Chapter 12: An Elegant Exit

The dragon lands just beyond the drawbridge, its claws gripping the barbican. It roars as it spreads its wings and prepares to launch a fiery blow, its mouth glowing brightly. Phillip leads us onwards, his shield raised for defense. Sarah and I follow closely behind him. Despite the overwhelming size of the dragon, my spear seems to give me the strength and the courage to trudge on.

The dragon ejects a jet of green fire at Phillip. Luckily his shield protects him from the blast. I attack and shoot a beam of blue light nailing the dragon in the face. It roars in pain and shoots another blast of fire at our group. The fairies come to our rescue in time to deflect the flames. Spatterson shoots the dragon with single stream of spiked balls, striking it in the belly. The dragon looks to have some wounds open up from the impact.

"Good shot, Sarah," Phillip says. "We mustn't let up. Keep going!"

And so despite the dragon's best efforts, we continue blasting the beast with beams of blue light, cutting the beast on its limbs, its torso and its face. The fire that it throws at us is reflected by the fairies and the shield. The fairies come to our side and wave their wands in our direction. Colourful sparkles shower us, and they begin to recite a spell.

O Holy Weapons, hear us now!

Attack the evil that has horns of cow!

Fly, my pretties, FLY!

And try to stab her in the eye!

Our weapons are suddenly flung from our hands, and rocket towards the dragon. My spear impales the dragon's belly, Phillip's sword penetrates its chest, and Spatterson's morning star strikes the beast upon its head, issuing brutal cries of agony that sound strangely like a woman's high-pitched scream. The dragon tries to snap at us, and prepares to blow another stream of flames our way, but whatever spell the fairies cast upon our weapons seems to have had a profound effect on it. Its jaws don't reach us, its flames begin retreating back into its mouth. From its tail, black smoke was forming, slowly reaching towards the dragon's head. When the smoke completely envelopes it, the beast disappears and nothing seems to remain. I feel a sense of joy and triumph , like we all just achieved the impossible. Nothing can stop us now!

My sense of accomplishment dwindles as I see a figure arising from the ashes. We move in closer to see who it really is.

Amazing! Maleficent is still alive. Having returned to her human form, Maleficent stares at us with hatred, her face and robes bloodied from where we attacked. She appears to be having difficulty standing as she leans against her staff as if it were a cane.

Sarah outstretches her hand and her weapon is summoned back to her. She aims it at Maleficent and blasts her staff away. Maleficent collapses, obviously too weak to stand. I go over to where she lies now, curious to know just how we fared against her.

Maleficent's eyes dart back and forth, trying to find me. She looks delirious, her mouth quivers. "Ben," Maleficent says. "Ben, my dear... inquisitive fellow." She begins gasping for breath as she lies. Her face shows no signs of pain and her eyes now stare blankly at the sky. The elegant black and purple gown she wears is spread out upon the ground, ripped and stained with her own blood. "You – you only wanted to interview me ... and now ... it's come to this ..." She tries to reach for her staff that was blasted a few meters away by Sarah. Maleficent's strength wanes and she drops her slender arm to the ground. "I gave you what you wanted, Ben. An interview ... a chance to live your own life. A chance to LIVE!" She begins to cough as small drops of blood spew from her mouth. "Y-you did not ... honour your word, Ben. H-how disappointing ..."

I actually feel quite sympathetic to her right now. Sure, she was an evil woman but she did have a sort of charm about her that was rather endearing. I can't believe we all are responsible for her death. This has got to be one of the crummiest feelings I've ever felt. Never EVER would I have thought myself capable of murder ... and now ...

"I-I've never ... actually killed anyone," Maleficent remarks, her voice sounding distant. "T-tell me, my ... dear Ben ... how does it feel?" Maleficent's eyes suddenly go still, her mouth remains slightly open. I kneel next to her and feel for a pulse. There was nothing. I'm shocked when I see her body melt into the ground, leaving nothing but her black robes. The evil has indeed been vanquished ... yet that sentiment doesn't seem to sit well with me. To have killed a living being ... to me, that makes us all evil ... we're all culpable.

Sarah runs over to Maleficent's robes and begins sobbing. "I didn't want to kill her!" she cries. "I just wanted to fight her! Ben! What have we done?"

"I'll tell you what we've done," Phillip perks up. "We've defeated the evil that cursed my betrothed. Aurora awaits me in that castle. You two can stay out here, but she needs that kiss from me!" He puffs up his chest, and smiles smugly.

"Fuck you Phillip! You insensitive meany!" Sarah screams at him. "GO and get Aurora then. Just GO!" Sarah watches as he strides off, and then looks intently at Maleficent's remains. She continues to cry and I feel bad for her. Maleficent was obviously her favourite villain in her movie ... whatever that is ... I arise and begin to walking away, leaving Phillip to his duty and Sarah to her grieving. Moments later a wave of light shoots past me and the dreary landscape is soaked in sunlight. Dead trees begin to awaken, their foliage returning and the grass beneath my feet starts to grow. Puffy white clouds disperse in the blue sky and a warmth pervades my soul. This seems to be the beginning of a great day.

I reach the town square and start towards the fountain. I'm relieved to find my multi-dimensional vortex device still hidden beneath the statue of the king. Pressing the large red button on it, a beam of light shoots out before me. A circle opens up revealing a tunnel of spiraling blue and purple. I set my gadget to the Andromeda Galaxy and notice the colours change to orange and red. It is time to return to my home planet, Vesta. I can't wait to tell my folks what happened here!


THE END (yes it really is)


YES IT'S DONE! IT'S FINALLY OVER! I TOTALLY WENT BEYOND WHAT I THOUGHT THIS STORY WOULD CONSIST OF: BUT IT'S DOGGONE D-O-N-E DONE!

Hated it? Liked it? I'm curious to know!