BOOK ONE
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Flori had been right, the Queen could control the Star as Moriandra once had. “I don’t remember our times together,” it compelled the dragon to reveal. The Queen winced slightly at the sound of her voice.
“Ah. Interesting. What else don’t you remember? Never mind. Silly question. Here’s a better one: after I left, why did you stop attacking us?” Moriandra hesitated. “The truth,” the Queen said, and again the diamond glowed.
“After my encounter with you, I could no longer take dragon form. Not that it mattered, I no longer wished to attack anyone. Something put out that fire.”
“No no, it’s just in here now,” the Queen said, pointing to her noggin. “Until a moment ago, I didn’t understand it, but now…it’s like a shard of you was shoved into my head, and for 25 years you aggravated everything around you, trying to escape and take over, trying to hurt me, but I kept you in check, and today, finally, you stopped fighting me, and melted into my head like a lump of sugar in hot tea.” She breathed a lungful of serenity.
“How did I get in there though? How did you end up with my power?” the prisoner asked boldly. The Queen giggled.
“You gave it to me.” Moriandra could not believe this. “In the end, that’s how it happened. One can defend oneself against the North Star if one mentally prepares. It was quite the showdown. You gave up more than just your power, you know. I know you so well, now. You have no idea. Tell me, did you get anything of me?” The dragon shook her head, no. “That’s a shame. I would have liked this situation better if I found out that you had had my voice screaming in your ear for the last quarter-century. I did my best to hide it, but all that shouting made me…touchy. It…You almost drove me crazy, you know.”
“Almost?” Mo remarked dryly. The Queen smiled, and the North Star glowed.
“Did you ever use the North Star on my son?” Moriandra shook her head, no. “Did Sasha?” No. “Did Sasha cast a spell of any kind on him?” No. “Could she have been using the Star without you knowing?” No. “Who turned him against me? Answer!”
“No one did. He is in love,” the dragon-human stated with the transparent honesty of a child. A shadow crossed the Queen’s face.
“Come closer,” she said. North Star forced Moriandra to move towards the bars of her cell, bringing her face to face with her jailer. “You’re wrong,” she snapped. “He’s just weak, and she knows how to manipulate him.” Mo heard a sound like an orange being ripped open, and felt something slick run down her abdomen. She looked down to discover a dagger lodged in her stomach. She tried to move back, but the Queen held her at the bars, removed the knife and brought it to Mo’s neck. “Here’s a final question for you: which one of us is killing you?” Moriandra looked hard at her murderer’s eyes, recognized herself there, and then…the Queen slayed the Purple Dragon.
Outside the window, Cicero and Flori both suppressed the urge to scream.
“Ah. Interesting. What else don’t you remember? Never mind. Silly question. Here’s a better one: after I left, why did you stop attacking us?” Moriandra hesitated. “The truth,” the Queen said, and again the diamond glowed.
“After my encounter with you, I could no longer take dragon form. Not that it mattered, I no longer wished to attack anyone. Something put out that fire.”
“No no, it’s just in here now,” the Queen said, pointing to her noggin. “Until a moment ago, I didn’t understand it, but now…it’s like a shard of you was shoved into my head, and for 25 years you aggravated everything around you, trying to escape and take over, trying to hurt me, but I kept you in check, and today, finally, you stopped fighting me, and melted into my head like a lump of sugar in hot tea.” She breathed a lungful of serenity.
“How did I get in there though? How did you end up with my power?” the prisoner asked boldly. The Queen giggled.
“You gave it to me.” Moriandra could not believe this. “In the end, that’s how it happened. One can defend oneself against the North Star if one mentally prepares. It was quite the showdown. You gave up more than just your power, you know. I know you so well, now. You have no idea. Tell me, did you get anything of me?” The dragon shook her head, no. “That’s a shame. I would have liked this situation better if I found out that you had had my voice screaming in your ear for the last quarter-century. I did my best to hide it, but all that shouting made me…touchy. It…You almost drove me crazy, you know.”
“Almost?” Mo remarked dryly. The Queen smiled, and the North Star glowed.
“Did you ever use the North Star on my son?” Moriandra shook her head, no. “Did Sasha?” No. “Did Sasha cast a spell of any kind on him?” No. “Could she have been using the Star without you knowing?” No. “Who turned him against me? Answer!”
“No one did. He is in love,” the dragon-human stated with the transparent honesty of a child. A shadow crossed the Queen’s face.
