Post by estatigua (Tiggy) on Nov 27, 2006 16:43:37 GMT -5
Vincent, Defender of Dragons
by
Scott Maddix
The younger prince of Hesperon sat astride his father's charger at the edge of the kingdom and gazed out over the Northern Wastes. He was young, too young for the armor he wore, too young for the lance that stood at his side like a small tree. Too young, as anyone would say, to be alone on horseback at the edge of the kingdom, but who would stop a prince? Surely not the King and Queen, who were too busy grooming his older brother to be the next king to worry about what their youngest son, Vincent, did with his afternoons.
So each afternoon, when his lessons were over, he would go to the royal stables and borrow Quicksilver, his father's fastest charger. He would equip himself from the royal armory, so that he would be ready for anything that would threaten the kingdom. And each day for the past year he had come to the edge of the Wastes to make sure the kingdom was safe. Each day he would strain his eyes watching the horizon, swinging his sword at tree branches, jousting with imaginary opponents, remembering his lessons in History and Battles and Strategy. He was keeping in shape so he could defend the kingdom, should an attack come on his watch. After all, there was nothing else for the youngest son of a king to do. Nothing.
And on this day, as he sat there astride Quicksilver, wondering whether he should practice jousting or fencing first, Something did come.
At first he didn't even notice Its approach, intent as he was on his practice, but when Quicksilver gave a nervous snort he looked up to see What was coming.
It wasn't a Barbarian horde. It wasn't a Plague of Locusts. It wasn't even a Fire, or a Flood, or an Evil Djinn.
It was a Dragon.
As the prince watched, stunned, the Beast came galloping over the plain, great gouts of steam billowing out of Its nostrils. It was still too far away to see clearly, but Vincent was sure it was an Evil Dragon, bent on Destruction and Mayhem. Most assuredly it was out to Eat Damsels and Hoard Gold, for this is what Vincent knew Dragons did.
"Help me," came a distant cry from across the plains, and Vincent scrunched up his eyes to see if maybe the Dragon had a Damsel crying her Distress clutched in its jaws. He couldn't tell for sure, because the Dragon was still so far away, but he thought maybe there was.
"I'm coming!" he yelled, and, seizing up his father's lance, he urged Quicksilver into a gallop toward the approaching Dragon. "I'll save you!"
Quicksilver raced along the plain toward the Dragon, and as Vincent came close enough to see the Beast clearly, he saw that there was no Damsel clutched in Its jaws. "Help me, sir!" came the cry again, only much nearer.
Puzzled, Vincent pulled on the reins for Quicksilver to stop.
"Help!" came the voice, and this time Vincent realized that it was the Dragon Itself that was calling. "Oh, Sir Knight," she said (for it was a woman's voice) "I am under attack from marauders. Won't you protect me?"
"Dragon?"
"Sir Knight, I am at your mercy, won't you save me?" asked the Dragon again as she slowed, skidding after her manic, headlong gallop, and stopped, heaving and panting great blasts of steam down on Vincent, who looked up into her pleading eyes with fear and confusion.
"You want me to protect you?" he asked. "I'm a knight. We're supposed to kill dragons. I thought."
"You want to kill me?" asked the Dragon, fear blossoming in her golden eyes. "I come begging your mercy, asking to be protected from a band of marauders who are right this minute galloping over the plain to slay me, and you want to kill me too?"
Vincent could see the Dragon was becoming hysterical with fear. This certainly wasn't how Dragons behaved in the tales he had learned at school.
"Whatever shall I do? They're holding my children hostage!" moaned the Dragon, wringing her claws with anxiety.
"They're holding your children hostage??" asked Vincent, again looking up into the Dragon's tear-stained eyes.
Hope gleamed in the Dragon's heart when she saw the determined look in his face. He didn't know it yet, but he had decided to help her.
"Yes, brave Knight," she said. "Their leader, a cruel man they called Prince Vadis, ordered them to kill my babies, but I sent them into a part of the cave the knights can't reach. They left a man to keep them in the crevice until they can figure a way to get them out, and the rest followed me. I'm not a fighter, Sir Knight, I didn't know what else to do, so I ran, looking for help. Even from across the plain I could see you were different from them."
Prince Vadis? thought Vincent. Vadis was his brother, and he knew from experience that the Royal Heir was a cruel man. "And they're coming after you?"
"I got a little head start, but they'll catch up to me any minute now, and I can't keep running forever."
"Ma'am, I am Prince Vincent, and Vadis is my brother. He is a cruel bully, but a coward at heart and not very bright.
