Kingdom of Mirrors and Roses

by A. W. Cross

  Bella gasped, and her reaction struck fear into Gustavo for her safety. He immediately swooped her up, arms encircling her petite waist, as he pulled her away from the scene. “Bella, please,” Gustavo whispered as he tried to bring her to safety. “Don’t interrupt! I don’t want anything to happen to you!”

  “Gustavo, if Lucien goes after Fletcher, I’ll kill him myself!” she struggled to free herself from his grasp, adrenaline coursing through her body, she could feel her anger building.

  “What does my father have to do with this!?” she screamed out. Her revelation startled Lucien was evident in the way his large dark eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open slightly.

  “What do you mean, your father?” he asked, his tones cool and inviting.

  “Odin is my father!” she yelled loudly, and Lucien began advancing towards her.

  “Oh no, that will never do. I suppose, once I kill Fletcher, than I will have to kill you, and Gustavo of course. I can’t have any witnesses. I will simply tell our townspeople that the evil dragon beast killed you all, and then himself. Then they will hail me a hero, and I will be elected the new mayor, and finally be able to control that town. Which is what I wanted from the beginning. So many years wasted with these stupid frivolous humans, so many years I can’t get back. Once I am mayor, and I have gained their trust, we will march on other towns and conquer them too. Little by little, I will take what is rightfully man, and I dare any man, beast or god, to stop me!” he turned his attention to Bella, meaningfully raising his nearly non-existent eyebrows at the term god, as he watched her.

  She knew he was referring to her father, and in that moment, she wished against everything that Mr. Luna, if he truly was who he claimed to be, would rain thunder and lightning on the Lucien demon. She feared he would destroy the world, if not stopped soon enough.

  “Get away from her!” Fletcher’s voice rose in crescendo, as his thick spiked tail flicked around behind the demon, grabbing his ankles and knocking him back onto his sickly thin hind end. The horned beast staggered a little, but his lithe body was quick and agile, and the dragon’s attack had sparked his anger. He quickly rebounded, flicking out his tail as well. It wrapped around the dragon’s back leg, like a rope, and then he pulled hard.

  This sent the dragon off of his balance and he crashed to the ground.

  “The bigger they are, the harder they fall!” the demon cackled.

  17

  “Not so, demon beast! Why don’t you fight fair?” Fletcher regained his footing, shaking off the demon tail, and catapulted himself into the air, where he circled Lucien overhead. “Then again, it’s not like you to fight fair for anything, is it? You always find the weakest spot, and that’s where you attack.

  “Do I sense resentment, old friend?” Lucien mocked him, shooting straight up to meet Fletcher in the air, where they hovered too battle.

  “No, just disappointment. With all the powers of hell at your fingertips, I’m surprised your battle skills aren’t stronger,” the dragon’s wings flapped slowly, just enough to keep him elevated in the air. The sound of it like faint clapping, as Bella and Gustavo looked on fearfully from the ground.

  “Oh, you mean killing those you care about isn’t enough? Do you mean taking Lilliana’s life wasn’t powerful enough?” Lucien challenged.

  “Lilliana was an innocent, and she died for no reason. You could have fought me, you didn’t have to take her.”

  Even from the ground, Bella could hear the pained notes in Fletcher’s guttural dragon voice.

  “Oh, but you see, old friend, I did have to kill her. She had the potential to love you, just like this Bella girl, and once that happens you get to become human again. I can’t let that happen. A mortal man, with the powers of a dragon? I’d be out of a job.” Lucien swirled about, dancing around the air like a gleeful child about to get a toy he had begged his father for.

  “How would you be out of a job? You insist on doing evil, while my purpose here is to do good. Why don’t you just leave here!” Fletcher was growing impatient, his wings flapping more insistently, nose flaring quicker and quicker, and Bella began to fear for his life. Would he be able to defend himself if Lucien lashed out?

  “No, see, you’re up to your old tricks again, and I can’t have that. It’s time to finish what I started. Then I’m going to finish you. After you’re all dead, I’m going back to my boring villager life…”

  “They’ll never think you to be a hero!” The dragon yelled, flames shooting from his mouth.

