Beauty and the Dragon

by Bluest Lion

"Anger or violence was never the path to walk upon, for there are things that must be treated with kindness and gentle care." Those were the words of a fairy enchantress he refused to listen. There isn't much time left until his humanity has been revoked and is forced to live as a living dragon for eternity. His only hope is a young beauty of the village far from his castle.

1. Introduction

Long ago, in a forest far from civilization, there stood a vampiric castle hiding within the thick trees. Within the castle was a dragon. A beast who had brought a horrific curse upon himself.

It all began when the dragon was once a prince. The prince was well respected-had dreams just like any other human. Though he had everything anyone would wish for, he was spoiled, and always had an insatiable anger that would shake anyone who was victimized in his outbursts. It wasn't until one evening, when the prince was visited by an old woman who held a single pink lily in the tips of her fingers, as if it is to be treated with care.

The woman asked the prince for shelter as a way to hide from the bitter cold, and the lily was the offering. But the gift earned a frustrated sneer from the prince and words poisoned with venom.

But the woman had warned him, that anger or violence was never the path to walk upon, for there are things that must be treated with kindness and gentle care. When the prince dismissed her warning with his venomous tongue that spat fires of violent promises, the woman had melted into a beautiful fairy enchantress. The prince begged for forgiveness, but it was too late, for the enchantress could see that there was no form of happiness in his heart. As punishment, the enchantress bewitched a curse upon the male. His hands, feet, and parts of his skin growing red scales and claws. Horns appeared on his head. Teeth sharp, like the pupils in his fire red eyes and the painful scars he had grown on his once clear tan skin were signs of wings that had formed within his back.

Because of the monstrous appearance that he had grown, the prince concealed himself away from the civilization farther away from his home. The lily the enchantress had offered, was actually the prince's life force. The lily held a single strong flame over it's delicate petals that made its representation of the time he had left before the last of his humanity is eradicated and he turns into a full dragon. If the prince could learn to be gentle towards a delicate being..and learn to love another before his 21st year, then the spell would be broken. But the prince had already lost all hope..

For who could ever love a terrifying dragon?