chapter 21

Museum of Etan

"Elena, you need to go to bed early. We have loads to do tomorrow" Becky mumbles with a toothbrush in her mouth.
            "I already made plans Becky."
            "What!"
            "Elena, we're going to watch Doubt of Fire " Sammy sulks.
            "I didn't know that you wanted me to come with you guys" I reply in a sulky tone.
            "Did you think we were just going to leave you here" Becky shrieks.
            "I don't know, sorry."
            "Can you call it off" Sammy suggested but I shake my head. "Why not?"
            "Cheng already ask me like Tuesday and I know Lucian is not going to be able to spend it with me so I said yes."
            "Does Lucian knows" Becky shrieks.
            "I am going to tell him before he leaves. Which reminds me I have to go. I just came to drop off my bag."
            They both sigh and felt bad that I can't call it off with Cheng. I really wanted to go to the museum. I found him at one of the tables that was outside, talking to Dean and another red head I don't know.
            "You ready" I grabbed him from behind.
            "Yes, see you later Tom" he shouts as we started to walk to the lake. "I wish that I could stay this weekend. You sure you don't want to come with me."
            "As tempting as that sounds, I'm so not ready to meet the king and queen of Tith" and he laughs.
            "You scared" he tease.
            "Yes, who knows what they will do with commoners hanging out with Princes" he chuckles and swing me around for a kiss.
            "Then my dear lady, I will just have to save you. Will you meet me tomorrow." I sigh.
            "About that, Cheng asked me to go with him to the museum for educational purposes." I said the last part really slowly and he chuckles.
            "Just as long as you promise me that I don't have to kill a dragon one day because he stole my lady" and I giggle with how goofy he sounds.
            "Please Lucian, Cheng does not have near your charisma or charm" I reply.
            "I can get use to this kind of compliments" he says and our lips meet again. The kiss felt good and I didn't want him to stop. This feeling that is growing inside of me, scared the living crap out of me. I don't know what I am going to do if he has to tell me it's over.

            "You can go, but on one condition" and I look at him surprised.
            "Which is" and he smiles.
            "Sunday you are all mine." I didn't reply, too scared that it's going to involved his parents. "Don't worry, it won't be at the castle. I just want to spend some time with you."
            "Deal" and he laughs while shaking his head. "What?"
            "You really that scared of meeting my parents" and I didn't know what to say.
            "It's not like they are the next door neighbors Lucian. Where I am from King and Queens don't approve of girls like me. It's going to take a miracle for them to like me" and he roars again.
            "That is your opinion Babes. They are going to love you, but if you are not ready, I can wait."
            "So where are we going on Sunday" and he shakes his head.
            "It's a surprise" he replies and I roll my eyes.
            "Fine, I guess I just have to wait then" I sulk.
            He looked at his watch and protest. "I really don't want to go home. I hate not able to see you every day."
            "It's only tomorrow Lucian, besides next weekend you are staying."
            "It's not the same" he sulk.
            "You want some cheese with that whine."
            "Ha, ha" he replies sarcastic and we kissed one last time before we went back to the main building.
            I said goodbye before he runs up the stairs to get his suitcase. I have to agree with him. It is hard for me too staying here while he goes home and can't wait to spend next week end with him here. The girls was not so happy with Lucian letting me go with Cheng but see my point of wanting to learn more.
            I crawl into bed contemplating if I should ditch him but he really looked exited when I told him that I would love to go to Elm with him.
            "Don't fall for Cheng please" Becky asks me and I giggle the way Lucian asked me that too. 
            "He is so not my type Becky" I reply already in bed.
            "Goodnight y'all" Sammy says and gives a huge yawn. Becky ran to switch off the light. We both crack ourselves when she fell over something, probably her saddle that is so huge it can't be chuck into her cupboard like all the other things she owns. She cussed like crazy.
            I dreamed that night about the mysterious woman again. She kept pointing at the forest and I wish I could ask her what the hell she wants from me.

A huge building that had two huge stone dragons forming a door. There was a warning written in big bold red letters to stay quiet.
             It looks like any other museum would. There was this thick red carpet lining the path way and an antique smell lingered strongly inside. It was buzzing with children and parents pointing at objects.
            "Come, this is the starting point" Cheng whispers and took the path closest to the entrance.  The brass plate read in big golden letters VIKINGS. It reminds me a lot of Madame Tussaud that dad took me once.
