Captive

Adam

 

            CLANG! The crash against metal on metal, Adam looks down at the new scratch on his armor. Just as his instructor throws him to the ground and points the sword at his throat.

            “Tip, do not ever become distracted as you just did, you would be dead within seconds and your head mounted over a hearth within a day.” The young squire hung his head in shame and embarrassment. His mind was elsewhere, he was thinking of Alice, if she would think the scratch looked manlier, and maybe it made him look like he was actually able to defeat a superior in battle. Of course he knew Alice would never love him. She was princess and he would most likely end up as a peasant. If he were to finally complete his knight training there may be some chance of their marriage but if he were a prince, -oh! - if only he were a prince, then the princess would notice him and they would fall in love and quickly become betrothed. But, he would have to a be a rich prince, with a large kingdom and many loyal subjects, for the kingdom is in a time of great need, there is war with the Norsemen and a time of great sorrow and poverty in the land.

            Oh, if only he were a prince.

 

Alice

 

            Alice watches the knights train in the courtyard the King let them use. From her room which was, ironically, in the highest room of the tallest tower of the Motte and Bailey castle, they looked too small for full grown men. The instructor pushes the squire to the green grass and points the sword at his neck, getting ready to go in for the kill. As the squire lies there, he seems to be staring into her eyes, but no one down there can see her.

            The knight helps him up and talks to him, but the squire is still in another world, far away from here. She turns away from the window and goes down the stairs of her tower and sits at the table for lunch. The cook has prepared a wonderful meal of frumenty.

The queen sits down on the opposite side of the table. “Shall we invite the young men in for lunch? We have an abundance of food here, and they have been training all morn’, what do you think, Princess?” Alice nods in agreement, already straightening up in her seat and tidying her spotless dress. The serf named Rose runs to the door and calls out to the men, “Queen Adelaide has invited you into the castle for lunch and to rest your weary feet for a moment, do you accept this generous offer?”

The men look at her with swords in hand, contemplating. Finally the instructor calls, “Very well! We shall be there in but a moment!”

Rose comes back inside and sets two more places at the table; father is out for the day. One of his vassals is dying and is too delirious to name a successor. Without father’s most trusted and respected vassal, the kingdom could fall apart in days.

The men walk inside, armor off and swords away. They walk with dignity, to not embarrass themselves in front of Queen Adelaide, her mother. On the way to his seat, the young squire trips and stumbles forward and falls into his chair, face first. He rights himself and pretends nothing happened. Alice covers her face with her hands to suppress and un-princess-like mocking giggle.

The instructor puts his head in his hands in defeat.

Adam

 

            I just fell. In front of my instructor, the Queen, and the Princess, thank goodness the King wasn’t there to see tha- “Hello, we have guests for lunch I see?”

            “Geoffrey? You are home early! Is there news?” Adelaide says to the King.

            “My vassal, young, brave William, has died of the Black Death. But, he did name a successor,” Adam gasps and hangs his head in sadness, William is his father. “He said that Adam J. Night would be his successor, and despite his clumsiness and inability to swing a sword, he would be the perfect vassal to govern the most important, and largest, fief.”

            Adam looks up. “But-I I am a knight! Or someday, now I am a squire but, I dream of leading my own army into battle and coming out scratch free and all my enemies gone. I- I do not wish to be a vassal.” He says in shock. “I am sorry, dear King; I have trouble stopping my words sometimes.”

“All is well, dear vassal, I hope you make good decisions in your time.” That was a clear dismissal from the king. There is no more fight left in Adam, and if there was, he could not defy the king’s wishes. With a heart burdened by the knowledge of a princess that will never love him, a deceased father, and his freedom stripped from him, he takes a carriage to his home to pack up his things. In a few days he knew he would never see his home again and he would live in a manor, with serfs and peasants under his rule. It sounded like he was a… prince.

A prince. He wasn’t, of course, but a princess could marry a vassal! There was hope after all!

