Omega's Rebirth-Chapter 185: The Price ()

Estelle glanced down the hall, her heart thumping within her chest as she waited and watched till she confirmed no one was coming.

The position of every guard and their patrol routes through the blazed castle, Estelle had long memorized it all,

She knew exactly when each pair of guards would go down each particular hall and who was guarding what hall at every exact time.

Estelle also knew when there would be a change of guards in her father’s hall and what time her father would be away.

But even so, Estelle trembled in terror, she could not shake off the feeling that she would end up being caught.

If Estelle was caught, how exactly would she explain it to her father? Estelle knew her father loved her dearly but she also knew she would never be forgiven for this.

’What I want is a treasure in your father’s possession, I hear it is sealed in a box of oak wood, stored in the study of the Lord of the Blazed Castle.’

’Your father always carries the key on his person.’ The strange man had said, knowing more about the blazed castle than anyone of unknown origins should have had the rights to.

The mere thought of the accuracy of his knowledge still bothered Estelle greatly and left her feeling the Blazed Castle had long been infiltrated.

But how could she dare to rage at a traitor when for her own selfish desires, Estelle was about to become one also...

The first she-dragon to soar Asvarian skies... that would mean she could give Jason more than a few fleeting decades, if she bonded him as her rider... centuries would only be their beginning.

The cost in itself was great, but what great desire did not come with great costs?

’You are asking me...to get you my father’s key chain?! He never takes it off.’ Estelle had argued nervously with the strange man.

’The key chain...you need not be concerned with it. Just fetch me the box and our deal is done.’ The strange man assured.

’This treasure you speak of...what is it?’ Estelle had asked hesitantly.

’It could be a lot of things, but for you, you need only see it as the price for a new life...’ The strange man replied.

Estelle shook off her thoughts, focusing on the present.

Lord Starron was away from his study for the time being and this was the only chance Estelle would get, she had but the short time before dawn.

Estelle sucked in a deep breath to calm her fears before she stepped out from behind the corner and walked briskly down the hallway.

She was just about turning the corner when a voice halted her.

"Who’s there?!" A dragon guard called out and Estelle paused in her step, clenching her hands into fists as she slowly turned around.

"Oh! Elle, it’s only you. I thought I sensed someone sneaking about." The dragon guard acknowledged in relief, lowering his head to a bow of respect.

"Ah...yes, I left a journal in my father’s study, I will just fetch it and return to my quarters." Estelle replied with a nervous chuckle.

"Of course, go right ahead." The dragon guard permitted and continued on his way down the hall.

It was only when he disappeared around the corner that Estelle finally let out a sigh of relief, lifting a hand to her erratically beating heart.

Estelle quickly continued on her way and soon made it safely into her father’s study.

The layout of blazed castle itself and that of her father’s study, Estelle knew it like the back of her hand but what Estelle did not know was exactly where her father would leave such a treasure.

There was no time to waste, Estelle hurriedly began her search, going through her father’s desk and it’s attached drawers before she moved over to the book shelves.

Searching through the first shelf, Estelle found nothing and she sucked in a trembling breath, glancing over at the door nervously.

"Where is it... just where is it..." Estelle fretted, moving to the next shelf and then the shelf after that. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

Even so, Estelle found nothing like a box of oak wood and her heart sank, the strange man had given Estelle the ultimatum of dawn.

If Estelle could not find the treasure by dawn, then that would mean she did not hold up her end of the deal.

Estelle paused slightly and decided to think about it, rather than aimlessly searching, she realized she would do better considering her father’s personality.

No one knew Lord Starron of Fort Blazed better than his one and only daughter.

There were not much treasures Lord Starron would bat an eye at, as a dragon lord who had ruled Fort Blazed for two centuries, what treasures did Lord Starron lack?

Yet this treasure in particular meant enough to have Lord Starron carry about the key chain on his person.

Thinking of this, Estelle knew her father would not keep such a treasure just lying around, he would place it somewhere no one would think to look or even know of.

"Mother’s plaque!" Estelle exclaimed in a low whisper as she hurried over to the golden plaque on which her mother’s name was engraved.

It was a plaque engraved by the dragon king himself in honor of Estelle’s mother when the rider was laid to rest, the greatest respect that could be accorded to a rider and a sign of her honor and valor.

Lord Starron would always place it on a small pillar erected in his study, it was one of his most prized possessions.

Estelle hurried past her father’s desk and behind the shelves to the pillar where her mother’s plaque rested.

Lowering herself to a crouch, she pulled open the drawer attached to the pillar and sitting right there was the box made of oak wood the strange man had mentioned.

’How will I know what box it is?’ Estelle had asked the strange man.

’There will be a golden lock sealing it, but beyond that...the box I speak of is engraved with runes and at it’s top, you will find a painting of a golden scale.’

The words of the strange man echoed in Estelle’s mind as she reached for the box...