Page 6 of Beneath Scales and Shadows (Lost Lunas of Artania #1)

CHAPTER SIX

SORA

The world beneath them transformed as they soared over Celestoria’s borders. Rolling farmlands gave way to dense forests, then to foothills dotted with ancient pines that stood like sentinels against the night. All the while, Sora clung to Ignis’s ruby scales, the wind stealing her breath as they climbed higher into the star-strewn sky.

His mammoth wings cut through clouds that parted like silver mist, revealing glimpses of the realm below—a tapestry of landscapes she had only seen in historical paintings and museum exhibits. Prismatic lakes reflected moonlight like scattered mirrors. Ancient forests pulsed with magic she could somehow sense, a vibration that called to her changing blood.

The mountains loomed before them, their peaks scraping the heavens. Snow glittered on the highest summits, untouched by human foot, while the lower slopes bristled with forests as old as time itself. Something about these mountains felt familiar, as though she had seen them in dreams she couldn’t quite remember.

Ignis banked toward a sheer cliff face that appeared solid and impenetrable. Only as they drew closer did Sora discern the narrow fissure cutting through the stone—a hidden entrance visible only to those who knew where to look.

“Hold tight .” His voice resonated in her mind, both warning and reassurance.

They plunged into darkness as his wings folded partially, allowing them to navigate the narrow passage. Rock walls rushed past, so close she could have touched them had she dared release her grip on his scales. The corridor twisted, descending into the mountain’s heart through a labyrinth no human could navigate.

When they emerged, Sora’s breath caught in her throat.

Before them stretched a vast cavern, so enormous that Ignis could fly unimpeded through its center. Crystal formations erupted from walls and ceiling, their luminescence shifting between sapphire, emerald, and amethyst, bathing everything in ethereal light. Waterfalls cascaded from unseen sources high in the cavern walls, their mist creating rainbow prisms where they caught the ethereal glow.

And everywhere, dragons.

Some perched on the ledges, their scales reflecting the light in metallic rainbows. Others soared through the open space, wings creating currents that stirred the air. Still others walked in a scaled winged human form along terraced pathways carved directly into the stone—a hidden city within the mountain itself.

They descended toward an immense central platform jutting from the cavern’s far wall. As they approached, figures gathered below—a small contingent watching their arrival with unmistakable intensity.

Ignis landed with surprising grace, his colossal wings creating downdrafts that stirred the heated air. He lowered his foreleg, allowing Sora to slide onto the smooth stone platform on unsteady legs. The flight had left her dizzy, her senses overwhelmed by the majesty of the hidden dragon kingdom.

Five figures stood before them, forming a loose semicircle at a respectful distance. Sora surveyed them with the historian’s eye she had cultivated through years of academic training. Three women, two men—all regarding her with expressions ranging from curiosity to calculation to barely concealed hostility.

The woman at the center stepped forward, her scarred face lending her beauty a fierce quality. Unlike the others, who maintained a warrior’s stillness, she moved with predatory grace, circling Sora with open assessment.

“This is what you risked our mission for?” she addressed Ignis in a voice like stone against steel. “A human kitchen maid?”

Ignis growled, the sound rumbling through the platform beneath Sora’s feet. The woman halted her circling but held her ground, amber eyes narrowing.

“Forgive Ember’s directness,” said one of the men, his voice carrying the lilting accent Sora associated with scholars. “She takes her duty as the King’s Guard seriously.”

Unlike Ember’s battle-hardened appearance, this man had the gentle demeanor of someone who was like her: studying academics. His hair fell in silver waves to his shoulders, contrasting with eyes as green as spring leaves.

“I am Asher,” he continued, offering Sora a slight bow. “Healer to the Dralux Clan.” He gestured to the others. “You’ve met Ember. These are Blaze and Enixa, our Wing Leaders, and Coal, who serves where others cannot see.”

The last man—Coal—lingered in the shadows at the group’s edge. Unlike the others, who regarded her openly, his eyes remained downcast, his posture suggesting he would prefer to disappear entirely.

Sora straightened her spine, summoning dignity despite her rumpled serving dress. She combed her fingers through wind-tangled hair, sighing inwardly at the mess before tossing it over her shoulders, abandoning any hope of looking refined. “I’m Sora Valerith.”

“Two names,” Ember noted, suspicion evident in her tone. “Like a noble. Yet you wear a servant’s garb.”

Before Sora could explain, Ignis moved between them, his huge form a barrier between his guard and her—his discovery. A dark growl emerged from his throat—a series of guttural sounds that needed no translation. Ember inclined her head in reluctant deference.

“Our king says you are to be treated with respect,” Asher explained, his gaze shifting speculatively between Sora and Ignis. “You bear signs of the twice-born.”

Sora frowned. “I don’t understand what that means.”

“It means,” Enixa interjected calmly, “that your soul crossed between worlds at the moment of death, finding a vessel waiting to receive it. A convergence prophesied since the first dragons took flight in Artania’s skies.”

“How can you possibly know that?” Sora asked, unnerved by the Wing Leader’s certainty.

Coal spoke for the first time, his voice barely above a whisper. “Your scent carries traces of another world. And your blood...” He lifted his face, eyes finally meeting hers. “Your blood carries your truth, something your mind will soon understand once your soul finally settles.”

“There’s no need to overwhelm my queen.” Ignis swept his tail across the platform, wrapping it loosely around her—a gesture that clearly signaled dismissal. “She’s been through enough.”