“Come closer,” she said. North Star forced Moriandra to move towards the bars of her cell, bringing her face to face with her jailer. “You’re wrong,” she snapped. “He’s just weak, and she knows how to manipulate him.” Mo heard a sound like an orange being ripped open, and felt something slick run down her abdomen. She looked down to discover a dagger lodged in her stomach. She tried to move back, but the Queen held her at the bars, removed the knife and brought it to Mo’s neck. “Here’s a final question for you: which one of us is killing you?” Moriandra looked hard at her murderer’s eyes, recognized herself there, and then…the Queen slayed the Purple Dragon.
Outside the window, Cicero and Flori both suppressed the urge to scream.
The Story of the Princess and the Purple Dragon
The Princess awoke in what she knew to be the lair of the dragon. She checked her person for injuries and found plenty. The dragon had manhandled her quite a bit on their journey from the sacrificial alter. No bites had been taken out of her though…not yet anyway. She subtly looked around the room, trying to continue the appearance of unconsciousness, and saw the dragon on a couch across the room drinking a bottle of wine. The humanity of this behavior disgusted the Princess, and her staring caught the dragon’s eye. The Princess tensed.
“I’m not going to eat you,” the dragon slurred. “So you don’t need to worry.”
“Is it…,” the Princess said sitting up, “…because I’m not a virgin?”
“It’s because I prefer lamb, but congratulations, he must have been a lucky guy.”
“Oh, I thought--”
“Yes, I don’t know where that virgin sacrifice thing came from. As if I would care if my dinner had ever..." The dragon made a face. "Only flavor matters, and human does not appeal.”
“Why did you bring me here then?”
“If I hadn’t they would have just left you out there to starve.”
“Why would you care about that?”
“You’d rather starve?”
“I’d rather live,” the Princess answered. The dragon took a sip.
“I have a soft spot for people who have been cast off by their community,” she responded. A hard feeling came over the Princess at the reminder of who put her here.
“So what are you going to do?”
“Not sure yet. Can’t let you go as you are, or everyone would think I’m a softy…which I’m not, by the way,” the dragon threatened. “I may make you my servant. The last girl didn’t last very long before I grew dissatisfied with her work. She kept reorganizing my books. Infuriating. I may disfigure you then let you go. I may sell you. I don’t know yet.” The dragon took a long draught from the bottle, ending the swig in a burp. This rude gesture struck a nerve in the girl, and her high-born entitlement took over.
“I am the Princess of the land!” she shouted indignantly. “I am not your toy to do with as you will.”
“Yes, you’ve got a father for that. But, you’re mistaken if you think your nobility means anything here. You will do exactly as I say and you will have no power to stop me. See this?” The dragon threw a humongous diamond into the Princesses hands. It glowed, and the dragon smiled. “You can’t leave now even if you tried. Go ahead, I won’t stop you.” The Princess made a run for the door, but found as she approached it, she couldn’t bring herself to go through it. A horrible realization came over her. She wanted to scream. “Now, the only way you can leave is if I forcibly take you…Servant.” The Princess’ hatred for the Purple Dragon crystallized then and there.
“Where do I sleep then?” the Princess asked. The dragon pointed out the cell in the back of the room. “I’ll get to work tomorrow,” she said, and retired to her new home.
Over the next several weeks the Princess obediently kept house for Moriandra, terrified that the dragon might use the diamond on her again. In this time, no less than twelve knights, one would-be wizard and two lost children made their way to the dragon’s lair. The dragon would usually take human form in order to keep her visitors calm, claiming to be another abducted Princess before hypnotizing them with her abhorred rock. She said this way worked best because greeting knights in dragon form usually resulted in broken furniture and personal injury. One knight, upon encountering two women alone in a dark cave, thought that he might take liberties with such innocents, but instead reached a violent end at the muzzle of a giant, purple wolf. Another met his death for simply asking too many questions. Mo disliked making corpses in her home, though, and generally avoided it, not that she was sparing their lives by any means. Anyone released back into the caves most likely died trying to make their way out, and if they didn’t, their escape came at the cost of their minds. She closely observed each time the dragon used the diamond on a visitor. Whatever happened didn’t take long, and neither the dragon nor her victim could move for a second or two while it occurred. Neither Mo nor the victim needed to be touching the diamond for it to work, but they couldn’t be too far away. Sometimes the dragon would use the diamond to pump her visitors for information about the outside. Sometimes she would have them humiliate themselves for her entertainment. Sometimes she would order them to run out and bring back any vittles or mead they could get their hands on, which they did happily, then she sent them on their way, memories and ambitions forever altered by whatever sick directives Mo chose to impress upon them. She laughed that one of her victims, if he made it out, would find himself desperately in love with horses and unable to control his amour. The dragon sickened the Princess. She wondered what kind of person would create a device such as this. Sometimes, the Princess felt the impulse to ask Mo questions about herself and her sorry state, but she squashed these feelings as soon as they arose. Conversation of any kind might make their relationship seem remotely friendly, and she couldn’t have that.