 

Alice

 

It is night now, the sun has dipped below the horizon and the kingdom was asleep.  Alice sat at her window, brushing out her long black hair before bed. Then she saw it, a shadowy figure in the night heading towards the forest. Pulling a dark cloak over her shoulders she hurries to her door to go downstairs. A weapon, I may need a weapon. She looks around frantically. She has the wooden hair brush in her hands and- and she spots a lute. That will have to do. Holding the two pathetic weapons in each hand she flies down the wooden stairs and out the ridiculously large purple doors. She catches a glimpse of the figure running across the courtyard and she runs after it.

Near a white fountain she stops for breath then, everything goes black.

 

When Alice awakened around her ankle was a metal shackle and a chain.

“Hello? Where am I? Is anyone there?!” She called into the dark room. There was no answer from the dark halls.

Deciding she was going to be there for a long time, Alice looked around. The building was obviously Gothic styled. The flying buttresses above her head were black marble and they supported a ceiling that seemed to point towards the sky. She looked about the room, which was throne room. Strange place for shackles… There is only one throne, it has black leather and it is made of green painted wood. There is a coat of arms on it, if only she could get a closer look. She stands up; the shackles give her a leeway of four feet. She walked the four feet and pulled with all the force she could muster. A loud, sudden roar echoed throughout the room and a dark green and gold hulk flew over her head. It lands in front of her and roars in her face. She shows no fear; she blinks as the dragon sniffs her. A raspy, growling voice echoes in the hall from its open mouth.

“Whooo are yooouuu?”

“I am Princess Alice, daughter of King Geoffrey and my heraldry traces all the way back to the great great grandfather of Richard the Lion-Hearted.”

“Alicccce?” It hisses. “Welcome, Mistressssss…”

 

Adam

 

It is Adam’s first day in his new position and he is at a meeting with the other vassals about what to do about the invading Norsemen. The king is late, which is very unusual for the monarch of the kingdom.

“We could send out the cavalry, we have been making sure they are ready at any time.” Suddenly, His Highness bursts into the room.

“Alice has been kidnapped! She is gone!”

“What shall we do?”

“We must find her!” Adam watches the chaos erupt in the meeting and he slowly slips away. He runs to the castle, no plan in mind, only knowing that he must find her. He runs into the stable and puts tack on a randomly chosen destrier. Grabbing a sword and shield, he mounts it and rides into the forest. He hadn’t even stopped for water and food.

 

 

Alice

 

            “Mistress?” Alice asks in shock.

            “Yesss.” The dragon sits back on his haunches and Alice feels a slight pull on her chained ankle. She follows the shackle to the dragon’s ironed foot. She is chained to a dragon. Well that’s not safe…

            “What do you mean by that?” She asks.

            “I cannot tell you nowww, only that I am a friend.”

            “Okay.”

            “You do not trust me.” It was not a question.

            “No, you are a dragon, dragons are generally evil and you know, they breathe fire.”

            Just then they hear the sound of shoes walking down the hall. When the figure turned the corner of the dark corridor, she could see it was an older man and a boy about her age.

            Unable to hold back the question, Alice shouts, “Where am I? Who are you?”

            The man with the peppered hair and long, billowing green robes answers “I am Henry Slaughter, and this is the Slaughter House.”

            Well, that wasn’t creepy.

            “Why am I here?”

            “Ah, the dreaded question with the dreaded answer: I can’t tell you, not yet, anyway.” Henry throws back his head and laughs evilly.

            “And you? Who are you?” She asks the boy.

            “I am Skylar, but you can call me Ky. I hope you will be comfortable here.” Ky says.

            “Comfortable? Here? Why, No one’s comfortable on a stone floor shackled to a dragon and a wall!”

            “I am sorry for the inconvenience. Maybe some bedding is in order?” He looks at Henry at the last part.

            “No! Skylar! She’s my prisoner!” Henry whines.

            The dragon curls its tail around Alice protectively. She looks down in bewilderment.

            “Why am I a prisoner!? What did I do!?”

