Dragon Rider
Disclaimer: What? You want me to make a sing and dance about it? Don't own them!
Distribution: oh what the hell, take it but ask first!
Rating: well, to be on the safe side M.
Dedication: This is for my loyal readers, you guys rock!
Timeline: A mixture of the 17th centaury, 21st centaury and magic, you'll get what I mean when you read it.
Author Note1: been thinking about this for a couple of minutes and thought what the hey, lets write!
Author Note2: I made this really nice paint shop pro picture to this story, cause all these writers websites have them and I thought may as well make and guess what? I can't put it on here! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr!
So if you want to see it use the link here: http/img424.imageshack.us/full.php?imagepic28ij.jpg
The King narrowed his eyes at his daughter's answer; he had come all the way to her chambers in person instead of giving her a messenger to what he was asking of her. He was quite proud that she was the most beautiful and kindest of all the women in his Kingdom but in doing so she was very desirable too. Thinking of her safety he decided the only way he could think of protecting her...
"What do you mean no?" The King asked.
"I mean no" she said calmly sitting in her chair while the King was sitting in his.
"Elizabeth, you are my daughter, my only daughter and the heir to the thrown before your brother" the King said "Putting you at risk"
"From what?" Elizabeth said "I can take care of myself better than any man here could and, unlike dear William, I don't make a fuss about it either"
"You are still the heir to the thrown!" the King said "The risk would be that you, my dear, would be used to make the Kingdom bow down to it's knees to get you back if you are captured"
"I know that Father, that's why I have been preparing for it but I still say no" Elizabeth said "Not even Mother would be happy about marriage to him"
"I love your mother dearly. She was the world to me and you, ever since you were born you have brought sunshine to our lives" the King said sympathetically "But she is dead Elizabeth and so it's down to me to know what's good for you"
"And marriage is the answer" she said angrily "Marriage to William, have you heard the rumours about him Father? They call him William the Bloody for all the victory's he's won for us it has all been a bloody massacre with no mercy upon anyone"
"And like all rumours they are rumours" the King said as he got up from his chair shaking his head in dismissal "Gossip, would be the death of this kingdom if everyone believed it" he took a deep breath as he watched the flames dancing in the fireplace "Elizabeth you've been courted many times in the past, suitors that would have made me proud if you have chosen them. General Riley, Prince Owen, Lord Scott...all worthy suitors and yet you dismissed them. As a father I went with my instincts and your mother's wishes, to let you chose your own husband through love" he turns back to face her, firelight was softening his grave" My instincts are now telling me that you should marry as soon as possible, I have received word from the east that there is something brewing there and it's heading in our direction"
"So marriage out of fear?" Elizabeth said thoughtfully.
"No, marriage for your safety" the King said as he walked up to her "Lord William is a good strong man and he shall take great care of you"
"And if I refuse?" Elizabeth asked "Disobey you?"
"Then you shall be stripped of your title and locked in the Tower" the King said nonchalantly, when she didn't reply he calmly said "I shall give you a day to think about it" he turns and leaves "Think carefully my dear, I don't want you to end up alone" with that he closed the door behind him. It was the last time he ever saw of her before she escaped.
Rupert Giles was the Inn keeper of the Fawn, an Inn that was in the heart of the Village Rosenberg. He was a gentleman to many of his customers and the people who knew him; though he made a scandal of marrying a gypsy and had a daughter with her he was quite a remarkable man. He always treated everyone in an equally kind fashion and taught some of the villager's children to read and write and a few how to defend themselves when attacked. With his wife he taught and kept the Inn going but what made him proud was his daughter natural ability to learn, though he encouraged her to go to university in the Capital of Chantrelle, Moonlight City and the home of the King. It was called Moonlight because when the moonlight hit it on the twelfth hour it became a brilliant white and anyone lost or needed a place to stay would easily find it since it was based around, on and in a mountain.
Sighing Giles turned a page of his book, he actually was the Librarian of the Castle and a dear friend of the Queen before she conceived her first child. Many nights she would turn to him when she needed help, but at her orders he had to leave. The King was getting jealous of their friendship and so he was in danger of getting his head removed and stuck on a spike. So on that fateful Autumn night he left, ironically he returned to her to say his goodbyes over her grave in Autumn.
