Trial by Sorcery

The entrance to the Citadel was much more heavily guarded than the city gates. And these guards weren’t the city guard, either. They were Dragon Guards. Their armour was decorated to look like dragon scales, but it was versatile and practical for battle. Behind the assemblage of guards was a long wooden table with weapons scattered haphazardly on its surface. As I drew nearer, a whooshing sound echoed off the massive walls and made the items on the table clatter.

The guards seemed unperturbed by the noise, but I was trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from. Suddenly, a massive blue dragon emerged from the sky and landed in the courtyard. I held my breath in awe as I stared at the mighty beast. It was quickly thirty feet long from its nose to its tail. The dragon’s rider slid off the beast’s back from the shoulder and landed on the ground gracefully. I snapped my mouth closed and blinked several times. In all the years my father had been a dragoon, I never saw his dragon. Aside from when the guards travelled the kingdom, dragons were to be kept at the Citadel under lock and key.

I didn’t know why, though. Now that I was standing before a dragon, I could hardly fathom how big it was. Its shoulder was six feet above the ground, and its wingspan was massive. I tried to eyeball the length, but it had to be almost a hundred feet across. My focus on the dragon was broken as the guards got my attention.