Chapter 1 of The Sword of a Goddess

Chapter One



In the dead of night, the great beast breathed fire and the kingdom of Kohtalo went up in flames. People were running scared as the knights grabbed their swords and stood, defending their glorious kingdom. Kohtalo smelled of sulphur and fear. “What creature is that?! I have never seen such a beast,” exclaimed a knight who was standing beside the King, looking up at the sky. The great beast, was taller than the trees, and with its bat-like wings, thrashed up and down, creating small tornados throughout the kingdom. Its powerful, scaly, muscular body swooped down on the knights. Bravely they fought. Their blades clashed against the mighty beast, and one by one broke. Not one of them punctured the belly of the beast.
In one swift moment, the beast grasped onto one of the knights, flew high above Kohtalo and circled around before departing into the bright red sunrise.

* * *

King Elroy’s hand curled around the arm of his chair, “What is the damage?

A knight with curly blonde hair stepped forward, bowed his head and stated, “Your Majesty, the lower town is still in flames.”

“Is that all?” King Elroy asked.

“No, Sire, we managed to smother the flames in the upper town.”

“If we don’t find a way to destroy this beast soon, the whole kingdom could burn to the ground,” the king stated. He moved his hand to cover his weary face. “I would like you to send some of the knights down to the lower town to help smother the flames and aid the injured,” King Elroy added.

“As you wish, Sire”

The knights bowed their heads and backed away. A shadow appeared in the entrance and stepped forward into the light. A young woman, with long brown hair, swept past the knights, as they left the throne room. Her hair tumbled over the edge of her cape and around her. The light tapping of her boots as she walked, made her presence more known.

The king looked up. “Who goes there?”

“My king,” she said as she curtsied politely.

The king looked at her curiously. The little sunlight that entered the room through a small window, high above, gently touched the woman’s face.

“I am able to rid your kingdom of the beast that has been pestering you and your people. Let me fight with your knights tonight and by morning the beast will no longer pose a threat to your kingdom,” she added.

“Do you know what this beast is?” King Elroy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yes, Your majesty, it is a dragon.”

The king looked at her curiously. He wondered how a woman could kill a beast that some of his strongest men have died trying. “What makes you think you can destroy this...dragon, as you call it?” he asked, stroking his long grey beard.

The woman smiled and answered, “I have been training my whole life to fight against creatures you probably have never even heard of. I know how to kill this beast and rid you of your problem.”

“What is your name?” the king asked.

The woman looked the king in the eyes and replied, “I am Saphira of Maji.”

The King gasped, but nodded his head in acceptance of her offer.

Saphira bowed her head and left the throne room. She walked out of the grand castle and into the court yard where the remaining knights were preparing for their fight against the dragon. The men that were injured were being tended to by the physician while the blacksmiths were mending and polishing the armour.

Throughout the kingdom there was a big panic. Everyone bustled about grabbing provisions and storing them in their homes. The children were being kept inside, but they peered through their windows, their little noses pressed up against the cold window, watching the knights.

Saphira walked up to the knight with curly blonde hair and stated, “I am Saphira and the king has accepted my request to help fight the dragon.”

The knight looked at her and laughed. It took him a while to compose himself. “You are a woman. Your place is not on the battlefield,” he said.

“Then grab you sword and I will show you that I am worthy to be on the battlefield.”

The knight laughed, yet again, but to please her he grabbed his sword. Saphira smiled as she unsheathed her sword, readying herself for the fight. The knight swung his sword around and she blocked his blow with her sword. They clashed back and forth until she snapped his sword out of his hands and caught it. She kicked him to the ground and held both swords to his throat. She smiled and handed him his sword back.

“I underestimated you and for that I am sorry.” He grabbed her hand and kissed it gently.

“You fight better than any woman or man I have seen. My name is Gwilym and I am in charge of the knights. Well, except the king of course.”

Saphira laughed as she removed her cape. Her armour was the most exquisite he had ever seen. There were unrecognizable symbols carved into the breast plate.

Saphira noticed him staring at her armour. “They are symbols of protection. My father made this for me just before he passed away.”

“I am sorry to hear about your father,” Gwilym stated sadly. “My father passed away too. I know how you must feel.”

“I wasn’t very close to him so it didn’t hurt that much. He had me sent away when I was little,” Saphira expressed.

A knight walked up to Gwilym and whispered in his ear. Gwilym looked at Saphira and politely said, “If you are fighting with us tonight, you should join us for an early meal right now.”

“Thank you, Gwilym. I will most certainly join you and your men for an early meal.” Saphira smiled up at Gwilym.

Gwilym and Saphira walked together across the court yard and down a street. “So, do you know what the beast is?” Gwilym asked, breaking the silence.

“Yes I know what it is. The beast is a dragon.”

Gwilym gasped. There have only been children’s stories about these mystical creatures.

