The Mountain of Magic Feelings

The strength of true love is not revealed by our feelings or strong desire for each other, but by our faith, patience and unselfishness, which will cause our love to grow stronger with time.

THE MOUNTAIN OF MAGIC FEELINGS

 

 

The Prince of Agra, and a few of his servants, slowly made their way through the dark and dreary shadows of the forest, led by the soothing noise of running water and a faint ray of sunlight working its way through the trees. The Prince and his entourage finally arrived at the bank of the river, just outside the forest area. Unnoticed, the Prince made his way up the river toward the waterfall and his eyes were drawn to the opposite side of the river. That’s where he saw her for the first time. The most beautiful creature he had ever seen.  

 

Startled by a sudden noise behind him, the prince drew his sword and faced the intruder. It was one of his men. In fact, the only one that noticed when the prince was leaving the rest of the company to make his way upstream. The prince returned his sword to its sheath.  “That's Princess Camilla of Rosafeld”, the servant answered before the prince could ask. “She has been under a witch's spell since birth, sire. She is unable to fall in love with anyone unless the spell be broken with the perfect love formula. No one ever found such a thing and most people are convinced that no such thing exists.” The princess looked up and saw the prince on the other side. They kept their eyes fixed on each other for a few moments. Finally the servant pulled the prince by his arm, suggesting that they move on. The prince would never forget that sorrowful look in the princess's eyes that day.

 

That night the prince had trouble sleeping. All he could think of was the beautiful princess. At the break of dawn, the prince arose out of bed and made his way to the waterfall. He hid himself behind some rocks and waited for the princess. Soon, he saw her on the other side of the river, picking flowers and admiring some litlle insects. The princess couldn’t see him, but she could sense that somebody was watching. This went on for several days, until the prince finally convinced himself that something had to be done. “I wish for this evil spell to be broken," he thought to himself. "She has stolen my heart and it will not return to me unless the spell is broken."

 

Before the prince could think another thought, the great Wizard of Agra appeared before him in a vision. “Who’s there? Did someone of the royal family just make a wish - the once-in-a-decade wish?" The wizard continued, "Ah! It’s the young prince Damien. Good day, your royal highness. I see that you have a troubled heart. Though I am not able to break the princess' spell, I am able to assist you in your journey to find the perfect love formula." “Wait!”, the prince cried out as the Wizard disappeared, “how do I get the perfect love formula?” The Wizard’s voice slowly faded into a whisper: “The formula is not far from your reach, young prince. Only time will reveal the strength of true love.” The prince had no idea what the Wizard was saying, but he kept those words at heart. Right there and then the prince promised that he would journey to the ends of the earth to find this so-called ‘Perfect Love Formula’. He knew that this was one journey that he had to take on his own, but didn't know where to begin. Before long, he was reminded of a place that a wise old man once told him of " ‘The Mountain of Magic Feelings.’ “That’s it,” the Prince thought. “If I can find the magic mountain, I can give her all the feelings needed to help her fall in love again. The curse will surely be broken. She will fall in love. She will be happy. We will be happy. That has to be it " ‘The Mountain of Magic Feelings’”

 

The prince finally went on this journey in search of that magical place. He knew that it was going to be a long and dangerous journey. He had to pass through the Living Skeleton Graveyard, the Town of Outlawed Witches and through the Valley of a Thousand Treasures, guarded by that legendary green dragon - Chazore. Only the thought of this made the prince shudder, but then he thought of Princess Camilla. “If this journey is not worth doing for any other cause, it sure is worth doing for the princess.” These kind of thoughts gave the prince new strength and courage to continue his journey.

 

On his journey, the prince passed through the Living Skeleton Graveyard without much fear and spent the night on a mountain next to the living dead. He fell asleep with his right hand firmly gripping the handle of his sword resting in its sheath. Luckily the brave Prince knew from experience that the living and walking dead wasn’t really capable of harming him in any physical way. The bodies rising here at night are more like ghosts. Well, in actual fact, they are ghosts. Most people are threatened by them and run away, but all those who were brave enough to stay long enough will know well enough that these skeletons can not harm any living human being in any physical way. That night, the Prince fell asleep with a smile on his face. All he could think of and dream of was Princess Camilla. Not even the ghostly noises of the living dead in the night could wake him, far less scare him.

