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Chapter 50 – day 43 – the dragon slayer

"You killed the dragon!" Rumpelstitlskin stared a bit confused at his son, not quite comprehending the boy's words. Then he turned to look behind him and saw the pile of ashes.

"I guess I did." He chuckled amused at his own achievement. He had been so out of his mind when he saw his son facing death, he didn't even realize he was facing a monster of a dragon. He stood up and helped Baelfire get to his feet too.

"And what in the gods' names were you doing throwing yourself in front of the dragon?" Baelfire could hear a hint of anger in his father's voice, but knew it all had to do with concern.

"I had to catch her fire directly so it would enter this magical phial." He proudly explained as he presented the small object. His father frowned, seeing nothing but a small yellow flame dancing inside the glass.

"All the fire from one big blast is inside of that tiny thing?" He asked with disbelief. Baelfire nodded and was about to explain how he got it when they heard a woman's voice screaming for Rumpelstiltskin. Baelfire's eyes widened of pure joyful surprise when he saw it was Belle. She looked bewildered at the spinner and stopped in front of him.

"Oh gods, are you alright?" She asked livid as she grabbed his arms and shook him slightly.

Rumpelstiltskin nodded with a smile. Belle looked relieved and happy for a second, but suddenly, and without any warning, she slapped him with all her strength on his right cheek. The impact was so hard, Rumpelstiltskin's head shot to the side, his eyes widen from surprise. Then the princess cupped his face on her hands and crushed her lips on his, all the crazy emotions she had lived the last few minutes overpowering her and making her act contradictory. Rumpelstiltskin still had his eyes widened, stunned by the passionate kiss that followed the angered slap. Baelfire giggled at the scene and blushed a bit shyly, as the couple's kiss deepened. Belle only noticed him when they broke the kiss and Rumpelstitlskin gestured with his head to Baelfire's direction. The princess gasped of surprise and yelled his name out. She hugged the boy tightly between tears of joy, resulting in the deepening of the teenager's blush.

Afterwards confusion was settled. Thumbelina came rushing with an amazing speed and knocked her brother down when she jumped on him. Few seconds later, Jonathan was helping the startled man get up again and patted vigorously on his back. Baelfire was again strongly hugged, this time by his aunt and uncle and swore his bones would crush. Then the soldiers came down in a large mob, shouting cheers of joy. Among them were Humbert and Mulan and again happy embraces were shared. Humbert barely had time to tell his uncle how amazing he had been, when his parents clung desperately on the young man, glad to see their son well and alive. Mulan and Belle were too happy to see each other holding their hands in greeting, asking each other what had happened while they were departed. Then the soldiers flooded the place and suddenly Rumpelstitlskin was being raised in the air by many hands while the soldiers cried with one voice:

"Long live the dragon slayer! Long live the dragon slayer!"

Rumpelstiltskin was petrified and shouted weakly for help, losing the faces of his beloved ones in the confusion of the mob. He was not enjoying the ride, and he was still trying to process in his mind what he had done. He was still unable to believe he had killed the dragon. Surely this was some kind of strange dream he had landed in. He listened to the cheering and wished it to stop. He was being handled like a hero. And despite a part of him felling rather proud, he was mainly terrified. He knew he was not truly a hero. He did not fit the profile of the valiant and confident knight. He was a poor spinner who got stuck in a web of strange circumstances, which combined, led him to the course of this action. Because in normal circumstances, he would never have charged onto the dragon, but instead fled for his life. It had been fatherly instinct, it had been madness, it had been an irrational impulse. But never had he acted upon bravery.

Of course, this was not what the soldiers saw and he was paraded back to the higher grounds where he was finally put gently on the ground. A young soldier man, barely twenty, came to him and looking at Rumpelstiltskin with great awe, gave the sword back he had used to attack the dragon. The spinner looked around shyly at the faces that stared back at him full with admiration. He realized with some bitterness they were extremely young, most of them having barely reached adulthood. Then the soldiers formed an aisle so a tall and notable man could pass through. He smiled friendly and Rumpelstilstin knew immediately he was one of the highest officers.