They reached the end of the cobble stone road and there was a long wooden table with knights sitting all around. On the table were fresh fruit, cooked chicken, and bread. Gwilym walked up to the nearest chair and pulled it out for Saphira. Saphira smiled and accepted the chair. Gwilym took the seat next to hers.

The knights around the table looked at her suspiciously. They have never seen her before and now she was sitting with them at the table. One knight asked, “What is she doing here, Gwilym?”

“The king has accepted her help in ridding Kohtalo of the beast. The beast is in fact a dragon. We would not have known what it was if it wasn’t for her,” Gwilym answered. The knight looked over at her and bowed his head apologetically. They all folded their hands and bowed their heads to give thanks to the Goddess before filling their plates with delicious-looking food.

The table was quiet. No one wanted to say a word. Saphira watched the knights shove their food into their mouths. She could feel Gwilym’s eyes on her. She felt a little awkward eating with him staring at her, but she would not let him distract her from mentally preparing for the fight.

When they all had finished, the sun was setting behind the far mountains. A dark silhouette in the sky could be seen flying toward Kohtalo. The knights jumped up, armed themselves and everyone else ran into their homes.

Saphira climbed up to the watch tower, the bars slipping out of her sweaty palms. She unsheathed her sword. “Nak lith protectio,” she chanted in a magical voice and her eyes glowed bright blue. Saphira watched as the dragon, his great body a golden color, flew over Kohtalo. She was ready to kill this dragon.

The dragon noticed Saphira standing on the watch tower. He saw her as easy prey. He flew above her and whipped his scaly tail at her. Saphira dodged the deathly blow just as it came down at her. The tail hit the brick ledge of the tower, the dragon let out an ear piercing screech, and then he tried to hit her again.

This time Saphira was prepared for the dragon’s tail. She jumped out of the way and slashed her sword at the tip. The dragon screeched even louder and flew off into the mountains.

Saphira looked beside her on the watch tower. There, on the ground, lay the tip of the dragon’s tail. She smiled and picked up the wondrous trophy before climbing down the watch tower.

At the bottom, Gwilym waited. “What did you do?” he asked.

“I cut the tip of the dragon’s tail off. I can now find out where the dragon’s lair is. At dawn I ride out to kill the beast.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Saphira smiled and said sarcastically, “I don’t know, you might slow me down.” She turned and walked toward the castle.

“I take that as a yes?!” Gwilym shouted after her.

* * *

Saphira and Gwilym rode through the kingdom gates as the sun began to rise. Saphira clutched the tip of the dragon’s tail in her left hand. “Decrit mi lirat,” Saphira whispered to the dragon’s tail. She opened her hand and the tip of the tail turned and pointed to the gap between the mountains. They rode as fast as the horses would go, heading in the direction the dragon’s tail pointed.

Gwilym looked over and saw the dragon’s tail move. He asked curiously, “Why is it moving?”

Saphira smiled and answered, “It is showing us the way to the dragon.” Gwilym looked shocked but continued to follow Saphira as she entered the great mountains.

Gwilym glanced at Saphira’s sword. “How did you come across such a wondrous sword?”.

“It has been handed down in my family from mother to daughter. My mother told me that one of my oldest ancestors was a remarkable witch who forged a blade out of metals, still unknown to our century, and magic. The hilt and the cross-guard are said to be made from a dragon’s blood and teeth, as well as a unicorn’s horn. Only the women in my bloodline are able to wield Vaelia, which is the sword’s...” Saphira was unable to finish her speech because the dragon’s tail began to quickly spin in circles.

Saphira and Gwilym looked down at the tip of the dragon’s tail curiously. All of a sudden the tail stopped. The tip pointed to Saphira’s right. She looked over and there was a dark cave in the side of the mountain.

“Are we going in there?” Gwilym asked as Saphira dismounted off of her horse. She nodded as she fumbled through her only sack. She pulled her right hand out of her sack. Grasped in her hand was a blue crystal. Saphira securely tied her scabbard around her hips and then turned towards the cave.

“This will light the way for us,” she explained, showing Gwilym the crystal in her hand. Saphira whispered an incantation to the crystal and the crystal began to glow. Saphira took a step inside the dank, dark cave and Gwilym followed behind, his sword drawn.

The crystal’s bright blue light illuminated the narrow cave. Stalactites could be seen hanging from the top of the cave. This didn’t give Saphira and Gwilym much room to maneuver through the cave. “We will have to crawl under the stalactites,” Saphira stated as she got down on her hands and knees.

Gwilym looked carefully at the stalactites and noticed that there was thick green slime stuck to every stalactite. “Be careful your skin does not touch the green slime on the stalactites,” Gwilym warned.

Saphira stopped as she was about to crawl under the first stalactites. “Why?” she asked curiously as she turned to look at Gwilym.