 

A few days later the prince walked past the Town of Outlawed Witches. He heard voices shouting and laughing scornfully at him. One of the older witches spoke in a slow, stuttering voice: “I know all about you, I do. You will never get the perfect love formula, you know. No one ever got it. You’re not the first one to fall in love with the princess you know, and you are also not the first to search for this so-called formula. I know where you are going. I have seen it. You won’t find it there, you know. I know it. You won’t find it anywhere. No one ever has, you know. When you come this way again after you have failed miserably in your journey, perhaps you can join me for cup of worm soup. I will tell you all about the princess and the curse, and then I can also help you forget about her. I can do that, you know, but for a price, I say.” The prince ignored the witch and continued on his journey. The witch continued in a louder tone of voice: “Very well then, make up your own mind. Time has changed more minds than reason, you know. You will come back to me, I say, but all in due time.”

“Well, in that case, it is no use reasoning with a crazy old witch then,” the Prince mumbled.

 

The prince persistently continued his journey over the hills and through the valleys. As he approached the Valley of a Thousand Treasures, expecting it to be guarded by Chazore (the legendary green dragon), he saw a Red Dragon roaming the skies instead. After a while, the Red Dragon disappeared beyond the horizon. The prince struggled cautiously down the mountain, not knowing whether Chazore was guarding the valley at the time or not. Nearing the end of the valley, the Prince froze as he heard a strong, deep voice addressing him. “Who goes there?”, the deep, coughing voice inquired.

“Chazore?” The prince paused for a moment. “You sound very weak, Chazore. Is there anything that I can do for you that will grant me safe access through the valley. I am just passing through. I am not after any treasure. You have my word.”

“Well, well, if it isn’t the young Prince of Agra,” the dragon replied, “and to what do I owe the honour of this important visit?”

“I have to cross this valley to find the place I seek. A magic mountain…”

“Ah! The Mountain of Magic Feelings”, the Dragon interrupted. “You are free to continue on your journey, sire. I am not able to stop you, even if I wanted to, but I will not stop you, even if I could. Guarding this valley from crooked human pirates is not my greatest concern anymore, sire. There is a Red Dragon that seeks to take my place and I am afraid that, should he succeed, he will not reason with the human race, but kill as he pleases. You are in luck, sire, for you are late enough to have have missed a furious and exhausting dragon battle.” The dragon coughed again and then a slight groan as if he was still in pain from the battle.

“Is there anything I can do for you, Chazore?”

“I’m afraid not, sire. Time is the only thing that can cure my sorrows and heal my wounds. Continue your journey. Do not concern yourself with me. Time will heal my wounds and get me back on my feet. Go on. You have a long journey ahead of you.” The Prince felt sorry for the dragon, but knew that there wasn't anything that he could do for him at the time. He had to stay focused and continue his journey.

 

Finally, after several days and nights, the prince came up to a huge, steep mountain. Something was glowing on top of the mountain and the prince knew that he had arrived at his destination. He heard a vague voice shouting from the top of the mountain. “Come up, young prince. I have been waiting for you. You have found what you were looking for - The Magic Mountain of Feelings!” The prince struggled up the mountain only to find the same wizard that appeared to him in the vision a few days earlier. The wizard continued: “Your royal highness, on this mountain you will find a statue that can create a formula or potion for every feeling that ever existed. But remember, the perfect love formula is much more than just a feeling…”

“Don't go!”, the prince cried out desperately as the wizard disappeared before his eyes again. “Now what do I do? Oh yes! I have to find the statue.” He continued to struggle through the soft, deep sand on the mountain, when finally, he saw a shiny figure two hundred feet away from him.

 

The prince carefully approached the figure. As he came closer, an audible voice came from the figure and told him that he had found the sacred statue with the chemical and magical compound of every feeling that ever existed. The voice also told him that he could gather any feeling in liquid form and put it in a bottle to use as a potion or formula. The prince was now very excited and took a small empty bottle from his bag. “Right, I have an empty bottle and I can choose any feeling I want and then I can give it to the princess. What feeling will I need to help me break the spell? Do I have to combine more than one feeling to create the perfect love formula? What feeling will I need to make her fall in love with me?” The prince thought for a while and when he remembered that sad look on the princess’s face, he decided to try HAPPINESS. “This must be it! The princess is miserable and that is why she can’t fall in love. I guess happiness is the perfect love formula. No one can love without happiness.” He took his empty bottle and filled it with happiness.

