Braeda and the dragon

Once, as to the best of my knowledge this has only happened once, there was a Princess named Braeda. Braeda was both beautiful and intelligent, both graceful and wise, both knowledgeable and courteous of those with more knowledge than herself. In short, she was very nearly perfection in the form of a princess. Princess Braeda was the apple of her father’s eye, and the joy of her mother’s heart. She was also the pride of her father’s kingdom, for not only was Braeda all of the things just mentioned, but she was a seer of some great accuracy as well. Many times had Braeda woke from a night’s sleep fresh with a vision of what was to be, and every time her dreams proved perfectly correct. It was common opinion that with Braeda to advise them, the kingdom was assured prosperity far into the future.

One morning, in the early spring, when the cherry blossoms had only just begun to open and the winter sleepers had only just begun to roll over and rise, Braeda woke from a fitful dream. Her handmaiden inquired of her dream, but Braeda wouldn’t speak a word except to call for her father to attend her immediately. The king and queen both came to her bedchamber at once, and Braeda took them into the privacy of her room for several hours. When the family again opened the doors of the room, the king called for his strongest bodyguards, and the captains of his army. Soon rumors had spread all over the kingdom that the princess had been visited by a vision of terrible import. All the rumors revealed was that the dream foretold of a terrible future, but stories were abound everywhere what the event might be, and all the kingdom waited with dread to see what would unfold.

The king doubled the size of his army, and the number of guards in and around the castle, while rumors of an invasion followed all the citizens of the fair kingdom around like a damp fog. Meanwhile, spring turned into summer, just as it always had, but Princess Braeda was seldom seen in public view, and when she was, her face was dark with worry and sorrow. Many who attended her believed she was in mourning of the times to come, seen within her dream.

One early morning, before even the first of the risers in the kingdom had abandoned the warmth of their beds, and only the night-guards were awake, the clouds over the castle were split with a thunderous flash of fire and lightning. The very sky seemed to split open, and out flew a dragon of proportions big enough to make it seem like a dream, albeit a horrible evil one. It flew down, and with one mighty swipe of its tremendous wings, it cracked off the tallest tower, and flung it down in a hail of stone and masonry to the courtyard below. In a voice that seemed to resonate with the very stones of the ground, the dragon cried out, "I am vileness and fire, I am death and destruction. I am darkness on the souls of all who see me. I have heard of the queen of seers, and have come to take her. Surrender her in ten days time, or I will destroy this land, and all who dwell within it."

The peasants ran for the forest, and many normally brave-hearted knights fainted dead away at the very sound of the dragon’s voice.