Furnace

The air was stale with sulphur and bodily odours. The stone floor, once covered in beautiful mosaic, was worn and torn by scales and claws scuffling over it for a long, long time. In the other end of the hall were a pair of enormous doors in oak wood and metal frames, and in front of them, the dragon. She was long as a warship, with her body draped along the wall. It was drawn out and thin - almost skeletal, with the contours of every rib easily visible under the skin and scales. The head rested on the rough stone just by the door, marks from teeth and claws showing her futile attempts to get through the sturdy gate. Her eyes were closed and her breathing slow.

I walked up to her, sword held low.

"Dragon," I said, I received no answer.

"Why do you announce yourself?" the rat hissed. "Stab her when you have the chance."

"Dragon!" I repeated, ignoring the rat. Still, no answer, although I thought I detected a shift in the dragon's breathing.

"DRAGON!" I yelled a third time, sending the rat scurrying away. "I AM THE PRINCESS AND I'M HERE TO CHALLENGE YOU."

I heard a rumbling sound then, like rocks crashing against rocks. It came from the belly of the beast, and it took me a moment to realize that the dragon was laughing.

"As I live and breath," the dragon said with raspy voice as she opened her eyes, shining red like torches. "A princess in my castle."

"My castle, I think you will find," I said with more bravado than I really felt. The dragon's breath smelled sour and rotten and made my eyes water.

"I think... I can claim seniority," the dragon said, having to force out the words. She closed her eyes, and for a moment I wondered if she was going back to sleep, before I saw the red light seep out again.

"How long have you been here," I asked, daring to take a step closer, mindful of the long claws.

"Long enough to outstay my welcome," the dragon said with a little wheeze that suggested it might have been a joke. "Isn't that why you are here, princess?"

"I am here to reclaim what's mine," I said, raising the sword in a salute. The dragon moved her head slightly backwards and rumbled again in another painful laughter.

"What use could this heap of stones possibly be to you, princess?" she asked.

"I could ask you the same," I said, carefully edging closer.

"I came seeking glory," the dragon answered with heavy voice.

"Well, did you find it?" I asked.

"Deem for yourself," the dragon said and painfully managed to move her shoulder in a little shrug. She moved her eyes, letting the red light play over the decayed hall around us, over rotting paintings, long broken chandeliers and bared stone walls.

"This place was once splendid," I said with low voice. "It could be so again."

"Is that why you are here?" the dragon asked. "To reclaim that long gone splendour?"

"Is there a reason I should not?" I asked.

The dragon slowly turned her head. One of the front legs moved an unused, hesitant step that caused the claws to scratch yet another gauge in the floor.

"Look at me, princess," she said, voice dying down to a whisper.

"I'm looking," I said, doing my best to hide my revulsion as I saw the festering claw wounds on the underside of her jaw.

"I have dwelled here for so long," the dragon whispered. "Feasted and grew fat of the riches of this castle. Feasted and grew strong on the heroes and knights they sent to slay me."

"And the princesses?" I asked, voice sharp.

"Yes, the princesses," the dragon hissed. "Shining bright like stars in fury and rightfulness. Each of them with a sword such as yours in their hand. Each of them challenging me for this crumbling heap of rocks."

"What happened to them?" I whispered.

"Devoured," the dragon drawled. "Each and every one of them, falling for my claws or my tooth or my gaze or my fire."

"Each of them but me," I said, trying to hide my fear.

"If you say so, little princess," the dragon rasped

I stood in silence, wearily watching the dragon, aware of the eyes of the rat on us from a corner.

"How long has it been?" I asked with low voice. "How long since the last princess was here?"

"Years," the dragon said with heavy voice. "Or decades, perhaps. Time passes but slowly when there is nothing to do other than to slumber and dream." She sighed. "I've waited so long," she said, more to herself than me. "I've waited so long for another princess to walk these halls..."

"And here I am..." I said.

"And here you are," she agreed. "Were we to fight, I would kill you, I would eat you..."

"You'd find me harder to stomach than those that came before me," I quickly said.

"Perhaps, or perhaps not," she said. "But even if I were to make a meal out of you, what then? Just another princess slain, just another few years added to my lonesome existence..."

"You yield, then?" I asked, holding my sword a bit higher.

"Princess..." she said, voice smooth as oiled chains. "I'd like to trade with you, were you willing to spare my life long enough to listen."

"I make no promises," I said, clutching the sword harder. "But I will listen."

"What if I were to give you what you claim to seek," she whispered, eyes closed. "What if I were to give you your castle back, for all the good it would do you. I'd give you mastery over the empty halls and the long broken splendour that once dwelled her. Once again, there would be a queen sitting on the throne."

"And were you to do so, dragon, what would it cost me in return?" I asked, intrigued despite myself.

"I'd ask you to open that door," she hissed, motioning to the main gate.

I frowned.

"Surely, a strong dragon such as yourself can break that gate yourself," I said.

"Surely one would think so," the dragon hissed. "One would be wrong."

"Then you're asking me to unleash you to the fields and farms outside my castle," I said. "To spare you my wrath, only for yours to be dealt to my people. Surely you jest."

