I recently watched "The Red Dragon" and was struck by the art work in the film, specifically the (spoilers) one that get eaten. yes eaten. go watch the movie, its really good - if you liked Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal the conclusion to the trilogy really the first one that started it all) will be worth the watch.
I get that this might not be the princess and dragon story you were hoping for but its coming... yes I've said that before...yes i'm still working on it. I got stuck in FTT and needed to clear my mind before coming back to it, but wanted to stick with the same theme to keep the right juices flowing...
I had a lot of fun writing this but really had to hold back from expanding more and making it longer. Still 5K words aint bad and i fell it does the paintings some justice.
Enjoy!
Their story has been told countless times. But never like this. He is the embodiment of the Devil, and she is the Holy woman handpicked by the Divine.
The world is dark. The greed of a sinner has taken the light form the world. The sun does not burn in the sky. The moon acting as the light in an eternal night. The howls of beasts are heard around every bend in the shadows. Mournful and filled with sorrow and anguish. No one knows why the beasts cry – do they miss the sun? The Divine Ones granted the power of the sun to one woman, and her alone burns in the darkness that would be eternal. With her comes hope and peace. Her voice is soft and kind. She is caring and virtuous. She heals the injured and sick, takes pity on the poor and misfortunate, holds high the grace of the Divine Ones, for all glory be to them. She brings blessing and warmth. Serenity and calm. An ease of being and a gayety of existence. She walks on the fingers of the sun, its light lingering in her hair and shining in her eyes. She is clothed in the purest of modest garments, allowing her freedom and flexibility but maintaining a dignity of her rank. She is not human, not any more. She was picked by the Divine Ones to be the one to purify the wicked and bring light to the darkness. She ascended into the Heavens to rid the world of their sins. And in the place of sins she left joy. A gift for all mankind.
But her gift was wanted by another. A Demon, in the form of a Great Red Dragon. A creature forbidden form the light, with seven heads – one for each sin – crowned for each atrocity against the Heavens. The sinner damned for his greed, lusted and longed for the woman, for she was all that he was not. Virtuous, kind, compassionate, warm, forgiving, good. He wished to take the light form her eyes and fill her with his darkness, so that they might be one once more.
For there was a prophecy, one of the dark that would steal away the light forever. He would come on the wings of death, and trace new paths in the cosmos. For there cannot be light without dark, and there cannot her without him. The prophecy stated light and dark would collide in a great battle that would change the world. And so the Divine Ones took the light from the skies and clothed their chosen woman in it, to safe guard it and her from the darkness. In place of the sun the moon was erected. The woman clothed with the sun was taken from her earthly home and given new life in the Heavens, so that she might still do her great deeds and serve those that worshiped them. She was blessed, cursed, with the power of the sun.
But the day came that the darkness in the form of the Dragon found where the sun had been hiding. And so it was that he stole her from the skies, while the Divine Ones slept. He wrapped her in his shadow to conceal the light and plummeted to the earth once more. But the Divine Ones were not so easily fooled and they sent forth their most powerful warriors to retrieve the light. Twelve stars, each more powerful than the last, descended upon the Dragon as he made his escape. True to the Prophecy, the battle of the cosmos between the good and the evil drew permanent lines in the skies. The Dragon tore them apart, turning one star into many, stringing them along and sticking them in the Heavens forever. Imprisoned in the galaxy to watch as the rest fell, only to be pinned alongside their brethren as a part of the Zodiac. Though he was not without loss in the battle, and when he reached the earth, only one head remained.
It was here that he paused in his flight, looking back at the work of evil. In his free hand he held the seven crowns, one from each decapitation and his own, and with the fires of Hell he forged a sword in his palm. He had destroyed eleven Zodiac warriors, all but one. The strongest of the legion. And it was he that overwhelmed the Dragon and banished him to the depths of hell, claiming the sword as his prize. The last Zodiac took back the woman clothed with the sun. But his power had been nearly all spent, and they fell back to the earth.
…
The woman woke from her dream. The summer breeze tickling her face as long lashes fluttered against the lingering images in her brain. It was the dream of the Prophecy again. The same dream that plagued her every sleep. Her head lolled to the side as her eyes adjusted to the skies, the crown on her head pressing coolly against her skin. The crown had twelve peaks, each peak engraved with the symbol of that Zodiac it represented, yet only eleven of the peaks had engravements.