             Vikings was first. They were carrying huge weapons and hats with long horns on top of their heads. Big ogre men with long beards and messed up hair was forming a huge line. Pantene would have done wonders in those days. A small description on a brass plate explained about the era and population. The things they did, which was mainly gathering food and making weapons to slay dragons was mostly the only information.
            "The Viking era is quite boring. The only thing they did was drink, eat, sleep, slay dragons and had plenty of sex" and I giggle while blushing scarlet red. "Common Elena, does the word sex bothers you." He bumps me on my left shoulder and I just shake my head looking like an idiot with this huge grin on my face.  
             The next exhibit displayed a bad a*s dragon. One I can't figure out if we have covered it in one of the classes or not.
            He had a dark color, mixture between a red and a purple-black. Red eyes were sitting deep in his sockets and huge nostrils that I imagined fire coming out from.  Thick whiskers like a catfish spout all over around his head, which really made him look evil. His tail looks like a big tree stump that thin out with a spear end.  Webbed feet and huge claws tells me he is a good swimmer and wings that looked as if it was shredded. Pointy horns were on the edges of each wing. I couldn't make up my mind if he was beautiful or ugly.
            "His name was Quito" Cheng whispers. "He was the Rubicon before Blake."
            "That is the Rubicon?"
            "One hell of an ugly bugger isn't he. Only a mother can love that mutt" he jokes.
             Right next to him was a tiny figure and it read that it was an average human male. It gives me goose bumps guessing that it is the human-dragon ratio.
            "Does Blake look like that too" I ask thinking Lucian must be crazy to try and claim him.
            "Not quite there yet, but he is the biggest of all the dragons at Dragonia. They grow bigger as they reach their milestones."
            "Where would I fit him" I ask.
            "Oh, about up to here" he crouch down and showed at least half the dolls size.
            "I am so glad I am not Lucian."
            "Elena, size is not everything but then again I agree on that part" he replies.
            "Do you have a Dragonian."
            "Yes, he's called Andreas and only ten years old."
            "Ten years old" and he nods his head.  "How did you know that he was your Dragonian."
            "A dragon knows."
            We moved on to the next part. Knights with jousting sticks filled all the boxes behind glass. They even have York and some of the Eastern Europe countries displayed with model dragons soaring the earth breathing fire down at villages.            
            Cheng sighs. "The Sun-Blast and Moon-Bolt made it really difficult for dragons to be considered tamable in the old world."
            "You mean the world before the wall" and he nods his head. "How long has the wall been up."
            "Oh for the last nine hundred years."
            "Did you ever visit the other side."
            "I really want to but they said it is hard for a Metallic dragon to return. We like humans and feel more needed on the other side. It's the reasons my mom is scared to give her consent" he explains.
            "So you guardian has to give permission" and he nods his head. "Until when."
            "Forever."
            "That sucks" and he chuckles.
            "Yes, your humans got things so much easier."
            "Our humans, that is not nice" I tease him.
            "Elena, you know what I mean" he blushes sounding guilty. I smiled at him.
            His face turns red much faster than Lucian's which made me giggle. "Common" he grabs my hand and moved to the next exhibition. It was some sort of obstacle course that reminded me of a movie Richard Gere and Sean Connery played in. It was called a First Knight and Richard's character had to do this obstacle course just to get a kiss from the lovely Guinevere. It was again in small scale.
            "It was entertainment in the old days" he says and pushes a red button that starts the mechanism to move. It was amazing to see the small parts go up and down and I even imagine me, super tiny trying to get through in one piece. I got smashed by the two rocks colliding on top of each other.
            The next exhibition was a cave. "The Sacred Cavern."  The detail they used to display the small scale was amazing.
            "What is it?"
            "A Cavern that only the brave or the desperate will go to."
            "To do what" and he chuckles.
            "For its most price possession. A millpond so magical that it can show you anything you wish to know. Whether it is past, present or future" and I look at him with a curious  expression on my face. "It's not that easy though. The price is high. If you can't succeed at whatever the cave behold than it claims your life."
            "Did anybody made it out." I ask as I couldn't take my eyes off the detail. The million of steps made me think of a Chinese temple. It leads to huge doors molded into a cave, surrounded by forest.
            "Yes, but only a small amount. The funny thing about it is that all of them were  women" he answers. I could feel another one of his theories coming up but had too many questions on my mind.