She lowered her eyes. "I am Mayana—if you save my family and me we shall be eternally grateful."
"I shall try," he replied. "Mayana, did his men hear you speak?"
"No, I didn't have time to speak. I'm afraid I acted like any Beast whose children are in danger. I'm afraid I even burned one of his men, and I've never burned a human before. But I was scared."
"Then I have an idea I think might work," he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
"Oh, thank you, Prince."
"When they come, stand behind me and do as I say," said Vincent, "and I'll do my best to save you."
"Oh, thank you, Sir Knight," the Dragon said, and moved to stand behind him.
Vincent quickly picked up his lance, for just now he could see an approaching band of men on horseback, coming straight toward where Vincent and the Dragon Mayana stood.
"Here they come," she moaned.
"Trust me," said Vincent.
"Stop!" called Vadis as the band came near. "What are you doing here, Pipsqueak?" he asked Vincent. "I have a Dragon to slay, and you're in my way. Move."
"You can't kill this Dragon," said Vincent calmly.
The men of Vadis' band of knights laughed as if he had told a joke.
"I am a knight," said Vadis, as if correcting a troublesome child. "Knights slay Dragons. That's a Dragon. So I have to kill it. It's what I do."
"Not this Dragon," said Vincent. "It's my Dragon."
Vadis snorted. "Prove it," he said.
Vincent gave his best icy grown-up smile and turned to Mayana, who was cowering behind him. "Stand up straight," he ordered.
The Dragon stopped cowering and stood up on her hind feet, straight and tall as an oak. She waved her claws menacingly for added effect.
The knights turned a little pale and stared in surprise.
"Sit," said Vincent.
She sat.
One of the knights made the sign of the cross against the Devil.
"Speak," said Vincent.
And the Dragon took in a great breath and let out a low, rumbling roar, like the sound of an earthquake, or ten-thousand thunders, or a stampede of mythical Elephants, and even before the echoes had faded each and every knight had fled from Vadis' side like a runner first hearing the signal for the race to start.
Alone, Vadis stared at his younger brother with rage in his eyes.
"You going to kill this Dragon by yourself, brother?" asked Vincent.
"I don't know how you witched this beast, but you haven't heard the last of this," he said, and left, headed for the castle.
Vincent turned to Mayana and smiled, but she still looked worried.
"My children!"
So Vincent urged Quicksilver into a gallop and followed Mayana back to her cave where a lone knight stood guarding a dark crevice at the back. Vincent urged Mayana to stay out of sight and went into the cave. He recognized this knight as Sir Tansy, one of Vadis' friends.
"Vincent, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I ran into Vadis just now, and he told me to take over for you," said Vincent, trying his best to sound like a younger brother bullied into doing something he doesn't want to do. "He said to tell you to join him by the High Cliffs, where he's got the Dragon cornered."
"By the Lady," swore the knight, " this'll be fun." And without questioning Vincent further he handed the boy his spear and dashed out of the cave toward the Cliffs.
When he was out of sight Mayana came out from where she had been hiding behind a boulder and called to her babies. "Children, it's all right! This is a friend."
And one by one five small dragons, no bigger than Vincent's arm, came crawling out of the crevice, blinking in the light.
"We're safe now," said Mayana, "and this knight who saved us is Vincent."
And the dragonettes crowded the boy, showing their gratitude by licking his face with their raspy tongues and blowing steam into his hair.
By the time Vincent and the dragons arrived at the town, the scared knights had already told the tale of the Boy Prince and his Tame Dragon, and a crowd of curious children were waiting to see this wonder. Mayana walked carefully to avoid stepping on any unguarded toes, and allowed the bravest of the children to pat her flanks. The Dragonettes galumphed about, getting underfoot, and generally enjoying all the attention. Vincent found them a place to stay in the royal stables, where they could be happy and warm and made friends with the horses, and before long Mayana was given a job guarding the castle with the knights of the realm. At first the knights were afraid of her, but soon they grew to like her, and on cold nights she warmed their toes by breathing hot steam into their boots.
The dragonettes, when they were old enough, went to school with the children of the kingdom, and in the afternoon worked in the kitchens, helping the cooks to keep the food warm.
And so everyone lived happily ever after. Everyone, that is, except for Prince Vadis, who got so mad that Vincent and his Dragon were doing so well that he said he didn't want to be king, anyway, and ran away from home to a kingdom where he could hunt whatever he liked.
So when Prince Vincent, Defender of Dragons grew up he became King of Hesperon, and Dragons from all over the land came to visit, because the kingdom was a safe, happy place where Dragons need never fear knights, and knights need never fear icy toes in the cold winter.
