Ophelia and The Dragons

Chapter 15

"Secrets have a way of making themselves felt, even before you know there's a secret."

-Jean Ferris-

***

Ophelia's P.O.V

I turned around and saw Ilia behind me. She was no longer in her formal priest's robe, instead, she was wearing an everyday robe that was much lighter and simple.

It made her seem more approachable, but it didn't affect her authority in any way. Behind her was Dane. For some reason, I felt like wherever she went, Dane would be right behind her.

"Yes, I am Ophelia, the healer witch." I replied back. She turned her attention to Helios.

"And you are?" She asked.

"I am her familiar, Helios." Ilia didn't seem to convinced. Her eyes were gazing at Helios up and down, as if she was observing him, trying to find anything suspicious or out of the ordinary.

Perhaps she sensed he was a dragon. She was the holy priest of the dragon temple, after all.

"My name is Ilia Pantherios. I am the head of the holy priest of the dragon temple. Pleased to meet you." She greeted herself.

Her words were polite, but the tone was firm. One could already tell she was a more intense woman.

"The crown prince has requested your stay for the night. We have prepared a spare room for you. Please follow me." Ilia stated as she led us to a room in the third floor.

"The third floor is the residential floor for the priests and guests. We have ten bedrooms here. Seven are occupied by the priests, one is a special bedroom for the royal family. Only the members of the royals could use it. Two are guest bedroom."

"Unfortunately for you, one of them is already occupied by a member of the noble family who is doing some work here for the time being. So that only left us with one room for you. I hope the two of you don't mind sharing a room together."

She explained throughout our walk there until we arrived in front of a wooden door. Ilia unlocked it and inside was a simple room with a double bed, a wardrobe and a desk with lamp.

It was least impressive compared to the room at the palace, but it was clean and comfortable enough for us to stay in.

Also, the dragon temple was not known for its glamorous living interior. We couldn't complain.

"You could take a tour around the temple until dinner time. Since you are a guest and only staying here for a night, we won't impose too much rules for you, but there is one thing you shouldn't do during your stay here."

"What would it be?" I asked.

"Do not go to the back garden after nine. That area is off limits for guests at night. Do you understand?" Her face was dead serious. Her eyes shot us a warning.

"Yes, I understand, don't worry about it." I assured her.

"I am glad you understand it easily. Then, I guess I shouldn't bother you any longer. Have a good rest. I would come again when it's time for dinner." She excused herself and closed the door.

I turned to Helios, who was already on the bed with a smug grin on his face.

"Lia, it's our first time sleeping on a foreign bed together, I'm excited." He admitted. I smiled and laid beside him.

"It has been a rather exhausting journey. Let's change clothes after this and take a nap." I suggested.

"I like the sound of that." Both Helios and I ended up taking a nap and woke up two hours later to get ready for dinner.

Ilia came personally to pick both of us for dinner and the other priests had been present. All their gazes were on me and Helios.

It must have been strange to have a witch joining dinner with the holy priests.

I tried to remain quiet throughout the dinner. Everyone else were also quiet. Not sure if it was because I was there or if it had always been like that.

Some of the priests didn't seem too pleased by my presence, but I tried to ignore them.

Dinner was eventually over and we headed back to our room. Midnight arrived and just when I was about to sleep, I heard a rustling sound from beside me.

It was Helios. He was alert of something.

"What is it, Helios?" I asked him.

"I can sense something, Lia. There is something very similar to me in this place."

"Do you mean?" He started walking toward the door and I had no choice but to follow him. I couldn't let Helios wander around alone in this place.

He headed straight to the back garden, which was the forbidden area to enter at night.

"We can't be here." I reminded him but he didn't seem to care. Both of us walked inside the garden and there was a sight I didn't think I would see.

There was another dragon there. His scale was the shade of charcoal and his eyes were light shade of yellow. He was slightly bigger than Helios in his dragon form.

He seemed like a different breed of dragon. But what shocked me the most was Ilia's presence beside the dragon.

The dragon suddenly noticed our presence, alerting Ilia as well. Since we were already caught, both I and Helios decided to step forward.

"It's you! What are you doing here? I thought I have told you that the guests aren't allowed to be here after nine!" She was furious.

"I apologize on our behalf. Helios here noticed the dragon's presence, so we decided to check it out." I turned my attention to the dragon.

"I didn't think that there is another dragon here. What a coincidence." I said.

"Another dragon?" She asked curiously.

"Yes, my familiar, Helios is a sun dragon." Ilia's eyes widened. She was not expecting it at all. She turned to her dragon.

"Raiden, turn back to your human form." She ordered. The dragon closed his eyes and a ball of light warped him.

Not long after, he turned into his human form. He was taller than Helios by at least two inches.

His skin was tan, his hair was the shade of charcoal and his eyes were the same light yellow as before. He had shoulder length hair and looked more mature than Helios.

Judging by his appearance and size alone, he must be older than Helios.

Once his transformation was complete, he was handed over a robe to cover his naked body and the formal introduction began.

"This is Raiden, he is a thunder dragon and also the beast of the temple." She explained.

"Does the royal family know about him?" I asked.

"No, they shouldn't find out about Raiden's existence. Otherwise he might be in trouble. The best place for him is within the temple. During the day, he stayed hidden in the basement and at night, I always bring him here to release his dragon form." She explained.

I stole a glance at Raiden and he had this stern and cautious expression on.

"Since you have seen him, I think we have a lot of things to discuss, Ophelia."