"Look at me, princess," the dragon hissed. "I'm dying. I will die from your sword through my head or from the toil of years and starvation or even - should you indulge me in this - the crude weapons wielded by an enraged mob of peasant. I pose no threat to you or your people."

"Then why would I barter with you dragon, rather than just take what I want for myself?"

"You could," the dragon hissed. "But if you were to slay me, you would not learn the secrets I have uncovered during my long, dreary years, waiting in this place, listening to the sounds from the other side of the door."

"And what secrets would those be?" I asked.

"You who dream about a splendour lost ," the Dragon snorted. You who dream about about a glorious future of castle and queens. You who come to me, so self assured in your righteousness.... Dreams and fancies, each one more elaborate than the last. What about your past?" the dragon asked, carefully eyeing me.

For a moment I stood speechless, then I angrily held my sword higher.

"That's no concern of you," I angrily muttered.

"I thought as much," the dragon chuckled. "Yet you claim birthright to these crumbling stones. Tell me, princess, by what right have you disturbed my slumber."

"By the right to regain what's mine," I answered, more aggressively than I first had thought.

"And by what right is it yours," the dragon snapped back at me.

"By birth and ancestry," I said as proudly as I dared, but then jumped backwards with a frightened yelp as the dragon's jaws suddenly snapped shut, just a hairs width from me. It had moved horribly fast, like a snake striking an unsuspecting rabbit. I stared at the red eyes - suddenly oh so close - heart beating, muscles tense but not daring to move.

"Lies," the dragon snarled. "The mere fantasies of a foolish girl." It slithered forward, forcing me backwards, still not daring to run. I felt its stinking breath surrounding me like an acidic cloud, like I was already in its belly and in the process of dissolving.

"No-not lies," I whispered, desperately trying to find the courage to move my sword arm.

"You don't know your ancestry," the dragon snarled, each syllable producing a cloud of horrible stench. "You don't know your birth. You don't know your name. How dare you presume to hold rights over this castle? Over this history? Over me?"

"It's... it's my destiny," I whispered, feeling the cold stone of a wall behind me. In panic I brought up the sword. All I could see was the bright glow from the red eyes through the cloud of green stench.

"Destiny?" the dragon snarled with voice full of scorn. "What do you know of a destiny?"

I desperately aimed my sword as well as I could, despite my arms feeling like lead and my lounges screaming for air.

"There must be..." I mumbled.

"...a princess and a dragon," the dragon finished for me, voice full of rage and scorn. "Where there is one there must be the other, that's what they told you weren't it?"

With eyes watering, I stumbled forward in a clumsy strike. My sword bounced uselessly on the dragon's scales and fell to the ground.

"ISN'T THAT WHAT THEY TOLD YOU?" the dragon roared, not caring the least for my attack.

"Ye-yes?" I whispered, eyes wide with fear.

"Then tell me, princess," the dragon said, the rage dying down to a simmering. "Who are 'they'?'"

I blinked.

"Um..."

"Who sent you here, princess?" the dragon asked and - mercifully - withdrew her head slightly. "Who sent you in my path, to die or kill? Who promised you this grand destiny?"

"How do you know of these things?" I whispered.

The dragon withdrew further, leaving me room to breath as her head sunk down to the floor again. She seemed... spent. Like her rage had eaten up whatever energy reserve was left.

"There was a cave," she mumbled and closed her eyes. "There was a trap door...there was a staircase... It was so long ago..."

I stared at her, heart beating.

"What do you know of that cave?" I whispered. "What you you know of that door?"

"You open the gates, for just a fraction, and I will tell you," she hissed. "I'll tell you all you want to know."

For a moment I dared glancing at her glowing eyes.

"You're trying to use me," I said with a bravado I did not feel. "You're trying to trick me."

"It's worse than that, princess," she chuckled. "I'm telling you the truth."

"And what truth is that?" I asked.

"That for all your power, all your fury, all you have done is to trade one prison for another. There is no way out. Once you have slain me, those doors will still bar your way."

"Why should I listen to you?" I asked, forcing my voice to remain strong.

"Because there is a part of you that knows I might be right," she said without hesitation. "Because you know there is more to the world than this castle. Because you too realize that the things you are told do not entirely add up."

She smirked at me.

"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked.

"You don't," she answered.

"Then why would I not just kill you?" I said. "To fulfil my destiny?"

"Because if you do," she drawled, dragon poison trickling down her lips, "you will never know what is behind those gates."

"Those gates answers to me," I coldly said.

"Really?" she said with a horrible grin. "Then prove it."

Without letting my sword trail from the dragon's face I stepped up to the door. I put my hands on them. I felt the power flow through me.

"I am the princess," I told the dragon.

"So you say," she hissed.

"I am the princess!" I shouted "And I demand these doors to open."

A shudder went through the doors, but they remained closed. I stared at them in disbelief - disbelief and fear.

"Kill me and claim your castle, princess," the dragon laughed. "You will still be a prisoner - just as much as I ever was."