《The Zodians - Book 1: The Outlander》New World Order - Chapter 20: Blood for Blood
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They all left the heavy round table and moved to another location. Also below the ruins, the Chamber of Dragon is the place Jon believes can prove Dannish is the right man to become the new Emperor. Together, the men removed the broken walls, the mounds of stone and the interlaced iron bars that covered it. After a while with a lot of strength and sweat, what stood before them was a round stone gate lying on the ground. It was the entrance to the famous Chamber of Dragon that they never thought they'd have the chance to face.
According to records and oral traditions, this is the resting place of Fredeiryn the Stormborn Dragon. It was the same dragon that Sandler the Great rode during his conquest. Then the prosperous days ended, Fredeiryn grew old and died. At the position where it lay in the last moments formed a large pit. A mysterious red liquid was released from Fredeiryn's body. Sandler the Great, mourning Fredeiryn, decided to move the capital here and build the Holy Palace of Glamgmar. That liquid layer with a miracle, has not evaporated even after countless years. Now, hidden deep inside that fluid is Fredeiryn's skeleton. Besides, many folk tales have been passed down from generation to generation. That, that Dragon Blood carries a mysterious energy source. For thousands of years, members of the Royal Family were given strength by the Dragon Blood. As long as the Dragon bloodline is present, the prosperity of the nation will last forever. And time has proven it. When Lapunta destroyed the entire Jaspien Royal linage, the Dragon's Blood Chamber became dry.
Today, Dannish will have to prove himself worthy to be the Emperor of Arglohandre. What is he worried about? Yes. If he said that being an Emperor didn't interest him, that would be the most obvious lie. But what if he is not the right person? He did not know that he is even a descent. The Dragon's Blood Chamber brings power, and it wouldn't be surprising if it required another great sacrifice. Jon and Reind spoke as if everything was in order, but Dan alone didn't see it that way. As if it were a gamble. And he is betting everything to find out if he will win this time, or lose all!
The problem suddenly arose. How to open this stone gate? After brushing off the layer of stone dust on the surface, the gate clearly shows the delicate, but extremely difficult to understand sculptural details. The lines are extremely squiggly and do not seem to connect with each other at all. The round gate is made up of other smaller round stone sculptures, forming a large picture. The special thing is, when rotating the small circles, left or right, a circle or many circles, according to a rule or not according to a rule, they all create different drawings. These images can be a clear shape, or it can be an abstract image with random lines. None of them understood the structure of this gate. The only thing they were sure of, was that the gate would open if they found the correct shape. But which picture is correct, they still don't know.
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Reind nudged his son's hand and asked:
“How do I open it?”
Jon just calmly replied, without a trace of worry on his face:
"Isn't this the tomb of the Dragon?"
They all looked at each other suspiciously. Jon's words made them think of something in their heads, but they still couldn't understand it. Looks like Robert is about to find the answer. He kept repeating Jon's words over and over in his head. Once not, twice. Twice and it still doesn't work, the third time. I don't know how long Robert ended up repeating. All I know is that after a while, Robert suddenly shouted:
“Dragon's tomb... It's a Dragon shape!"
Everyone looked at Robert in astonishment, only Jon standing there with a smile on his face, as if implicitly affirming Robert was right. Robert explains:
“The dragon is the image that we need to form. Tomb of the Dragon, even the name says it."
Reind nodded in agreement.
“We quickly opened it.”
Simultaneously, the group of people frantically turned the bricks to open the door. A series of attempts were made, but this was clearly not an easy thing to do. They don't know where to start. Millions of possible trials make this mission almost impossible. Soon, they were almost exhausted.
“We need to know where to start,” Edelain said, frowning.
Once again, they returned to the state of thought. What should they do? Damned! Things are getting more confusing than ever. They were so used to using swords to fight, these things, they really couldn't brainstorm.
“This door…” Dannish muttered.
"What's wrong?" Robert asked, looking up.
“Do you see it as a watch face?” Dannish said incredulously.
At this point, the group stopped for a moment to consider. In the outermost part of the door there are twelve small circles. Is it illustrating the twelve hours of a day? The group stared at Dannish in silence, as if something had changed in the way they viewed the young man. Robert nodded slightly, then turned to find Finn standing nearby and asked:
“Do you remember when Fredeiryn died?”
"At eleven in the morning, my lord," Finn replied quickly.
"Then, if you consider the position at 0 exactly in the North...", Robert looked around the entire gate. He placed his hand on the circle that coincided with the eleventh hour position according to his calculations. “So this is the starting point.”
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As if they had found the direction for that difficult sentence, they once again frantically turned the stone circles. The sky was slowly turning a bit darker, and Victoria stood to one side with a worried look on her face. A miracle has appeared. An elaborate dragon figure appeared right before their eyes. The ground around him suddenly turned violently. The stone gate suddenly fragmented into pieces and disappeared, revealing a staircase going down below. They succeeded! As it turns out, the legendary Dragon's Blood Chamber is like this. Never in all these years have they dared to dream and step into this place, but it has come true! It is true that life is full of surprises!
They walked down the narrow stairs one by one and went inside. Below was more precisely a dark basement, and right in the middle there was a large tank. That is where Fredeiryn rests. Finn was assigned the task of fetching the torch. The skeleton of the dragon appeared in the light of the mighty fire. It lay deep inside the dried up tank. From this point on, the real thing begins.
Jon stepped out, glanced at them all, then said:
“Here, we will find out whether he is a worthy Emperor or not!”
"How?" Robert asked suspiciously.
“Blood for blood!” Jon said calmly, as if it were no big deal.
The whole room became silent. Fear was evident on their faces. And perhaps, the one who was most surprised to hear that, was none other than Dannish.
---
Dannish was ordered to step into the cistern with no clothes on. He carried a knife with him. Everyone above stood nervously watching. Victoria hugged the boy tightly, fearfully asking:
“Is there no other way to prove it? Why should it always be one's own life?"
"That's how the Gods work, Mother," Jon said quietly. "Everybody has to sacrifice…"
Below, Dannish felt his blood gallop in every fiber of his body. He took the knife with some trembling. He drew in a breath to stiffen himself. As if he had finished his own thought work, Dannish dragged the tip of the knife and made a long slit across both of his palms. The tip of the knife only needs to be lightly inserted to create a deep cut on his hand, although it is not painful, it stings to the bone marrow. Blood gushed out from the mouth of the cut like tears. Dannish dropped the knife. The tip of the knife pierced the stone face and then bounced off to create a deafening sound. Then, Dannish touched the skeleton with his bloody palms. And then what? No more after that, just waiting. Dannish, Reind or whoever was in that room, could only wait and expect something magical.
At first, everything was fine with Dan and nothing changed. But after a while, Dannish began to feel a slight change in his body. He felt like he lost his balance. His head hurt like a hammer, and the scene before him suddenly shifted even though they couldn't move. Dannish became dizzy, probably from the excessive blood loss. He struggled until he couldn't take it anymore and collapsed. Before he completely passed out, all he was aware of were crunching sounds and blurry images.
Edelain showed impatience in the process, and so did a few others, except for Robert and the genuinely attentive Reind family. Lord Edelain frowned and asked:
“Why are we wasting our time like this?”
“Because you asked for it, right?” Reind replied annoyed.
Edelain snorted, but kept silent because he couldn't say anything. Wait, wait, and wait, he really wants to see what the boy can do. At most, one more skeleton is in that hole!
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