Queen of Dragon Hearts

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. The surrounding mountains had kept the Valley of Aingeals hidden from the fire-breathers for many moons, but it was safe no longer. The Queen’s scouts had found it, exposing the secret Kingdom of Airell to dangerous eyes.

The villagers had heard the deafening roar of the dragons, felt the wrathful wind of their wings, imagined the scorch of their fiery mouths burning with the bitter taste of revenge. They had thought them extinct; the winged creatures only known now as a myth to be passed down through the generations.

Dark clouds roll over the mountain peaks, bringing with them a blackness so pure it could block out the sun for eternity. Warriors scramble below, orders from the Empress barraging throughout the kingdom and its village, creating chaos among the people.

“Priyat!” The Empress clapped her bejewelled hands to silence the flurry of activity around her. “Set men at each door. Bring the villagers into the Great Hall. There is to be a kingdom wide assembly.”

Nary a soul moved, nor a breath expelled as the Empress’ booming voice echoed through the room. With a slam of her palms, the Empress yells, “Be gone! I expect all to be gathered within the hour.”

As suddenly as they had stilled, the people scattered back into action, rushing about the great hall to prepare for the coming congregation. _______________________________

An acrid ashen smoke unfurled through the gilded doors of the Great Hall, bringing forth a cloaked mythical being so rare the Empress had deemed her a fallacy, a creation of imagination injected into the enduring folklore of dragons in Airell.

Behind the mystical woman, heavy chains clinked on the marbled floors, followed by the unmistakable orange glow of embers burning. Hushed voices echoed through the Great Hall and speculation swirled. Awed murmurs escaped both royal subjects and villagers alike.

What is that glow?

It’s her.

The Queen of Dragon Hearts.

She’s real.

Nae, she can’t be.

The Empress had heard the rumors, the whispers that the winged beasts had returned with a mistress. The warning had crossed over land and sea to reach Airell in the valley long before the threat had become real, but she had not believed them until now.

“Silence!” The Empress stands from her throne, her voluptuous dress spilling around her, the crimson hue reflecting the blazing anger of her expression. “There is no Queen of dragon hearts. I am the only ruler in these lands, and you will do well to remember who you are standing before.”

A malevolent sound echoed from the smoke as the cloaked figure stepped from the ghastly cloud, bringing with it a vision so terrifying the crowd gasped in unison. Silver scales shimmered as the smoke dissipated, revealing a collared dragon, led by the mysterious woman.

“Aye, Empress, you will do well to remember who you are standing before.” The hood lowered, bringing an abrupt silence to the room. With each step she took forward, the people spread apart like Moses’ Red Sea. When the woman reached the throne’s pedestal, she turned to the crowd, her arms spreading wide in presentation of herself.

“People of Airell. I am Aranda, Queen of Dragon Hearts, and I am to be your new ruler.” Fear coursed through the Empress, but she did not falter in the face of danger.

“Halt!” She stepped forward, a hand held up before her. “You dare come into my kingdom with that winged monster at your heels, addressing my people, challenging my reign? I will not have it, demon of the dragons!”

Evil glinted in Queen Aranda’s violet eyes as she turned to face the Empress and pulled a heavy box from the drapes of her cloak. “You, dear Empress, will have no choice.”

The Empress watched in horror as Aranda removed a glass enclosure from the gleaming gold box, revealing the still beating heart of the only remaining mother dragon. With each pulse of the organ, the silver-scaled creature’s wings rattled the heavy chains collared around its neck.

Whispers rang out through the great hall, each one more frantic than the last as Queen Aranda held up the beating heart and offered it to the beast. “Your heart, Mother Dragon. It is time.”

Iridescent scales glinted under the lights as it nuzzled its robust head against the Queen’s neck before protruding its chest forward, exposing a wide space where its heart should be. The Empress could do nothing to stop the Queen when she stepped forth, placing the beating mass into the dragon’s chest and sealing the open wound with a powerful spell.

The orange glow of fire spread over the creature’s skin, bursting from the mother dragon’s mouth in a loud roar. Screams rang out in the Great Hall as people burned, leaving no one behind but the Empress, who had fallen to her knees in despair.

Flames crackled across the walls as Queen Aranda turned to pull the Empress to her feet, lowering her lips to the Empress' ear with a smirk.

“You will bow before me, or you will burn.”