He shut his book abruptly and placed it back into its place and for a moment he stared at the letters on it back. Vampyr. He came down a long line of Watchers but never in his life saw a demon or vampires, the only one in his family was his Grandmother. She told him when he was a little boy that at his age she saw a man turning into a giant demonic snake only to be stop by a slayer, a chosen one. In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer. A line he had remembered so well over the year and at that moment when the beast was destroyed, the demons, the vampires and all evil was sucked into a portal that was created from this 'ascension'. Everyone believed they were gone for good since the slayer's powers when to sleep and soon they forgot. But his grandmother never once believed that they were truly gone. Evil never dies and if it had they wouldn't have existed now, the balance of good and evil and all. So she taught the ways of the Watchers to her children and her grandchildren in hoping that if they came back they would be prepared. History became legend, legend became myth, it had been over a hundred years and still no word of them.
"I think I'm starting to believe my father about this Grandmother" Giles muttered as he left the study room and walked down the stairs" Maybe they have gone for good"
Walking down the stairs his thoughts went to his daughter and wife, they both believed him about the monsters that used to haunt the night since Jenny old gypsy clan would pass stories down about the creatures that took their families lives. It was a tradition and from tradition Jenny was teaching Willow the ways of magic, though he didn't approve of it Willow was just as powerful and skilful in magic as she is intelligent. Maybe it was a good idea for her to learn, at least in that was he wouldn't have to worry about her working in the bar with Tara.
He walked up to the old oak doors when he heard insistent knocking. Opening it he saw a petite blonde around the age Willow who had a duffle bag in one hand and a chestnut horse's reigns in the other. She looked like she had been living on the outlands for a long time with her clothes a bit on the dirty side and she looked tired and hungry.
"Can I help you?" Giles asked politely.
"Do you have a room for me to stay?" the girl asked, shivering slightly. It maybe the beginning of spring but it was still cold.
"I'm very sorry but no" Giles said.
"She could stay with me" Willow said as soon as she appeared, she heard the knocking too she was taking sympathy towards the girl "I don't mind"
"That would very kind of you but I won't feel right if I stay in your room" she said.
"How long are you planning to stay?" Willow asked.
"As long as I can" the girl said "I would like to have a job here in exchange for a room, food, water and a stable place for my horse it's not very much considering what I can do"
"And is it can you so?" Giles asked.
"From my experiences I can tack a horse up, cut wood up with a single axe, I'm a blacksmith, I can wash clothes, I also hunt and I do fishing too" she said confidently.
"All men's job" Giles said "Do you have any proof?"
He saw her sword poking out from under her cloak which she notice as well "I've been living on the outlands for a long time with my horse as my only company" gesturing to her sword why she kept that weapon about, outlanders could come along to try to steal from her, kill her or worse rape her if they tried "I can take care of myself and can do anything better than any man here could" she said politely
"And I heard you can use someone like me since you dismissed one of your workers"
"Yes Mr Parker was a bit...persistent" Giles said.
"Persistent! He tried to-" Willow cut herself off, it was night and cold and the guests were trying to sleep.
"We'd be glad to let you stay Ms...? I'm sorry I didn't catch your name" Giles said.
"My name Eliz-" she quickly coughed to cover her real name up "Buffy. Buffy Summers" she said.
"I hope you don't mind the couch" Willow said when she gave her a blanket and pillow.
Willow's bedroom was next Tara's in the attic, it was nice and spacious it was perfect for more that one person to sleep in. While Willow was taking Buffy to her room Giles was un-tacking Buffy's horse in the stables in good manners since Buffy was too tired to do it herself.
"Couch is good, trust me I've slept on worse" Buffy said.
"What's it like to live on the outlands?" Willow asked while Buffy stripped quickly down to nothing but a pair of shorts and a shirt.
"Not bad, but I won't recommended it this time of season" Buffy said truthfully as she sink into the warm couch, never in her life did she regret the smallest things that could make things a lot better.
