OK, OK - I fell down the rabbit hole on this one, but I blame @mercenarywitch and @suzteel for the lovely inspiration. Hope you two enjoy the additions of a stranger.
King Maxwell and Ser Elizabeth are crushed when the learn the transformation back to his true form does not last outside the walls of his cave - It is only there in her presence that the storm abates and he is himself again. They will need to break the enchantment at its core before the spell can truly be reversed. They discover that the evil wizard who cursed King Maxwell is the same wizard who enchanted Rosa, the same man who has been controlling Maxwell’s sister, the queen, using dark magic none should dare use. They battle the wizard, Ser Elizabeth delivering what should be a killing blow with her sword of truth. But the Wizard calls upon his dark magic and survives, striking her down. All seems lost until the Lightning Dragon calls down a storm that destroys the Wizard’s power. With his last breath, the Wizard cackles, taunting the pair with the truth that the enchantments won’t die with him. King Maxwell will stay a dragon and Rosa will stay asleep “Lest that which lies within is released from its cage, freely.”
Ser Elizabeth, frantic, pours over the volumes of scrolls and sacred texts in the evil Wizard’s lair, searching for answers, anything that will tell them how to break the spells permanently. She hesitates over one parchment in particular, recognizing the handwriting as that of the Sorceress Mimi, forbearer to her friend and confidant Lady Maria. The missing prophecy from the hall of records, gone these ten years past!
She reads it aloud to the Lightning Dragon:
The power to undo the magic of night
Can only be released with freely given light.
Unlock ye cage! Banish ye fear!
Find ye a warrior of justice and right.
Know them by their tangle with roses,
For only they shall be worthy to carry your light
Without the magic at your core,
Weakened and trapped shall ye remain.
Should ye wish to be whole again.
She stops reading abruptly. The final stanza is missing, the page torn raggedly across the bottom. No matter, Ser Elizabeth discerns a spark of understanding in the eyes of the Lightning Dragon. They return to his cave and he transforms back to his human form.
“I know what we must do, but we must move quickly.”
He steps towards her, lightly clasping her shoulders in his hands. “The magic I hold within, I can feel it so strongly when I’m myself again. I know it can save your sister.”
“Truly? Then I shall bring her here to you-“
“No, there’s not enough time for you to bring her here. We must bring the magic to her instead. Since I cannot leave this cave and remain myself,” He pauses, ducking his head slightly till their eyes meet. “Do you trust me?”
She doesn’t hesitate. “Undoubtedly.”
“I’ll need to-“ his words stumble, hand hovering uncertainly over her chest. His eyes search hers, waiting, questioning.
“Do whatever must be done.”
His palm makes contact with the skin over her heart and he leans his forehead against hers. She can feel light and warmth and power rushing through the connection. Understanding of what he is doing, what he is bestowing upon her makes her gasp, clutch desperately at his hand against her chest. His light, his power, his heart now flows through her veins.
“Go now,” he nudges his nose against hers, ”Save your sister while there’s still time.”
“What of you? Of your enchantment? How can you survive without your magic? Without your heart?”
The lies comes easily. “I promise you, there’s time enough for me.” He reaches for her face, holding what could have been his future in the palm of his hand. “Time for us. A handful of days, perhaps a full span before the loss of my magic becomes a danger.”
She strokes the skin above her heart gently. It still shimmers and glows with the magic he gave her. She looks up, locking her eyes with his, resolute. “Time enough, then. I make you a promise as well - I shall return to you before it is spent.”
He smiles sadly, pulling away slowly from their embrace. He delicately brushing his lips against her brow as he turns away. “Quickly now, my heart,” he calls over his shoulder. “Leave so your return shall come the sooner.”
When he is sure she is gone, he pulls a small scrap of parchment from his breast pocket. Kept there for a decade, its meaning never clear until now. Its torn edge a missing piece to a puzzle he doesn’t want to finish, he reads from the parchment once more:
Thus and verily, take heed!
If what was giv’n tis not returned
When day and night have spent thrice,
Will become a final sacrifice.
He crumples the paper in his fist, flames erupting between his fingers. The ashes scatter against the cave floor, taking with them the last vestige of his hope.
Ser Elizabeth is true to her word. Almost three days since she left the dragon’s lair and her sister is awake, the realm is safe, and she is no more than a half day’s ride back to the cave. To him. Her steed, pushed to exhaustion, stumbles along the weaving path in the dark. Perhaps they should stop for the night, rest then continue their journey after dawn. After all, she smiles to herself with the memory, they have time. Reigning in her horse, she has just begun to dismount when she feels something sharp and dangerous stab through her chest. She gasps, clutching desperately at her heart. Something is terribly, terribly wrong.
She pushes her mount like a firestorm is chasing behind them, his hooves hammering in time with the thumping in her chest. They make it to the mouth of the cave just as the rosy light of dawn begins to crest the horizon. She runs in, finds Maxwell’s collapsed form on the ground. Rushing to his side, she cradles his head against her breast. His eyes struggle to open but soften when they meet hers. “You’ve returned,“ he croaks, stroking the tears softly from her cheek.
“A Knight always keeps her promises, dear dragon.”
He smiles weakly. “I fear you may have been right. I could not survive without a heart. Without you.” The light in his eyes is fading, his hand falling away from her face.
“But you weren’t without,” she pleads, smoothing the hair away from his brow. She crushes her mouth to his desperately, the salt of her tears coloring their kiss with the same bitterness she feels deep inside, the bitterness of a hope snatched away too soon. She takes his hand, holding it against her chest, echoing the gesture with her other hand against his chest in kind. “Can’t you feel it? You weren’t without a heart because I left mine here with you.”
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