As the months passed, Mo’s attitude towards the Princess became more and more cruel, more hateful. The Princess took this as an indication of the dragon’s declining patience with her companion’s continued breathing. The Princess considered her situation. She couldn’t leave of her own volition. She knew if she kept working, Mo would eventually kill her, and if she stopped working, Moriandra would use the diamond on her and eventually kill her. The only chance she had of escape was to convince her captor to physically carry her over the threshold of the cavern…or push her over it. One night, the drunken dragon vomited in the corner and ordered the Princess to clean it. Unable to take it anymore, the Princess positioned herself near the entrance.
“So tell me, did they cast you out because you’re such a pathetic drunk? Or did the drinking start after?” she shouted. The dragon blinked at her a moment, before reacting exactly as she’d hoped, with instant aggression. “In any case, they’re pretty lucky to be rid of you, wouldn’t you say?” Furious, the Purple Dragon flew at the Princess who had braced herself for a massive shove, but instead Mo picked her up and threw her into the room, where she might have been horribly injured had she not landed on one of the many piles of cushions. Damn, she thought, and readied herself for a confrontation.
“I don’t know why I keep saving people,” Moriandra bellowed as she picked up the North Star and stumbled to the Princess. “They never deserve it.”
“I won’t be your slave,” the Princess responded.
“We’ll see about that.” The dragon engaged the diamond just as she had so many times before, but things did not go as usual.
The Princess had steeled herself for a battle with the dragon, and sure enough, she now found herself on a battleground, or rather, on an open field lit by a full moon that she knew to be a battleground the way one knows things in a dream. She surveyed this strange dim world, and saw a ghostly figure approaching her fast. Before she could make out what it was, it had flown straight into her chest and disappeared. She didn’t know how, but she knew she would now be able to leave the cave on her own…if she ever found her way back there. Fear crept up inside the Princess, then she saw Moriandra on the other side of the field. The dragon seemed disoriented as well, then saw the Princess. Their confusion transformed to anger and both prepared to fight. The Princess ran at Moriandra, but halfway there, the dragon disappeared. Mystified, the Princess slowed down when a crack in the head sent her flailing to the ground. Blood streamed from her scalp, but eerily evaporated too fast to pool. The dragon above her sighed at what she considered a poor showing so far. The Princess got up resolved to fight better, and faced a dragon now flanked by an army of animals, each equal in size to the dragon. The dragon disappeared again, and the Princess felt a pressure on her shoulders. She looked up to find Mo pushing her down through the ground, which gave way like dough. The Princess began to panic! What sort of place is this, she wondered, where the laws of nature mean so little? Suddenly, it came to her. She closed her eyes to concentrate, and when she opened them, the earth underneath her had moved to a position 30 feet lower than it had been before. The animal army fell, each one breaking apart upon landing. The Princess flipped mid-air, tossing the dragon on her shoulders into the pile of body pieces, then floated down light as a feather. This world worked like a dreamscape, and having realized that, the Princess now had a certain amount of control over the environment…control for which she had to compete.
The Purple Dragon and the broken army stood up and reassembled themselves. The Princess duplicated herself to match the numbers she faced, but her army could not move independently, each new Princess could only ape the original’s movements. Moriandra laughed and her army laughed with her, exactly like her. They, too, lacked autonomy. A spectacular battle of synchronicity ensued where a blow landed by one was landed by all. The Princess army would fly into the air to dodge a swing; the animal army would teleport to meet her mid-sky. The Princess and the dragon soon forgot about their other selves, and just so, their other selves disappeared. The dream blurred. She only saw flashes now. She and the dragon were falling, still fighting. They held fast to each other, struggling for dominance, until the Princess felt her opponent relax.