            Henry and Ky walk away, and Ky looks back with a little sympathy, or empathy, maybe he’d been in her position?

            Alice turns to look at the dragon, “Do you, uh, have a name? Do dragons have names?”

            “Yes, dragons do have names, mine is Aeris[1].”

            “Nice to, um, meet you, Aeris.”

            “Same to you.”

            “Do you know why I am here?” Alice asks hopefully.

            “Yes, I do, but I am unable to tell you, you shall find out soon enough.” Aeris’ black body lays down onto the floor and quickly, he falls asleep.

Adam

 

            Adam rides along at top speed, thinking of only freeing his love from whatever imprisonment she may be in. He hears a shrill scream of a woman and pulls the left reigns of his horse.

            He enters a clearing in which he sees a woman sitting upon a black palfrey horse. The horse rears as she whips its flanks and she lets out another shriek and whips it again. When she whips it, it rears, why does she repeat it? Adam wonders vaguely.

            “Hello, Malady! What are you doing here in the depths of this dangerous wood?”Adam calls, pulling off the tight helm.

            As he gets closer, he realizes that the maiden is not as beautiful as he had thought. Her blonde hair is actually scraggly and tangled, and her nails are much too long. She has a pointed, crooked nose and a scar pulling up the corner of her mouth in a frightful grimace.

            “I live here, I am an apothecary, and I sell to weary, sickened travelers, like yourself.” She says in a coarse voice.

            “I am not sick.” Adam protests. She reaches out a clammy hand to his forehead, “Ah, delirious from fever, you must be dead on your feet!” She cackles at that… strange. “We must take you to my cottage right away before you become a slave to the sickness!” She laughs once again. Adam starts to feel a little sick, maybe she was right, he did feel a little strange.

            “O-okay.” He says, nodding. She chuckles to herself and attaches his horse to her own and leads him a mile down the trail.

            By the time they reach the cottage, Adam doesn’t feel like himself. He feels almost hollow and emotionless. He is unable to speak, or do anything his brain orders his body to. He looks pale and ill. A strange thing though. He is starving, it is unbearable, he could practically eat a human. No. He would eat a human, given the chance. What was happening to him?

Alice

 

            They brought her some bedding. Henry watched as Ky set it up with a pout on his face, like a child throwing a tantrum. She sat on it once they had gone, pondering any explanation as to why she was there. Maybe it was because she had tried to follow whoever was in the courtyard that night. But, why wouldn’t they be able to tell her that? It was a practical reason; she was trying to catch someone stealing from the King, basically the kingdom, because of feudalism.

            What did they want?

 

            That night, Alice had finally been able to fall asleep, it is hard to sleep on an empty stomach, with your head full of wonderings and questions, when she heard the whispering. She was awakened by a sound, so quiet and soft, a mouse would not have heard it, but somehow, in the dead of the night, she did.

            “She’s sleeping.”

            “Really? I hadn’t realized,” Came the sarcastic answer.

            “She doesn’t know yet?”

            “No, soon, though. They can’t keep if from her forever, you know how loud-mouthed Aeris is.”

            “Yeah. She’ll be able to whoop Henry’s fanny!”

            Alice didn’t comprehend with her dreaming mind that the tiny voices were talking about her. The only thought she had was: Such improper language! Children… And even that thought came slow and drifting to her mind, where it floated, until it turned into a dream of children with dirt in their mouths.

             

 

            The sound of footsteps awoke her again, this time light shone through the stained glass windows.

            “Up! Breakfast!” A bowl of brown slop is pushed toward her, most of it spills onto the floor.

            “Where is the spoon?” Alice asks quietly.

            “There isn’t one.” Henry says.

            Too hungry to resist, Alice dips one finger in the mush and brings it to her nose. It smells foul. She puts the slime on her tongue and swallows forcefully. She gags, but needs nourishment and continues until the slop is gone.

            “I shall see you at lunch.” She says, putting the bowl down gently. He picks up the bowl, and with a twirl of his long robes he leaves.