“Our king wishes to show you to your shared chambers,” Asher translated. “Tomorrow, when you’ve rested, the council will convene to discuss what your arrival means for our clan.”

Ignis’s inner circle bowed their heads in unison before withdrawing, though Ember cast a final assessing glance over her shoulder as they disappeared into various corridors.

Left alone with Ignis, Sora felt a strange mixture of trepidation and trust. His enormous form should have terrified her—claws that could shred stone, teeth longer than her forearm, wings that could create windstorms with a single beat. Yet something in those ancient crimson eyes projected only protection.

“Follow me .” His voice resonated in her mind, gentler than before.

He led her through a corridor lined with the same luminescent prismatic veins that illuminated the main cavern. The passage widened as they progressed deeper into the mountain, the air growing warmer with each step. Unlike the chill stone corridors of Celestoria Castle, these halls radiated comfortable heat that seemed to emanate from the mountain’s very core.

They emerged into a spacious chamber unlike anything Sora had imagined possible within a mountain stronghold. Smooth obsidian walls caught and reflected the crystal light, creating an atmosphere both intimate and otherworldly. The room contained surprising treasures—ancient books, maps etched on thin sheets of metal rather than parchment, artifacts that would have made any historian weep with joy.

Golden items gleamed from every corner, precious gems and metals arranged with casual abundance that spoke of centuries of collection. A gigantic stone slab rose from the chamber’s floor at one end, covered in furs and silks. Opposite stood a smaller sleeping platform, crafted for human proportions but no less luxurious in its appointments.

“My quarters , ” Ignis explained. “And now, yours as well.”

Sora turned to him, confusion evident in her expression. “We’re to share this space?”

A rumble that might have been draconic laughter emanated from his chest. “Would you prefer the servant quarters you left behind?”

Heat flooded her cheeks. “No, I just—I didn’t expect—”

“Your privacy remains your own.” He gestured with a wing toward an archway on the chamber’s far side. A curtain of gemmed beads separated this main area from what appeared to be another room beyond. “Though in dragon culture, proximity indicates protection, not presumption.”

Before she could respond, Ignis’s form began to change. His bulky body contracted, scales shifting and rearranging in a display of magic that left Sora breathless. Where the enormous dragon had stood moments before, a smaller form now took shape—still draconic in nature but bipedal, standing perhaps seven feet tall on powerful hind legs.

This half-form retained Ignis’s gold trimmed ruby scales and crimson eyes, but allowed for movement through human spaces. Powerful obsidian wings folded against his back, and taloned hands replaced the large foreclaws she had clung to during their flight.

He was a slightly larger version of the scaled winged humans she’d seen on their way inside—but surprisingly, even up close, she wasn’t afraid.

“This shape requires considerable energy to maintain , ” he explained, his mental voice tinged with strain. “Without my mask or a mate’s bond, I cannot achieve full human form. But this allows me to traverse easier alongside you amongst other things.”

“A mate’s bond?” Sora echoed, curiosity overriding her exhaustion.

“A matter for another time.” He gestured toward the beaded archway. “ Come. There is one more thing to show you before you rest.”

The gemmed beads parted with a musical chime as they passed through, revealing a wonder Sora could never have imagined. A natural pool of crystalline water steamed gently in the center of a smaller chamber, fed by an underground spring that bubbled up through fissures in the stone. Gemstone formations lined the walls and ceiling, glowing with soft blue and purple light that reflected off the water’s surface in hypnotic patterns.

“Our bathing chamber , ” Ignis explained, his scaled hand gesturing to the steaming pool. “The waters here carry healing properties, drawn from the mountain’s heart where magic runs strongest.”

Sora approached the edge, kneeling to trail her fingers through the warm water. It felt like liquid silk against her skin, washing away the grime of their journey and somehow easing the bone-deep exhaustion that had settled into her limbs.

“It’s beautiful,” she whispered, watching the play of light across the rippling surface. The historian in her cataloged yet another wonder that would have been deemed myth on Earth, while the woman—increasingly comfortable in this strange new body—yearned to immerse herself completely.

“I will leave you to bathe in privacy,” Ignis said, turning back toward the beaded archway. “Rest. Tomorrow brings many explanations.”

As he moved to depart, sudden panic gripped Sora, tightening her throat. The events of the past days crashed through her—the masked ball, the transformation, the flight, the arrival in this foreign domain. The enormity of her situation loomed like an avalanche poised to bury her.

“Wait,” she called, the word emerging more desperately than intended as she reached out for him. “Don’t go.”

Ignis paused, his wings shifting slightly against his scaled back as he glanced over his shoulder. “ You wish me to stay?”

Sora stared at the steaming pool, embarrassment and vulnerability warring within her. The academic who had spent years establishing professional independence would never have made such a request. But that woman had died on Earth, and the person she was becoming in Artania felt the weight of isolation all too keenly.

“I don’t want to be alone,” she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper. “Not yet. Not in the water.”

The memory of another body of water—the frozen lake where the baker’s daughter had died and Sora had awakened—hung unspoken between them. This warm pool couldn’t be more different from that icy death, yet water itself now carried connotations of transition, of boundaries crossed that could never be recrossed.

Understanding flickered in Ignis’s ancient gaze. He moved to settle on a smooth stone ledge near the pool’s edge, his wings folding more comfortably against his back.

“Then I shall remain,” he said simply, crimson eyes reflecting the glowing prisms overhead. “For as long as you need.”