“Take it. Please take it. It’s yours,” the dragon whispered, then held on tight. The Princess could feel something, someone trying to separate them, but they both resisted. Everything got very confusing, something tore off her ear, or was it her hand? She felt a sharp pain…somewhere. Her body became an abstract concept The only thing she understood for a moment was spinning and then, BAM! She woke up, exhausted, in the cave beside a strangely dressed woman. Her instincts told her to get out, so she ran as fast she could. The last thing she remembered was standing on the sacrificial alter as the Purple Dragon swooped in towards her. What had happened since then?
Now she knew.
“I’m not going to eat you,” the dragon slurred. “So you don’t need to worry.”
“Is it…,” the Princess said sitting up, “…because I’m not a virgin?”
“It’s because I prefer lamb, but congratulations, he must have been a lucky guy.”
“Oh, I thought--”
“Yes, I don’t know where that virgin sacrifice thing came from. As if I would care if my dinner had ever..." The dragon made a face. "Only flavor matters, and human does not appeal.”
“Why did you bring me here then?”
“If I hadn’t they would have just left you out there to starve.”
“Why would you care about that?”
“You’d rather starve?”
“I’d rather live,” the Princess answered. The dragon took a sip.
“I have a soft spot for people who have been cast off by their community,” she responded. A hard feeling came over the Princess at the reminder of who put her here.
“So what are you going to do?”
“Not sure yet. Can’t let you go as you are, or everyone would think I’m a softy…which I’m not, by the way,” the dragon threatened. “I may make you my servant. The last girl didn’t last very long before I grew dissatisfied with her work. She kept reorganizing my books. Infuriating. I may disfigure you then let you go. I may sell you. I don’t know yet.” The dragon took a long draught from the bottle, ending the swig in a burp. This rude gesture struck a nerve in the girl, and her high-born entitlement took over.
“I am the Princess of the land!” she shouted indignantly. “I am not your toy to do with as you will.”
“Yes, you’ve got a father for that. But, you’re mistaken if you think your nobility means anything here. You will do exactly as I say and you will have no power to stop me. See this?” The dragon threw a humongous diamond into the Princesses hands. It glowed, and the dragon smiled. “You can’t leave now even if you tried. Go ahead, I won’t stop you.” The Princess made a run for the door, but found as she approached it, she couldn’t bring herself to go through it. A horrible realization came over her. She wanted to scream. “Now, the only way you can leave is if I forcibly take you…Servant.” The Princess’ hatred for the Purple Dragon crystallized then and there.
“Where do I sleep then?” the Princess asked. The dragon pointed out the cell in the back of the room. “I’ll get to work tomorrow,” she said, and retired to her new home.
Over the next several weeks the Princess obediently kept house for Moriandra, terrified that the dragon might use the diamond on her again. In this time, no less than twelve knights, one would-be wizard and two lost children made their way to the dragon’s lair. The dragon would usually take human form in order to keep her visitors calm, claiming to be another abducted Princess before hypnotizing them with her abhorred rock. She said this way worked best because greeting knights in dragon form usually resulted in broken furniture and personal injury. One knight, upon encountering two women alone in a dark cave, thought that he might take liberties with such innocents, but instead reached a violent end at the muzzle of a giant, purple wolf. Another met his death for simply asking too many questions. Mo disliked making corpses in her home, though, and generally avoided it, not that she was sparing their lives by any means. Anyone released back into the caves most likely died trying to make their way out, and if they didn’t, their escape came at the cost of their minds. She closely observed each time the dragon used the diamond on a visitor. Whatever happened didn’t take long, and neither the dragon nor her victim could move for a second or two while it occurred. Neither Mo nor the victim needed to be touching the diamond for it to work, but they couldn’t be too far away. Sometimes the dragon would use the diamond to pump her visitors for information about the outside. Sometimes she would have them humiliate themselves for her entertainment. Sometimes she would order them to run out and bring back any vittles or mead they could get their hands on, which they did happily, then she sent them on their way, memories and ambitions forever altered by whatever sick directives Mo chose to impress upon them. She laughed that one of her victims, if he made it out, would find himself desperately in love with horses and unable to control his amour. The dragon sickened the Princess. She wondered what kind of person would create a device such as this. Sometimes, the Princess felt the impulse to ask Mo questions about herself and her sorry state, but she squashed these feelings as soon as they arose. Conversation of any kind might make their relationship seem remotely friendly, and she couldn’t have that.
