The Adventures of Draikin and the Light Faerie

     The trip to Darigan Citadel was like nothing Draikin had ever experienced. Once Illusen had made up her mind to help him, she wasted no time. The lovely earth faerie simply took him by the hand and took off!

     At first, the ixi prince felt he was simply hanging behind her like a dead weight, and watching Meridell, Brightvale and all of Neopia growing smaller beneath him was a terrifying sight. But after a bit he found himself sensing when she caught a gust of wind just so. Then he noticed how she rode the sunbeams at times, almost as though she were surfing on them. And little by little, Draikin felt himself copying her movements. He was without her gossamer wings of course, and still holding her hand, but he felt himself less of a dead weight, and began skimming along beside her more easily. The receding land below became more amazing and beautiful than it was terrifying, and at last he felt that even if she were to let him go he could fly. Illusen noticed the change and looked over at him and smiled. Draikin grinned back at her, and as he did a shadow fell over both of them.

     He had not realized how close they were. The dark spectre of Darigan Citadel loomed ahead of them, blotting out the sun. Craggy brown stalactite jutted ominously from the bottom of the citadel, but the top was even more frightful. The perimeter of the city was a wall of dark stone of a murky indistinct colour. But at the top of the wall, instead of the usual battlements were what appeared to be black claws or fangs, jutting menacingly from the top. Illusen heard him gasp and squeezed his hand reassuringly as the two of them soared up and over the wall.

     Beyond the walls the city was the same depressing and dingy brown of the jutting rock beneath. Small dark buildings littered the landscape, made from the same murky stone as the wall, but Draikin saw none of that. He was staring open mouthed at the looming castle where Illusen was headed.

     Bleak, ominous and dark, the castle was larger than any Draikin had seen. And as though the castle itself were somehow alive, dark spires and towers rose in a confused bramble. Everywhere there would normally be battlements, there were the same menacing claws, rising up instead. Even the path that led to the door was lined with those black, shining talons.

     It was on this path that Illusen landed, still holding Draikin’s hand.

     “Here you are,” she said to him, smiling gently. Draikin looked at her, frightened.

     “You wanted to come, remember?” she chided him gently. He turned and looked again at the castle.

          “Yes, I wanted to come.”

     “Good luck, Draikin.” She said, “If you’re ever near my glade again, I hope you’ll come and see me.” Draikin turned to her again,

     “I would be honoured,” he nodded. Remembering his manners, he stepped forward, taking her hand, “Thank you, Illusen. I couldn’t have made it here without you.” The pretty earth faerie smiled down at him.

     “No, I suppose you couldn’t have!” She squeezed his hoof, “Fare well, my friend.”

     And with that, she released his hand and with a flick of her wings, rose again into the sky and away, soaring back over the ominous claws of the dark stone wall the way they had come.

     Draikin watched her go and then turned to face the towering, gloomy castle. Taking his hat off and gripping it tightly in both hands, he started up the path between the massive black claws that arched menacingly almost over his head. As he neared the heavy wooden door, which was nearly twice his height, he heard a loud creeeeeeeeeak and stopped in his tracks. Slowly, the door began to open, revealing nothing but darkness within. Taking a deep breath, Draikin straightened his shoulders and continued to walk towards the yawning door.

     As he approached, a form emerged from the gaping darkness. Slowly, out of the black, stepped the most ferocious creature Draikin had ever seen. It was a blood red Darigan Grarrl. He was dressed in black armour that did not shine but seemed to draw the darkness into itself. His deep red face was grim and his eyes peering out of the darkness were a brighter, fiery red as they bored down at the young Ixi prince.

     “I….” Draikin stammered up at the black clad Darigan creature, but the evil-looking Grarrl said nothing. “I am Draikin Blackfawn of Meridell,” the young ixi said and gulped, staring up into the burning red eyes. The grarrl’s curling tentacle-like whiskers twitched, but he still said nothing. “I am here to see the light faerie, Ciara.”

     The Grarrl glared down at him for a moment. Then he turned and stepped back into the darkness of the doorway. Looking back over one black armored shoulder he gestured for Draikin to follow him.

     The moment the door behind them, Draikin was in a darkness so vast that he could barely make out the shape of his companion. There was also a low murmuring whisper coming from above him, as though the air itself was alive. The Grarrl still said nothing, paying no attention to the dismay of his guest. Draikin followed him so closely that they were almost touching, afraid of losing his way in the dark. His eyes began to adjust to the lack of light just as they began to climb a wide staircase in the vaulted entry hall. Draikin steadied his heart, gripping the cold black stone of the banister as he followed his silent companion up and up. The murmuring seemed to grow louder as they climbed.

