Love at First Song
Chapter Fourteen: The Battle
Quickie A/N: I'm baaaaaack… Ha ha. So, it's been about six months since I updated any of my stories and I'm sure all of you hate me for it. (I hate myself a little bit too.) But in any case, my life has been absurdly busy, and you have a problem with it, I would like you to trade places with me because I'm sure if you have the time to be roaming around on here, your life is much less stressful than mine. I will not guarantee that this story will be updated again any time soon. But I had a free hour, so I thought, why not? Anyway, here it is. Review… or not.
"Mother," Edward growled, standing. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Relax, darling. Just move aside." She looked at him, watching expectantly as he took a hesitant sidestep. "That's it. A little more…"
"Don't move another inch, sire," Nathaniel said, from Edward's right. "She's going to incinerate your bride."
Torn, Edward looked at his old friend.
"She's going to what?"
"Don't listen to that old buffoon, my dear. I'm your mother!" Narissa wheedled from above.
"Step-mother," whispered Nathaniel. (Seeing as just a moment ago she had said as much.)
Aurora, still standing protectively over Giselle, looked back up at the horrific dragon and stood her ground. She would, however, feel a little better if Edward would come back towards her…
"Wait a minute."
Giselle's gaze went to the dragon. Narissa was a witch. A power-hungry, blood-thirsty sort of witch. And she was currently a large purple dragon.
"Edward."
Her voice was so beseeching that her husband had to look at her. He knelt. "What is it, my love?"
"The dragon," she gasped. "The dragon in the forest. It's her, Edward. Narissa killed your father."
Edward blanched.
"What?"
He looked, furious, at Nathaniel. "Is what my bride says true, old friend? Is this the dragon that killed my father?"
Nathaniel bowed his head but was silent.
"You!" He raised a trembling finger in Narissa's general direction.
"How… how dare you!" Overcome with grief and rage, he let the tide of emotion overcome him as he let more accusations fly. "You killed my father!"
The dragon's giant head snaked in closer. "You have no proof. Why would you listen to a bunch of rodents, a half-witted girl, and a grumpy old man instead of the woman who has taken care of you for so long?"
"You tried to kill Giselle," the prince hissed. "And that, I have proof of." He looked pointedly at the slime, which matched the sheen of Narissa's glistening purple scales, that surrounded Giselle on the floor and stuck to parts of her dress. "Why wouldn't you do the same to another threat to the throne, that wasn't even yours to begin with? He was a good man – honest, and wise, and loved by his people! You will never be as good as he was. I… I…" He knelt down, sobbing, and pressed his fist into the ground.
"All right. It's true," Narissa finally roared, a plume of fire billowing from her open jaws. Everyone gasped at the confession despite all of the earlier suspicions.
Edward struggled to regain his composure. "You've taken my throne, ruined my castle. First my father, then the happiness of his people… and then, almost, Giselle. What more can you take away from me?"
Narissa raised a giant, dragon-ish eyebrow and he felt suddenly that he shouldn't have asked.
"Your life, my darling, if you don't move aside."
Startled by her audacity, Edward stood and drew himself up to his full height. "No. I am not your anything, and I shall not move!"
He went back towards Giselle and sat at her side resolutely. He squeezed her hand and she gave him a small smile in return. Aurora sighed in relief. But the battle was not over.
"Nathaniel!" Narissa boomed. "You fool! You have betrayed me. I thought I could trust you."
He lifted his face to the cruel form of the dragon, shielding his eyes with his hand from the bright rays of sun that framed her like some ironic halo. "I have done nothing to you, Narissa, that you have not done a thousand times worse to me and your people."
In response, the dragon shrieked. With each decibel her voice rose, the sky seemed to further darken.
"Don't you know all the things that I have done for you? Are you too stupid to understand? Stephen was an idiot – he would never have been able to run this kingdom like he was trying to. I did you a favor," she spat at Edward. "And I was doing one each time I tried to kill your babbling bride. She was just holding us back."
"Us?" Edward repeated incredulously. "Oh, no, Narissa. There has never been an us. Just a you."