The two men stood opposite each other and the contrast was evident. The soldier was tall, young and handsome, strong and robust, his aura one of self-confidence. Everything about him, from his shinny armor to his firm posture screamed discipline, nobleness and bravery. The spinner, on the other side, was small and slender, middle-aged, plain and feeble, his body language denouncing insecurity. His clothes were poor and overused, his expression screamed please let me go away and hide in a whole for the rest of my miserable life!

The experienced eyes of the tall soldier understood right away this new hero was a simple peasant, frightened and inexperienced in matters of war. He probably had become a hero by accident. Yet, as weak and scared as he looked, it had been this man from the country, and not a knight of the high court, who slew the dragon. And for that, Rumpelstiltskin had won his and everybody's respect. The tall soldier bent down on one knee and bowed his head in honor of the spinner according to the vassalage tradition. All the other soldiers followed his gesture and Rumpelstitlskin stared around overwhelmed.

"Please, do stop. I-I don't deserve this…I-I'm just a spinner." He meekly told the noble soldier, who looked at him smilingly. The soldier stood up again and rested his strong hands on Rumpestitlskin's small shoulders.

"My good man, regardless of your background, it is a fact. It was you who killed the dragon. With one single strike you defeated a beast that tormented the world for more than a century. With one single strike, you achieved what we, with all our armies' assembled, military skills and strength combined, didn't. It's not a small deed you did." The tall soldier gestured for the rest of the soldiers to stand up again, a command immediately obeyed. "My name is Frederic, I am a knight from the City of Gold. And you are?"

"Rumpelstiltskin, m'lord. My name is Rumpelstiltskin."

"Long lives Rumpelstiltskin, the dragon slayer!" The tall soldier shouted and his cheer was echoed by all men in the forest.

The rest of the day had been registered in Rumpelstitlskin's memory as a great chaotic blur of events. Short after his meeting with Lord Frederic, an older soldier came to salute him too. Commander Byront, whose name he very well knew from the legendary tales of his childhood and youth. The old commander's face had looked familiar but Rumpelstiltskin had met so many people during his lifetime, he could easily be mistaken, so he dismissed the thought of ever meeting him before. Meanwhile Belle and his family finally reached him and both officers were thrilled to see the princess alive and well. She quickly recounted the events of the last days and the high officers were more and more surprised with the spinner's accidental but heroic deeds. After Belle's tale, Baelfire finally managed to talk about his encounter with the Blue Fairy and everybody was honestly impressed with the boy's courage. Commanders Frederic and Byront were excited with this new weapon the boy possessed and knew they would find its perfect use in their battle to win back Armithil. For now the boy was the guardian of the powerful fire and likewise his father, he was object of great awe and admiration of the many soldiers. The only person that was absolutely not happy with all the crazy and traumatizing day's events was Charleston.

Today his heart had stopped several times. He was truly surprised he didn't get a heart attack from all the frights that followed shortly one after the other. First it was his daughter running between fire and smoke like a crazy chicken, then his grandson was possessed by whatever madness and was defying a colossal dragon and finally his son, who became so blinded by fury, ran straight to the dragon, miraculously managed to survive it and killed the beast. The old man had scolded his children and grandchildren (Humbert had not escaped his fury either) shouting, slapping and stamping from pure agony, all this previous fears and nerves coming out in one powerful fit of hysterical rage.

"What did I tell you?" He yelled at Thumbelina and Rumpelstiltskin who looked both quite taken aback but were handling the scolding pretty calmly. They looked rather intimidated by their father's anger. In fact, they looked exactly like when they were little children and had misbehaved.

"Think before we act." Thumbelina mumbled ashamed and humiliated by her father's words.

"And what did you lot do?" The old man demanded.

"We acted without thinking." Rumpelstitlskin spoke this time, sounding quite petrified.

