Welcome to the board, Iddylion!!!
Thanks for the compliments on the tone of the boards here! We're very proud that we're a friendly and helpful place!
DRAGON SHARDS:
You'd like an easy answer, I'm sure, but the fact is that the shards are not always in the same locations except for the one behind the boulders.
Places where they usually show up are: in the area where you fight the Spider Queen, in the hidden ravine - there is a ramp with lava on one side, behind the lava is a chest that folks often miss. I've found a shard very early in the Spire as well and sometimes in a chest at the bottom of the first river - forget the monster but looks like a big scorpion. Hope that will get you on track BUT
you are going to have to go back and complete the Castle to be able to proceed here.
In the Castle, were you collecting the 5 evil elements? Do you have the Masque of Evil from the Serpent Temple? You are going to need all of those to defeat the demon in the Castle.
Good Luck!!
Wyv