            "What is inside the Cavern?"
            "Besides the millpond, no one knows. The five women that did made it out never reveal what they saw or did, no one knows why. It's very mysterious."
            "Wow."
            We move further and found sports that the knights use to compete at. One was jousting on horses and the others where battle one on one. The last one looked like some sort of a team battle. "It is said that all the soldiers were forced to compete. To keep them fit for war. Those times the war was between your kind an mine."
            "Humans can be so horrible" I mope. "Was it any different after the wall?"
            "No. The only time that things did change was when King Albert's father King Louie took over. He was in love with a dragon but never knew that she was one. It's quite a sad story because they killed her at the end, but it also revealed one of our secrets, that we own a human form. King Louie knew after that Metallic dragons apposed no threat.  When he became king he studied the Metallic dragons and learned a lot.  Trust was formed and he discovered another secret, that we could be ride. My mom said that it was exciting times but he still killed a lot of Chromatic dragons. It was only when King Albert claimed his dragon that  things really change for the dragon population. He taught the others that the Chromatic ones were not much different from the Metallic ones. I know they look a little scarier and was a bit more fierce but deep down inside dragon was dragon."
            "You guys really loved this King huh."
            "More than you know. I wish you could have been here when they ruled. He believed that when Chromatic dragons can get rehabilitated by getting the right nurturing. I guess it's why he started Dragonia."
            We carried on to a couple of individual exhibition. The first one was a blonde guy with the most beautiful eyes. The era was right after the Vikings. They were a bit more civilized but still needed that shampoo.
            "King William. He was the first bloodline of the royals. The sword he carries is no other than the King of Lions sword" he smiles. "His queen was the fourth daughter of one of your French rulers." I look at the woman who had dark hair but did not resemble the woman of my dreams.
            We moved pass important figures that was part of King William's Council. Surnames like McKenzie, Abbott, Johnson, Smith was there since the beginning. I wonder if it's part of Becky and Lucian's ancestors.
            We exit King Williams era and moved to a section that had to do with foretellings.         The first figure was no one but the beautiful woman living in the Rapunzel's tower. They are not very life like.  There is a couple of features that they got way off. Like the wax dolls eyes were really friendly. Hers wasn't. 
            "Is she really three hundred years old."
            "Yes, still young for a dragon" he replies and I huff softly.
            "She always were into foretellings?"
            "Those days it was more like fortune telling or something like that. A lot of people use to seek out Moon-Bolts to tell them their future but sometimes they didn't like what they heard so they got killed for no reason. The older they got, the more they could see."
            "So that is how you know everything she say is the truth" and he smiles.
            "Everything she say when her eyes shines."
            "Oh yeah, I forgot. Other than that it is mostly thumb sucking." We got a couple of shhh's again when we laughed too loud. It is so silly. A museum should be a place that you can explore and talk about.
            There was a book right next to her where a couple of young girls, about nine, page through. I smile. "Is there really stuff written in that book" I ask as I look at one of the girls faces light up and smile as she reads every single line.
            "Elena, that is the real deal."
            "What" I whisper. I remember Cheng telling me that it is here for safe keeping, I just didn't think that it will be so open for everyone to see. "What if they damage the book."
             He laughs."They can't. It's a magic book. If someone tears a page out or try to steal the book it vanish and re appear right where it should be. The only one that can handle it is the Seer."
            "Seriously" and he nods his head so fast he looks like a bobble head.
            One of the girl's mother calls them and when they ran towards her I took their post immediately. I start to page through as I read one foretelling after the other.
            "Why is some in red and other's blue?"
             "The ones in red has already been fulfilled. The ones in blue's expire date has long past and wasn't fulfilled and the ones in Black, well they still need to happen."
            "Unbelievable." My eye caught a red one as I flip through towards the end. It belongs to a dragon and that his Dragonian would be struck by lightning.  I showed Cheng and he smiles.
            "You think it's George's."
            "It's got to be, Becky was hit by lightning and they forced her to claim George because of his foretelling. The only thing is that she feels his is not that important and they could have let it slide."
            "Nothing written in this book is unimportant. Who knows maybe a second part of that foretelling will comes soon. It sounds as if a part is missing."
            We laugh softly and I kept paging through.
            I found one about Blake. It was about his Dragonian. And although the foretelling didn't say spawn of King Albert and Queen Catherine, it sure implied on them. I frown.