 

Adam

 

            He was a corpse now. A walking corpse. He could only moan when he tried to speak and could not resist Gertrude’s wishes. He did all her work for her, along with about five other walking dead. What was happening? How could he possibly break this spell? She was obviously a witch or sorceress of some sort, how could he reverse the black magic she had placed upon him?

            It has been one night since he started feeling ill when Gertrude asked, no, ordered, him to come with her to the fields to pick some caltrops. The field she wanted was a good three miles away and when they arrived Adam felt more like himself. Distance, the key is distance, the farther I am from the cottage, the more myself I am. He tries to speak again. “E… vil. Wit…ch.” He groans.

            She rolls her eyes and continues to pick up the leafy plants. He walks too slowly to run now, a plan. He needed a plan.

 

            Adam waits until all the other undead are asleep. He sneaks out the door and walks ever so slowly, and with each step finds it easier to move his legs. Finally the cottage is out of sight and none of the wood is familiar. Then he comes across a stable. He opens the door. His horse! Restored to almost his full speed he half runs half jogs to the horse and hops on, bareback. He rides away and he moves as he wants, thinks at full speed, and he is himself again.

 

Alice

 

            “Aeris, I just remembered the strangest dream I had!” Alice exclaims.

            “Whaat wass it?” Aeris asks in his slight hiss.

            “Well, I thought it was a dream, but now I am not so sure. I heard two tiny voices talking and, call me mad, but I think they were talking about me. And I think they said I would, and I quote, ‘whoop Henry’s fanny’, isn’t that strange? Do you know anything about it?”

            “You know what? I am tired.” Aeris says, lies down, and falls asleep.

            “What?!” Alice says. Sitting on the mattress, dumbfounded. He knows something, doesn’t he?

            And another question, why was she there and why would no one tell her when she asked?

            Would anyone save her? Or could she possibly save herself? And what did those voices and Aeris know that she didn’t?

            “I want this shackle OFF!” She screams, finally cracking, and going completely mad. “NOW! I AM A PRINCESS! I CAN ARREST YOU! GET IT OFF!” She shrieks and slaps the shackle, hoping to break it. Instead she hears a loud crack and the shackle had cracked in half. Alice looked at it, losing any princess characteristics she may have had left, with her mouth open.

            Aeris stopped snoring and looked up.

            “Oh no.” 

            “What just happened?!”

            “Um guys, now would be a good time!” Aeris calls.

            “FOR WHAT!? I’M SICK OF THE SECRETS!” She screams again.

            “Really, now is great!”

            “Someone PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON!” A huge gust of wind blows into the throne room, it breaks all the windows and Aeris’ chain. Rain slaps down on the castle, the roof leaks like it’s raining inside and lightning illuminates the once-day-lit room. Outside a screeching sound reverberated throughout the manor. A tree had fallen.

            “What was that...?” She whispers. Aeris looks panicked.

            “Um, uh… okay! Okay! They’re late! I’ll have to tell you! You’re adopted!” He yells.

            “That’s what this is about? Both my parents are blonde! I figured it out! And what does keeping me prisoner have to do with that!?” She yells, exasperated, too wound up to realize that she could escape now.

            “Well, that’s not all…” One of the small voices she had heard in her “dream” says.

 

Adam

 

            I’m coming! Adam thought as he rode; once more, only wishing to save Alice. He had been delayed long enough, he hoped she was alive.

            He dodged trees and boulders and jumped over streams, but then he came to a river. It was much too wide to jump, he knew. But his horse could walk through it, it didn’t look deep, you could almost see the bottom. He urged his horse into the water, it neighed and whinnied and reared up, but finally he coaxed it into the brook. At the deepest part, Adam was swimming and the horse had to lift up its head, but they were making it. Suddenly Adam hears a loud squeal from the horse and a tentacle reaches up and grabs it. He sees the horse being led away, screaming a haunting horse-like scream and a trail of blood in its wake. Other long tentacles stream toward whatever is killing his horse, they are connected to it. He pulls the sword out of its sheath and tries to cut one of the tentacles, like his dying father said, “Inability to swing a sword”. He hears one last scream in the distance and then no more.