She had been saved once by the Lion. The crown was given as protection, one constellation for each warrior that would give their life to save hers. With the crown she was given eleven keys, one for each warrior, to unlock them from their imprisonment in the cosmos. With his Heavenly power spent he stayed at her side, now with no more strength than a mortal, but the heart of a God.
Rising to a sitting position she looked for the Lion, as he was never too far from her side. To her dismay, he was nowhere to be seen. What little light shown from the moon up above cast her in a white shadow, illuminating only a small reach around her. Again she probed the edges of her sight for the Lion.
A cry to her left caused her head to swivel in the direction of the noise. There the Lion leapt nimbly into the light about her, his great golden red mane flowing almost in slow motion as he landed at her side, his great paws the size of the maidens' head. He stood at her side a moment, his black eyes taking her in as she smiled up at her protector. For some time they had been hiding in the woods far from where they fell, needing no shelter nor substance as neither were of moral being. The clearing where she had lain being a favorite of hers to see the moon in its splendor, having merely fallen asleep while gazing at the thing. The Lion butted his great head against hers and she reached up and fisted her hands into his mane, holding him close to her. They had been together for some time now, and grown to be close, as close as master and servant could be that was.
Suddenly the Lion raised his head, mouth slightly ajar, ears perked. Looking up at his sudden movement, the woman followed his stare. She could see nothing in the grayness of the forest around them, but his eyes came from the stars and he could see so much more than she. The Lion's gaze intensified and he took a protective step over the sitting woman, a feral growl rising in his throat. Harder she looked but saw nothing. Then, out of the grayness something materialized.
She drew back, fear in her blue eyes, as out of the shadows The Great Red Dragon stalked. She had lain in the moonlight too long and he had found her. For the Dragon had tricked them, and was not banished to Hell as the Lion had intended, but escaped to the dark side of the moon. He had been watching her for some time, waiting for his strength to return to him. And so it had, and in his hand was clasped the silver sword that he had comprised of his seven fallen crowns, the sword that the Lion had taken form him all that time ago. The sword had been hidden by the Lion, for with it the Dragon might slay him, and so he sprang forward, willing to do battle once more to protect that which was most important.
The Great Red Dragon raised his sword, and with a roar charged the great cat. They met in the middle and hair, blood and scale rained down upon the earth as they fought. The duel of the cosmos was not to repeat itself, as neither had the strength they had then, but both enough to finish the other. They battled as the woman watched, having retreated from the moonlight but not far enough that she might not watch as her beast danced with the Devil. The encounter was short, and in no time the Lion lay defeated, the silver sword erect in his ribs as the battered Dragon stalked forward, seeking her out amongst the trees. The woman turned to flee, the Dragon hot on her heels. She ran, he perused. He had been injured in the fight and she was gaining ground faster than his liking.
With a roar that shook the very forest about them, de descended upon her, falling from the sky and crashing her down to the earth with him. But in his agony of his wound he missed and she merely tumbled away, the golden crown being knocked form her head in her roll. With the escape of the crown form her head, and the defeat of the Lion moments before, the thing shattered into stardust, the protection it might or might not have had disappearing with the last breath of the lion. At her hip where the satchel of keys were kept, a weight was lifted, the key's having also turned to dust. She was alone with the one thing that could be her demise.
Lifting herself form the ground she rolled to her back, the impact having taken her breath. A few feet from her the Dragon too was struggling for air. It was the first time she had been so close to him since he had taken her from the skies. He was oddly like her, in facial appearances and human build, save for the great twisting blood colored horns from his rose colored hair and the tangle of wings bursting from his back. His gray eyes met hers and a clawed hand reached for her.
Her breath having somewhat returned she struggled away from him on her back, "No…" her voice a whisper, the first word she had uttered since before being clothed with the sun, "S-stay back." She knew not how she knew to speak, it just was – like a foggy memory from a time long ago.
"L-Lucy…" He spoke her earthly name as a parched man begs for water, his lips cracked, teeth broken and bloodied.
