Dragon Heart: The Immortal Vow
Sequel to Dragon Heart: A New Beginning
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Drake longs for love, seeing Lian and Geoff makes it even harder. But thanks to the Vow, he finds Meera, a dragoness the same age as him.
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Chapter Three – All It Takes Is A Kiss
Part 1: The Hermit's Prophecy
During a combination of two festivals, Drake and Meera learn of a prophecy that may be talking about them. During a conversation about their possible involvement in the prophecy, they learn of eachother's feelings.
Part 2: The Merchant's Name
A merchant sells Lian and Geoff special amulets which could change the course of their fates.
Part 3: All It Takes Is A Kiss
A wyvern attacks Drake and Meera during the night and Drake protects Meera whilst being poisoned by the creature. In order to heal Drake, Meera must kiss him; if she truly loves him, than he will be healed, but if she does not love him, than he will die from the poison.
The Immortal Vow – Ch.3: All It Takes Is A Kiss
(July 10th, pre-noon) (P1: The Hermit's Prophecy)
Today was one of Geoff and Drake's favourite days. It was the annual festival that celebrated the vanquishing of Osric/Griffin from the kingdom; meaning that Geoff and Drake were celebrated as heroes. The festival was also simultaneous with the kingdom's coupling-festival, which meant that some people would be searching for a relationship. Being a hero, Geoff was usually getting cornered by girls. Of course, he had Lian to help him with that.
Geoff and Lian were moving off and away from the stage to spend the coupling-festival together (Lian hinting that she'd like to take a look at the jewellery stalls, which was where they were headed), and Drake was trying to clear a path for himself and Meera from the stage to a deserted alley, the crowd being packed. Meera just looked around, trying not to drift apart from Drake. It was made even slower by the fact that they had to try and not step on anyone or anything. Mansel was looking around, trying to end being a bachelor. Necros and Wyvera just stood near the stage, Necros scowling at the festivities while Wyvera looked at her master with a questioning gaze, not quite understanding his hatred for either of the festivals. What no one could have foreseen was that Mansel would have a chance of not staying a bachelor, and that Drake and Meera would learn their feelings.
Currently Drake and Meera were finally managing to get into the deserted alleyway; glad to be able to get moving faster than when they were in the crowd. They saw the King's family shield among the many that lined the walls of the castle today, representing those who were fair and just. The King's family shield held the lineage's motto: "Ut Socius Nos Tendo Patefacio Telum , Ut Nostrum Hostilis Nos Ostendo Haud Misericordia" ("To Allies We Extend Open Arms, To Our Enemies We Show No Mercy"). They walked to find something to pass the time. As their gaze swept the crowded yard numerous times, their eyes finally settled on an old man off to a corner surrounded by children. They moved to him. "Good day master story-teller," greeted Drake and Meera. The man chuckled.
"I am but a lowly hermit who has come to share his talents with the comers of the festival," replied the old man, "It is an honour, to be in the presence of ones such as you." Meera smiled as she looked around her, the children were gazing in awe at the two dragons, and one boy in particular looked like he was in his best dream as he looked at the two. Noticing Meera's gaze, Drake moved his tail and poked the boy's back with it. When the boy turned around to look, Drake poked him again on his other side. The boy smiled up at the dragon as he realized who it was that was poking him. "Seeing as you've found another dragon, honoured-dragon, it would seem right to tell you of a prophecy that I myself only heard but a few days ago," said the hermit, bringing both Drake and Meera's attention fully to him.
"A…Prophecy?" inquired Drake. The hermit presented the dragons with a large paper that felt brittle, yet was strong.
(Latin translation) The Page Read:
-Una , duos vadum reperio lux lucis ex invicem , addo pacis ut terra , quod domito hostes hostium (Together, two shall find light from each other, bring peace to the land, and subdue the enemy).
-Diligo mos termino nostrum regnum fortuna , una , duos secui planto unus universus , quod vadum solvo nostrum terra (Love will define our kingdom's fate, together, two parts make one whole, and shall free our land).
-Procul pallor spes , diligo mos fulsi perspicuus quam totus alius , quod duos mos reperio unus , quod subsisto hostes hostium (At the fading hope, love will shine brighter than all else, and two will find one, and stop the enemy).
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(Noon, With Drake and Meera)
"What do you think of that prophecy?" Asked Meera as her and Drake found a deserted grassy courtyard; the yard had nice cement walkways in it and had a large lawn and some patches of flowers. The two sat down together near a pond.
