“He should be right…” our captive begins, looking around for a second, “there.”
Following his gaze, I find a male dragon shifter sitting cross-legged in front of a small pond in the middle of the temple. He is wearing the same flowing robes as the rest of his clan, and hislong red hair has also been braided around his head like a crown before ending in a bun at the top. Small gold decorations, like beads and tiny leaves, have been woven into his braid, just like the people outside had done with their hair as well. However, his golden tassel is much longer than all the ones I’ve seen so far. While everyone else’s don’t even reach down to their ears, his tassel falls down his head to brush the back of his neck.
It’s such a ridiculous thought to have with everything else that’s going on, but all I can think about is how much that tassel must be tickling his neck all the time. It must be incredibly uncomfortable.
“Severin,” our captive calls.
I tense up, immediately snapping my focus back to our present situation. While walking close to Orion and Isera, I sweep my gaze over the temple we have entered.
Inside, those layers manifest as stone balconies that run in circles around the entire room. They get smaller and smaller as the building narrows towards the top before ending in that peaked dome. Torches have been set along every balcony railing, and their flames reflect in the gold inlays across the room.
I quickly scan the space for other dragon shifters, but all the balconies are deserted. And so is the floor. Stone benches have been positioned throughout the room, all facing that pond in the middle. But none of them are occupied. The only person in here except for us is this Severin guy.
Shifting my gaze back to him, I watch as he slowly climbs to his feet. His back is still to us, and he bows to the pond before he begins turning around. Small golden bowls are floating on the water. Fire burns in all of them, casting flickering light over the beige stone floor around the pond. I have no idea what it means, but since water can extinguish fire, which is the dragons’ core element, this display in the pond somehow feels very symbolic.
“Yes, Morvin?” Severin says as he turns towards us. “Is there?—”
He abruptly stops speaking in the middle of his sentence when his gaze finds us. His eyes, which are the color of gold as well, widen as he just stares at us in open-mouthed shock for a few seconds.
“Oh, Azaroth,” he says, still gaping at us. “Yours is the will.”
“Are you the clan leader?” Isera asks, her hard voice echoing through the cavernous building.
“Yes,” he replies. Seeming to at last compose himself, he straightens a little and clasps his hands in front of him before shifting his gaze back to Orion and our captive. “I am Severin Godblessed, leader of the Gold Dragon Clan. Please, would you kindly release Morvin?”
“No,” Orion simply says.
Severin doesn’t look angry at the refusal. He just gives us a patient smile. “If you release him, I will talk to you. If you don’t, I fear we will all just waste our time standing here staring at each other.”
Orion glances to me and Isera. We give him a nod.
Taking his hand off Morvin’s neck, he finally releases our hostage. The guy runs a hand over his throat and straightens his robes but doesn’t attack or run away screaming. Instead, he simply looks to his clan leader.
“Thank you, Morvin,” Severin Godblessed says. “You may rejoin the others outside.”
After bowing his head, Morvin calmly walks out the door. I clench my hand, waiting to hear him sound the alarm and scream out orders to gather weapons and attack. He doesn’t. He simply walks out the open door in silence and disappears from view.
With a confused frown on my face, I turn back to the leader of the Gold Clan.
“So, what can I do for you?” he asks.
I just gape back at him. I feel like my head is ringing. Nothing about this is going the way I thought it would.
“You have lived isolated in here for six thousand years,” Ibegin, not being able to mask the bafflement in my tone. “Three fae have just broken in. Andthatis your first question?”
He shrugs, making that golden tassel sway and brush against his neck. “If you are here, it is because Azaroth wills it so. And our job is not to question the will of God. It is to obey.”
“Excellent,” Orion says with a sharp smile on his lips. “Then you need to come with us and do exactly as we say.”
Severin chuckles. “Oh, you misunderstand. God’s will is absolute. Yours is not.”
“But if your god brought us here, then what’s the difference?” I question.
“The difference is that it has already happened. You are already here. Which means that Azaroth wanted it that way.”
My confusion deepens, and so does my frown. “I… What?”
“Why don’t you just tell me what it is that you came here for, and then I can decide if that aligns with the will of Azaroth or not?”