"I thought it would be fun"
"It's not Willow, more along the lines of survival" Buffy said truthfully.
"Oh" Willow said as she lay down in her bed.
"Thanks again" Buffy said as she yawned but before she could rest her eyes sound of whale moaning mixed with a bear roaring could be heard outside "What the hell was that?"
The sound pierced the air again before Willow could identify it "I've never heard a dragon sing before"
"Dragon?" Buffy exclaimed in fear.
"Don't worry this ones got a marcach" Willow said "Saw it this morning"
"A what?" Buffy asked, hoping it wasn't a weapon of some sort.
"A marcach, it means rider in Gaelic" Willow amended.
"But I thought dragon riders were forbidden in Chantrelle" Buffy said.
"Not in these parts" Willow said "Besides they haven't bothered us so far and a dragon is a good thing"
"Why?" Buffy asked.
"It scares away the wolves that eat the livestock" Willow explained
It had been weeks since Buffy came to the Fawns Inn and true to her word she could do what she said she could do. She surprised everyone that she, a petite blonde, could move a hundred pound log from the forest over twenty miles to the villages without breaking her back or a sweat. She figured she got that strong because the Powers that Be felt sympathy for the loss of her mother. Probably true since she only noticed how strong she was when she began to punch the wall in anger that something she couldn't prevent had killed her mother. The hole she had caused was massive considering that was how she felt, falling through a bottomless hole at the time.
But Giles, Jenny, Willow and Tara never bothered her about her strength since they never see her in action because they were too busy themselves.
She heard the dragon sang again, listening to it sing made her almost happy. She couldn't understand it but the dragon there made everything better. Like Willow said she hadn't been in danger when collecting the logs or when she was hunting or fishing in the nearby lake.
She picked up her axe and began to cut the log for the fire, one of her last jobs in the evening. She had done some work on the horseshoe she mended for one of the guests in one hour, she went hunting for wild boar but they decided to hide, probably because of the dragon, that evening so she went to the market to get some pork and she was doing her last job of the day since no one was going out for a ride. Splinters went flying as she went on with her job.
Shwack.
Shwack.
Shwack.
Shwack.
Shwack.
Clonk.
That was all it took for the log to be cut in half, then quartered, then eighth and so on. Strength and accuarcy was the key to cutting and she had a lot of it. She looked over to the east and sees the last of the sun setting gently before the horizon swallows it up like it always did. Sighing Buffy chucks the pieces of logs into the wheelbarrow before she sets off back to the Inn. Setting the wheel barrow near the entrance of the kitchen she grabs a bucket, placed some of the logs into it and set off into the house.
"Here some logs Jenny" Buffy said as she fed the fire under the stove.
"Thank you Buffy" Jenny said as she magically prepared this evening meal for the guests and her family and the workers.
Buffy didn't mind the magic since she had witnessed it all the time when she was little. Walking through the kitchen, she plopped some logs into fire of the dinning room before she set off to the bar.
"Hey Will" Buffy said as she passed the Red head.
"Hey Buffy, finished already?" Willow asked as she finished pouring a drink for a customer.
"Yep" Buffy said as she chucked a few more logs into the fire.
"Good, you can help me and Tara around the bar" Willow said happily then gave the customer a warm smile as she handed him his beer.
"Thanks lass" he said with a wink.
"No probs" she winked back then went on to another customer.
Buffy sighed, she really wanted a nice warm bath but she guessed that would have to wait a while. Sliding over the bar, she placed on her apron and her bargirl smile as she went to serve.
"How can I help you?" she asked the man in front of her.
"Ah yes, erm, can I have a bottle of brandy and a glass please?" the man said.
"Sure you can" Buffy said was a kind smile, whips out a bottle of brandy and a glass.
"Thank you" he said as he paid her but before Buffy could move on he asked "Have you heard the news of Moonlight city?"
"No, what happened?" she asked, frowning at her old home.
"Apparently Princess Elizabeth had runaway with a man" he said.
"Really?" she said trying to disguise her fear and her laughter as she gripped her sword that was hidden under the work surface.
"I heard he was the stable boy" the bloke next to him said loudly.