            Sad, soggy, and muddy, Adam rushes out of the water, hoping whatever that monster was isn’t still hungry. He walks. And walks. And walks… and comes across a cabin. A man is outside, chopping down a tree when the scraggly, unshaven Adam passes.

            “Hello sir! Just stretching your legs? Or looking at these tall trees? Tallest in the kingdom! Grew ‘em me self.” The six foot man stands up with his hand on his hips proudly.

            “No, I am off to save the love of my life, my father died of the plague, named me a vassal, I am a bad knight, I was turned into the living dead, and now my horse just got eaten by a river monster.”

            “Oh, Scylla…” He laughs.

            “Scylla? As in the Greek myth? You named the monster?”

            “Yeah, I ‘ove the ‘reek myths, I think thar fascinatin’, wha’ ‘bout you? D’you like ‘em?”

            “Sure, they’re okay.” Adam shrugs.

            “Well! I’ll be! It’s getting’ late! D’you need a place ‘o spen’ the nigh’?” The sun was beginning to set.

            “Um, sure! Thank, you Mister… what is your name?”

            “Just call me Stretch.” The man grins a missing-toothed smile and shakes Adam’s hand.

            “Stretch.” Adam smiles back.

 

Alice

 

            “What else then!?” Alice was getting fed up with the secrecy.

            “Well,” the second, sweeter, voice began, “um, well, you are Queen of the Fae. Um, you are well, a fairy. It’s not what you think it means, we don’t have wings, magic wands, and we are normal sized. It’s just a nicer name for, um, witch. Basically. You are a witch.”

            “I-I, I… what?!” Alice exclaims.

            “Ssso, now that youu know, dooo yooou think maybe you could change me back to my truuue fooormm?”

            “Shh! Aeris, let it soak in!” The owners of the voices appear. They are two girls, they seem to be around thirteen years old, three years younger than Alice. The one with the sweet voice was shorter, with a mop of short curly red hair and light blue eyes with long eyelashes. The coarser, more sarcastic one, was about Alice’s height with chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes.

            “I’m a witch?” It explained so much!

            “No, you are a fairy! Witches are generally evil, and you know, they ride on brooms.” Aeris says, mocking her. She sticks her tongue out at him.

            No wonder her parents never wanted to make her angry, no wonder she was given what she wanted, and that storm just then!

            “Really?!” She asks, grinning now.

 

Adam

 

            “Do you want me to pay you? I only have a little, but, it’s better than nothing.” Without waiting for an answer, Adam hands Stretch some pounds and marks.

            “Thank you.” Stretch says, pocketing it. They pass a dining room table, it has old food, platters, and parchment all over it. The man seemed busy, but with what business?

            They enter a room with three beds.

            “Why don’t we try this one out? I make beds and mattresses all the time, and I like my guests to be a perfect fit.”

            “Don’t you mean the beds to be perfect for the guests?” Adam asks, lying down.

            “No.” The man laughs and pulls a lever. Adam is strapped to the bed. “Oh, dear. Too short I see. Well, that can easily be fixed.”

            “What are you doing? Is that going to stretch me? That myth! I should have seen that one coming! It’s my favorite!” Adam yells as “Stretch” locks two cuffs around his ankles and wrists.

            “Don’t think of it as stretching think of it as height enhancement. By four inches. My beds are all 6’5”, you are six foot one, and that just won’t do. I thought the stretcher in the myth was correct on his views, so I took them up. Like I was his apprentice and I became a journeyman of my craft, only he couldn’t teach me. ”

            “You are MAD! Completely bonkers!” The machine starts to pull on his arms. I need to get out of this! He is going to tear me in two! He looks around, trying to ignore the pain in his sockets. A rope dangles in his face and it gets longer as the machine moves. If I pulled that, I would rip myself in half, and that would be very bad. Can I stop in with no use of my hands? Adam blows at the rope and it swings gently toward his finger tips behind him. He does it again, but with more force. The rope tickles his fingers and he grabs it. Okay, what now? If it can’t get longer, the pulleys will stop, but how can I stop it?