"This is the reason I had to go with you! You two always find some way to get yourselves in trouble! Especially when you are together! Actually, I'm starting to believe you two are a lethal combination!" The siblings stared at each other, shrugged their shoulders and looked extremely accomplice. "Rafael and this girl are the only ones with sense in this place. They behaved themselves by staying far from any danger."

Rafael switched looks with Moraine and then with his parents. If only Charleston knew the only thing that had stopped them from running after the rest of the group, was the fact the old man almost fainted from terror and they both went to help him and support him.

"Are you done yet?" Thumbelina asked, feeling more and more upset by the moment. She was biting her tongue, suppressing the urge to shout back at her father. Charleston gave a sideways look, acted a bit embarrassed and nodded. He could no longer hold it back. He walked to his two children and hugged them simultaneously, with one arm around each of them.

"I thought I was going to lose you today." He moaned between tears, suddenly feeling too old to be living so many turbulent and distressing emotions.

The siblings smiled, tightened the embrace and remained a while standing with their bodies pressed together. Their bond probably never being so strong like now. They stayed embraced until the old man finally calmed down and his crying died out. But as soon as he released his children, his three grandsons came to hug their ill-tempered grandpapa, causing him to laugh and release tears of joy. Belle and Jonathan watched the scene with watery eyes, each one returning to their partner.

The two commanders decided to give space to the family and were quite amazed with the strong loyalty that existed between the three generations. They ordered camp in the clearing and groups of messengers were sent to the still standing camps to spread the good news. Lord Frederic and Commander Byront were reorganizing the troops.

Today they had won a great battle. Tonight they would celebrate. But tomorrow the war would go on.

Regina was truly starting to believe she could not leave the castle for one day and something drastic would happen. Since that damn woodcutter told her, family was about sticking for each other; she had been obsessing about her father's absence. Her mother, Cora, the Queen of Hearts, had somehow managed to lure him to an enchanted mirror and kidnapped Henry to Wonderland. It was a revenge for Regina pushing her mother through the magical glass. After she sent the woodcutter and the obnoxious twins to the Infinite Forest she had sought for Jefferson. He wasn't in his home by Dixteren anymore but had moved out to the City of Gold, where he lived as a poor mushroom's vendor. She had thought it was quite degrading and took advantage of his less beneficial circumstances. Jefferson had been reluctant in using his hat again, loss of his wife still fresh in his memory. But Queen Regina, mistress of evil schemes, had found a way to make him change his mind. To her contentment, he appeared by his own decision in her castle with the hat. They traveled to that dreadful Wonderland with its strange caterpillars and freaky mushrooms. Regina won her father back while she stole the father from a little innocent girl without any kind of regret.

When she returned, at the fall of the evening, a band of black ravens brought Regina the shocking and unexpected news of Maleficent's death. She searched in her mirrors and all she could find was fire and smoke. She cursed furious and had the bad feeling Zoso was toying with her mirrors again. Regina paced from one side to the other, her father looking at her worriedly.

"What is going on?" She yelled, not expecting an answer from anybody. "Why is everything going wrong? Everything was going according to plan!" She paced, looked at her intimidated father. "It's Zoso…I know he is up to something."

"So what are you going to do now?" The mirror asked. "With Maleficent dead and the Ogres disoriented, Armithil will be easily conquered back."

"I don't care about Armithil! I don't care if Princess Belle becomes queen and rules that insignificant kingdom! That was always Maleficent's concerns. Not mine." Regina announced, picked a black sachet and took a red apple out of it. She looked at it with a beautifully evil smirk. "No. All I want is Snow White. Soon. When I'll call her, she will come. If she wants her Prince Charming to live, she will meet me. And then I will have my revenge."

Sensing the end nearing, but have the feeling it will take about another 10 chapters

O0'

My goodness, I never expected this story to develop this much (had expected to stick around 40 or 50 chapters)

So, what are you thoughts about this chapter?

Please, review :)