The Gauntlet Crucible Ch. 19

Holt proceeded to follow High Priestess Prescylla through the opposite direction of the hall.  He kept glancing back to see Smoke following the white dragon Korlon carry the sleeping Queen on his back.  

Prescylla led the human carefully to a courtyard, following a route that avoided any sorts of contact with any other dragons that may have been happening to running about.  Holt kept glancing up the cyan dragoness, but she payed no attention to him.  She seemed interested in him, yet currently ignored him.  

The courtyard, when they arrived, was actually one big lush garden, much different from the segment of courtyard Holt first went through before reaching the front gates of the main palace itself.  He could hear the gentle running of water, chirping sounds of birds, and flowers filled the green courtyard with vibrant colors.  

On the other end of the courtyard, was a large building with seven tall spires that shot into the sky at least two hundred feet.  It looked nothing like the palace itself, in fact the building looked completely alien to the palace.  Instead of gold, the building itself seemed to be made of all stone; it didn't incorporate any other elaborate designs.  

Prescylla walked up the stair case infront of the building's main, steel doors with swift feet.  The steps weren't actually too far apart, even for a human, so Holt had no troubles getting up them.  The High Priestess touched the door with her left paw and muttered something in a language that was completely unknown to the human.  It definitely was not a language that came from Earth.  

Before he could ask what she had said, the door rumbled and rose up like a portcullis.  It was rather dark and Holt nearly lost sight of her when Prescylla stepped inside, but the billowing of the robes she wore gave her position away.  

The human shivered as a blast of cold air hit him to the sudden contrast of the main cities scorching heat.  The uniform he wore was not adequate in providing protection from low temperatures, so he kept his arms huddled up to himself.  

The cyan dragoness led Holt through the darkness.  Holt's eyes had adjusted enough to start seeing the details that dotted throughout the inside.  Prescylla finally stopped at a massive rectangle alter at least fourty feet long and fourty feet wide to face the human.  

"Cold?" she asked, with a small smile on her face.  

"A little..."  Holt had replied, shaking his arms with opposite hands.  Prescylla chuckled and opened her mouth to blow out a blue, gaseous compound.  The substanse seemed to take a life of its own as it flew to Holt and ciricled around him.  He watched with amazement as the blue substance kept spinning around him, then shot immediately back to the alter.  It erupted into a giant inferno of blue flame that convered the entire upper section of the alter.  The sudden light forced the human to turn away from source, and looked back when his eyes adjusted.

"What in the...?"  Holt gasped.  The fire had not died away.  It kept burning with great vigor as if highly flammable fuel was constantly being fed to it.  There was heat coming from the blue fire itself an Holt took his gloves off to face his palms to it.  He sighed with relief as the heat warmed his body up.  

"Better?"  Prescylla asked, smiling again.  

"It is.  Thank you."  Holt put his gloves back on when he was warm enough.  He turned to face Prescylla, who was standing to the right of him.  The flickering, blue light lit up the right side of her face, but kept in the left side in slight shadow.

"There is much about Earth I want to talk about."  Prescylla began, pacing around to the other side of the altar, her head standing slightly higher than the highest point to the flames would reach.

"Why not bring the others here as well?  Smoke could answer many questions you have.  Why me?  Why just me?"  Holt crossed his arms and rested his weight on his left leg.  

"Because, there are things about you I want to discuss as well." The High Priestess vaguely stated.

"About me?  What could I have that could..." Holt watched her carefully, suspicious of her intentions.

"I know about the GSS, Holt.  I know the exact details of that battle at The Dead Zone.  I also know why you fear them so."  Prescylla came around the other side and stopped when she was five feet away.  She lowered her head down to his level and held her snout about two feet away.  The human backed up a bit uncomfortably.

"Well, of course I would be afraid of the GSS.  Have you seen them?  They..." Holt began.

"No Holt. I know why you fear the GSS. You have other reasons for fearing them." Prescylla pulled her head back and started to laugh.  "There are no secrets you can hide from me."

Holt started to sweat a bit now, but not from heat.  The human sweated from anxiety.  His secret was no longer secret, at least to Prescylla.

"How do you know about me then?" Holt asked, relenting.  

"Your essence tells me all about you."  Prescylla walked past Holt, who only followed her with his head, keeping his body faced one direction.

"My essence...I don't..."

"Consider it like a profile on you." The cyan dragoness interrupted.  "Every single, living being has their own unique aura around them.  It tells me much of the being's personality, memories, and current emotions."  Prescylla stopped behind Holt.  The human turned his body to face her and he backed up once more when she brought her head close to him.

"I still don't understand."  Holt lowered his arms.  "How can you...err...'read my essence'?"

"I am High Priestess.  I serve the Ancestors by providing healing to those that need it, be it physical or mental.  I help others deal with emotional pains, and in order to do that, I need to read everything I can about them.  The Ancestors give gifts of reading magic to those that are willing to commit themselves to this kind of servitude.  I also lead prayers to those that come to worship and praise our Ancestors."

"I don't understand, why are you telling me this?  I have no comprehension on...uhh...'your magic', it's uses, functions and role in your society."  Holt was thoroughly confused.  Then again, what person wouldn't be if they suddenly came to a situation like this?

"Because I feel you should know.  Our world doesn't run on technology like yours.  We rely on power that is channeled through this planet."  Prescylla brought her tail close to him and poked his chest with it.  He took a couple of more steps back in discomfort.

Holt decided to ask some questions, so he started off with, "This is the Temple the Queen was talking about I assume? If so, then where are your servants?"

The High Priestess let out a hearty chuckle.  "They are not my servants, silly human. We are all servants to the Ancestors.  I simply represent them to the outside world, and they choose to follow my teachings.  If you must know, they are out into the city, tending to the ailing. We are the only ones in the Temple right now.  We need not worry about eavesdroppers."

"Uhh ok..."  Holt was quickly thinking of a way to change topics.  "So you know my secret, why talk to me about it?  You could've kept mum on it and used it against me."

"I am not malicious, human.  Unlike the others of my kind, I see potential in your species, and you in particular.  I can help when your...special ability...surfaces itself.  Worry not human, I will not relay your secret to others.  If you want others to know, then that is your prerogative."

"Prescylla...may I call you Prescylla?"

Prescylla nodded.

"Though I am grateful for the fact you are willing to keep my condition under the lid, I am still baffled as to why you would alert me that you know.  Not to sound rude, but I sense an ulterior motive here."  The human crossed his arms again, his voice almost accusatory.

"Maybe there is.  Or maybe I'm just altruistic and wish to help you carry this burden." Prescylla grinned, showing her white teeth.  "That is for you to decide.  You can be suspicious of me all you want human, but what I intend to do will never change."

With that, she poked him in the chest once more playfully with her tail and turned to the entrance of the Temple.

"Come along." She said.  "Let's go find the others."

Holt watched her go out the doors while he remained rooted to the spot, head filled to bursting on what just happened.  

"This place is really fucking weird..." he muttered to himself, following the High Priestess out the door.  The steel door slowly sealed the entrance and the blue inferno blazed out.