Chapter 5

The carriages carrying the women moved swiftly towards the castle, the thunder of horses hooves resonating as they galloped to their destination.

Upon arrival, the carriages were parked, and the women stepped down and were quickly ushered into the castle where the dragons awaited.

Tension, nerves, and fear filled the air as the ladies faced their uncertain futures, whispering as they were asked to wait.

More than two hundred women gathered ladies were hushed when they saw their princess joining the line as well.

‘’Ella, I’m so nervous,’’ Mary whispered in Ariella’s ears, her voice shaking slightly. She had always waited for this day, but now the day was here, she grew more nervous and afraid of the unknown.

Ariella didn’t offer words to soothe Mary’s fear, she too was uncertain about their futures, though otherworldly she was her usual calm.

Liora left immediately to go to her high-born friends; the crowds had a subtle class differentiation. The nobles stayed on one side, with the merchants and commoners on another group.

Suddenly, the whispers ceased, and Ariella could see three burning auras; they held such intensity that she broke out in cold sweat. The others could only see three tall handsome men. They flushed, seeing their bare upper bodies; they walked with a silent power of dangerous predators.

The three men's aura softened, not wanting to scare the brides. In their realm, they treasured women; no dragon, whether noble or normal dragon, would disrespect women. They were the head of the family of every triad dragon.

‘’Brides, we triad are called, Hunter, Grey and Damien. We are your escort to the dragon realm.’’ The grey-eyed man introduced himself and his triad.

His deep, calm voice echoed through the room, making some girls blush and feeling tingles crawl down their spines. ’’But first, we have to go through the test again. Pardon me.’’

Before the ladies could understand what he meant, the three dragons released their dragons' breath, covering the room with potent energy which hummed in the air. If any male and female without dragon energy resistance were here, they would bleed profusely from all their senses and, in the worst case, die.

Ariella watched their auras forming into enormous beasts covering everywhere, and she frowned with confusion at what their actions met; instantly, as the aura released, it retracted. And the air turned lighter, and the three men were glad to see none of the brides reacted to their dragon's breath.

‘’You all passed; we will be leaving now; the journey is far.’’ Grey, the head of their triad, informed the brides. He motioned them to follow him outside. Ariella was grateful she gave out her dog at the last minute, or he might have died. Her black blind stick tapped the floor as she followed the crowd. Hunter noticed she was blind and hung a few feet away from her to help in case she needed it.

Mary had forgotten her friend, after being swept away from the crowd of ladies heading outside, Ariella had to follow last, not wanting to be caught in the crowd.

When she went outside, she felt the air freeze and saw sips of fear from the women's auras and felt confused until her eyes landed on the enormous aura, which was shaped in the form of a clawed monster.

Shrieks of fear left some of the women's lips; they couldn’t believe they would have to climb on this beast back to go to the dragon realm. Some were exaggerated and dropped in a faint.

‘’Apologies brides. We swear on our dragon’s heart we won’t hurt a hair on your body. This is our true form.’’ Hunter said in a soft tone, trying to suit their fears, which worked for some but their bodies were still trembling when they were helped up on Grey’s dragon form.

Some bold ones curiously tailed their hands off the scales and retracted their hand immediately when they felt the coldness from it. While some of them shut their eyes tightly, the fainted ones were laid gently.

The dragon was so huge it contained two hundred females, with enough space to spare. Grey blew out a potent invisible dragon energy from his mouth, covering the females on his back, it formed an invisible dome around them, protecting them securely against wind and flying creatures.

On Damien’s dragon’s back, their belonging was placed. Only Hunter had nothing on his. They beat their wings, covering everywhere with sand and dust; three dragons took to the sky, and some women moved, peered down and watched their kingdom turn small from such height.

Mary had finally seen Ariella and moved fearfully towards her; Mary's heart was beating loudly in her chest, her imagination running wild. Picturing all of them falling from the sky straight down, she shook her head and quickly shut her eyes to remove those horrible thoughts from her mind.

‘’Ella, I’m envious of you at this moment,’’ Mary commented carelessly, feeling her friend couldn’t see a huge dragon and such fear-inducing height. Not knowing Ariella's heart was soaked in happiness at seeing the cloud's aura closely, she could see blue smoke floating by, and she watched happily, her hands stretched out to touch one of them, but she couldn’t, being they were far away but looked closer plus the dome around them made it impossible.

She retracted her hands in disappointment before facing Mary. ‘’How would the dragon realm look like.’’

Mary said, making a thinking sound under her breathe before she continued dishing out her absurd idea to Ariella, ‘’Maybe they live in the cloud, imaging everywhere covered in white or they live in the sea-‘’

Ariella sighed helplessly, ‘’Stop with your wild thoughts; when we get there, you will find out.’’ She couldn’t help but interrupt Mary before she said they leave on the moon next.

Selina, the third princess of Elyndor's kingdom, looked at her competitors riding with her and wasn’t pressured in any way. The ones that would give her more pressure were the other princesses of other kingdoms. Her father had gotten firsthand information from the Dragons, their kings were choosing a bride this year. ‘I must become their queen.’ she thought, her eyes filled with ambition and determination.

‘’Your Highness, do you have an idea where we are going?’’ A brown-haired woman asked quietly, hoping the princess might have information. Selina faced the woman with a calm gentle smile, ‘’I don’t know as well. I am just as clueless as you.’’ Her gentle voice floated into the ears of others who were secretly listening in.