Chapter 73: The Vulcan Estate
BWOOOOOOOM!!
The sound of a horn cut through the tension as the carriage passed through the gate.
Raika was the first to react, turning her attention to the carriage window, Alaric following suit.
Engrossed in the moment, he hadn’t noticed the bridge behind them. He’d missed the moment the carriage wheels stopped rolling on gravel and started on stone.
His eyes sparkled as they reflected the massive lake behind them, mouth slightly ajar in bewilderment.
A lake stood behind them, clear like the very air above, if not for the occasional waves and refraction of the brilliance of the sun, one might think the bridge was built atop nothing.
An obsidian lake bed floored the clear lake, pulsating with life, as orange veins of molten rock lined it like the network of a leaf, brilliant and beautiful.
He looked in awe, a childlike wonder in his eyes, as he noticed a creature, no, several creatures swimming in this clear lake, their shadows cast upon the lake floor as if they flew in the air.
Fire salamanders, different shades of glowing red, moved unbothered in the lake that was sure to be a few degrees hot considering the molten network underneath it.
Thermophilic algae and other aquatic flora lined the lake bed like coral reefs. Several fish, or at least they looked as such, huddled around them.
BOOOOOM!! BOOOOOM!!
Two explosions rang simultaneously.
Alaric turned sharply to the source, afraid another attack was incoming.
"They are doing too much." Raika shook her head in annoyance.
Alaric turned to her. "You know what it is," he said, pointing at the giant columns of water rising on both sides of them, like the aftermath of underwater explosions, towering into the sky
" ... " Raika nodded, rubbing her brows in irritation, she hated grand shows.
Alaric relaxed his guard as he looked closely at the column of water.
Underneath them was blazing orange magma, sourced from the two giant volcanoes beneath them.
As the water fell, he noticed warriors covered in black light armor floating above the lake, flames shooting down from their feet as they kept themselves afloat.
As their gazes met, the warriors bowed midair.
"Is that a welcome..." Alaric thought.
As the Thunder Princess arrived, a little show was made to welcome her and her son.
They hadn’t been home for seven years now after all.
Aiden wasn’t here but this was the least they could do.
"Wow..." Alaric couldn’t help but be impressed, the carriage coming to a stop at the main estate.
Situated at the centre of the lake.
"A hill," Alaric thought as he stepped out of the carriage, craning his neck to look at the grand building before him. For comparison, he turned, noticing the clear lake behind him, a bit on the lower ground.
The Vulcan estate stood atop not a hill as he had assumed, but a dormant volcano, the black soil underneath his shoes proof.
"Welcome, Your Highness and Young Master..." Several maids and guards clad in black bowed to them.
"It’s good to be back." Raika replied with a smile, Alaric a bit surprised.
He thought, as usual, she would snob them, but it seemed one’s attitude at home is always different from outside.
"This is your home, Alaric." Raika smiled as she pointed to the castle before him, surrounded by numerous mansions and manors.
Seven years ago, when he departed from here, his little body had given him a small field of view and thus couldn’t really see the grandiose nature of the Vulcan Household.
He didn’t even know they were surrounded by a lake, but now, after seven years, he finally had a full view of his home, no longer limited by the small glimpse he could see through the carriage window back then.
The main estate sat at the very peak, carved as much as it was built with dark volcanic stone, shaped into a Schloss Drachenburg-style castle, blending flawlessly into the mountain.
The left and right wings stood slightly lower than the main estate, yet lost nothing in elegance.
Several firelights glowed behind hundreds of narrow windows, gold against the black rock, and banners bearing the Vulcan crest hung atop the edges, dancing to the rhythm of the wind.
Alaric’s gaze halted at the lone flag at the apex of the castle, gently swaying in the wind.
Heavy black cloth stitched with a crest he hadn’t seen before in both lives.
Surprisingly, none of the Vulcan soldiers he’d met had the emblem, only insignia showing their rank.
His gaze locked onto its magnificence.
Two jagged peaks rose from the base of the emblem, angled inward until they nearly met, weaved so deeply they looked torn rather than drawn. Orange fissures lined the features of the peaks like veins of a volcano, radiating their own light that could be seen even in the golden brilliance of the sun.
Between the jagged peaks, where they failed to close, sat a majestic volcano, an eruption frozen mid-breath.
A crimson backdrop to the abyss-like background of the flag.
The fissures ran across the field, pulsating like real lava, seemingly refusing to cool.
The Dominus bore wings and Brigid bore blossoms, but Vulcan bore raw power, the power of an erupting volcano.
"You like it..." Raika tugged at her son’s shoulder as she noticed him staring.
"The Raijin flag is better." She stated.
"Better than this..." Alaric voiced his thoughts involuntarily, quickly covering his mouth. His gaze slowly turned to his mother.
"Yes, better than this. I will show you before you leave for the academy." Raika stomped her feet in exasperation.
"I haven’t seen it yet but I am.."
"LADY RAIKA!"
Alaric paused mid-soothing words, his attention turning toward the interruption.
Raika and even the maids turned to it.
It was rare for anyone to shout like this in the estate. Even the maids were nobles and thus wouldn’t do something so uncivil.
Running across the well-manicured lawns of green, blue, and crimson was Heather, eyes swollen with tears, those tears running through her makeup as trails of multicoloured lines marked her cheeks.
The maids and guards involuntarily raised their brows in shock.
What could have made the first daughter of the Vulcan Household cry?
Raika flashed forward, lightning crackling in her wake.
In a blink, she stood before Heather.
"Heather, what is wrong?"