  “Then I’ll just use my dark magic to make them bend to my every will,” Lucien shot back, his grin growing larger.

  Fletcher roared loudly, opening his powerful jaws, and shot forth a fire ball directly at Lucien who immediately dove out of the way, coming closer to the ground.

  “Tut, tut, Fletcher. That wasn’t very nice. Is that the way you treat all your friends?”

  “We… aren’t… friends!” The dragon said through gritted teeth, shooting another fireball, which Lucien avoided again. The fire ball landed behind Lucien, setting a portion of the trees on fire, and the demon laughed in retaliation.

  “That’s a good way to destroy everything you love. Anyway, it’s been fun, but I really must be going,” he cackled, and then in lightning speed, darted directly towards Bella. Seeing that Lucien intended to harm her, Fletcher dropped down immediately, propelling his body towards them. Gustavo had already anticipated the demons attack and had quickly thrust Bella out of the way. Then dropped to the ground quickly, rolling himself towards a sword that lay abandoned in the dirt.

  Lucien let out a sigh of frustration and turned his attention on Gustavo.

  “You have always been such a nuisance! What is it, with you and that girl?” he screamed out, his voice raspy and deep.

  Gustavo, propelling himself to his feet, held the sword out in front of him, and brandished it at the demon.

  “Something you could never understand, love. I love her,” Gustavo admitted, slicing the sword at the demon, and striking his side. Lucien growled in response, his eyes wide with shock that the human had managed to inflict any harm at all.

  “You’ll regret that, stupid mortal!” The demon yelled, coming after him. Bella had regained her composure by then and had run to stop Lucien. She thrust her body between the lithe beast, and Gustavo.

  “Stop, Lucien! This ends now!” she screamed, voice trembling in fear, but feet steady. She would not allow the demon to take the life of her best friend.

  “Yes, it does!” he retorted, and with dagger like precision, his tail flicked up over his head, driving down quickly like a sword towards her chest. The dragon was quicker, and immediately threw his body between her and the tail strike. It plunged deep into his side, and he let out a loud groan of pain.

  Bella screamed, and Gustavo immediately jumped into action, swinging his sword as Lucien drove the end down towards the fallen body of Fletcher. His arm thrusts were quick, and standing atop the dragon body, as the tail struck down, he swung with lightning speed swiping off the tail of the demon beast. The demon roared, whipping his tail back, and gripping the end with loving concern.

  “My tail!” he cried, staring at it dejectedly, as he watched Gustavo. “How could you do such a thing?”

  Gustavo didn’t answer, only jumped to the ground, legs apart, stance at the ready for another attack by the demon man.

  “You’re going to pay for that,” eyes dripping menace, mouth slightly parted with sinister resolution, Lucien turned his full attention on Gustavo.

  Bella tending to Fletcher’s wound, had torn part of her dress to help stop the bleeding. Standing to her feet, an anger began to grow inside of her. Anger that fueled a quiet fire that had been raging inside of her for some time. She could feel it lighting every sense inside of her, and in that moment, she knew she had to know the truth about who she was. The carousel lay knocked from her hands, not far off. In a split decision she darted to it, grabbing it up and winding the gear on t
he bottom.

  The music played, and Lucien began cackling again. “Stupid girl, you know you’re going to die? Why bother with such trivialities?”

  “Please,” she said, “I just want to hear my father’s music box, one more time.” Her response seemed to stall him, and he watched her with annoying resolution. His wiry arms holding his injured tail against his chest.

  When the music finished, she held up the carousel in the light, and stared into the mirrors. The reflection of a beautiful, golden-haired woman stared back. Atop her head, a silver crown of armor with wings on either side, similar to that of her father. Her ears, slightly pointed at the top, and as she studied the rest of her body, a lean, muscular form. Armor that covered her chest, and waist.

  A gentle whispering floated to her ears, as if carried in by the breath of wind itself.

