The Dragon Scales, #2
Emberclaw
by L. R. Lam
Contents
32. Sorin: The Hunting Lodge
Overview
Sorin, Arcady, Willem, Edin, and Professor Hayden depart Vatra by horseless carriage and reach the Ansels’ lavish hunting lodge. Sar Kesia Ansel leaves for tense Jask diplomacy while Hayden decides to accompany the students, complicating Arcady’s plan to search Hayden’s work. The estate’s opulence underscores Willem’s privilege, and on the eve of the longest night, Sorin commits to probing Arcady’s secrets.
Summary
Sar Kesia Ansel sees the group off in winter cold as a horseless carriage is prepared. Sorin notes the expense and rarity of such travel, and even Edin is impressed. Sar Ansel departs for the coast to address a Jaskian crisis, signaling heightened tensions over dragon relics. Professor Hayden, pregnant, chooses to accompany the students to the lodge, assuring minimal intrusion.
Willem jokes with Sar Ansel about past mischief, and Hayden and Sar Ansel share a tender farewell that leaves Sorin looking away. Arcady offers quick thanks, masking clear disappointment; Sorin infers Arcady had planned to search Hayden’s research at the lodge, now complicated by Hayden’s presence.
The carriage speeds along the Royal Road, wyverns circling overhead. Conversation remains light. Sorin, still recovering from Elixir aftereffects, observes Edin’s poised promise and influence. Hayden dozes; Sorin briefly follows suit as forests replace city views.
They arrive by mid-afternoon to a “lodge” revealed as a sprawling cliff-top estate of towers and turrets. Inside, immaculate halls display Ansel wealth: antler chandeliers, hunting trophies, and stern ancestral portraits. Hayden excuses Themself to rest, but faint laboratory sounds soon suggest work continues, catching Arcady’s attention.
Settled into lavish rooms, Sorin changes into priest robes as darkness thickens earlier in the forest than in Vatra. On the night before the longest night—a time of remembrance and resolve—Sorin decides to spend the coming days uncovering Arcady Dalca’s secrets, aware that Hayden’s presence and Jask’s pressure raise the stakes.
Who Appears
- SorinPoint-of-view; travels to the Ansel lodge, observes tensions, and resolves to uncover Arcady’s secrets.
- Professor HaydenPregnant professor joins the trip, plans to work privately, inadvertently hindering Arcady’s research search.
- Willem AnselHost and heir to vast wealth; guides friends through the opulent lodge and jokes about past antics.
- Arcady DalcaDetermined but uneasy; planned to hunt Hayden’s research, now constrained by Hayden’s unexpected presence.
- EdinComposed, respected student; travels with the group and impresses even in silence and observation.
- Sar Kesia AnselWillem’s parent; sees them off, heads to manage tense Jask diplomacy, signaling broader political stakes.