off.
'What kind of magic-'
'Necromancy,' She finished. 'Not for the faint of heart, Jake.'
'Was I the only one studying normal subjects at Feldspar?'
'You and Asher here were probably the only two boy scouts,' She snickered. Her smile vanished straight away, though, and I knew something else was bothering her. 'Honestly, I was familiar with the basic workings of Necromancy, have been for years, but I'd never tried it before now. This resurrection shouldn't have worked.'
I nodded in understanding. 'You drank from the waters too, didn't you?'
Violet looked to be in deep concentration as she spoke. 'Yeah, and now I can't help but wonder what else we can do?'
'Care to include me in your little chat?' Asher interrupted, staring daggers at us both.
I shrugged, leaning down to lend him my arm for support.
'Let's get you down to the castle.' Violet agreed.
Asher rolled his eyes. 'My heroes.'
The journey back down was more of a roll, and whenever Asher complained of pain, I'd ask if he'd prefer to take his chances with jumping off the waterfall. The silly threat kept him quiet for the most part, or perhaps it was more the fact that Violet would keep repeating it with such force to make him doubt her sincerity. People rarely knew when she was telling a joke.
We headed for the kitchens first, and as I went to open the creaking pantry door, I heard hurried footsteps coming from the other side of it.
'There's someone in there.'
Asher chuckled. 'What kind of world are you running here, Jake? Keeping people in the pantry, what's next, I wonder?'
I sighed. 'Beats me. This place is evolving on its own.'
As I pulled on the handle, the door slammed shut again. Someone was trying to keep us out.
Giggling away like a small child playing a game, whoever they were, they thought they were funny. Every time, they would wait for me to open the door, only to close it again. We decided to take a step back.
I could hear them grumbling through the wood panelling; they were throwing a tantrum because we'd stopped playing. Next, they threw a knife, and I could see its silvery point poking through the door. If I'd been closer, it might have taken my eye out.
I was getting fed up now. 'Enough!'
'Fine. Food will be ready in one hour.'
The abrupt reply caught me off guard, and I stepped forward again, more cautiously this time, though. I could hear the sound of tiny feet running away, but by the time I opened the door, it was too late; they were gone.
It'd been one of the chefs after all, and by the time it reappeared, we were already relaxing in the vast dining hall. As it stalked past, heading towards the large table at the centre of the room, I noticed that it had dark green blemished skin and a crooked nose. The creature stared back at me, its black beady eyes watching intently while it also carried dozens of trays. It certainly knew how to multitask.
Something wasn't right; for one thing, it seemed to be doing the work of many people. If I remembered correctly, there should have been an army of chefs here waiting to take our orders. 'Where are the others?'
With a screeching growl, the creature hurled a spoon at my head and cursed. 'There's only me! Just me! No one else! No one else is welcome!'
I puffed out my cheeks. 'Violet, this must be a Goblin. They're well known for their lack of manner.'
'I know, Jake! I taught you about them, remember?'
I'd forgotten, but I wasn't going to admit that. Half an hour later, the room was steaming with the mouth-watering scents of cooked meats, vegetables, and other unique delicacies. One chef might be enough to cater for this castle after all.
'Let me have some!' A painfully familiar voice roared from outside.
It was Avrae, and he was already clawing away enthusiastically at the castle's stonework. I looked down, closing my eyes. 'Let's get him something to eat, chef; I'll take it to him if you don't mind, though. Otherwise, he'll probably try to barbecue you and have those pointed ears of yours for an appetiser.'
Avrae beamed when he saw me, practically snatching the foot out of my hand. 'Thank you, Jayk. Thank you!'
I had to dodge out of the way a few times when the dragon hurled left-over bones; he tended to get a little excited whenever he ate. 'What did you see up there in the north?' He wasn't listening to me. 'Avrae?!'
The dragon snarled. 'Can't this wait?'
I just stared at him.
'Fine. It was wonderful, Jayk. I saw wolves fighting wolves in a vicious battle. The grassy plains were flooded with blood and guts, as thousands of them attacked each other without mercy. There were two puny people there as well; one of them was even smaller than you, he was much older though, strange-looking, and he wore a hat.'
'Professor Melia?' He must have followed Anya as well.
Avrae threw another bone; this time, he caught me in the face, though. 'Stop interrupting me!'
I tried not to laugh. 'Sorry.'
'As I was saying, there was someone else, a woman—Lady Anya of Brockwing. I could hear warriors chanting her name with a victorious lilt as she rode on the back of a giant monster through the battlefield, killing anyone who got in her way.'
I'd dreamed of Anya becoming a Lady of Brockwing Vale one day, but not like this.