“The slime will paralyze you and by the time the sun sets your flesh would be eaten by the Treeps,” Gwilym replied. Saphira looked at him curiously, like she didn’t know what he was talking about. He then added, “Treeps are unseen creatures that live in slime, much like this. Their slime paralyzes their victims so that they may devour their flesh while they are still alive. If they are extremely hungry, they will devour the entire body, layer by layer.”

Saphira, wide-eyed, backed away from the slime covered stalactites. “We will have to find a way to go around the stalactites then,” she stated.
She paused for a moment in thought. “Maybe we could put some in a bottle.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Did you bring an empty bottle?”

“Yes, just give me a second.” Saphira handed the crystal to Gwilym and walked out of the cave.

Several minutes later she returned holding a small, clear bottle. She walked up to the nearest stalactite, pulled out a dagger and scrapped some of the green slime into the bottle. Together they walked out of the cave, Saphira gripping onto the small bottle.

The mountains loomed overhead. Saphira studied the mountain with the cave, trying to find a way to get to the dragon without having to go through the cave. The slope of the mountain was steep with not much to grab onto. Gwilym could see she was having a hard time finding a solution. He grabbed her hand and said, “We will find a way to get to the dragon, together.”

Saphira smiled for a second then it was gone. Nothing could bring her spirits up. The crystal in Gwilym’s hand began to glow a dark blue. “Something is happening to my crystal,” she exclaimed as the crystal floated out of his hands.

“Maybe we should follow it,” Gwilym suggested as he started to follow the floating crystal.

Saphira watched as Gwilym pursued the floating crystal up the trail and around a bend. When she couldn’t see him no longer she decided to chase after him.

She was out of breath when she finally caught up to him. He moved quickly up the trail and didn’t stop until there was a split in the trail. The crystal floated up the trail to the right. Gwilym looked over at Saphira and smiled before he turned to follow the crystal again. Saphira was right on his heel. Her breath became heavy with every step she took up the mountain. Saphira didn’t think to grab her water. Dehydrated, Saphira had to stop and catch her breath. Gwilym didn’t notice that Saphira was no longer following him. He kept following the crystal around a bend and up the side of the mountain.

Saphira felt cold. She still couldn’t see the sun or the sky. The mountains were too big. She slowly dragged herself up the trail. Water was all she could think about. As she rounded the fifth bend she noticed in the distance that Gwilym was sitting on a rock, the crystal floating in front of him. Saphira walked towards them and she noticed in the distance that there was a small spring beside the rock that Gwilym was sitting on. With all of the energy she had left in her she ran towards the spring and dipped her whole face in. The coolness of the water felt unbelievable on her skin. She opened her mouth and let some of the delicious spring water in. Saphira felt rejuvenated after only one sip.

“Are you ready to continue on?” Gwilym asked. He reached out and touched Saphira’s hand gently.

Saphira took her face out of the water and sat up. She smiled up at him and answered, “I feel better now than when I started.”

The crystal began to float up the path again. “Come on,” Gwilym said as he got up and followed the crystal. With great ease, Saphira stood up and followed behind him. With every step up the trail, the rocks became bigger and sharper.

As they rounded another bend, the crystal stopped. Up ahead the trail stopped. Gwilym and Saphira gave each other puzzling looks. “Well I guess now we are stuck,” Saphira stated as she slumped to the ground.

Gwilym walked over to the ledge and reported, “Not quite so. The dragon is just below this ledge,” his face all lit up.

Saphira jumped up and bolted to where Gwilym stood. She looked down and there was the enormous dragon. Saphira could tell that he was sleeping, probably because the end of his tail has bled out enough to make him weary.

“Now how do we get down there?” Saphira whispered.

“Well there is a staircase right there,” Gwilym answered as he pointed left.

Saphira looked over, a few feet over was a set of stairs made out of flat boulders. The stairs went all the way down the ledge.

“I need to do this on my own,” Saphira stated as she grabbed the crystal out of the air and put it in her pocket.

“Why would you need to do a crazy thing like that?”

“This is my quest,” Saphira answered.

“Don’t be stupid. It became my quest when I came along, so don’t think you’ll be fighting this dragon alone.”

Saphira smiled and grabbed Gwilym’s hand. They walked down the staircase together, quietly. Saphira was happy that there were no loose pebbles on the staircase. Any amount of noise will surely wake the dragon.

They reached the bottom of the stairs, which brought them steps away from the dragon’s face. Saphira looked over at Gwilym and pulled the crystal out of her pocket. With her thoughts she was able to make the crystal glow a light blue and she slipped it into Gwilym’s pocket. He smiled at her, hoping that what she did will help him.

Saphira unsheathed her sword silently and whispered as her eyes turned blue, “Nak lith protectio.” Vaelia, the sword, began to glow slightly and the dragon began to stir.