     Suddenly, in the darkness he saw a hideous face, glowering down at him with wide jaws and a lolling tongue. Draikin shouted, jumping back and almost falling backwards down the stairs. But the figure remained still. He blinked and realized that it was merely a gargoyle of a Darigan Skeith, standing at the top of the staircase, and that another, stood on the opposite side of the stairs. The red Darigan Grarrl was looking at him curiously, his whiskers twitching. Draikin nodded that he was ok, and the Grarrl turned and started forward again.

     Now that his eyes had adjusted, Draikin looked up to where the murmuring was coming from, thinking he saw shapes moving on the vaulted ceiling above him. Focusing intently, he gasped again as he realized that there were creatures up there! All different manner of Darigan Pets were hanging upside down from the ceiling, like enormous Korbats. They were speaking to one another quietly. Many were looking down at him with their fiery red eyes, but several were simply taking a light lunch together at a table which was stuck upside down on the ceiling. Draikin gulped and scurried to catch up to the Grarrl, who was just going through an arched doorway.

     When he stepped into the room, he was surprised at how light it seemed, though there were no windows. The black stone that made up so much of the citadel was bricked here against a deep purple stone that appeared to glow slightly, so that the entire room was lit by their light. He was so taken with the strange and somehow beautiful dark light that he almost didn’t notice the tall, dark figure that stood by a table near the center of the room, until it turned.

     Lord Darigan stood before him. The long black cloak he wore trailed the floor to pool around his feet but could not diminish his height. Unlike the other Darigan creatures, his eyes were a fiery gold as they stared down at the small Ixi prince from a stern, grey face that looked almost sad.

     “Why have you come?” The words were spoken quietly, and Draikin found himself sighing in relief. Though imposing and almost frightening to behold, Lord Darigan did not seem entirely evil to him.

     “Your Lordship,” Draikin bowed, “It is an honour to meet you. I am Draikin Blackfawn of the Merridell Ixis and I…I have come to see your ward, Ciara.”

     If Lord Darigan was surprised by this news, he did not show it. He looked calmly down at Draikin.

     “So you are the creature she has been going to visit.”

     “Yes, sir, I am,” Draikin said, taking of his hat and holding it in his hands. “She is my best friend.”

     The imposing Lord looked at him sternly. “Does your father know you’re here?”

     Draikin gulped. He had not anticipated the question. “No sir. I have come on my own.”

     Suddenly, the doors to Lord Darigan’s chamber flew open and a beautiful spray of light flooded in. Within seconds, Ciara was flying through the door.

     “Oh, Draikin! You’ve come! What are you doing here?” she cried, flying around him in a circle.

     “I have come to see you and take you back with me to Meridell” he said, grinning at her.

     “Ciara does not belong in Meridell, Draikin Blackfawn.” Lord Darigan said sternly. “It is not her home.”

     “It seems to me that Ciara belongs wherever she would be most happy.” Draikin spoke almost before he thought.

     Lord Darigan’s mouth curled up just slightly in a smile that was more like a grimace. But then he frowned again and turned to the light faerie.

     “Ciara, you are needed here,” he said. “The citadel is still rebuilding after the horror Lord Kass visited upon us. The Void has caused unprecedented horror across Neopia and we don’t know what malevolent forces will come next. You are safer here. And your presence has always cheered my people. You must stay in here in the citadel. Your friends must be Darigan friends. I want you to be happy my dear. But your happiness is not more important than the welfare of this city. If you both continue fighting me on this I will have no choice but to lock your young Ixi friend in the citadel dungeons.”

     “No!” Ciara cried, but suddenly, a thought came into Draikin’s head. It was a crazy thought. Completely insane. But it was the only thing he could think of.

     “Lord Darigan,” he said. “I have heard many tales of a game played in the Darigan dungeons, created by its famous warden, Master Vex.”

     “You speak of cellblock,” Lord Darigan nodded. “Master Vex enjoys torturing his prisoners by promising them their freedom if they are ever able to beat him. But no one ever has.”

     “So I have been told. Perhaps we might agree to a wager then, your Lordship?”

     “What is it you propose?”

     Draikin gulped and squeezed his cap in his hands. “I propose that you do send me to your dungeon and I will stay there—unless I can beat Master Vex at cellblock. But if I ever do beat him—you will allow Ciara to return to Meridell with me.”

     Lord Darigan began to chuckle and Ciara flew into the air again and darted around the little ixi, “Draikin, you can’t do that! You don’t even know how to play. You could be there for years—or forever!”

     “But Ciara, it is the only way,” Draikin said, looking up at his beautiful friend.

     “I agree!” Lord Darigan was still laughing as he answered. He turned to the red-armoured, silent Darigan Grarrl and Darigan Skeith standing beside Draikin. “Take him away.”

     The Grarrl’s huge, scaly paw landed on his arm, and as Ciara wept, the two guards carried the young prince down and down and down into the cold, black dungeons of the Citadel.

     To be continued…