            "Why is this one still black."
            "I don't know, that is a mystery to all of us. It is the only thing that gives us hope" he says. I page and read further on. There is so many that was black and my eyes caught one.  My mouth becomes dry and it was difficult to swallow.
            "This one is new" Cheng says and start reading the lines. "A day will come and a day will go, a choice you have to make otherwise the truth will never be known."  He looks at it through squint eyes.
            "What does it mean?"
            "Beats me, but it's in this book. It could mean anything" he replies. I took a deep sigh and try to shake it off. Maybe it's got nothing to do with me and she just seen it because it was meant to be seen. I was already on my way out when it happened.
            We moved on and I start to giggle as I saw Master Longwei. He had two forms. The human form as I know him and then his dragon form. He was a Fin-tail.
            In front of Master Longwei's figures was a template that contains the history of his life. He serves in the Royal Counsel but stay on the school property ever since it opened up. It sounds like he found his true calling.
            "He is such a cool guy and his human form is cool too" Cheng jokes. I remember  when he told me how old he was. I still can't believe it.
            The next part was the renaissance era. It was ruled by King Alexander which was King Louie's father. King Alexander was like all the other royals. Didn't care about anything else accept the human race. Dragons were almost extinct in those times. That is why King Louie's girlfriend hide her true form. I could just imagine what he went through when his father ordered to kill her. 
            "They use to seek dragons out, torture them until they released their true form and then slaughter them so that they can use the dragon parts for various reasons. It's what they did with King Louie's special friend."
            "You must really hate the humans" I ask feeling terrible and wish that I could be a dragon too.
            "It was before my time Elena, besides there are hardly humans left that believe in that kind of cruelty."
            "You mean there are still people killing dragons for their skin and organs."
            "There are some black markets that operates" he replies softly.
            "They can be glad that I am not royalty."
            "King Louis and Albert tried to put an end to it, and they almost succeed. The only problem is that the most important potions still acquire a dragons eye or a piece of his heart. It is difficult to put aside those kinds" he sulks.
            "Still, it is not right Cheng."
            "You are really kind Elena" he said through a huge smile. We moved towards a new sections. It was mostly weapons. My eye caught the two axes that I fight with a couple of days ago.
            "How is this possible" I stop in front of the display box as I read what it said on  the brass plate. It belongs to Queen Catherine and looks identical to the ones back at Dragonia.
            I should tell Lucian about this. It would be so cool if I can fight with it during class then I can show Professor Mia that I am not useless as she thinks I am.
            The two axes was one of the last weapons on display before the signs of the dragons. They displayed it on flags.
            We stopped in front of Cheng's sign, the Crown-Tail. "Mine is on my lower abdomen" he says. I smiled and we moved on. The only sign I knew was dad's the Copper-Horn.
I only saw it a couple of times. I always thought that it was his tattoo but now that I know, made me miss him more. If only he could tell me. It is really beautiful and dad's was on his left breast.
            The last flag was the Rubicon's. It was really complicated and in a league of its own.  I tried to memorize it, it would make a good picture on a t-shirt and who knows maybe I can make a buck or two. After all it does belong to Blake Leaf.
            "It is all of them combined" Cheng explains.
            "Really" and he nods his head.
            "Come look here, they break it down for you" and I followed him around the corner. "Here is the Fire-tail and the Copper-horn goes in this way. There is the Fin-tail and the Swallow annex" he showed me where everything fits in perfectly, like a puzzle. He does carry all of them inside him, even the Night Villain. I grab a leaflet that explains it beautiful.
            "He is really an unbelievable dragon."
            "Just a pity there is a time limit to his claim."
            "Why is that?"
            "Because of his dark side. It is too powerful and remember Blake is only a carrier. Those powers doesn't belong to him and without his Dragonian it will become too heavy to carry."  I frown and can't believe how emotional I get every time Cheng explain to me things about Blake I didn't know.
            We moved on and found all the different species of the dragons displayed in model scale. They really do come out of eggs and can only shape shift into their human form once their reach the age of five. They are amazing creatures and I can't believe that humans use to slaughter them like beasts.
            Sammy was right about the Snow Dragon. They are not very big but there was something amazing about them too. I don't know if it was their color or the fact that white is suppose to represent good.