The world around her fell away, she saw nothing, heard nothing, but him. Her true name, the name given to her by the mortal parents now long dead, the name the Divide Ones had stripped form her, how in the Heavens did he know her real name!? not even she had rememberd such a thing. Nothing but the Dragon slowly clawing his wat toward her, his tail and wings dragging behind him, being visible to her.
"Lucy!" His voice was stronger now.
"No, why!? How? Why me!?" she was crawling back more, tears pricking her eyes – a foreign feeling as Gods did not cry.
"Because… Because I love you."
She stopped, his words driving stakes through her body, freezing her in place, blue eyes widening with shock. He too stopped just from her resting on his hands and knees, his eyes boring into hers, but without maliciousness or ill intent, he simply looked at her, into her, through her. For a long time they stayed there, just looking at the other.
A single tear overflowed her eye and traced a black line down her white skin. He was above her now, over her, she knew not how it happened, nor how fast he had moved, for one moment he had been before her, the next over her. Her breath stuck in her chest as a clawed hand reached out and traced the dark mark on her features, his finger burning like fire, but leaving a calming sort of familiarity in its wake. She gazed into his eyes now so much closer to hers, and she saw how like her he really was.
He smiled, his scaled face contorting to conceal the pain he was in, his hand now cupping her check engulfing it in his warmth.
"I knew you were the one…" his voice was raspy and tired, but it was familiar, "The one the Divine Ones wanted to bring light to the earth through. But I didn't want to share you, so I hid you from them." His smiled widened and his eyes closed at the memory he was envisioning, "We were happy, as long as we were together we were happy. But they found us…" his smile faded his as his eyes opened and they held darkness in them. His fingers tightening on her cheek as his memory changed, "When the Divine One's took you, I lost my mind." His voice was darker, filled with anguish and hatred, it made her shudder at his tone,
"My heart – that was once filled with joy – turned cold and hard. You were my life, my light. The thing that brought me happiness and they took you from me. My heart filled with despair and loneliness and I wondered the earth for so long, so long Lucy, looking for the reason why? Why me? Why us?" He was strained and she felt the sorrow and pain in his heart through his voice.
"The Evil found me and gave me power. It feed off my rage and hatred and turned my sorrow into power. It transformed me, granting me the strength I needed to fight the Divine One's and take you back with this form. We were both human once, but we were each changed, me more than you, by the power of the Gods." He smiled again, "And so I went to the Heavens to rescue you, but when I arrived you had forgotten me." He was still smiling, but his voice was shaking, "How could you?" She reached out for him, her hand mimicking his. His scales were warm to the touch, and soft, so soft. They rippled and bowed under her hand as his smile widened, he seemed delighted in her physical contact.
"I fought for you, and I fought. And now after years of fighting, I have you back with me again." His other hand came up and he cradled her face in his talons. In his eyes' wetness shown, just as hers had. She felt that his words were true, but she had not memory of what he spoke. How could his words hold truth? He was a product of the Devil, a Sinner sent to defile her and steal her light. He was a vile, apathetic and a monster of the Darkness.
"How can I trust you? How can I know what you say is true? I know of nothing of myself before I was in the skies. How can I believe you?" her voice was but a whisper, so soft that no mortal could hear it, thus was the voice of the Gods, only the true could hear the words they spoke.
"Let me show you."
He pulled her face closer to his, she allowed it, and he pressed his forehead to hers, their eyes closing in unison. Visions erupted in her brain, behind her eyes visions flashed and danced. A blonde haired maiden and a rosy haired man danced in a field of green and violet the sun shining like nothing she had seen before above them, the sky a clear crystal blue dotted with fluffy white clouds and the forests were shades of green and brown not gray and black; the same couple sat at a simple table in a small one room cottage enjoying a meal; walked along the edge of a river hand in hand; lay under a blanket of brilliant white and yellow stars in an inky black and blue sky, their fingers intertwined, her head on his shoulder; she bandaging a cut on his hand while he laughed as she scolded him; a kiss shared before a roaring fire in a stone chimney… A great flash and a terrible voice calling her name; she was walking, no – floating, he was chasing behind her, crying and calling out her name; she was rising into the sky as great hands reached for her. She heard her name shouted clear as day before a final flash of light…
She was crying now, freely and loudly. The truth of who she was, of who he was, now so blatantly apparent. Sobbing against the Dragon, black poured from her eyes as the tears flowed, marring her white flesh. He held her face tightly against his, mouth contorted in an expression of his agony. So long he had been without her, so long he had yearned for her, so long he had wished it were someone else that the Divine Ones had taken and that they had been left in peace, so long had it been since he had felt her warmth against him and held her as he was now, so long he had waited, waited to be with her once more.
