Chapter 25

Cliffhangers are great...

Hey guys! For those of you that have read the chapter before this one before I edited it, you should know that the hag/wicked stepmother is now Maleficent! This just amkes more sense as the chapter and story, and adds a ton of depth to the history of Fableland.

And… I got a grip on myself. The very pretty yet lethal dragon was hurtling closer to me, with the ugliest hag I had ever seen that was also lethal and much more determined than the dragon.

I swallowed past the knot in my throat, and took off between the dragon’s feet, figuring that, while I was much smaller, that would make me faster. Kind of like how we bumbling, clumsy humans try to catch a mouse on the loose? It can scuttle into little crevices and cracks, then wait until it was safe to go.

The dragon roared in frustration, trying to snake its head underneath its chest to catch. “Get over here!” screamed the hag.

“Get out of my face!” I retorted.

The dragon turned around to face me, then opened its maw. “Give in, or my dragon will blast you with fire!”

“And I’ll blast you with insults while I’m at it,” I deadpanned.

She rolled my eyes. “I had heard you were immature.”

“I prefer witty,” I bantered, vying for time. I couldn’t die here!

“I was witty, once upon a time. Time fixed that for me, and I’ll do the same for you,” she snarled, hopping off the dragon’s back.

I waited until she had hobbled within a few feet of me to do what most would deem completely stupid. “I’m not bad,” she began, “I just want equality for the Tales. Help me, and you will be rewarded greatly. You and I, we could do great things together. I know you have feelings for the Pan boy- he was not a part of the original plan, but who wouldn’t want the Lost Boys on our side? You have been slighted by society on the Topside, both you and your father. Shunted aside by society- just like me. My father was Ardwyad the Protector, and my mother the greatest Maeve to walk this realm. We can be greater than what they have made us, we-”

"You know,"  I said quietly, "you talk about how you want equality in the world of the Tales, but you can't even give me a fair fight. A hulking dragon and an old woman who has a few tricks up her sleeves? I’m not a kid, but I know I don’t have a choice.”   

The hag paused in her tirade, thinking over my words. She was silent, but a deep rumbling was coming from within the cavern. I turned about, trying to find the source of the noise- until my gaze leveled on the dragon. With a start, I realized that the noise was coming from the savagely beautiful beast in front of me.   

Maleficent’s face turned purple as she swung around to face  the beast. "No! No; this can not count in your ridiculous contract with me  beast."   

The dragon grinned toothily. "You have been bested in logic; however, she has yet to best me." The dragon’s voice was a deep baritone, like that of an older man, wizened by his extensive life experiences.   

"NO!" screamed the Hag. "As Dragon Queen, I forbid it!"

The dragon snorted. “And if you violate that contract, I am to be freed from your bondage.”

It was all I could do not to jump for joy; my demolished chances of living had changed into a slim hope of not dying!   

The dragon turned to me. "I am Planeto, the Wandering Star; answer my riddles, and you will have bested both the Dragon Queen, and myself. Shall we begin?"

“One question before we begin- may I ask two after this one?”

Planeto nodded.

“Okay,” I swallowed nervously, sweat beading at my hairline. “What happens if I best you?”

“You could either become Dragon Queen, since I am the equivalent of a ‘King’, and am the greatest of my kind, or you could release me from my bond.”

I nodded- as far as the dragon logic I knew of, it sounded familiar. “And if I don’t best you?”

Planeto’s eyes glimmered with sorrow. “I would be bound the Maleficent the Dragon Queen, and whatever she commands me to do.”

In other words, certain death or enslavement.

I inhaled sharply, trying to ease the knot coiling itself around my chest. “What the hell- let’s do this.”

Planeto dipped his head, closed his eyes, and hummed thoughtfully. Sweat poured down the sides of my face like the Liffey, and my heart pounded like a caged primate.

“The first riddle-

These are those who every king,

For all his gold and armies,

Cannot have in his kingdom,

Though his people have many,

And find them most equal.” Planeto opened his eyes, leveling his silvery disks at me. “What is the answer to my riddle?”

I tried to think- what can’t a king have? Isn’t he entitled to everything, because no one is his…  “Equals- he can’t have equals because he is the highest power in the land. No one can rival him and win.”

His eyes glimmered. “Very good. Are you ready for my next riddle?”

I nodded eagerly.

He closed his eyes again as if he was reciting from a book seared into his memory. “It is hate, and has hate in it, yet is not hate.”

I blinked; It is hate… yet is not hate? It had to be a play on words. So, what has hate in it? “What has hate in it…”

He lifted his eyelids heavily as if they were weighted down by sorrow.“Can you not answer my query, human?”

I lifted a finger, staring intensely at the floor. “Hang on.” Words that had hate in it… My eyes shot from the floor to meet Planeto’s. “Hatred. It has the word hate in it, is a symptom of hate, and yet it isn’t hate, because hatred is a noun, and hate is a verb.”

He released a long gust of wind from his nostrils, filling the feet in front of me with the smell of sulfur. “Very good, little one. Are you ready for the last one?”

I giggled to myself. “It’s a bit late to turn back now, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is, so just get on with the riddle so we can get back to what we need to do!” hissed Maleficent.

“Very well, Dragon Queen. Here is your next riddle, challenger;

Some are quick to take it,

Others must be coaxed.

Those who wish to take it,

Gain and lose the most.”

I scoffed. “Risk.” The answer was obvious, at least for me; Da and I had always riddled each other to death when I was little.

Planeto grinned. “You are correct, Dragon Queen.”