WHOO! I'm a light sleeper, which is strange because Elle and Kellin could sleep through a thunderstorm and not even know there was one the night before. I heard an owl hoot. My eyes snapped open and all I could see were the dim embers of the fire, glowing an eerie orange. I squinted and rolled over with a soft groan of annoyance at myself for waking up. I was about to shut my eyes again but something caught them.

There was a faint but ferocious orange light, as big as my pinky nail, gleaming in the distance. How far away was it, and what establishment was so near to our mysterious location? It couldn't have been Brilet because there was only one tiny light.

A thought grabbed at me, what if it was a country manor? Country manors were sort of common in northern Kyrria since there were no major cities around. It had to be at least ten miles away and on a hill or small cliff. Maybe I could ask the owners to let us stay for the night. We had gone to sleep early so we could get back on the road to Clyone early, so not even half of the night was gone. My horse was fast so it wouldn't take long, maybe a half hour to go a ten-mile distance.

I shoved my blankets aside and was greeted with cold air. I pulled on my boots and woke up my stallion. He wasn't very happy and snorted in protest.

"Easy Jaxor, just a little ride, I promise," I petted his muzzle and saddled him quickly.

I suppose Aramon slept just as heavy as Elle because they never stirred as I galloped off. The trees were spread far apart so Jaxor dodged the trunks. Wouldn't that be lovely, Jaxor slamming us into a tree and breaking a bone in the middle of the night? Horses whine a lot when they get hurt.

The light was steadily getting larger, meaning Jaxor and I were coming closer. I heard a wolf's howl. Drat, I didn't even think about the danger of wolves, I knew we should have kept going until we reached Brilet. I closed my eyes and wished for Elle and Aramon to stay safe in my absence.

It had been twenty minutes and with Jaxor in a full gallop, we emerged from the trees in front of foothills. The light had disappeared because it was higher than we were and hills blocked it.

Jaxor whined and started backing up.

"You can climb those, don't be a sissy!" I snapped. Jaxor is a smart horse but golly is he spoiled.

He grunted as I spurred him on. Riding a horse that is prancing up a hill isn't the most comfortable of situations, let me tell you. I felt better though as I saw the light reappear before us just beyond another foothill.

I could make out stairs, they were cracked and degraded. The bad feeling in my gut punched my nerves once again. They're just shoddy at keeping their grounds kept I thought to calm myself.

Jaxor breathed heavy as he came upon leveled terrain and we were in front of a very big castle. This was not a manor, but a castle. The light was coming from a room near the middle, maybe on the third story. My bad feeling was all over me but if there were someone there, they would be safer than staying with wolves. I dismounted my horse and led him to the entrance.

"Stay. If you run off, you might get eaten," I told him to scare him into staying. He would though anyway. He was trained not to ride without me.

The steps up to the door were degraded but less than the ones I had seen earlier. There were vines of ivy climbing along the door. The brass handles were dull with years of weather beating eroding them.

I gave the door a good fist knocking. The noise seemed out of place with the setting. If no one was home, why was there a light?

My stomach was very uneasy but I entered without permission anyway. I had to investigate the light. What was causing it? Had I entered the abandoned castle of Clyone? No, because we would have passed through Brilet if we had come into Clyone. I was baffled and tired, and just a little bit hungry. There was a hall. Very dim, too dim to see from the outside were torches on the walls. They hardly did any good though. The carpet was dusty and above me, the ceiling was cracked stone. There were ripped tapestries on the wall, once great depictions of epic battles but now were torn apart. Where was I? The silence was not comforting, and I'm sure that any noise would have made me jump out of my skin. A grand staircase was at the end of the hall and the ceiling rose further; I could see balconies above me in this rotunda-like room. The staircase I'm sure was unstable so I traveled down the wing to my right.

I heard a scuffing of some sort and jumped back. "Hello?!" I shouted, trying to sound confidant.

Nothing. It was probably a mouse. I entered the room where I had heard the sound and it was a kitchen. Spider webs hung from the cabinets. There was a flash of light quicker than a second, that lit the whole kitchen suddenly, and then a boom of thunder. I didn't care anymore about the mysterious light. I felt danger in this place and would happily fight off any wolves (if any) that came in the night. I turned around and made my way back to Jaxor. The rain hadn't started yet but it would be near soon. I stepped down the stairs hurriedly but stopped. Growing on the ivy vines on the door, were red roses. The only thing beautiful about this decrepit palace, it instantly reminded me of my sister. She loved roses anyway so I back stepped to the roses and plucked one for her, it's thorns scratched me but nonetheless I tucked it into my cloak pocket for safe keeping.

As soon as I put my foot into the stirrup of Jaxor's saddle thunder boomed again and an overwhelming "THEIF!!" reverberated through my entire body. I took my foot out and held onto Jaxor's main for stability. What was that? It wasn't any of my thoughts, but I heard it from within. I blinked a couple times trying to even remember if it was real or not.

I shook my head and tried to mount my horse again but a "HOW DARE YOU STEAL FROM ME!"

All right, I was not imagining it. It also sounded like a voice, not mine but it was speaking to me through my body. Only I could hear it because Jaxor was calm, just a bit nervous of the approaching storm, but he wasn't bucking wildly at the loud, sinister voice. I know if I were a horse, I'd be.

I turned around to look at the dead castle. Truly, because the light wasn't even there anymore which made me wonder If I had imagined the light itself.

"YOU FOOL OF A THEIF, YOU SHALL DIE!!" The voice once again bellowed within me, bumps formed on my skin and my stomach ached from the echoing sensation of the voice.

I drew my sword and pointed it at the castle, "SHOW YOURSELF!"

There was a rumbling under my feet and I looked at the ground. Jaxor whinnied terribly and stood before he galloped off. I swallowed as the tall doors opened before me and I saw two Silver eyes gleaming at me evilly. A head, then a neck, next a paw with talons, and finally a large tail with spikes along it came into my view, I had to crane my neck to face it. I was staring at a black scaled, sleek, but most of all frightful, yes that is the word best describing it… Frightful. ..dragon. Then I knew why we hadn't reached Brilet, silly of me to think it when I was about to be smoldered. We weren't anywhere near Clyone, because I knew from glaring into slitted, silver, eyes that we had stumbled into Dregat, the dragon lands.