 

It took the prince several days to rush back through the Valley of a Thousand Treasures, past the Town of Outlawed Witches and through the Living Skeleton Graveyard to the river where he saw the princess for the first time. He waited at the river until the princess arrived. He then ran up to the her, looked into her eyes and said: “Princess, I know that you're under a witch's spell and I also know that you can't fall in love with anyone unless the spell be broken with the perfect love formula. If you could learn to trust me, I may be able to help. I think I found it - ''The Perfect Love Formula'. If you could learn to trust me, will you take it?” The princess thought for a while and finally took the bottle full of HAPPINESS from the prince. She didn't say a word, but thought to herself that she had nothing to loose. “I’m Prince Damien by the way,” the prince said as the princess drank from the bottle.  As soon as she drank the last few drops, her eyes lit up and she managed to tweak her lips and move her facial muscles into a way she has never been able to do in the past. She smiled for the first time in her life.

 

“This might be a good time to ask her,” the prince thought to himself. “Princess? I’ve been in love with you ever since that first day I saw you at this very place. Now that the spell is broken and you are as happy as can be, would you consider taking my hand in marriage and be my future queen?” The princess smiled, but at the same time she also looked concerned. “I am so sorry dear prince, but what you ask is too much for me at this time. It is not that I don't want to be your queen, but I am already as happy as I can be. I have never felt this much joy in my entire life. I am so happy right now that I wouldn't want to exchange this feeling for anything in the world. I appreciate what you have done for me, I really do. I'm so sorry, dear prince, but I don't feel more than I am supposed to feel right now. I feel hapiness and not love.” The prince’s excitement turned into dissapointment as he turned around and slowly made his way back to the castle. “All the tales I know have taught me one truth - the hero who breaks the curse wins the beauty's heart and they live happily ever after. How have I wronged? I gave her the perfect love formula, but she still couldn't fall in love with me." The prince wrestled with his own thoughts a while longer until he finally came to a sensible conclusion. "Maybe... Just maybe, HAPPINESS isn't the perfect love formula. Maybe... Just maybe... it is something else.”

 

After that day, the prince went on another journey to the magic mountain, to search for the magic statue with all the magic feelings. The prince arrived at the Living Skeleton Graveyard again, but this time it was different. There, at the very same spot he himself fell asleep on his last journey, he found Chazore, the green dragon, asleep.

“Chazore?”, the prince enquired. “What are you doing here? Why aren’t you guarding the valley and protecting the treasure?”

“I had an unexpected guest, your majesty. An unwanted, unexpected guest who returned at a time I was at my most vulnerable. I'm ashamed to admit that the red dragon has defeated me in battle and drove me out of the valley. These are dark days indeed, my young prince. This is not good for the Kingdom of Agra. This is not good for me. I have lost my home. I have lost my pride. I have lost my life.”

“How on earth will I get tough that Valley now?”, the prince asked. “The red dragon will never grant me acess. I'm afraid you are right, Chazore, this is not good for the Kingdom of Agra.”

 

At that very moment, the old witch from the Town of Outlawed Witches passed by at a distance. She screamed and laughed and mocked at the prince again. With her slow stuttering voice she yelled: “I told you that you will never find the formula, you know. No one ever has, I say. No one ever has.”

“Shut up witch!”, Chazore interrupted with his deep, low tone of voice.

“Miggidimiggididoo! My, oh my! If it's not old Chazore, the mighty dragon, I say. Why aren’t you guarding the valley, I ask? Didn’t I tell you once that you are too weak a dragon to guard that great valley? Didn’t I tell you? I was right, was I not? I’m always right. Time proves everyhting that is true, you know. And time will prove once again that I shall be right. You’ll see prince Damien, you will see.”

 

The prince ignored the witch and faced the Dragon again.

“Will you help me, Chazore?”, he asked. “Will you help me so that I can help you?”

“What will you ask of me, your highness? I am weak. I am a proven failure. I am still injured from battle. What can I possibly do to help you?”, the Dragon replied.

“You can still fly, can’t you? I shall make an agreement with you - a gentlemen's agreement. Allow me to fly on your back and help me get to the Mountain of Magic Feelings. Help me on the journey, without having to pass through that Treasure Valley, and I will do all I can to help you fight your way back home. I promise!”

“I guess I have nothing to lose, since I lost everything I had.”

The dragon offered his paw to the prince and helped him on his back. With a few painful groans, he managed to get up, spread his wings and lift himself off the ground.