            Then, the pulling on his arms stops and speeds up in his legs, the rope goes up now. A piece of wood is peeling off the bed and Adam can pull it off, using the rope still held in his hands he ties the wood to it, grits his teeth, and lets go.

            The rope shoots up, it had been held back and it needed to catch up, a sudden pull on Adam’s legs make him cry out and then it stops.

            It worked! The wood is keeping the pulleys from pulling the cuffs, but not for long, the wood is already splintering slightly.

 

Alice

 

            “Yes, really.” The brown haired girl says.

            “So… what can I do!?” Alice asks, completely dismissing the fact that her entire sixteen years had been a lie.

            “Well, being Queen, you can do anything and everything.” The shorter one says. Alice had completely forgotten about that part. Queen. She was a queen; it wasn’t really a foreign concept to Alice, she knew someday she’d be one, but a Queen of mystical beings, now that was a whole other story.

            “Everything?” Alice gasps. The possibilities… If only Adam’s father had held on until now, maybe she could have saved him and maybe Adam wouldn’t have to be sad…

            Why was that what she thought of? Maybe she just didn’t like seeing people gloomy.

            Just then, Henry and Ky turn the corner.

            “Get her!” Henry shouts. Another dragon swoops in from the hall and grabs her in its red talons. No voice comes from its depths when it opens its mouth to screech a horrible sound.

            Completely forgetting about her powers, she feels unable to escape and screams at the top of her lungs. The dragon flies up, and up, and up and it bursts through the expensive looking ceiling and flies into the sky.

            Down below Henry says to Ky, “That did not go as planned, maybe we should have trained it?”

 

Adam

 

            Now, how was he possibly going to unlock the cuffs? If he could get his ankles to his hands… he figured he had a few minutes until Stretch realized the pulleys weren’t making noise any longer. He pulls up his legs, which are connected to his arms and makes the rope pull on his wrists immensely. The ropes pull him into a sitting position, which was not the plan. He tries to bend his legs up, and in pulls him into a standing position. Now his head is touching the ceiling and his back is to the wattle and daub wall. He jumps, which hurts horribly, and the ropes attached to his wrists pull him as if he was floating on the air, he stays there, suspended by the pulleys when the door opens.

            “Impossible!” Stretch exclaims, looking at the empty torture bed. He inspects the bed, as if Adam had shrunk down to miniscule size and could not be seen.

            Meanwhile, Adam gnaws at the rope, which he wishes he had thought of earlier, and one snaps. He works on his left arm and suddenly he is swinging down, he barrels into Stretch and takes his sword from him. He swings it at the ropes attached to his feet, does a somersault in the air, and lands standing next to the stunned Stretch. Adam slashes at Stretch’s chest, making a small cut and takes his legs out from underneath him and points the sword at his throat, just as his instructor had done to him.

“Give up?” He asks. Seeing no way out, Stretch nods slightly.

“Do you have a stable? I need a horse. I’m too sore to walk.” Adam glares at him.

 

Alice

 

            Suddenly Alice remembers as she runs out of air to breathe from the altitude.

            “DRAGON! I COMMAND YOU TO BRING ME TO THE GROUND! NOW!” She shouts over both the roar of the wind and the dragon. The dragon does not respond in any way. With all her concentration and all her will power, Alice focuses on the dragon’s mind. Suddenly, she is the dragon.

            Fly. Malum[2]. Fly high. Person. Girl. Screaming. Stop. Stop. Stop .Stop. fly. Down. Now. Order. Cannot. Resist. Magic. Screaming. Down.

            The dragon’s thoughts are much too confusing for Alice, but she manages to get it to bring her down slowly. It takes a while, they flew very high. But of course, it brings her right back into Henry’s manor. They met Aeris on the way down, apparently he was going to get her.