"Well, I kind of have an idea," said Drake, staring at his paws shyly.
"Yes?"
"Well, there are only two dragons and well…-."
"You think the prophecy spoke about us?"
"Well…is there anyone else of our kind?"
"WHAT!? So you choose to love me only because you have no other options!? And to think I had feelings for you!" Spat Meera as she began to rise and turn away, tears quickly blossoming from her eyes, she felt like she was in a living and inescapable Hell. Drake was shocked at what she thought he was implying. He made sure to block her path before speaking again.
"Meera no! That's not what I think at all! I meant that the prophecy was talking about us. I've had-," Drake was finding it hard to say what he wanted, "Even before I heard the prophecy today, I've-," he stopped again, unsure of how to approach the subject. He looked down. Meera heard him mumble his confession, but was able to catch some of it, "Had…-lings f-…you." She strung it together and took it to mean that the last part he said was: Had feelings for you.
"So…you…you love me?" asked Meera as she lifted his head up with her own. He said nothing, just looked into her eyes, his own darting around from looking at one detail of her eye to the next as if searching to find if his feelings were returned or shunned. Meera pressed her lips (I know dragons don't have lips, but I don't have a complete knowledge of dragon anatomy, as the anatomy of the Dragon Heart ones are the most bizarre) to his, the contact lasting for several seconds before Meera pulled away. Drake mouthed "Yes" before he and Meera once more shared a kiss; letting the world have its festivities. Not caring for much more than each other at the moment.
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(With Necros and Wyvera)
Necros felt sick with every moment that he sensed another bond of love occur. But the worst came when he clutched his stomach and throat as he fell to his knees, feeling an overwhelming love from another new couple. None of the love-bonds had made him feel as sick and disgusted as this new one did. He hissed a single name as a bit of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, "Drake…"
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(With Geoff and Lian) (P2: The Merchant's Name)
Geoff and Lian looked at the tables in the marketplace. After a few more stalls they eventually came to one that sold both jewels, trinkets, rare objects, and swords, and bows. Lian looked at a golden necklace that had a large emerald in the pendant. "Lovely trinket," commented Geoff.
"Oh that's no trinket my boy," said the merchant, "That is the Anturo Vipunen Amulet, it possesses a power that allows the wearer to gain all the secrets of the earth." This merchant was the same person who had informed Drake and Meera of the prophecy.
"How so?" inquired Lian.
"There was, IS, believed to be a dragon of such size that he has the Earth as his blanket. As the giant sleeps, the people thrive and grow. It is said, that a hero by the name of Vainanoinen sought the aid of Anturo Vipunen, and constructed a boat to travel to the dragon. After many failures to try and complete the boat, he made it to the giant but could not wake him. The giant merely yawned and sucked him in, after escaping from the dragon's belly the man managed to return home with the very magic he had sought. Making sure to not bring the same fate onto others of the races, Anturo Vipunen crafted an amulet that could present the wearer with the knowledge needed to aid the person, so that none would have to venture to the giant as he slept. This amulet can only present its knowledge to one with a pure heart, one who has desires only to help a loved one," explained the merchant.
"It looks too big to wear, to me," commented Geoff. The merchant chuckled.
"That is because it is meant to be worn by a dragon, just place it around the dragon's throat, and it will fit itself like a collar," said the merchant. The merchant pointed to the one next to it; just the same except it was silver and had a sapphire. "This one, was crafted by the Chinese dragon kings, Ao Kuang, Ao Chin, Ao Jun, and Ao Shun. It will give the wearer a better sense of the stars, to allow them to navigate far easier, whether they are on land or sea. Legend says that Ao Kuang made it when his home was in peril and he was at sea, to get home quickly he crafted this amulet. The Ao Kuang Amulet is the twin to this one here," said the merchant before pointing to a copper necklace with a ruby pendant. "This is the Promethius Ruby, the name originates from the legend of how Prometheus gave mankind fire. This ruby is said to guide the wearer in even the blackest pits of darkness."
"Isn't it a little odd, that fire and water are twins?" said Geoff.
"All the amulets possess a rivalry with their twin, and if an amulet was brought near it's twin, then one of them would began presenting the wearer with darkness and evil," explained the Merchant, "which is why all my amulets are placed away from their twins."