            The tail reminds me of a crocodiles with strong hind legs and it's torso was covered with white scales. The front legs were not as big as the back but its claws reminds me of an eagles. Two wings sprout from the back and the neck arch a little with bog scales covering it completely. The face reminded me of a dinosaurs, with long teeth and a sharp pointy nose.
            The Green vapor had a very long neck with large spiky horns. His torso was a golden yellow color with long web like feet and claws. I have learned in Anatomy that they like to swim. His wings wasn't that big but his face was scary enough.
            The Moon-bolt I have seen with my own eyes and the Sun-blast's face remind me of the Chinese dragons. He was really beautiful with huge wings that spread and covered his entire body.
            The Night Villain was the last dragon and I understand why Lucian said that it was not a beautiful dragon at all. He looked very skeletal and his feet was webbed too. We haven't covered the Night- Villain yet. His face and wings are so skinny and his appearance made me shiver. He looked like he was busy decomposing.
             The Metallic dragons were beautiful. They all carry a posture that show how proud they are. They were truly magnificent beasts.
            There was a section what their skin can be used for. Most of the Metallic ones is for armor where the Chromatic ones was slaughter for their blood, guts, toes and scales. It was the main ingredients for the kind of potions Cheng talked about earlier. Dragon teeth were there for making weapons but ever since metal was found it was for victory.
            They had some legends too. Most of them were about the Metallic ones.
            The box right next to the dragons was about a school. It was Dragonia Academy. Small scale of course.
            The next exhibition was some sort of a declaration. One that was signed by so many people. Cheng explained that it's the truce between human and dragons.
            It reminds me so much of the declaration that got sign by fifty five congressmen on the other side so many years ago. "It was the day everything change for all living things." He read the names that was on the scroll. Almost two hundred signatures were present and it was not a surprise when he read out Master Longwei's.
             The next section displayed how things became more civilized. They built bigger and taller houses and buildings. There was a big map of Paegeia and Etan was on this one. It wasn't called the forbidden city yet and cut off in all the modern maps of today. There were big painting of Castles and the one that is in Etan was the most beautiful of them all. It was a night portrait and looked so enchanted. Like fairies made home on the edges of the walls and rooftop. I stare at it for at least ten minutes.
            "It is beautiful isn't it" he says. I just nod my head.
             "Does it still exist."
            "I don't know. Our age never seen it with our own eyes" he replies.
            "It is such a pity."  He told me that Etan was his  home town and his dad was trap there because of his Dragonian that took sides with Goran. His father couldn't break his bond with him but made sure that his mother and him got out before it was too late. There was longing in his tone and a part of me knows how he feels.
            We moved on to another Night Villain. This one had a human figure right next to it. He had dark hair and his eyes were this honey color.
            "Sir Robert" he whispers. I read on the brass plate the dragons name. Right next to  it was written King Albert's dragon.
            "This was the Night Villain king Albert claimed?"
            "Yes" he smiles.
            "Where is the queens?"
            "She had a Green Vapor that believe she was a Crown-Tail" and I giggle softly.
            "Really."
            "She wasn't into all this lime light stuff so she didn't give her consent when they ask if they could make a model."
            "You said wasn't, is she dead" and he shake his head.
            "Her name is Tanya Le Frey. She carries a lot of the queens secrets with her and as you can imagine, a lot of people looked for her after the queens death. Sir Robert went through the same. Tortured him, thinking that he had something to do with the betrayal. When they were done with him it was her turn 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 still today nobody  knows where she is."
            "You think she is still alive" I ask.
            "I don't know. She is 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 do. I have to give it to the girl. 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 has 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 reach a temple and he lights one of the thousand candles that was outside the two doors. He gesture that I should do the same.
            I followed his lead while he explained.
            "It is to pay respect. Some people come here to pray, although they know the dead  is in the spirit world, they still believe that God is always present where there is people that lived by his son's example. Remove your shoes Elena."
            I toe them off softly and wait for Cheng to enter first. I followed him and feel how everything around me stops. I couldn't stop staring at the two figures sitting on their thrones.
            A soft gasp left my mouth.
             He looks at me and smiled as he bow down to them, like they were still alive. I did the same and was glad that he misunderstood my gasp. My heart was beating inside my throat which made it hard to swallow. It's the same kind of feeling when I read that foretelling.       When I look up she was still there, sitting next to him.
            The lady of my dreams.