Having been carefully paying attention to all that had been said, Aurora crouched next to Giselle. "Shouldn't we be trying to do something?" she whispered, as the louder voices argued.
"I don't know what we could do," Giselle replied uneasily, not removing her eyes from the dragon.
"We could do something," Faith offered.
"Oh, it's no use," Giselle said pitifully, feeling sadder than she had perhaps ever before. The lives of all these wonderful creatures around her that she had come to know and love were about to end, all because of her. "She's too strong for me."
"Nonsense," Aurora said fiercely. "You're still here, aren't you?"
Pip nodded his agreement, and all the other animals looked at her solemnly.
"You're stronger than you think," said someone from within the congregation of animals.
"We must escape," a bluebird chirped nervously.
"You birds are always so flighty. Not all of have wings either," Pip commented. "We oughta fight this thing. End it once and for all."
Roly nodded and puffed out his chest.
"What do you think, Edward?" Giselle asked her prince. "Can we fight her?"
Nathaniel turned to face them and interjected. "Nay, my princess. I fear she has too much firepower at the moment. We would all be made ashes."
Everyone exchanged looks of concern. "Then what can we do?"
Looking thoughtful, Nathaniel glanced at Edward, who was still watching his giant reptilian step-mother and condemning her with his eyes. Narissa was off on a monologue again, only paying attention to her own thoughts. It was the perfect time to make a plan.
"My prince," he said suddenly. "Your sword."
Edward snapped to attention. "What about it?" He looked wary but interested.
"You know," Nathaniel murmured secretively. He made a jabbing gesture with his arm and moved his head in the direction of the dragon.
"Oh my goodness," Giselle gasped, putting her face in her hands. "You couldn't!"
But Edward's face was already set. He hadn't gone on his daily troll hunt this morning, and his arm was already itching with anticipation. "Oh, but I could. There is only one way to repay treason. She will pay for what she did to my father." His eyes hardened. He may not have been brilliant, but he was brave, and he was loyal and determined, all the things that would make him a good knight, and a good king one day furthermore. Despite her worry, and the circumstances, Giselle was proud. "Get out of here, all of you. I must take care of this on my own."
"Nay, my prince. We're in this together," Nathaniel said resolutely. "I…I was a part of this, and now I must fix it."
Edward nodded gratefully and clapped the other man on the back. "Thank you, Nathaniel. But I fear this is something I must do myself. Take care of my bride."
"Edward, my love," Giselle choked, folding herself into his arms and nuzzling into his chest, "oh, do be careful."
He pressed his lips hard against hers. "I love you, Giselle."
She began to cry, and Aurora led her away quickly. The animals all followed quickly, and escaped out of the hole in the wall that had been made earlier. From far above, Narissa did not notice as she continued her pointless monologuing.
"Narissa!" Edward interrupted. "Down here!"
Her beady eyes focused in. "Haven't I taught you better than to interrupt your superior while they are speaking?"
"I have," Edward agreed. "Now it's your turn to learn a lesson!"
With that, he swiftly drew his sword and rushed forth. The battle was on!
Narissa was so surprised that he would actually have the mind to do this that she did not have time to move aside before he had thrust his sword deep into one of her scaly legs. With a roar of surprise, she wrenched away, leaving Edward swordless, and defenseless. The sword still in place, she used her good front claw to sweep him off his feet and throw him into the hard stone wall. Dazed, he lay still.
"Ha! You thought you could defeat me? You and your father made the same mistake. And you will die the same way."
She reared back and opened her cruel jaws, about to let loose a spurt of flame, when something struck her in the chest.
"Oh, Narissa. Father always knew that your vanity would hurt you someday."
"You insolent child!" she shrieked, trying to clutch at the dagger that had penetrated her breast, but having no success due to the size and sharpness of her claws. Edward's hunting dagger may have been small, but it was also very sharp. She was sorely tempted to return to human form, but knew it would be her undoing. Perhaps she had been wrong to send Edward on all of those troll hunts. He knew a thing or two about sword-fighting. And, it seemed, intervening. The distraction of the sword, and then the use of the dagger, was – she grudgingly admitted – rather brilliant. Who knew he would have turned out to be such a little fighter?
