Category: Winx Club
Rating: T
Couples: none
Warnings: Major AU
Chapter: 9
Copyright: © characters and places by Iginio; © Plot and OC by me
Author's note: Over at DevArt I posted an image of how Faragonda looks (save the diamonds), as well as a picture of the Painting they see and because I was bored, of Shimi also. Link to my DevArt-account can be found in my profile.
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"Ms. F?" She gasped, unable to tear her eyes away from the older woman.
"Of course." That same gently, serene smile graced her lips. "Come in, night is about to fall. And even after Millennia, we humans respect the Dragons' dominion over it. Only in the very city-centers will humans leave their houses after nightfall."
She led them into the house. It was not as richly decorated as some of the palaces Bloom had seen, but it still spoke of a rich owner.
"Skyggon told me you would travel here and while I understand your reluctance to be around me, I still felt I owed you this." She softly said. "Tomorrow you can leave to Vo'id, but for today, feel free to walk in my house as you please. Shimi, would you be kind enough to show them to their rooms?"
The young woman nodded, gesturing the guests should follow her. She was young, younger than the Winx.
"You're her servant?" Layla asked.
"Her niece by many generations." Shimi corrected. "Lady Faragonda is immortal, but her family isn't. I'm a descendant of her only sister by my father's line. It is tradition that family-members stay with her for a few years to learn the history of the kingdom. I could have just as easily said 'no' when she asked me."
"But you wouldn't have?" Tecna read the underlying message.
"No. She is very kind, besides, what else could I have done with my time? Study?" The girl shuddered. "She is a strict teacher, here as she no doubt is at Alfea." She giggled. "Come, your rooms are this way."
She pointed out several other parts of the building as they progressed: the library, the dining-hall and the way into the gardens, even if – as she warned them – they shouldn't visit those at night.
After they settled, Bloom went off to explore the mansion. The color-scheme on the inside was almost exactly the same as on the outside: dark colors, here and there broken with silver highlights. And yet, the house did not seem cold. She stumbled upon what looked like to be one of many sitting-rooms and gasped at the painting dominating the very room: it was that of a pale woman with long golden hair. Her dress was magnificent, shimmering in all kind of shades of orange, yellow and red.
"That is Sarana." A voice came from the doorway. Faragonda still wore her dark-blue dress. "My sister, Shimi's ancestor, painted that shortly after Skyggon and Lysdon were born." She joined Bloom in front of it.
"She is…" Bloom hesitated.
"She looks like a normal woman, doesn't she?" The Headmistress guessed her thoughts. "Nothing special. And yet, she managed to ensnare a Dragon of all people, with just her kind and selfless nature and an innocence that endeared all to her."
"You truly knew her?" Bloom looked from the woman beside her to the woman on the painting.
"Yes, before she even thought about going to that Dragon-Spire." Faragonda turned away. "Come, you will be able to see it soon, as the Dragons reclaim the skies. It is a spectacle worth watching."
Faragonda led Bloom to a window on the north-side of the building. "Watch."
Shimi had apparently thought their other guests ought to see it too, and the hallway slowly filled.
And then, suddenly the dark night-sky was illuminated by a great burst of fire. Silhouettes rose up from the city and surrounding forest, and sped North. There another burst of fire seemed to call them as a great stone tower – how could she have missed that? – seemed to turn into a tower of fire. The Dragons fed the fire, breathing their scorching flames on it. There were small ones, only visible because of the stream of fire leaving their mouths, and massive ones, whose many scales made them gleam in the fire-light.
"Now." Shimi breathed.
As if hearing her, the Dragons ceased feeding the fires and flew ever higher. The tower remained, but the stone now glowed with heat, every contour glowing red. That glow reflected of a set of wings rising behind the tower. Bloom gasped at what she saw: a Dragon big enough to take up the entire Red Fountain-arena rose into the air, the flapping of his mighty wings audible even here, miles away from the Spire. A massive silver necklace rested on his chest, reflecting the glow of the heat. He himself breathed fire on the Spire now, but it was not normal fire, but a bright blue, showing the intense heat. Instead of bursting under the intense temperature the fire had to be, the Spire glowed even brighter, now a massive beacon of light.
"That is Ru'zan, King of the Dragons." Faragonda softly said. "If you think him magnificent, just wait until you've met Vo'id. He is far older, and as such far more powerful."
Her guests only listened to her with half an ear: they were enchanted by the sight before them. Ru'zan had ceased his fire now too and the smaller dragons were circling the Spire at great speed. Sparks followed them, swirling around the massive stone structure.
Suddenly they stopped and the sparks rose up to heaven. The Spire was no longer visible in the dark.
"The Dragons have claimed the skies." Faragonda stated. "None save them will fly until dawn. Come, dinner has been prepared for you."