 

Moments later, the prince and the dragon arrived on top of the Magic Mountain. They landed right in front of the statue. The prince took out his empty bottle and thought for a long time before he made his decision. This time he filled his bottle with PEACE. “This is it. If she has peace, she will be able to fall in love again.” The prince got onto Chazore’s back and they flew to the river where Prince Damien and Princess Camilla met for the first time. Chazore was hiding in the forest, while the prince patiently waited at the waterfall for the arrival of the princess.

 

Prince Damien walked up to the princess and gave her the bottle full of PEACE. “Princess, I think I found the perfect love formula”, he said. Princess Camilla took the bottle and drank the PEACE potion. The prince anxiously waited for her to finish every last drop of the potion, before he opened his mouth again. “Princess? Will you consider taking my hand in marriage and be my future queen?” The princess stared at him for a while and answered: “You are truly my hero. I have never felt so at peace before. As for being your queen, I have no satisfying answer. I am so sorry, my dear prince, but right now I don't have any worries. All I feel is peace and joy and I would love to keep it that way. The thought of being your queen makes me anxious and afraid and uncertain about the future. Please do not take this the wrong way. I am truly sorry.” The prince made his way back to the castle, once again, defeated. “What can it be? What on earth could the perfect love formula be?”

 

A few days passed before the prince decided to try one more time. He went to the forest to find Chazore. They flew over the Living Skeleton Graveyard, the Town of Outlawed Witches and around the Valley of a Thousand Treasures. When they arrived on top of the magic mountain, the prince made his way to the statue one last time. He had a long hard look at the all the feelings and took his time before making a final decision. This time he filled his bottle with FAITH.  “This must be it. Not quite a feeling, but a power much stronger. The only thing the princess still needs - FAITH!” The prince was sure that he had the perfect love formula this time. “With faith she will believe that she can fall in love again and she will believe in me.” The prince and the dragon flew back to the forest and Prince Damien made his way accross the river again. This time, Princess Camilla was already near the waterfall. Prince Damien approached her and gave her the bottle of FAITH to drink. “Here, princess. I really think I found it this time. This must be the perfect love formula.” The Princess took the bottle and drank every single drop of FAITH in it.

 

“Princess? Would you consider taking my hand in marriage and be my future queen?”, he asked. She looked at him with her faithful eyes and a tear ran down her cheek. “Dear prince, I would love to be your queen. I really believe that things can work out now and I really believe in you, but I just don't feel ready for such a commitment and responsibilty.” This time the prince left devastated as he slowly made his way back to the castle.

 

That night, the prince found it impossible to sleep and wrestled with his own thoughts again. “The witch was right. There is no perfect love formula.” His heart waged war against his mind and his soul was tortured by the memories of these past few weeks. It was all for nothing. “Why would the wizard lie? Why would he want me to go through all this pain, this anger, this disapointment?” The words of the wizard echoed through his head: "The formula is not far from your reach, young prince. Only time will reveal the strength of true love." And then there was that time on the mountain when the wizard warned him to remember that the perfect love formula is more than just a feeling. The prince pondered these things. He though about all the things that the wizard, the dragon and even the witch told him. “What could all these things mean? What could the perfect love formula be? How can it not be far from my reach? How can it be that only time will reveal the true strenght of true love? Can it be that only TIME will cure and heal all things, like the Dragon’s wounds? Can it be that sometimes only TIME has the power to change minds, circumstances and feelings? Can it be that only TIME will prove true greatness and the greatness of true love?”

 

The prince suddenly awoke from his meditational state and went into a state of shock when the smoke from the fireplace filled his chamber. A strange figure could be seen through the thick smoke, but remainded unrecognizable to the prince.  The figure spoke with a familiar voice and said: “Young prince, you are beginning to ask questions that might lead to some helpful answers." The figure became recognizable as soon as the thick smoke vapourised. It was the wizard. He continued: "I thought that you were on the brink of understanding the mysteries of the love formula on your last encounter with the princess. You gave her the correct formula. All she needed was FAITH, but remember that the perfect love formula is much more than just a feeling or even a belief. It can be a combination of a lot of things. Everything that you gave her was needed and it was good, but in your case there is still one final missing ingredient.”  The prince thought for a while and in his confusion asked the wizard what that final ingredient might be. The wizard disappeared again with these last words: “Your highness, you already have the answers to all your questions. Return to the princess and give her the one thing that only you can give her, but it has to be an unselfish thing.”

