Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series
Her Elemental Dragons: Stroke the Flame: Chapter 28

On our seventh day of traveling we finally made it to the Fire Realm.

According to Jasin, there was no way to avoid the border crossing here. This part of the Fire Realm was walled off as far as the eye could see, and the only way through was at one of the gates, which were all manned by the Onyx Army.

Jasin donned his black and red uniform, which he still had packed away, and led us to the gate. Onyx Army soldiers in full armor with red markings on their shoulders scrutinized us as we approached. Archers stood on the walls, ready to strike us down if we made a run for it.

A soldier wearing a helmet with red dragon wings on it stepped forward and held up a hand for us to stop. “What is your business in the Fire Realm?” he called out.

“I’m escorting these people to Ashbury,” Jasin said.

The soldier removed his helmet. “Jasin, is that you?”

“Gregil?” Jasin flashed him a smile. “Good to see you. What are you doing out here?”

The soldier chuckled softly. “Stuck on border duty for this quarter. You know how it goes.”

“That I do.” He gestured to the rest of us. “I’m just taking some friends and family to Ashbury to visit my parents.”

Gregil nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem, although we need to search through your things.”

Jasin groaned. “Do you really? We’re in a bit of a rush, and you know me, after all.”

“Sorry, General’s orders. Shouldn’t take long.”

We were asked to dismount and step aside, while four soldiers took our horses and began going through all of our things. Every muscle in my body turned into a tight knot as I watched them, though I couldn’t think of anything suspicious we might be carrying. As they searched, Jasin moved to the side to speak quietly with Gregil. Reven crossed his arms and pretended not to care, but I sensed a tension in him, as if he could snap into action at a moment’s notice. Auric looked worried, and I wondered if he was scared they might replace his journal. Slade, on the other hand, seemed far too calm considering the situation.

“You sure have a lot of weapons for ordinary travelers,” a female soldier said, giving us a suspicious look.

“Can’t be too careful these days,” Slade said casually. “There are bandits everywhere. Especially in the Earth Realm.”

She sniffed. “Maybe so. In the Fire Realm we take care of threats like that so our roads are safe.”

Slade smiled at her like they were good friends. “So I’ve heard. Hence why I’m moving here.”

The soldier nodded at that as if it made perfect sense and continued her search, but her suspicions seemed to have eased thanks to Slade. But as we waited, I heard someone shout behind us, and a man yell, “No, please!”

I turned toward the sound, where a young man was being dragged off a horse by another soldier. The man cried out again, but the sound cut short when the soldier thrust a sword into his throat. My eyes bulged and my own hand went to my neck in response. I’d heard the Onyx Army was especially brutal in the Fire Realm, like the Dragon they served, but it was different witnessing it in person.

“A thief,” the female soldier said. “Got what he deserved.”

“Naturally,” Slade said, though his voice had shifted, becoming harder.

As the man’s blood stained the road beneath us, I forced myself to turn away. There was nothing we could do for him. Even if we’d tried to help, that would only have gotten us killed too. But knowing that was little comfort.

When they finally let us go, we mounted our horses again and were allowed to move through the gates. On the other side I saw all the preparations to defend against elementals, but also spotted more dried blood and smelled a whiff of death. I could only relax again once the gate was far behind us.

The land here was flat, with great plains that spread as far as the eye could see and an endless sky full of large, fluffy clouds. Far in the distance I could barely make out the mountains where we were headed. The Fire Temple was located at a large volcano on the other side of those tall peaks, and Auric estimated we should be there in two more days.

None of us knew what to expect when we reached the temples. Though the Gods were still worshipped in theory, most people had forgotten about them over the years, and instead had begun to worship and fear the Dragons. We knew the Dragons got their powers from the Gods, but the Gods were distant and immaterial, while the Dragons were things we could see, hear, and fear. Few people made the pilgrimage to the five temples anymore, though Auric said that there were still priests tending to each one. Hopefully they would be able to give us a little more guidance or offer some much-needed answers.

As we approached the mountains, the plains turned rockier and the sky turned dark with thick, black clouds. I pulled my hood over my head just as rain began to fall. The spring shower was cool and refreshing after a long day of travel, until it turned into a heavy downpour that soaked us all through.

“I thought the Fire Realm would be warmer,” Slade muttered, from where he sat in front of me.

“We need to get out of this,” Auric said. “We should make for the town at the base of the mountains.”

Jasin frowned as he glanced in the direction of the town. “That’s Ashbury. Not a good idea. Someone might recognize me there. Plus, it’s a pretty large city, second only to the capital of the Fire Realm, Flamedale.”

Auric spread his hands. “We can’t exactly camp out in this.”

Jasin snorted. “Sure we can. What, not good enough for a prince?”

Auric glared at Jasin, while the rain continued to pummel us. The only one who didn’t seem to mind it was Reven, who somehow remained dry through it all, like the water simply flowed around him. Having his powers would definitely come in handy right now.

“It wouldn’t hurt to get supplies and a decent night’s sleep before we set off for the Fire Temple,” I said.

“More supplies?” Reven asked skeptically.

“Food, specifically. You guys eat as much as a small village. We’re going to need a lot of it since Jasin says the land around the volcano is basically inhospitable.”

Slade dismounted and placed his hand flat on the ground. When he straightened up, he shook his head. “There’s no other shelter around here.”

“To Ashbury it is,” I said.

We ducked our heads and headed deeper into the storm with the promise of a hot meal and a warm bed urging us on. None of us spoke as our horses plowed through the storm, as eager to get out of it as we were.

By the time we got to Ashbury my clothes were completely soaked through. This city was one of the larger ones I’d seen and had a massive stone wall around it, along with a wide moat and fiery brazier burning bright every few feet, even in this downpour. Not to mention, a whole lot of soldiers.

By some luck, the guards—who looked as miserable as we were to be out in the rain—waved us through the gate without even inspecting us. I tensed as we passed through the metal entry, worried we’d encounter some trouble, but we made it into Ashbury without incident. The city was full of great stone structures with pointed, sharp architecture, but the streets were nearly empty at the moment.

As soon as we made it fully inside the town’s walls, the rain fizzled out.

“Figures,” Jasin said. “Should we keep going or stop here?”

“I’m not sure,” Auric said.

“It could start up again at any moment,” Reven said, gazing at the sky.

“Not sure about you, but I trust the water guy,” Slade said.

“Let’s stop,” I said. It was still early and we were making today’s progress even slower, but if it started pouring again we would be caught in it. Besides, we really did need more food—I couldn’t believe how much these four men ate.

We found a quiet inn that wasn’t on a main road where we could stop for the night and not draw too much attention. We left our horses there, but it was too early to eat or sleep, so we decided to do our shopping now while the sun was returning to the sky and the city was slowly drying off.

We headed for the market, but were slowed by a large crowd forming around a raised platform in what appeared to be the town square. Soldiers in black scaled armor stood watch around the fringes of the crowd, while more walked out onto the stage. Jasin pulled his hood low over his head as we moved between the people looking at whatever was about to happen.

“What’s going on?” I asked, straining to see over the crowd around us.

Reven met my eyes, his face grim. “An execution is about to begin.”