"I thought she was locked up in the tower for not marrying Lord William" another said.
"Who would want to marry him? William the Bloody is suppose to be the most ruthless man in Chantrelle" a woman shouted in the back "Bedding women as he goes, it's no wonder why she ran away"
"Poor girl, he's nasty man he is" Willow agreed pouring a rum and gin in a cup "I hope she found a safe place to hide"
"How is the Prince taking it?" Buffy said casually.
"He seems to be fine about it, must of encourage her to run" the man said in front of her "Probably to take the thrown"
"Alexander would never do that!" Buffy blurted, quieting the bar instantly "I mean, he's a nice guy and he loves his sister very much and so he wouldn't have done that" with that there was a murmur of agreement.
Sighing in relief Buffy carried on with her job as the starry night covered the sky the crystals activated in the ceiling, stone crystals in this world were from Mount Galloway and were like light bulbs except they only activate when someone active comes in the room at night and deactivate when they are asleep or left the room. She worked on till the early hours of the morning.
"Right Ladies and Gentlemen Bar is closing now, so drink up or leave" Willow said as she closed up the bar with Tara.
As soon as the last customer either left the pub or went to bed Buffy rested her aching feet in the corner of the bar as she drank some lemonade while she relaxed. She placed her drink on the table after she took two long gulps, Jenny's homemade lemonade was delicious every time. Willow and Tara joined her as soon as they cleaned up.
"How much did we make tonight?" Buffy asked.
"About five gold, seven silvers and three bronzes" Willow said, there was annoying flicker of the crystals in the ceiling suddenly "Oh great, need to change the crystals"
There was a soft rumble in ground making the crystals in the ceiling flicker again and Buffy's lemonade to ripple, causing Buffy to stare at her drink.
"Willow I-I don't think th-that's the problem" Tara said nervously as she looked outside wondering just as they were what was going on.
There was another rumble and the entire light crystals in the village went out, the only remaining light there was were fire light. Buffy continued to watch her drink, as the rumble got louder the more violent the ripples became.
Rumble
Ripple
RUmble
RIpple
RUMble
RIPple
RUMBle
RIPPle
RUMBLe
RIPPLe
RUMBLE
RIPPLE
Something big was coming their way.
"What's going on?" Giles said as he came in with his wife behind him.
"I don't know" Willow whispered "Do you think it's the dragon"
"It's not" Tara said.
"How would you know" Buffy asked.
"Look outside" Tara said
"What the hell is that?" Buffy shouted through her whisper when they all crowded around the window Tara was peering through "It looks the devil had a kid with lava girl!"
Sure enough there was a creature that looked humanoid but had major differences, it had horns, cloven feet, yellow eyes and lava looking skin. Just like Buffy described it.
"There back" Giles gasped "The demons t-t-there back"
They watched this creature move into the Village square as everything shook beneath it's feet. Then when it came into the centre it stopped and began to speak.
"People of Rosenberg, I am the Beast and I given you two choices" the creature boomed across the village "You can either give me five of your purest virgins or you can be destroyed"
"You do not scare us" someone shouted.
"Then you are fools" the Beast said before it grabbed a piece from the fountain nearby and threw it at that very person, killing him in an instant.
Anger flared through Buffy as she grabbing her sword behind the bar and before Giles could stop her she stormed out of the door towards the creature. She didn't know what it was but something in her broke loose when the Beast killed the man, it was if she suppose to protect him or something.
"Hey! Rock Face!" Buffy shouted, as the Beast turned to her she sliced the sword across his "That can't be good" she commented of the lack of damage she made.
"Fool" the Beast growled before backed handed her away from him.
She landed with a thud, skidding backwards with the force. Her chin pulsed with pain, telling her it was going to be very swollen in the morning, she heard Willow gave out a sharp cry sending her back to her senses. Surprising the Beast and all the spectators she gets up and looks at the Beast defiantly at him.
"Was that suppose to hurt?" Buffy taunted, hiding the fact it really did.
"It was suppose to kill you" the Beast said looking at her carefully.
"Guess me and Death don't get along that well" Buffy said "Wanna try again?"
"Glad to" the Beast said and charged at her.