            When they land, Henry throws the two girls, Aeris, and her into a dungeon, not quite seeming to understand that she could break free. But they stay there, waiting for a plan so Henry can’t follow them.

            Alice has learned that the girl with the curly red hair is Flora and the other is Fauna. “Well, I think Ky might be on our side, he could help us.”

            “That’s true; when he brings supper we shall tell him.” Flora answers.

 

            Ky brings them dinner at sundown and they ask him to smuggle them out in the night. He agrees and the girls and the dragon settle down to sleep.

 

Adam

 

            Stretch and Adam walk along the river to the stable, Adam has Stretch at sword point and Stretch doesn’t make any wrong moves. They reach the stable and Adam picks a strong looking black horse with a white star on its forehead, he tacks it up and mounts it.

            Stretch pulls out a dagger and turns to stab Adam when two tentacles reach out of the water and wrap themselves around Stretch. Stretch screams and is pulled under the water, two bubbles pop on the surface and all is quiet.

            Adam happens to look up then. He sees a red and black dragon flying fast into the clouds. In its talons looks like a girl with long black hair. Alice! He rides through the trees but the dragon is flying downwards now, he cannot see where it is going; only a blind guess. He is still searching when the sun begins to go down and the forest goes dark once more.

 

Alice

 

            Fauna wakes Alice and the others up when it is time to go. Alice opens the cell with her mind and Ky leads them throughout the manor. They reach the throne room, Alice’s old imprisonment, and suddenly the doors bolt shut and the ceiling is repaired.

            Aeris looks at her questioningly, she shrugs. It was not her… Then she notices that Ky’s hands are glowing red, his hair is lifting up by an unnoticeable wind, and he has a smug look upon his face.

            “You thought Henry was in charge, didn’t you? Henry doesn’t exist. I made him. And I am a Warlock. Not a Fae.” He practically spits “Fae”. Alice backs up in shock; she really believed maybe he was at least partially good.

            Ky conjures a golden dagger, it is lethal and has a poison tip. Fire burns along the other part and the poison drips from the blade and onto the floor. The spots where the poison drip melt away and drill holes in the stone.

            “We’re dead.” Fauna says. Alice nods. Malum walks up behind Ky and smoke blows from his nose, letting them know a fire blast is coming.

            Suddenly, Alice feels weak. “He has taken away your power!” Aeris whispers. Smoke is also coming out of his nose. Malum charges at him and Aeris rears up on his hind legs, clawing the air. He blows ice blue fire from his throat and Malum blows black and greenish-yellow, neither of them hurts one another. They rise into the air and fight while the girls prepare to fight with fists as best they can.

            Ky raises his hand and Flora flies back into the wall and slumps down, unconscious. He does the same to Fauna, but she is awake, but stunned and possibly concussed. Ky walks toward Alice as she stands solemnly, with no trace of fear on her face. She faces death itself with no begging or crying, only bravery and determination to not give him the satisfaction of seeing her break. He pushes her down and raises the deadly dagger.

            “NO!” A voice screams. A figure flies through the glass window, shattering it, and lands between her and the poisoned weapon. It strikes him in the stomach and he falls. It’s Adam. Suddenly there is a floor shaking thud and Malum has fallen. He lies on his back, amber eyes staring vacantly up at the ceiling. He is dead.

            Blue and white flames envelope Ky, they swirl around him and you hear his screams and then nothing. When the fire dies down and the smoke dissipates there is nothing but a metal, poisoned, flaming dagger left in Skylar’s place. All this happened in a second and Alice still stares in shock at Adam. He saved her!

 

Adam

 

            Everything hurts. It burns. It’s like there’s a fire in his body, what is this!? He wants to scream, but he doesn’t have the energy. He blinks open his eyes.

            “Did I kill him?” He asks hopefully in a croaking voice.

            “Yes, you did.” Alice lies.

            “You’re not a good liar.”

            “I know.” Tears stream down her face.

            “Am I dying?”

            “Yes. I think so.” There was no use in trying to hide it. “Why did you save me? Why did you go through this for me?” She asks.

