Page 16 of Beneath Scales and Shadows
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.”