Dragon Riders

Chapter Three: Part Two Myra

Chapter 3

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Myra

Isle of the Blessed: The Pits

I am extremely well versed in all things healing. I became so good that I was the preferred healer when a new member was birthed or if someone was hurt. How could I not be going?

"The High Priestess has given you a task, fitting someone like yourself."

"What will be my penance, Temple Mother?"

"You have been selected to go to the Dragons Den and pick 5 eggs."

Silence.

Absolute, and total silence screams around me.

I feel my face go slack in surprise.

She has given me a death sentence, and the others around me know this as well. There are no murmurs of support and none of the women behind shuffle close, instead choosing to stay as still as possible.

For there is a reason that our Temple is located in a hollow volcano.

There is a reason that our robes are red.

There is a reason that our temple is the Heart-Scale Temple, and there is a reason that we adamantly worship the God of Fire.

We have a nest of Dragons that we keep here. We are the only place where Dragons are alive, and the only place on the planet that can supply Dragon Eggs. There is a reason that the pits have the heavy metal doors, and it wasn’t because there are humans kept down here.

We house and breed the most vicious beasts known to man.

And I have been tasked with going into that and taking 5 of their children away.

Alone.

The old Temple Mother gives me one last pat on the shoulder and leaves. I watch her slowly ascend the stairs almost as if in a trance. The others behind me start to scurry off, to their own parts of the dim light. Many collecting their things to leave this place.

I force myself to walk back to my tent and take a moment to myself. I sit down and try not to let tears of fear run down my sweaty, dirty face. The tears would leave clean trails of salt on my cheeks.

I must do this.

I have no choice but to do this.

I stand and leave the ratty, stuffy tent.I take one last glance around at the sweltering campsite and catch a few pitying stares thrown my way.

They all know that I have been damned.

I know that I have been damned, yet I keep my mask of still securely on my face as a pivot and make my way towards the Dragon's Den.

To access the den, I have to walk past where the sulfur water comes from, and stand before two stone doors.

I asked what the door looked like and was only told;

"You will know it when you see them."

I got the same response when I asked how to get in.

I feel my feet scrape roughly over the ground as I get closer to the sulfur water pools. Even for me the ground is rough, and uneven. The smell though, is even worse.

Once when I was a child and had just come to the temple, I saw a girl steal an egg. She had taken it from the kitchen and decided to hide it to eat it later. The Temple Mothers did not believe me when I told them what I had seen, and so she kept it. The girl eventually forgot about it, and so did I. That was until she found it again, months later, and promptly dropped it on the hard floor. It cracked open and the worst smell came spewing out of it. We gagged and she was made to clean it up with her bare hands.

This smell rivals it as a close second.

I cover my nose and see two women staring at me, with small laughs being thrown at my back like stones. I keep my back straight at their childish mockery, and try to keep steady and sure footing on the ground. The bells I have only twinkle slightly as I walk. The two women watch me as I glide past their station, and I pay them no heed.

I just need to get past them, to the doors, and there I can start my penance.

I repeat this mantra to myself as I walk on the hellish ground.

I hear the occasional twinkle of a bell, the movement of cloth on my sweaty skin. To my displeasure, I can’t avoid the occasional sound or movements because of the terrain.

I hear the rocks being transported in the background, gowning ever distant to me. Although their plight will never leave my heart.

The hood on my head traps more heat with every passing minute, and just when I think I can take no more, I notice that I have been walking on solid ground for a few heartbeats.

I want to curse myself for not paying better attention, but the sweat dripping down from my brow keeps me from doing that. I find a tall corridor and step in. The walls are smoother here, though not very well maintained. The glow from behind lights my way until I come across an old iron brazier that contains a roaring fire.

Torches lay near it and from the encroaching darkness, I can see that I will truly be on my own from now on. I light a torch, and continue down the high, smooth corridor.

I keep walking until I find them. A set of huge, intimidating, stone carved doors. They are set in a wall at the back of this unsettling wide, and dark room. My torch casting the only light. I spot another brazier, and throw my torch in there. Flames transfer from my hand to the brazier, and make a path of fire that makes a line that goes from me to all around the room. Flames dance all around me, but they make the room much less frightening than before.

I turn my attention to the doors, impressed by them.

The doors almost reach the top of the room and span for what seems over half a mile wide. Dragons are carved all over the doors, making them look real, and intimidating. Some are fighting, while some are just flying or laying about. Towards the very top of the door, is something interesting.

I tilt my head to see what the figure is. I scrunch my brows in concentration and my brown eyes glint when I realize what it is.

At the top, upon a mighty dragon, sits a human. It's almost unnoticeable, as the figure is so small that I almost didn't notice it. I look around the doors more and see that some dragons seem to have things scratched off of them.

A quick glance and it would seem as though the doors just wore down over time. I get closer to the door and touch one of the closest figures.

It was definitely scratched off.

The stone is actually a gray marble, and where the figures were feels rough, and has obvious indents. What would be the purpose of ruining the doors? They are meant to keep fearsome beasts in. From getting loose and causing an untold amount of destruction.