"What is the twin of the Anturo Vipunen Amulet?" asked Geoff.
"Ah, the twin of the Anturo Vipunen Amulet…," said the man smiling as he turned to his stall before turning back around with a different amulet in hand. "…is the Glycon Amulet," said the merchant as he showed them the brass necklace with the topaz. "Glycon was a hybrid supernatural demonic serpent with the head of a human. He was the messenger, some say avatar, of the healer Asklepios. It grants the wearer heightened sense of terrain so that they can move faster, and it also presents them with knowledge of healing, but only to the ones we love, the means of healing is not a usual one I should add."
"How so?" this time it was Geoff who used the words to question.
"To heal your loved one…you must…kiss them," said the merchant with a smile. After a few seconds of an awkward moment, Lian studied the amulets while Geoff and the merchant discussed which of the swords was the best. Lian wondered which one would be the best for Drake and Meera. They would be able to heal each other since they so obviously loved each other. But the Anturo Vipunen Amulet was also a very good choice of amulets.
"I'll take the Emerald and the Topaz," said Lian as she took out a pouch full of gold coins, no doubt from her castle safe.
"And this, I'll take," said Geoff as he picked out the sword that he and the merchant had been discussing the most; it was light, easy to manipulate, and didn't break easily.
"Thank you for your time," said the merchant before collecting the gold. The two moved away before Lian looked back.
"What is your name?"
"Call me Darroc, Darroc Lingtonn," called back the merchant.
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(July 10th, night) (P3: All It Takes Is A Kiss)
Meera slept with a smile on her face. She was nestled close to Drake, who was still awake, watching as her flank moved with each breath she took, totally hypnotized by her beauty. He was stolen from his gaze by the sounds of hissing breaths and of something sliding across the floor. Making sure not to disturb Meera, Drake moved out of his curtained bed through the side curtain, remembering how his silhouette had given him away when Geoff had first found him. He waited as he watched a green dragon…no, not a dragon…it had only fore-paws, wings, and a tail, and was larger than a dragon (it was not full grown but Drake had a feeling that at its oldest, it would be larger than a dragon), and every breath it took caused it to hiss. He watched from around the corner as the strange dragon moved towards the curtain that was at the front of the curtain-den. The creature was about to pull the curtain aside with one of her wings when Drake took action. He barrelled into the creature's side sending it to its side quickly. It sprang up and released a piercing hiss that caused some smoke to come from its mouth, showing that its breath wasn't a healthy inhalant for others. The creature sprang at Drake, using its wings to keep itself in the air for longer. Drake ducked but the creature landed on his back, digging its claws into Drake whilst biting into his tail near the barb. In a haze of pain, Drake threw himself at the nearest wall, making sure to angle himself so that his back would hit the wall. Upon impact the creature released a hiss of surprise, out of instinct it bit into its prey even more. Making sure that like all her other kills, she would use her last resort that all wyverns possessed: she released poison from her fangs into her prey. As she made to get off of the dragon and run for it, she realized, painfully, that the dragon throwing her into the wall had caused her right wing to be crushed against her side abnormally. She sprang off of the dragon and moved to finish her job. Drake looked up as he felt the creature jump off him. He watched as she moved towards the curtained den where Meera slept. He pushed himself to get to the creature before it could harm Meera, his body screaming that he was pushing himself farther than he even had limits, but as the pain continuously crushed down upon him he thought only of Meera with a smile on her face. But then the picture in his mind disappeared to show the creature tearing into what was left of Meera's chest, seeking her heart. When he saw that terrible vision of the creature's intention for the sleeping dragoness, the pain seemed to disappear, being replaced by a will to save Meera. The creature saw him and decided to give up, running out of the dungeon. He moved through the curtain, moving to Meera to see how she was even though the creature had not managed to reach her.
"Drake!"
"Drake!" The first call had come from Geoff as he moved down the stairs and through the study to get to the dragons. The second call had come from Lian as she also moved to check on the dragons.
"Drake?" murmured a sleepy Meera after she awoke from Drake's nudging. Drake moved out of the curtained-den to meet Geoff and Lian.
"Geoff! There was this creature and-," his speech was halted when he groaned in pain; the adrenaline had disappeared and the pain had come back. Lian moved to check Drake's tail when she saw how he had it positioned; he was squeezing it together tightly which was a sign that it was causing him pain.