•The End•
by
Scott Maddix
The younger prince of Hesperon sat astride his father's charger at the edge of the kingdom and gazed out over the Northern Wastes. He was young, too young for the armor he wore, too young for the lance that stood at his side like a small tree. Too young, as anyone would say, to be alone on horseback at the edge of the kingdom, but who would stop a prince? Surely not the King and Queen, who were too busy grooming his older brother to be the next king to worry about what their youngest son, Vincent, did with his afternoons.
So each afternoon, when his lessons were over, he would go to the royal stables and borrow Quicksilver, his father's fastest charger. He would equip himself from the royal armory, so that he would be ready for anything that would threaten the kingdom. And each day for the past year he had come to the edge of the Wastes to make sure the kingdom was safe. Each day he would strain his eyes watching the horizon, swinging his sword at tree branches, jousting with imaginary opponents, remembering his lessons in History and Battles and Strategy. He was keeping in shape so he could defend the kingdom, should an attack come on his watch. After all, there was nothing else for the youngest son of a king to do. Nothing.
And on this day, as he sat there astride Quicksilver, wondering whether he should practice jousting or fencing first, Something did come.
At first he didn't even notice Its approach, intent as he was on his practice, but when Quicksilver gave a nervous snort he looked up to see What was coming.
It wasn't a Barbarian horde. It wasn't a Plague of Locusts. It wasn't even a Fire, or a Flood, or an Evil Djinn.
It was a Dragon.
As the prince watched, stunned, the Beast came galloping over the plain, great gouts of steam billowing out of Its nostrils. It was still too far away to see clearly, but Vincent was sure it was an Evil Dragon, bent on Destruction and Mayhem. Most assuredly it was out to Eat Damsels and Hoard Gold, for this is what Vincent knew Dragons did.
"Help me," came a distant cry from across the plains, and Vincent scrunched up his eyes to see if maybe the Dragon had a Damsel crying her Distress clutched in its jaws. He couldn't tell for sure, because the Dragon was still so far away, but he thought maybe there was.
"I'm coming!" he yelled, and, seizing up his father's lance, he urged Quicksilver into a gallop toward the approaching Dragon. "I'll save you!"
Quicksilver raced along the plain toward the Dragon, and as Vincent came close enough to see the Beast clearly, he saw that there was no Damsel clutched in Its jaws. "Help me, sir!" came the cry again, only much nearer.
Puzzled, Vincent pulled on the reins for Quicksilver to stop.
"Help!" came the voice, and this time Vincent realized that it was the Dragon Itself that was calling. "Oh, Sir Knight," she said (for it was a woman's voice) "I am under attack from marauders. Won't you protect me?"
"Dragon?"
"Sir Knight, I am at your mercy, won't you save me?" asked the Dragon again as she slowed, skidding after her manic, headlong gallop, and stopped, heaving and panting great blasts of steam down on Vincent, who looked up into her pleading eyes with fear and confusion.
"You want me to protect you?" he asked. "I'm a knight. We're supposed to kill dragons. I thought."
"You want to kill me?" asked the Dragon, fear blossoming in her golden eyes. "I come begging your mercy, asking to be protected from a band of marauders who are right this minute galloping over the plain to slay me, and you want to kill me too?"
Vincent could see the Dragon was becoming hysterical with fear. This certainly wasn't how Dragons behaved in the tales he had learned at school.
"Whatever shall I do? They're holding my children hostage!" moaned the Dragon, wringing her claws with anxiety.
"They're holding your children hostage??" asked Vincent, again looking up into the Dragon's tear-stained eyes.
Hope gleamed in the Dragon's heart when she saw the determined look in his face. He didn't know it yet, but he had decided to help her.
"Yes, brave Knight," she said. "Their leader, a cruel man they called Prince Vadis, ordered them to kill my babies, but I sent them into a part of the cave the knights can't reach. They left a man to keep them in the crevice until they can figure a way to get them out, and the rest followed me. I'm not a fighter, Sir Knight, I didn't know what else to do, so I ran, looking for help. Even from across the plain I could see you were different from them."
Prince Vadis? thought Vincent. Vadis was his brother, and he knew from experience that the Royal Heir was a cruel man. "And they're coming after you?"
"I got a little head start, but they'll catch up to me any minute now, and I can't keep running forever."
"Ma'am, I am Prince Vincent, and Vadis is my brother. He is a cruel bully, but a coward at heart and not very bright.
She lowered her eyes. "I am Mayana—if you save my family and me we shall be eternally grateful."