  Valkyrie. It said.

  “Valkyrie?” she said out loud.

  Gustavo, who had been holding up the sword in defensive stance, dropped his arms to his side in shock.

  “Valkyrie, warriors and daughters of Odin. They who determine who will die in battle and carry the very soul of the deceased to Valhalla, themselves.”

  Bella closed her eyes, breathing in and out as she took in the information. A lifetime love of books and reading, should have prepared her for the moment, but it hadn’t. She didn’t think a million years of reading would have prepared her for the moment. She took a deep breath, and exhaled, then opened her eyes again. The knowledge was settling in, and as it did so, she could feel the fire of anger that had been awakened before.

  It grew like a flame and spread over her body, until every nerve ending felt alive with it. It reached into her mind and awakened long asleep pieces of her conscious that she hadn’t known existed until that moment. Lillian, daughter of Odin, Valkyrie.

  “Lillian, daughter of Odin, Valkyrie,” she said aloud. Speaking the words was like unlocking a chest of information that had been stored in the recesses of her mind.

  “Fletcher!” She cried out, as all of her old memories came flooding back. She was, is, Lillian. Long before mortals had their reign, her father Odin was king over all. Back then, dragons were alive and welcome on the Earth, the very first species set forth by the king of the celestial realms himself. She, one of the first daughters of Asgard, and alone, had found herself drawn to the creatures.

  They were elegant, graceful, and yet their inner being contained a fire and power she could have never dreamed possible. When she had been appointed to bring those dragons that could not be tamed to Asgard, for punishment, she had refused her father. The pain of seeing Odin kill the magnificent beasts was too much. So, because of her, dragons roamed until they killed each other off, or Odin turned them human. Even so, only a select few were allowed the privilege of dragon blood.

  When nearly all had died off, Odin had told Lillian, now Bella, to bring him the final dragon beast. Fletcher as a child.

  She couldn’t do it, it was wrong. Wrong to allow a child to be killed, and wrong to allow the last dragon of his kind to be killed off. She had gone against her father’s orders, and for that, he had cast her to Earth to be reborn as a human. Only human Lillian could not be kept from dragons. Of her own accord, she had found Fletcher, and become friends.

  It was during this time, Lucien had grown tired of all that the dragons had been allowed to do. He had grown tired of watching mortals take of the land and do as they pleased. It seemed every creature had more power than he, and he set out to kill them all. He escaped the gates of hades and began killing of magical beings.

  This was the start of the descent of both sides, both magical and mortal. The magical realms now mixed with the rise of mortals had become too conflicted. Battles broke out between the worlds, and kingdoms that had stood for centuries had fallen. Fletcher and Lillian had grown close in a short time, and she had felt her growing feelings for the man beast even then.

  Only the fall of the magical realm, and the attacks of Lucien had proved to be a difficult road to cross. Lucien had challenged Fletcher to a battle, and in effort to stop him, she had sacrificed herself for Fletchers life.

  It was a tale as old as time, each realm fighting for themselves. Forbidden love stopped before it had been even given a chance to grow. Lucien killed her, and Odin himself, and his wife came to Earth, the spirit of their daughter Lillian in tow, to be reborn again.

  Only to stop the battles, Odin reset time. He erased the memories of all creatures and mortals involved.

  Lillian, now Bella, grew up in a poor village. The daughter of a hard-working farmer just trying to give his daughter a new life.

  Lucien had hidden himself away, as a mortal, biding his time. Knowing that if Odin knew where he was, he would kill him, himself.

  The fairies, sprites, elves and all other manner of magical beings, fearful for their life and not knowing where Lucien had gone off too, hid themselves in human form. The only being that had not been given reprieve was Fletcher.

  18

  “Oh, Fletcher,” Lillian realized. He probably had known the truth all along, and her heart broke as she rushed to his side. How old was he truly? How long had he pined away in the castle, waiting for the day when the magical realm would awaken and the two of them would be united.

  “Bella, what’s going on?” Gustavo asked, as he watched her rush to Fletcher’s side with tears streaming down her face.

