My favorite exhibition was the one that displayed all the dragons and their signs. The last sign belonged to the Rubicon. It looked complicated and in a league of its own. I tried to memorize the design and decided if I could draw it, I might be able to make a buck or two by printing them on t-shirts.
“His sign is all the dragon signs combined,” Cheng explained.
“Sorry?” I said as he shook me out of my get-rich scheme.
“Blake's sign. It's all the ten species signs combined. Come look here, they break it down for you.” I followed him around the corner. “Here is the Fire-tail. The Copper-horn goes in this way. There's the Fin-tail, and the Swallow annex.” He showed me where everything fit, like a puzzle. Blake carried all of them inside of him, even the Night Villain. I grabbed a leaflet that broke it down beautifully.
“He's really an unbelievable dragon,” I said out loud.
“Just a pity there's a time limit to his claim.”
“Why is that?”
“His dark side. It's too powerful and you need to remember, Blake is only a carrier. Those powers don’t belong to him. Without his Dragonian, it will become too heavy for him to bear.” I frowned. If that was the case, Cheng was right about Lucian not being able to claim Blake. My heart ached. I couldn't believe how emotional I became every time Cheng explained things about Blake I didn't know.
We moved on and found all the different species of the dragons displayed in smaller size models behind glass. Dragon eggs came first and they varied in size. Some looked like egg-shaped rocks that needed to be baked to hot temperatures, like the Sun-Blast and Fire-Tail. Some had little spotted dents that reminded me of a huge egg-shaped golf ball. Then there were eggs with different colors. One was a soft green. Another had a mixture of the rainbow melting into each other. They were all amazing.
Leaving the egg room, a model of a full Snow dragon confronted me. They were the purest white I had ever seen. The tail reminded me of a crocodile's with strong hind legs, and its torso was covered with small, white, triangle-shaped scales. The front legs were not as big as the back legs,and the claws reminded me of an eagle’s. Two wings sprouted from the back, and the neck arched a little with bog scales covering it completely. The face looked like a dinosaur's, with long teeth and a sharp pointy nose.
The Green-Vapor and Sun-Blast I’d met the night Dad died, and I quickly walked by their models.
The Night Villainwas the last dragon. He looked very skeletal and his feet were webbed like the Rubicon’s had been. His face and wings were skinny and the flesh looked like it was pulled tightly over the skeleton-like features. His overall appearance made me shiver right down to my core. It almost looked like he was busy decomposing.
Rounding another corner, the Metallic dragons were simply magnificent. They all carried a posture with puffed up chests and raised heads, and shimmery gold, silver, bronze, copper, and brass scales.
The section that explained what their skin could be used for brought a shiver up my spine. Most of the Metallic dragons were harvested for armor, whereas the Chromatic ones were slaughtered for their blood, guts, toes, and scales. It was the main ingredients for almost all the important potions. Dragon teeth were used for making weapons, but ever since metal was discovered, the only purpose they held was as trophies.
We were greeted with a more civilized era in the next room. It began with large paintings of hulking castles. The one in Etan was the most enchanted; it looked as if fireflies made homes on the edges of the walls and rooftops. I stared at it for at least ten minutes, completely entranced.
“It's beautiful, isn't it?” he said.
“Does it still exist?”
“I don't know. I was only five when the creepers consumed Etan. If I did see it with my own eyes, well, I don't remember it anymore.”
“Such a pity,” I spoke solemnly.
He told me that Etan was his hometown, and his dad was trapped there because his Dragonian chose to side with Goran. His father couldn't break their bond, but had made sure that his wife and son got out before it was too late. A longing grew in his eyes as he told me his story. It made me feel sad for him.
We moved on to another Night Villain. This one had a human figure right next to it. He had dark hair with honey-colored eyes and was very handsome.
“Sir Robert,” Cheng whispered.
I read the dragon’s name on the brass plate. Right next to it was indicated that he was King Albert's dragon.
“This was the Night Villain King Albert claimed?”
“Yes.” He smiled.
“Where is the Queen’s?”
“She had a Green-Vapor that believed she was a Crown-Tail.”
I giggled.
“She wasn't into all this lime-light stuff, so she didn't give her consent when they asked if they could make a model of her.”
“You said “wasn't”. Is she dead?”
“No. Her name is Tanya Le Frey. She carries a lot of the Queen’s secrets with her,and as you can imagine, a lot of people looked for her after the queen’s death. Sir Robert went through the same scrutiny. The royal Council tortured him, thinking that he had something to do with the betrayal. They tried to look for her too, but she was already on the other side of the wall for almost a year. When she finally came back, she went into hiding, and even today, nobody knows where she is.”
“You think she's still alive?”
“I don't know. She's definitely not on the other side.”
“How do you know that, Cheng?”
“Because of what she is. To hide as a human is too difficult for Chromatic dragons. They don't share the same passion as our Metallic ones. I have to give it to her,she did manage to live two years on the other side. I would love to know what her business involved. A lot of people thought that she’d betrayed the queen from the other side of the realm, but even if she is a Chromatic dragon and a Green-Vapor, Tanya would have never betrayed Queen Catherine. They shared a sisterhood.”
He spoke until we reached a temple. Cheng lit one of the thousand candles that were outside the two doors. He gestured that I should do the same.
I followed his lead.
“It's to pay respect. Some people come here to pray. Although they know the dead are in the spirit world, they still believe that God is always present where there are people that live by His Son's example. Remove your shoes, Elena.”
I toed them off and waited for Cheng to enter first. I followed him and felt everything around me stop. I couldn't stop staring at the two figures sitting on their thrones.
A soft gasp left my mouth.
Cheng looked at me and smiled as he kneeled down to them, like they were still alive. I did the same and was glad that he misunderstood my gasp. My heart beat inside my throat, which made it hard to swallow. It was the same feeling I experienced when I read that foretelling. When I looked up, she was still there, sitting next to him; the lady from my dreams.
A golden rope became the barrier between them and us. They both sat on their thrones, tall and proud as if they waited for something. She sat upright, very gracefully, and his pride shone in his erect posture. They didn't smile, and they looked unnatural.