"Drake, these are wyvern wounds!" exclaimed Lian sounding surprised, "How did you get these!? The flesh is being eaten away from the inside of the bite outwards by a poison that originates only in the fangs of wyverns. Wyvern poison poisons the cells into thinking that they must destroy themselves."
"What are cells?" asked Geoff through his haze of pain; he and Lian had realized what was happening to Drake when Geoff had been awoken by agonizing pain, but that had not stopped him from coming to aid his heart-brother. Lian had been able to learn about cells because of her royal status that allowed her the best tutors.
"Cells are the words for little things that make up the human body," Lian replied as she checked out Drake's wound. She got up and moved over to the table where she had left her satchel earlier. "Meera come over here." The dragoness did so without question. Lian took out what Geoff recognized as the amulet that could heal people. Lian explained to Meera about what to do and then placed the necklace around her neck. The chain transformed to fit to Meera's neck perfectly. Meera moved in front of Drake and lay down in front of him.
"Now what do I do?" asked Meera.
"You have to kiss him," answered Lian as if it was a routine thing for her to tell dragonesses to do so. But Meera did so without question, embarrassment, or regret; thinking only of Drake's life. Geoff and Lian watched in amazement as a golden light seemed to spring from Drake's tail and back wounds and any other wounds he had. As the light went away, they saw Drake's body was completely healed.
(Later, in the main yard)
"Wyverns aren't native to this region," said the abbot.
"Maybe they heard of Drake and Meera? Everyone knows that wyverns can't resist hunting dragons," spoke father Brad.
"You said that it bit Drake's tail? You also said that you healed those wounds with an amulet?" inquired the abbot as he turned to Geoff and Lian. Meera was 'tending' to Drake down in their den, saying that she wanted to make sure he was alright, but Geoff and Lian suspected they wanted to be left alone together for a different reason.
"Yes, here it is," said Lian as she handed the abbot the necklace, now back to its normal size. Realizing that this amulet would be a problem to any attacks made on Drake and Meera, Necros quickly thought up a scenario that would work in his favour.
"I recall that amulet!" called the traveler, initiating his plan.
"You have something to say my friend?" asked the abbot, turning his attention to the blond-haired male. Necros restrained himself from sneering at the man after he had used the term 'friend', Necros had no friends; all of them had been tricked into thinking he thought of them as friends, and after he was finished with using their resources and knowledge he would eliminate them and any connection between himself and them.
"Yes…in fact I do. I shall not allow such a thing to penetrate the walls of your humble and blessed monastery if I can. You see…that, 'amulet' was crafted in a place where people believed not in your gods but in other ones," Necros replied.
"Than I too must see to faith," replied the abbot, "Having an item that comes from a wrong-minded religion could spread the wrong faith through the monastery. I must ask you to take it from these walls."
"But the merchant-," began Lian in protest before the abbot cut her off.
"Lian, we have extended our arms to you, when we once would have shunned you for being a girl in our monastery. But if you demand to break our faith, then we may have to close our arms," said the abbot.
"I'll make sure it is out of your sight and presence," said Lian. Out of the corner of her eye, Lian, watched the travelers return to their tent, and Wyvera was walking as if her back hurt.
(July 11th)
Lian kept the amulet. Keeping her promise and keeping it out of the abbot's sight and presence, which was considerably easy since he never entered the dungeons. They had returned to the dungeon before returning to the stable-house to check on the dragons. Who they had decided to not talk to after going into Drake's den and hearing panting and moaning sounds from the curtain-bedroom.
Now they were walking around the monastery's main yard, looking for Mansel; One of the few monks who either failed to remember their solemn vow of silence, or had not been made to make the vow of silence. After looking in all his usual places they gave up. He had not even been down to feed and check on Drake, which had been the one chore he felt special to do. "Wyvera looked like her back was in pain last night," said Lian, "that's proof that she's a wyvern because of Drake's story."
"So what do we do now?" Asked Geoff.
"Wait," said Lian.
A/N S1: I originally had the first part of the chapter titled: The Hermit's Prophecy.
A/N S2: I originally had the part where Geoff and Lian meet the merchant as its own chapter titled: The Merchant's Name.
A/N S3: I originally had the wyvern attack titled: The First Attempt, then later I renamed it: All It Takes Is A Kiss, but now I put the entire three chapters together and named it: All It Takes Is A Kiss.