The following morning, Prince Damien awoke from an intense dream. "That's it!", he cried. He rushed out of bed and ran to the waterfall, hoping to find the princess there.  "I've found it!”, he cried out as he approached her. Struggling for his breath, he spoke in a husky sort of voice. “Princess Camilla, I came to speak my mind and set you free free from this evil curse. You have been through more than anyone could expect you to bear.  My guess is that you have been through a lot of confusion and that you have exprienced all kinds of mixed feelings, feelings that you have never felt before. I am already convinced that the curse has been lifted. The FAITH potion would have taken care of that. Though I believe you are free from the curse, there is one more thing I need to give you.” The Prince took a deep breath and continued. “It is the final ingredient to our love formula. I will not give you another bottle filled with some ridiculous feeling or even a belief, because love is so much more than just feelings. Whatever I am about to give you, cannot be found on the magic mountain, because it is a part of myself. I give up my eagerness and my impatience. I will wait for you. Princess, I give you my TIME. Take it and cherish it, because only TIME can reveal the strength and meaning of true love.” The Prince paused for a while to catch his breath again and then he rephrased: “The strength of true love is not revealed by the feelings that we feel, but by its capacity to endure the strength of time.” The Prince paused again, wondering if he was making any sense and perhaps not using the wrong words to try and explain his sudden epiphany. He paused for a while to think of another way to express his newly found revelation. “I guess true love cannot be summed up in words or awakened by feelings, but if it true, it will be revealed in TIME. If it truly is love, TIME cannot have a hold on it. If it is unconditional love, TIME cannot conquer it. After all things have fallen by the strength of TIME, love will still stand. In TIME, all things will cease, but love will remain. That is why I give you TIME princess. With TIME you can…”

 

The Princess interrupted the Prince’s babbling by gently touching his lips with her fingertips and she slowly leaned forward until her lips touched his. They kissed. The prince stood there, speechless and frozen like the magic statue with mixed feelings. They looked into each other's eyes and for the first time, the prince saw LOVE in her eyes. The evil spell's final hold had been broken and the princess was just as in love with the prince as the prince was in love with her.

 

After that kiss, the prince didn’t ask for the princess’s hand in marriage. No, he waited for the appropriate time. He would wait until their love matured and until she would finally be ready to give herself completely to him. In the meantime, the princess experienced and enjoyed life without the curse. The prince gave the princess enough TIME and space to learn whatever she needed to learn about herself and others and life in general. Their love for each other grew stronger and stronger, day by day. And now, only TIME can keep them apart... But only for a while...”

 

THE END

 

"Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires." - Song of Solomon 8:4

"Love is patient, love is kind. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Author's Note

Would appreciate it if anyone can help me highlight any grammar problems or help with editing. This is a first attempt, so here goes... Thank you for the constructive comments and reviews so far. I have made some changes and will continue to do so if necessary.

Reviews

[WriterMe]

Well your story was pretty long so forgive me if I couldnt spot any errors. But what I suggest would help is that when you write about a story in the medieval ages, then use the language too. Well nothing complex but for example:
"She has been under a witch's spell since birth, and she can't fall in love with anyone unless the spell be broken with the perfect love formula. It's no use. You are wasting your time. No one ever found such a thing as the 'Perfect Love Formula'

Instead maybe you can write:
"She has been under a witch's spell since birth,sire. She is unable to fall in love with anyone unless the spell be broken with the antidote of true love. It is of no use. You musnt be wasting your time as no one has found such a thing"

Hope it helps =] But otherwise I love a truly magical fairytale. Great job =]

[Praveeta]

A captivating love story. Thanks for sharing.

[Vonnie15]

I loved reading this....very creative and sweet and heart warming, and through it all....it contains such truth about true, Biblical love.
Here's a few grammatical errors I noticed: "lead"--> I think you meant "LED"
" The most beautiful creature he HAS ever seen. " --> It would be better to write this in past tense... "The most beautiful creature he HAD ever seen".

xx

[artaqstar]

What a beautiful love story. It was very thought provoking and kept my attention.
My only suggestions are that I saw a fewtypo's nothing major.
This was an enjoyable and uplifiting read. Wonderful job.

[vandana]

An interesting fairy tale of true love that stands the testimony of time. I would suggest the usage of Renaissance language would make a more charming tale. Nonetheless you have got a great story.