Barely having time to move Buffy jumped and rolled out of the way from the incoming mass. Rolling onto her feet she went instinctively to a fighting position so fluently it felt natural. An instinct that felt ancient and fresh at the same time.
"C'mon it's late and haven't got time-" she was suddenly thrown into the fountain, telling her the beast was a little faster than he appeared to be.
The water sprayed everywhere when she splashed into it. Pushing herself up, whipping her hair back so nothing would stop her from seeing, she realised she dropped her sword .
Guess I have to work with out it
The Beast was upon her again. She blocked, dodged and blocked again from his punches. She kicked into his groin to slow him only to see him stumble back but topple over in pain.
"So not right" she muttered as she went after him again.
She jumped up and double kicked him in the face, dodging another backhand she loose furry punches in the top of his abdomen. Suddenly the Beast wrapped its arms around her and began to crush her body. Her head whipped back in pain and she roared in frustration as she tried to free her body while protecting it at the same time. Through the corner of her eyes the Beast horns enticed. For some reason she knew if she ripped them off it would hurt, big time. But she needed to free her arms.
I need…I need…I need she repeated in her mind.
There was a roar and the Beast froze for a split second, it was if it feared something. Using the distraction Buffy used a sudden burst of strength to shove the arms away, grabbed the horns and ripped them off so quickly it was a shock to the Beast. The Beast abruptly roared in pain when he apprehended what had just happened only to be shut up by Buffy, using it's own horns as a weapons, ironic indeed.
Right, whack! Left, whack! Both, whack! She then kicked up into its chin as it stumbled backwards from the force and pain. She was mad, tired and very hungry for something for some reason. As soon as the Beast got its bearings it then kicked out and the power was so intense she was thrown into the air again with a broken rib. As she came down to meet earth again she watched the ground coming closer and closer in contact, only one thought went thought her head this is going to hurt!
But the pain never came as someone's strong hand gripped firmly on her wrist. She opened her eyes to see that everything was moving beneath her, especially the tops of the houses! She could help but stare at them before she was pulled up swiftly over a saddle that was being occupied. The saddle was strapped to something red, big, scaly and happened to have big leathery wings. Buffy also noticed it had two pairs of legs that had four equally sharp silver claws, she looked down this creatures long neck and saw on top of the neck it had a nice neat row of small spikey horns that disappeared underneath its equally spikey scaly head that looked like a cross between a cat, a wolf and a lizard of some sort.
Don't eat me! Buffy thought.
"C'mon girl, give him a nice little circle" someone said next to her, Buffy immediately assume it was the person that save her having a pancake face and was the rider too.
The creature shot up into the air forcing Buffy to grip onto the saddle, then as it dived down spilling a fiery encircle around the beast and shot back up. When they circled back Buffy saw the Beast couldn't move from his entrapment of the intense fire.
"Oh my goddess this is a dragon!" Buffy shouted.
"Wow you finally figured that out" the Rider said.
She turned her head to give a piece of her mind only to shut it. Even though it was dark she could see that Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome was smirking at her in the most sexiest way possible and she was practically sprawled over his lap and looked like a mess. Despite the embarrassment she realised that what she was hungry for and was it him as she watched his lips move.
Shaking herself out of her little daydream she asked "Can you repeat that again?"
"I said do you still have his horns?" he asked.
"Yeah why?" she asked as she showed him.
"The Beast can only be killed if a piece of himself is stabbed into him" the Rider explained.
"Be your own weakness, must be the new phase" Buffy joked.
The dragon landed gently into the square letting them hop off, well Buffy actually slid off while the Rider was doing the hopping. Before the Beast could react Buffy threw both of the horns into its abdomen. What surprise Buffy was that the Beast wasn't looking at her as it was dying and she trailed its direction of it's eye line to the Rider.
"Angel, you think that defeating me would end all of this?" the Beast said as his body crackle up with the light pouring of him "It has only begun"
The Beast shook with violent as the Rider grabbed Buffy and pulled her under the dragon's wing. There was an explosion and when the dragon lifted her wing up Buffy saw a huge crater of where the beast once was.
TBC…
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