They sat for an eternity, long after he tears had stopped and her sobs subsided. She was in his full embrace now, her face buried in his chest, hands gripping at his shoulders. His arms wrapped around her tightly, the back of one hand drawing patterns against her back. The action stirring memories long since forgotten to come rising up in her mind, so many memories now surfacing with his touch, smell, the sound of his slow and ragged breathing, the warmth of his body against hers and the solidness of it that offered more protection than even the Lion that lay forgotten some distance off. Even in her misery and his agony, they were at peace, at last where they belonged, memories restored and buried feelings bubbling to the surface once more.
She turned her cheek to his chest, a hand sliding down his firm body to wrap around him, only to stick in something wet and gooey. His hiss mingled with her gasp as he arched away from the pain of her fingers in his wound, she recoiled from him taking in the dark open slashes against his ribs where the Lion had gotten a lucky blow.
Without thinking she placed both hands over the injury, causing a snarl of pain from the Dragon, which she ignored and concentrated. For she was The Woman Clothed In The Sun, and she had been chosen to heal the injured and cure the sick, and so she did, her blessings flowing into the Dragons bones and healing his wound, but not just the one she touched, but the others that he had sustained in his battle with the Lion. Her Gift filled the emptiness around them with bright yellow light, it dawned color and vibrancy and warmth to the barren forest whence they sat, it summed the breeze and drowned the moon in its radiance. The air danced and laughed about them, then away from them filling the forest with the sound of joy and gayety. The warmth of it was different than the warmth of the Dragon, for his warmth was that of the fires of Hell, and hers was the warmth of the fires of the sun. The long forgotten sun.
The breeze twirled, dipped and flitted away from the pair in the wood, spreading its wings and taking flight. It flew and flew, laughing all the way as it expanded across the land and rose to the Heavens, taking speed and gusto as it went. The breeze turned to a wind, a gale, a freak of nature, now roaring to the skies, boasting its message to the Heavens. It turned the ears of the Divine Ones, and they rose from their peaks, having heard news of that which they had lost, of that which they stole – only to have it stolen back in turn. So it was that the Heavens awoke and with great fever. They raced across the skies as shooting stars, twisting and turning and bounding across the cosmos, stirring the Zodiac imprisoned there still. For the wind was a tricky thing, and had betrayed the sun which had summoned it. Now the Divine Ones knew where the lovers lay, they knew the spell had been broken.
With swiftness and certainty of their impending doom looming over their heads, the Divine Ones descended upon the embraced souls, catching them of guard, and tarring them apart without warning nor struggle. The Dragon was the first to recover, lashing out with claw and fang, a roar so powerful on his tongue that it shook the foundation of the earth to its very core. But the Divine Ones would not be fooled a second time, for the Dragon was fierce and powerful, but they were many and he was only one. Clothed as the maiden now behind them, they stood ten foot tall, perfect white skin in stark contrast with their dead black eyes that held no ball, just empty space. The Dragon stood from where he had been thrown, ready to do battle for the one he had fought so long for. She herself standing from behind the wall of Divinity, awake wide blue eyes meeting gray.
In a flash white met red as Dragon and Divine lunged in perfect unison and engaged. Blonde stood back, unable to assist nor defend as the forest filled with the sounds of battle, unholy screams of the Divine and the roar of the Dragon. As the stars had before them, they fell, for the Dragon had not only been healed of his wounds from the Lion, but his original strength from the first time he did battle with the Heavens was also restored, the love and Gift of the maiden having done more than mend flesh and bone. With each fallen Divine the rest grew more desperate, and the Dragon stronger. Finally the last remaining Divine ensnared the Dragon in unbreakable chains and brought him to his knees before them. But he had done damage beyond their repair and they turned to the only one that might save their kind from the extinction that was snarling and thrashing against his chains.