* * *

The sun was high above Kohtalo as the villagers bustled about. A hooded figure walked through the big stone arch way, into the great kingdom. Nobody noticed the newcomer. In the shadows of the hood, the stranger smirked. Her plan was finally unveiling itself.

The hooded woman followed the cobble-stone road until the road ended at the beautiful castle. She glided up the stairs like a dark shadow. The guards didn’t even see her glide past them. Her steps were silent. She made her way through the castle to the throne room. She quickly opened her arms and the doors of the throne room blew open.

King Elroy jumped out of his throne and unsheathed his sword with great ease. His old body still moved like it used to. “Who are you and what are you doing here?!” the King demanded.

The woman that was black as night threw back her hood, wisps of her long brown hair fell over her ears. Elroy gasped as he looked upon her face. The woman smiled deviously.

“Did you kill the dragon already?” Elroy asked.

“Yes, your majesty, I have killed the dragon,” the woman sneered and her eyes turned red. King Elroy screamed for his life, but no one could hear him. He then began to feel like his body was being torn into thousands of directions and there was no end to his suffering. All King Elroy could see, was darkness.

* * *

Saphira stood tall, as the dragon opened his big black eyes. She was going to kill her first dragon. Excitement rushed through her body and she jabbed her sword into the dragon’s eye. He screeched in pain as he started to flap his great wings. Little tornados were forming all around Saphira and Gwilym, but they didn’t let it break their concentration. Gwilym turned and ran up the staircase. His foot slipped half way up and his body came crashing down onto the flat boulders. The dragon looked over at Gwilym with his one good eye. The great beast took a deep breath in and breathed out his most deadly weapon, fire. As the flames reached Gwilym, the blue light of the crystal expanded out of his pocket and formed a protective circle around him.

Saphira watched as the dragon tried again and again to engulf Gwilym in flames. This was her chance to get the dragon, while he was low enough to the ground. She tossed the bottle of Treeps at the dragon and ran as fast as she could towards him. Just as she was about to plunge her sword into the dragon’s chest, the dragon turned his head. He snapped at her, causing her to fall to the ground underneath him.

Gwilym, free from flames, started back up the staircase. Once at the top he looked down and spotted a small spot on the dragon where a scale was missing. Gwilym took a deep breath and jumped onto the dragon’s back, jabbing his sword deep into the dragon’s back. The dragon screamed in pain. Angry, the dragon tried to snap at Gwilym, but the Treeps were slowly paralyzing his movement. Saphira stood up and held her sword high above her. As the dragon’s chest moved down, Saphira’s sword stabbed right into the right side of the dragon’s chest. She pulled her sword out and the dragon’s heart exploded inside. The great beast came crashing to the ground. Saphira just made it out from underneath him. Gwilym was thrown to the ground in front of Saphira. He slowly got up and wobbled over to her. Gwilym threw his arms around Saphira and hugged her tightly.

“It’s over,” he whispered into Saphira’s ear. He lightly touched her face and turned it toward him. He kissed her gently on the lips. A warm feeling flooded his body.

Saphira stepped back in shock. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you in any way,” Gwilym said apologetically.

“It’s okay. I have never been kissed before, aside from my parents of course,” she stated before wrapping her arms around Gwilym. “I rather enjoyed it,” she added.

Saphira looked Gwilym in the eyes and kissed him back. His lips felt warm against hers. As their lips parted, Saphira whispered, “We should go back to Kohtalo now.”

They walked hand in hand up the staircase, exhaustion settling in. Saphira was glad that they were able to take their time walking down the path back to the horses. The journey back to the horses seemed a lot shorter then when they were walking up the path.

Gwilym helped Saphira onto her horse before getting on his. They both rode out of the mountains as fast as they could.

Once out of the gloominess of the mountains, the sun was setting before their eyes. Saphira squinted against the light of the sun. Kohtalo was just a big black shadow in the distance.

Gwilym cried out in anguish. Saphira looked over to where he was staring and gasped.

In the distance, Kohtalo laid in ruins. Black smoke was rising from every home within the kingdom. Gwilym kicked his heels into his horse’s ribs to make the creature move faster. He needed to see if anyone survived. Saphira chased after him. She could feel his pain as if it were her own.

As they neared the kingdom walls, bodies could be seen somehow pinned against the walls. Everyone’s chest was bared and a bloody signature was burnt into each body. Saphira gasped at the horrific sight. “Gwilym!” she shouted.

Gwilym stopped and turned to look at her, his face wet with tears. “What?” he asked.

“I know who did this. Please, do not enter the kingdom.” Saphira answered.

“Who?” he asked.

“Scarlet,” Saphira whispered into the air.




Chapter 2
http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1780035-Chapter-2-of-The-Sword-of-...