  Lillian looked to the sky, and closed her eyes, “Reveal,” she pleaded to the heavens. Knowing that the time had come for all blinders to fall off.

  “Bella?” Gustavo said, his voice high-pitched and fearful. She opened her eyes and looked down at her body. The peasant girl form was gone, and in its place stood her true being. Her silver armor glinting in the sun, sword at her side, and the weight of the winged helmet on her head. As the wind whirled about them, her golden air blew wild about her face and Lucien hissed in response.

  “Lillian, a Valkyrie. Many things surprise me, but that is a new one. I had no idea when I killed you the first time. I can’t help but wonder why your father allowed you to die by my hands then? Maybe I’ll find out when you die by my hands now,” Lucien spat, releasing his still bleeding tail as he darted towards her.

  “No,” she said sternly, Odin’s voice commanding in her mind.

  “It is time for you to be sent back where you belong,” she said, her face angry, blood boiling as every image of ever magical creature he had killed was revealed in her mind. Her father had been watching Lucien the whole time and knew everything the evil demon was up to. No action would go unpunished, and Odin had an eternity to inflict punishment on the being.

  “I am not returning to hades!” Lucien yelled at her, attempting to attack, but she deflected it with her shield.

  “Lucien, as a human, I was no match for you. You had nothing to fear, but my father has grown tired of your wickedness, and has decided it is time for you to be dealt with.” Lillian opened her palm, blowing forth a golden dust that wrapped itself around Lucien’s extremities, like magical cuffs that prevented him from moving.

  “Let me go, witch!” Lucien yelled, and she ignored him, no longer fearful of the demon, she gripped the chain of the cuffs, and closed her eyes, willing herself to Asgard, where she would stand before Odin. Just as he had commanded her in her mind to do. In a split second, they disappeared from sight, and then, like a scene from a dream, they walked the bridge of Bifrost into Valhalla. Where her father awaited on his throne of gold, a smile across his whiskered, aging face.

  “You have your memory back, my daughter?” he questioned, knowing very well the answer.

  “Would I be here, if I didn’t?” she said snidely, recalling how he had cast her out. Had her been born a mortal without a father in her first life, and had only come around in her second life, when he had deemed her to be in danger.

  “Oh, come now, my Bella Luna. Don’t be angry, I only did as a father would do.”

  “By casting me out of my ho
me? To live among mortals, all because I couldn’t see an innocent life taken?” she demanded.

  “Fletcher is not an innocent life, he is a dragon. Even as a child, he was a dragon in desperate need of molding. You know how they are though, my daughter. You watched every single one of them turn.” Odin said, voice booming across the expanse of Valhalla as Lucien fought against his magical chains of gold.

  “Fletcher is good and kind. It is you, my father, who has turned. You allowed Lucien to take many magical lives. Beings who had never done a single harm to the realms, or to the mortal world,” her blood pumped through her, wild and furious, and she realized why she had always gone against him. “You are only looking out for yourself, and it’s not right.”

  “No, my Bella, that is not true.”

  “It’s Lillian! Do not call me by my mortal name, ever! That life was a ruse. A fake! If you aren’t looking out for yourself, why allow innocent lives to be taken at the hands of this… this… lowlife demon beast?” she said, hands on her armored hips.

  “Now, now, no need for name calling,” Lucien said sinisterly.

  “Shut up!” Lillian yelled at him.

  “My daughter, when are you going to realize that without a little evil, there is no potential for the truth of good to reveal itself. In his actions, I have discovered the whereabouts of many magical beings I thought to be gone from existence. This allows me to provide protection as needed, and though I may have been too late for some lives, I have beings in place who will make sure that no one else is harmed. With Lucien here, though, living out his punishments, I still have several more magical creatures lost to me.

  Without them, I cannot restore the realms to their former glory. It is imperative I find them. I needed Lucien to do that,” he continued.

  “Have you no other way to find that which is lost, father?” she asked, grip never loosening on the magic chain, even as Lucien continued to fight to get away.