Dead eyes fell to the blonde, skeletal hands extended and a voice not meant for mortal ears filled the air, many voices in one, tortured, angry and fearful.
"You are the woman who stands on the moon, clothed in the sun with a crown of the twelve stars on her head. You have been blessed with the power of the sun, you have the ability to smite all Evil from the world, use it to destroy the Devil and defeat the sinner that walks in the darkness!"
The woman looked from the hand outstretched to the writhing Dragon beyond them, his eyes burning with hatred, fresh wounds oozing blood. She nodded numbly, anything to end the man's suffering, for he had for so long, she had felt it, seen it in his eyes and heard it in his voice as he spoke to her. He was in pain, writhing in agony, and she was the only one to end his misery. The Divine Ones were too weak, too afraid to do so, with all their power they were only able to smite the Devil not destroy him – for what was light without darkness?
What was light without darkness?
She stepped forward, the Divine parting for her to pass, her eyes glued solely on the Dragon, his gray to her blue. He stilled as she approached, raising her hands above her head, the light of the sun gathering as they had when she had healed his wounds the first time. Gray widened and turned to black, sensing the impending doom overflowing with power and heat as the sun grew in her palms. Once more the forest was illuminated with the warm yellow light, the trees changing from gray to green, the grass turning olive riddled with purple flowers, the sky becoming crystal blue with fluffy white clouds… her memory stirred…
Below her the Dragon closed his eyes, accepting his fate, behind her the Divine Ones shrieked and cackled for her to destroy the darkness.
But she did not.
In an act of defiance purely human in nature she threw the sun back into the sky, the power of the Divine Ones burning for all the world to see once more, as it had been all that time ago, as it would be for eternity. The wind howled. The Dragon roared. The Divine screamed. Their voices fading with their bodies as the light of the sun burned their flesh and turned them to dust, blown away by the breeze, relics of ancient times that had long overstayed their time on this planet. For it was they, not the devil, that feared the light the most, and for that reason they had it clothed on the woman so that they might live forever and feast off the darkness, raking in the praise of the mortals as the woman clothed in the sun did their work on earth for them. And above it all rose a voice, clear as the skies, strong as the trees, and light as the wind,
"Why should I keep this power to myself, I was chosen to heal the sick and injured, take pity on the poor and misfortunate, to bring peace and serenity to the people of the world, and I chose to give it to them, so that they might be able to heal themselves. That they might take pride in themselves, and be joyous in their own worth. I will not be the bringer of light, for they will have the power to be the light themselves.
And with the sun I leave the moon, so that the Darkness might have light even in the night, and so the sun and moon might have each other and not be alone, and with that let no person on this planet ever truly be alone, not while the sun and the moon shine above them, and so I will be with them, in the entities that be. In the constellations that guide the travelers, and the light that brings the day. But each be their own strength, knowing that I have faith in them, and in their own capability. This, this is my last gift to the human race."
With her final word the grayness of the black and white world that had been was no more. Color erupting where none had been before. But where one thing was given, one thing was also taken. The Dragon lost his horns, the source of his evil power, and with it a transformation from monster into man left him naked to the world and the woman before him. She too lost something, the Divinity that had been granted to her was stripped from her, taking with it the immortality the Divine Powers bestowed, leaving her with what life's time she might have left had she not been immortal.
And so the Dragon now man stood, arms outstretched as the powers that once were laid the woman in his arms, her head resting to his shoulder, her legs bent lifeless about his forearm. With her weight though light he sank to his knees, clutching her close his eyes slammed shut for if he opened them he knew what he would see. He had not the strength to look at her, he barely had the strength to cry, though some wetness escaped his eyes, for they were one in the same, yet true opposites. He walked in the darkness to save her, and she brought the light to save him. Both sacrificed all they had to keep the other from harm, a paradox that in the end would save nether. Forcing breath to his lungs a final few times, he opened his eyes and let her face be the las thing he saw before the blackness took him for good.
She was smiling. And so to was he.
Fair warning - i'm not done killing characters... it has a bittersweet ending to it no? leaving a good taste in your mouth?
forgive me, it was 4 am when i finished this so it might make more sense when you're sleep deprived, stressed and overworked.
Until Next Time!