For us, it was a bit more complicated process, as we first had to pull our eyes almost glued to all the splendor. The ceiling covered with a gigantic art showcasing so battle with skyships flowing through the air, and troops on the ground charging at one another with battle cries on their alien faces and weapons in their hands was sothing that grabbed my attention. It was like a piece of art from Earth's dieval tis, but here it was sothing straight from SF movies.
So of the soldiers had familiar energetic weapons, other just guns. All of it lighted up with familiar levitating blue crystals providing light for the whole hall, surrounded by the swarm of smaller ones, slowly drifting around.
There were also statues in many alcoves all around the whole hall. They clearly were so warriors, or maybe so other important figures of the empire who got recognized enough to be bestowed with such an honor.
- Those are the mightiest warriors of the whole empire - said Ashal Kal Anur.
He didn't even have to look over his shoulder to know that we were looking at those. He simply kept walking through the pathway displayed on the grey plates covering the floor. It was made of golden symbols embedded in the stone under our feet and was leading all the way to the throne, and connecting with many similar ones, leading to all the doors in the hall.
Then he greeted the soldiers in the hall, with the sa words he spoke previously. All of them responded going down on a single knee.
We slowly passed through the whole area. Us, humans, with our heads glued to the art, and heads of newborn babies just going left and right in an attempt of consuming all of the incredible views.
I can't even tell how we got to the pathway leading us out of the hall. It felt like a blink of an eye. We just suddenly were inside a corridor decorated with art pieces on the walls, alien plants in pots, and an occasional guard, just standing on duty.
There was a single line on the ceiling, bright white, illuminating it all.
Each guard reacted in the sa manner to every other one, and Ashal Kal Anur greeted them with proper words as we passed by. A bit deeper we started encountering aliens of different races, walking with intent, carrying so devices in their hands.
I noticed a few Calludins among them. They all simply bowed to the imperial official who seed to ignore them, with few exceptions, when he simply nodded, acknowledging so personas.
-Lower status imperial officials - Katri Xel Avakadaisu explained.
For it was strange they didn't greet each other, so I asked her about that.
- Why are they just nodding? Is there so competition between them? - I whispered.
- Ashal Kal Anur is on a mission involving High Queen herself, so they do not dare to stop him in any way - she explained. - The ti of the High Queen is too valuable.
For , the whole concept of that was kinda funny, but I kept my face straight with the warning from the imperial official himself in my mind. It was better to just accept what we were seeing, than question it and cause unnecessary trouble. Not to ntion the simple fact that I just wanted to get this over with. I wanted to return to my life, to my mother, to Tihana. I wanted to go hiking with Will and separate my mind from all the trouble.
We reached another room, with guards and more people, just to pass through it. The aliens even were getting out of our way, as Ashal Kal Anur walked in the front with intent.
In the end, I can't say how many more we passed through, and how many stairs we climbed, but it definitely was a lot.
And then we finally reached our destination. It was half a hall, and half an open space, or maybe I should just call it a terrace of so kind?
It was a long space made out of white stone with faint veins of sliver, with archways on both left and right sides allowing us to see the whole splendor of the Sky Palace down below, and the clouds surrounding us. The ceiling, although it was not a proper one, still existed and was made from constantly moving small blue shards. Providing feint light which was almost completely consud by stronger one from the local star above.
It was like a blue, ever-moving field. Shimring slightly. Quite a fascinating thing to see.
But the most important thing was ahead of us. A construction that looked like black vines climbing its way a few ters above the floor level, forming a staircase, leading to a point where they were combining into a proper throne with a massive blue crystal coming from the groud itself right next to it.
And on the throne was her, surrounded by many silent officials, the High Queen herself. A tall woman of pale-gray skin, wearing a long black dress, with a silver crown on her head enveloping mos of her head, and turning into sothing I can only compare to the roots of a tree. Many intertwined, twisted almost needles spreading into sothing which could easily be called a dead three crown.
It was so massive that there was simply no way her thin neck could support such a massive weight, and yet it was.
The queen's limbs were long, and thin, like just bones covered with skin, hidden under the blackness of her dress, which was so long, it was completely covering her feet. The long fingers hidden under silver claws covered her whole hands, resting on the arm supports of her throne. It all was giving a grotesque image which was quite misleading to the intel we received so far about her.
She was to be so supre being, not his strange creature, which looked so fragile that even wind could break her, and yet she was sitting there with their head rose high.
She was not looking at us, but rather on the crystal on her right, so all we could see was her profile.
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