"I shall try," he replied. "Mayana, did his men hear you speak?"
"No, I didn't have time to speak. I'm afraid I acted like any Beast whose children are in danger. I'm afraid I even burned one of his men, and I've never burned a human before. But I was scared."
"Then I have an idea I think might work," he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
"Oh, thank you, Prince."
"When they come, stand behind me and do as I say," said Vincent, "and I'll do my best to save you."
"Oh, thank you, Sir Knight," the Dragon said, and moved to stand behind him.
Vincent quickly picked up his lance, for just now he could see an approaching band of men on horseback, coming straight toward where Vincent and the Dragon Mayana stood.
"Here they come," she moaned.
"Trust me," said Vincent.
"Stop!" called Vadis as the band came near. "What are you doing here, Pipsqueak?" he asked Vincent. "I have a Dragon to slay, and you're in my way. Move."
"You can't kill this Dragon," said Vincent calmly.
The men of Vadis' band of knights laughed as if he had told a joke.
"I am a knight," said Vadis, as if correcting a troublesome child. "Knights slay Dragons. That's a Dragon. So I have to kill it. It's what I do."
"Not this Dragon," said Vincent. "It's my Dragon."
Vadis snorted. "Prove it," he said.
Vincent gave his best icy grown-up smile and turned to Mayana, who was cowering behind him. "Stand up straight," he ordered.
The Dragon stopped cowering and stood up on her hind feet, straight and tall as an oak. She waved her claws menacingly for added effect.
The knights turned a little pale and stared in surprise.
"Sit," said Vincent.
She sat.
One of the knights made the sign of the cross against the Devil.
"Speak," said Vincent.
And the Dragon took in a great breath and let out a low, rumbling roar, like the sound of an earthquake, or ten-thousand thunders, or a stampede of mythical Elephants, and even before the echoes had faded each and every knight had fled from Vadis' side like a runner first hearing the signal for the race to start.
Alone, Vadis stared at his younger brother with rage in his eyes.
"You going to kill this Dragon by yourself, brother?" asked Vincent.
"I don't know how you witched this beast, but you haven't heard the last of this," he said, and left, headed for the castle.
Vincent turned to Mayana and smiled, but she still looked worried.
"My children!"
So Vincent urged Quicksilver into a gallop and followed Mayana back to her cave where a lone knight stood guarding a dark crevice at the back. Vincent urged Mayana to stay out of sight and went into the cave. He recognized this knight as Sir Tansy, one of Vadis' friends.
"Vincent, what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I ran into Vadis just now, and he told me to take over for you," said Vincent, trying his best to sound like a younger brother bullied into doing something he doesn't want to do. "He said to tell you to join him by the High Cliffs, where he's got the Dragon cornered."
"By the Lady," swore the knight, " this'll be fun." And without questioning Vincent further he handed the boy his spear and dashed out of the cave toward the Cliffs.
When he was out of sight Mayana came out from where she had been hiding behind a boulder and called to her babies. "Children, it's all right! This is a friend."
And one by one five small dragons, no bigger than Vincent's arm, came crawling out of the crevice, blinking in the light.
"We're safe now," said Mayana, "and this knight who saved us is Vincent."
And the dragonettes crowded the boy, showing their gratitude by licking his face with their raspy tongues and blowing steam into his hair.
By the time Vincent and the dragons arrived at the town, the scared knights had already told the tale of the Boy Prince and his Tame Dragon, and a crowd of curious children were waiting to see this wonder. Mayana walked carefully to avoid stepping on any unguarded toes, and allowed the bravest of the children to pat her flanks. The Dragonettes galumphed about, getting underfoot, and generally enjoying all the attention. Vincent found them a place to stay in the royal stables, where they could be happy and warm and made friends with the horses, and before long Mayana was given a job guarding the castle with the knights of the realm. At first the knights were afraid of her, but soon they grew to like her, and on cold nights she warmed their toes by breathing hot steam into their boots.
The dragonettes, when they were old enough, went to school with the children of the kingdom, and in the afternoon worked in the kitchens, helping the cooks to keep the food warm.
And so everyone lived happily ever after. Everyone, that is, except for Prince Vadis, who got so mad that Vincent and his Dragon were doing so well that he said he didn't want to be king, anyway, and ran away from home to a kingdom where he could hunt whatever he liked.
So when Prince Vincent, Defender of Dragons grew up he became King of Hesperon, and Dragons from all over the land came to visit, because the kingdom was a safe, happy place where Dragons need never fear knights, and knights need never fear icy toes in the cold winter.
•The End•