"Are you ready to give up yet, Narissa?"
"N…never," she managed. Her breaths were growing ragged.
Using this moment of weakness to his advantage, Edward staggered to his feet and retrieved his sword. He cringed at the cry of pain Narissa emitted.
"I'll give you one more chance, witch," he offered generously. "Surrender now and admit to your treachery, and you will not be killed."
Partially due to indecision and partially due to shortness of breath, Narissa paused. If she let him believe that she was sorry, maybe she could regroup and try again one day. She would still have her powers. But they would take her throne, and her influence, and any trust they had for her would also be gone. And she was too proud to prostate herself before the stepson she considered to be stupid, who was just now about to defeat her. No. She would rather die than submit.
In answer, she raised her head and blew a ring of fire into the dark sky.
Edward raised his sword, somewhat reluctantly. "You had your chance."
Everyone turned away – Nathaniel out of respect, most of the animals out of fear, Aurora out of disgust, and Giselle out of sadness – while Edward prepared himself to kill his own stepmother. But he did not look at her in such a way anymore. She was a man-eating beast, a threat to his family and his kingdom, as well as his own life. He plunged his trusty sword deep into her heart and then looked away himself. Although weakened, she died proudly and nobly, as most villains – and queens – do. Her body returned to human form, while overhead, the sky cleared instantly.
Edward turned slowly, feeling triumphant and utterly ashamed simultaneously. He also felt deeply, deeply tired. The emotional events of the day were much more than he was used to, or could normally comprehend, and he was exhausted. Just as he did after every hunt, he clapped Nathaniel on the back. Then he ran to Giselle and collapsed into her arms, feeling the full weight of what he had just done.
"Giselle, my love," he sighed wearily. "I'm quite tired. Might we go home now?"
She could have cried at the simplicity of his request given all they had just gone through. Instead, she smiled. "That sounds perfectly wonderful, my dearest." She was also feeling quite tired and emotional.
Only a moment later, they were slumped over each other, sleeping soundly.
"It's a good thing 'home' is only a corridor away," Aurora grumbled good-naturedly. She smiled down at the two sleeping beauties for a moment and then glanced at Nathaniel. She sensed something was wrong. "Are you coming?"
"Oh. Erm. No, thank you, Aurora." He bowed his head respectfully. "But thank you," he added, hastily, awkwardly.
"You'll be along shortly, then?" she asked gently, her voice softening.
He nodded.
While Aurora tried to make a graceful exit (or as graceful as is possible while one is dragging two large, sleeping people), she felt sorry for Nathaniel. He was genuinely a good person; he had just gotten involved with a certain person who was not so good. And by involved, she meant "cruelly manipulated by an unfortunate, unrequited, and unreturned crush". She couldn't quite bring herself to be angry at him for this. He was almost childlike, she realized, in his loyalty and naiveté, and couldn't really be blamed for bringing such pain upon the kingdom, and her. She hoped sincerely that he would get a happily ever after one day. He deserved someone better than Narissa.
Nathaniel twined his fingers together and looked down silently at the woman he had loved. He had used to long to kiss those plump lips, ever curved downwards in a sultry pout. He had used to long to run his thick fingers through her dark locks. He had used to long to stare into those mysterious eyes and know they were looking back into his. But he found that he no longer desired these things. Gingerly, he lifted the gold locket out from under his shirt and undid the clasp. Then he dropped it onto her.
He glanced around at the charred walls around him, at the two idiot cronies laying unconscious in a pile. He checked for rings on their fingers, and seeing none, he produced a match from his pocket and set the broken glasses of potions littering the floor ablaze. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, aware that he was committing a crime, but not quite sorry. Backing out of the room, he closed the door behind him, and did not look back.
As the flames grew and began to lick hungrily at the remains left by the struggle, the locket began to melt and contort, and the perfect picture within burned.