...The Dragon and The Princess...
I jolt myself awake in the early hours as dawn begins to
crack the world. My subconscious has spoken in the shadows of my dreams and
revealed that which I failed to realize. The magic that has held me here is
absent. It is gone. It is the emptiness I now feel. Perhaps the touch of my
Lily has distracted me from knowing the truth. Am I wrong? I close my eyes
tightly as I reach out to probe into the depths of Whitehall. My steps are
hesitant as I begin to lose all hope. How long has my prize lay dormant? Surely
I would have felt its absence before. And the king, he would certainly begin to
lose hold of his life.
My thoughts begin to explore the passages as I find my way
down to the main hall. Whitehall is virtually empty as Sol begins to crest the
edge of the world. I have not made this journey in decades. To do so was only
be torture; to see my prize and not possess it. I as enter the hall I come to
rest above my prize. The chamber is empty save for its cage. I look upon it
with sadness as I feel no presence, no magics that should reside within. I
close my eyes in my chamber as the tears begin to roll down my face. My prize is
dead, the life it once possessed usurped by another. My world has crumbled.
I feel the sadness begin to fade and it is quickly replaced
by anger. My life has been nothing more than a wasted breath. I feel the heat
begin to build within my soul for the first time almost in memory. It isn’t
anger! It is rage! It is a burning desire to free myself from my prison, to
roam the skies as only a dragon is able. It is what I am.
I push myself back against the ancient stones and feel their
coarseness against my back. It is a wall that has held me too long. I look above
at the timbers that are my gate to the heavens. They will falter as the stones
below them tumble to the ground. My surge is instant as the fire from my mouth
shatters the stones across from me, the walls exploding as their bright red
shards plummet to the ground. I kick once at the remaining stones and they fall
away as easily as dead leaves in a windstorm. The sun bursts across the heavens
at that instant as her light fills the world outside my opening with all the
colors of the rainbow.
Within the blink of an eye I am airborne, the soreness of my
muscles a distant memory. I am free, free to escape to lands not thought of by
this place, but I have one thought that pulls me back; Lily. I will not let her
become captive as I have lived. My anger again builds as I turn back toward the
towering spires of Whitehall. I see the fires below my turret spreading across
the dry landscape as the flames lap at the outer walls. It is not dragon’s
fire, but it will leave its mark, as will I.
The air rushes past my fame as I bear down on the other towers.
I vow they will not stand another day. A dragon’s fire that Whitehall has never
seen surges from my throat and within minutes nearly everything that has held
me against my will is in flames. From above I see the king’s men running in all
directions. They look like ants. They are in chaos. I see the north tower
topple falling inward upon the main hall opening a fissure through the roof.
The red clay roof tiles fill the floor like sand, scattering in all directions
as they hit the floor. I bring myself to a stop and as I look down into the
hall I lock eyes with the king. He stands below me with his fists pushed
upward, his staff in his right hand, yet he is powerless before me. He holds my
prize no longer. I hear his voice challenge me before I begin to turn away.
“Nivä! I will destroy your egg!” he bellows.
“You have already accomplished that,” I yell in reply. “My
prize is dead and soon you shall be as well! I will be your toy no longer!” I scream
at him.
I hear the anguish and rage in his voice. That which he
holds so dear in his heart is in flames around him. He now commands nothing
more than a burning mausoleum for it will be his grave, the magics he stole
will end his life. He has only one thing left and I will now take that from
him.
I veer away and arc toward that tower that held me prisoner
for it has one I shall not forsake. It is the only tower left standing on the
corners of Whitehall yet its side is blistered with dragon’s fire. I see my
child standing at the opening of her chamber. She is afraid; she is crying as
her hands wrap around the stone sill. She lifts her arms in my direction and as
I extend my thoughts she blinks in recognition. ‘Stand away’ I command her and
she disappears from the opening. I dive into the stone letting my wing slash
through the mortar as a knife through a carcass. The stones give way falling to
the ground below. I turn and spy her as she runs to the opening. She is calling
my name and it brings a smile to my face.
I feel the updraft of the airs as the flames climb up the
stone walls as I bring myself beside the opening. She is still afraid but she
is strong. There is a strength within her I could never have imagined. My wing
extended she touches me for the first time and I feel her skin upon my rough
exterior. It is a softness I have never felt the like of and I feel her heart
beating in unison with my own.
I push away from the ancient stones that held us prisoner as
we climb into the skies of a new day as sunlight fills the world with all its
glory. I feel the touch of a child around my neck as we leave a world of
torture and despair behind never again to look back upon, never again to
return. There is one now who rides a dragon above the world, a rider that has
not been seen in an age. She is a dragon rider, and we are free.
The End
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