As the months passed, Mo’s attitude towards the Princess became more and more cruel, more hateful. The Princess took this as an indication of the dragon’s declining patience with her companion’s continued breathing. The Princess considered her situation. She couldn’t leave of her own volition. She knew if she kept working, Mo would eventually kill her, and if she stopped working, Moriandra would use the diamond on her and eventually kill her. The only chance she had of escape was to convince her captor to physically carry her over the threshold of the cavern…or push her over it. One night, the drunken dragon vomited in the corner and ordered the Princess to clean it. Unable to take it anymore, the Princess positioned herself near the entrance.
“So tell me, did they cast you out because you’re such a pathetic drunk? Or did the drinking start after?” she shouted. The dragon blinked at her a moment, before reacting exactly as she’d hoped, with instant aggression. “In any case, they’re pretty lucky to be rid of you, wouldn’t you say?” Furious, the Purple Dragon flew at the Princess who had braced herself for a massive shove, but instead Mo picked her up and threw her into the room, where she might have been horribly injured had she not landed on one of the many piles of cushions. Damn, she thought, and readied herself for a confrontation.
“I don’t know why I keep saving people,” Moriandra bellowed as she picked up the North Star and stumbled to the Princess. “They never deserve it.”
“I won’t be your slave,” the Princess responded.
“We’ll see about that.” The dragon engaged the diamond just as she had so many times before, but things did not go as usual.
The Princess had steeled herself for a battle with the dragon, and sure enough, she now found herself on a battleground, or rather, on an open field lit by a full moon that she knew to be a battleground the way one knows things in a dream. She surveyed this strange dim world, and saw a ghostly figure approaching her fast. Before she could make out what it was, it had flown straight into her chest and disappeared. She didn’t know how, but she knew she would now be able to leave the cave on her own…if she ever found her way back there. Fear crept up inside the Princess, then she saw Moriandra on the other side of the field. The dragon seemed disoriented as well, then saw the Princess. Their confusion transformed to anger and both prepared to fight. The Princess ran at Moriandra, but halfway there, the dragon disappeared. Mystified, the Princess slowed down when a crack in the head sent her flailing to the ground. Blood streamed from her scalp, but eerily evaporated too fast to pool. The dragon above her sighed at what she considered a poor showing so far. The Princess got up resolved to fight better, and faced a dragon now flanked by an army of animals, each equal in size to the dragon. The dragon disappeared again, and the Princess felt a pressure on her shoulders. She looked up to find Mo pushing her down through the ground, which gave way like dough. The Princess began to panic! What sort of place is this, she wondered, where the laws of nature mean so little? Suddenly, it came to her. She closed her eyes to concentrate, and when she opened them, the earth underneath her had moved to a position 30 feet lower than it had been before. The animal army fell, each one breaking apart upon landing. The Princess flipped mid-air, tossing the dragon on her shoulders into the pile of body pieces, then floated down light as a feather. This world worked like a dreamscape, and having realized that, the Princess now had a certain amount of control over the environment…control for which she had to compete.
The Purple Dragon and the broken army stood up and reassembled themselves. The Princess duplicated herself to match the numbers she faced, but her army could not move independently, each new Princess could only ape the original’s movements. Moriandra laughed and her army laughed with her, exactly like her. They, too, lacked autonomy. A spectacular battle of synchronicity ensued where a blow landed by one was landed by all. The Princess army would fly into the air to dodge a swing; the animal army would teleport to meet her mid-sky. The Princess and the dragon soon forgot about their other selves, and just so, their other selves disappeared. The dream blurred. She only saw flashes now. She and the dragon were falling, still fighting. They held fast to each other, struggling for dominance, until the Princess felt her opponent relax.
“Take it. Please take it. It’s yours,” the dragon whispered, then held on tight. The Princess could feel something, someone trying to separate them, but they both resisted. Everything got very confusing, something tore off her ear, or was it her hand? She felt a sharp pain…somewhere. Her body became an abstract concept The only thing she understood for a moment was spinning and then, BAM! She woke up, exhausted, in the cave beside a strangely dressed woman. Her instincts told her to get out, so she ran as fast she could. The last thing she remembered was standing on the sacrificial alter as the Purple Dragon swooped in towards her. What had happened since then?
Now she knew.
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