            “Because I love you, and I am a knight. Chivalry, remember?” He smiles faintly.

            “I love you too.” She whispers.

            Adam smiles and closes his eyes.

 

Alice

 

            “No! Wake up!” Alice shakes him. A tear falls onto his face and more follow. “Don’t die for me! I’m not worth this! Don’t!” She turns toward everyone, tear stained. “He’s dead!” She cries.

            She looks at Aeris and is stunned. Instead of the beastly black, green, and yellow creature he once was, he is now a magnificent ice blue, white, and silver dragon with glowing golden eyes.

            “I am sorry, Alice.” His voice is no longer raspy and terrible, but melodic and musical, peaceful.

            “It’s okay, he is with his father now, in a better place.” She sniffs. “We should head home, my mother must be worried sick.”

 

Adam

 

            The clouds are the ground. It’s strange, to be walking on the things that are so frequently above you. Adam steps forward in wonder at the large gate in front of him. His father appears.

            “Father?” Adam exclaims, he is healthy again.

            “Yes, my son.” He steps forward and embraces him. Other spirits mill around him he recognizes a few: Urban II, Charles Martel, Saladin, Charlemagne, William the Conqueror and more famous members of the Carolingian.

            “I must talk to you.” William says, and leads Adam throughout the peaceful place. As they walk they walk by former knights and soldiers having jousting matches and Quintains, he wishes he could join them, it looks like much fun. Signs have English, French, Arabic, Runes, and many other languages, they tell where to go, or where you are in this strange kingdom. He passes many spirits reading books and illuminated manuscripts or playing instruments that seem to appear out of thin air.

            “Adam, as you know, my apprentice had died a few months before I, and I want you to know, that even if had lived to become a journeyman, I would still have chosen you for a successor.”

            “Really, why?” Adam asks. William pauses and Adam is distracted by more of the multilingual signs that tell where certain guild meetings are being held, or where monastic buildings are for new coming monks that wish to persist in their ways.

            “Well, because. I knew you could, I knew you would be the best man for the job and you would lead the kingdom to greatness with your help and decisions, and so you and Alice could become betrothed. Your children’s children and their children to come, who will look back on what they will call the Middle Ages, or Medieval times, and see you and Alice as great rulers who helped the kingdom prosper and grow into power. You and Alice are a powerful combination, with her magic and your new found fighting skills and cleverness, you will not be beaten in any attack of the Norsemen or anything else. Many knights will swear a fealty to you and Alice, you two will be beloved.” William finishes his speech.

            “That’s a lot to put on my shoulders you know.”

            “Ah, but ‘tis not! For ‘twill happen anyway. Now you must go back, or the course of the world will change, wake up! Go back!” And with that everything fades.

 

 

Alice

 

            “He’s waking up! He’s coming back!”  she shouts, looking at Adam’s fluttering eyelids in the carriage next to him. His pulse had stopped for a few moments then come back and gotten stronger with each minute. Before they even reach the castle he was up and healthy and grinning every few moments at Alice, like he knew something she didn’t.

            The king and queen were happy to have their adopted daughter back home, they couldn’t find her or Adam and they were worried sick, as Alice had suspected.

 

Epilogue

T

 

he King and Queen agree to Adam and Alice’s marriage and before the end of a month they are married. The guests are rather strange, Fae names Flora and Fauna and a dragon? The guest wouldn’t question it in front of their King and Queen but it was the talk of the kingdom. They grow old together in the castle with their four children and Aeris, who turned out to be Alice’s personal dragon, which the Fae all have, the dragons act as guardians. All is well and everything William foretold came true for the kingdom. And they lived

 

Happily Ever After

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[1] Aeris means Air in Latin

[2] Malum means evil in Latin

Author's Note

This was for a history project!!! BEST PROJECT EVER!

Reviews

[Sylvana]

I felt some of it went a bit fast and could have used more description, but it was a history project, so I understand. It was very nice, I wish we could have done that instead of a magazine for the middle ages. Haha. XD