“This is a really bad idea.” Kerrass said as he crouched on the floor, drawing intricate designs with a piece of chalk.

“Well if you've got a better one, I'm ready and waiting to hear it.” I commented as I set out the candles, lighting them and trickling a small amount of wax onto the stone floor to stick the candle down. “I also want to point out that it might be a terrible idea, but it's also your idea. Not mine.”

“That doesn't stop it from being a terrible idea which almost certainly won't work.” He closed his eyes for a moment, his lips moving as he tried to recall something, before bending back to his work.

“Have you come up with a better idea then?” I asked.

“Several actually. But all of them involve being in a tavern, or at your castle,”

“Or a brothel?” I suggested.

“Yes. Or, for preference, a next of arachnomorphs.”

“You can keep that last one.” I said with a smile. I was determined to keep the tone of conversation light and amusing. “I fucking hate Arachnomorphs.”

“This from the man who's marrying a Spider Queen.”

“That's not settled yet.” I retorted quickly. “But yes, that aspect of her is one that I'm not entirely comfortable with.”

“Just one of the aspects?” Kerrass teased.

“One of many. How are we looking?”

“I think we're nearly there.” Kerrass stood back and admired our handiwork. A summoning circle, drawn on the stone floor of the castle's great hall. The King's body had been carefully taken from his place of rest and carried down to the hall before being placed on a stone table that Kerrass had brought up from the store rooms. It had probably been a stone table that had once been used for the slaughtering of the livestock that a castle would need to live off as the surface of the stone was pitted with much wear and many dark brown blood stains that spoke of much horror. It leant the entire thing a macabre kind of atmosphere which was completed with the chalk circle and the candles that had been worked out to be the four points of the compass.

Kerrass added a couple of chalk strokes to a couple of places and stood back again.

“So you're absolutely certain that this isn't necromancy?” I asked.

“Nah, that kind of thing takes a lot more effort and more magical skill than I have. Why? Concerned?”

“A little.”

“You know that the council of mages that banned Necromancy in the first place has long since been dissolved right?”

“I do know that but that doesn't make me feel any better about the entire situation.”

“No. It's not necromancy. I don't know what it is, other than it's a charm that allows us to see, hear and speak to any spirits that might be in the local area. The presence of the body means that we can speak to his spirit.”

“Is it going to work?”

“Probably. The question is not whether or not we can speak to him. It's how he's going to react to being talked to that's the concern.”

“Filling me with confidence Kerrass.”

Kerrass shrugged before his face went serious. “You oiled your spear?”

“I have.”

“Good. Then be ready. If this goes wrong, don't try to fight them. Just stay out of their way. Parry, don't strike even if you think you have a perfect opportunity. And try to stay in the protective signs that I'm going to be throwing around if this turns nasty.”

“I know Kerrass. I've faced spirits before remember?”

“I know. But this is the spirit of a cursed man. That's why I'm more worried than I would be otherwise.”

“I know that too.” I sighed. “Look, are you sure you want to do this?”

“I can't think of anything else to do. The next thing to try would be to go to what we think might be the Sorceresses tower. But that's a long way off and the Dragon will be on us by that point. We need more information to try and break the curse and I think that this might be the best way to try and do it.”

“Ok then. Good luck.”

“Thanks.”

As an interesting side note on Kerrass and my working relationship. I am no longer allowed to be in his line of sight whenever he has to do one of these incantations. One of these rituals. Apparently I make faces, or comment or otherwise do weird things to put him off. I don't understand it because as I'm sure my regular readers will know, I am the very soul of discretion and understanding and would absolutely not make funny faces in an effort to mock my friend when he's doing silly things in overly pretentious voices. That just isn't my style.

I don't care what Kerrass tells you about that.

I got well out of the way as Kerrass sets his steel sword aside and straps the silver one over his shoulder. He takes a couple of deep breaths before swallowing a couple of long draughts from one of the potion bottles at his side. Then he starts to speak and I feel the hairs of the back of my neck stand on end.

It's an odd defence for a body to develop. Why would a body want to warn you of something by having the hairs on the back of your neck stand up? What does that achieve other than to make me feel uncomfortable.

Kerrass had begun chanting. His arms away from his sides with the palms of his hands facing upwards.

It looked like he was praying which, for all I know, is what was actually happening.

There were no lights, no blowing winds or flashes of lightening as accompanies these kinds of things in the more lurid stage presentations when this kind of thing happens. Instead, the image of a man, outlined in a kind of blue-white light gradually began to form in the air above what once might have been his body. He was pacing backwards and forwards in what I guessed to be some kind of agitation although the fact that he was doing so while a clear three feet above the ground didn't seem to matter at all.

Kerrass finished his incantation and let his hands fall to his sides. Just as the candles seemed to snuff themselves out. Long tendrils of smoke reached up from the smouldering candle wicks to flutter in what little breeze there was.

Kerrass took another deep breath. The incantation must have lasted maybe twenty heartbeats and he looked as though he'd been fighting solidly for twenty hours.

“Your Majesty,” he breathes and bowed deeply. Somewhere, someone must have taught him how to do it properly because that bow would have done him credit in the imperial court.

“I know you Witcher.” The voice seemed to come from a long distance, as though spoken through a tube. “I know you and do not like your face.” The accent was pronounced as well and I had to concentrate to understand it. He spoke in a form of elven although it was much changed from the High, scholarly tongue that I had learned at the teachings of my tutors. I have since looked at this and discovered that many of the southern courts adopted Elven as their primary tongue when there hadn't really been a unifying nation to decide as a whole what the language should be. Those varying languages have since been completely absorbed by the Nilfgaardian tongue, as codified by the Nilfgaardian senate in 1102.

“I apologise for that your Majesty but it is the only face that I have.”

“Wit does not become you, wretch.”

“I have been told that as well Your Highness. May I present someone who can speak a bit closer to your station. The right honourable Lord Frederick von Coulthard of the northern realms.”

I stepped forward and made an equally low bow the spirit of the King.

“Majesty.” I began. “Allow me to present myself, I am a scholar from the north and I have come south to seek news of your Kingdom.”

“What business of yours is it what happens in my Kingdom?”

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Kerrass back off a bit. He drank deeply from a water flask before drinking another potion. The colour began to return to his face rapidly after that.

“No business.” I answered. “But that your Kingdom suffers under a curse of the blackest sort.” The old language leant itself to the more flowery turn of phrase. “And my companion and I have ventured here in an effort that we might free your Kingdom from said curse.”

“Mmm. You speak well for a man from that northern realm. A realm of barbarians and savages I have been told.”

“They might have been to your perspective Your Majesty. But, if I might make an observation. Your perspective is over a hundred years out of date. Also, I recall similar things being said of you and your neighbours around my Father's breakfast table.” I added a little smile.

Flattery. Kerrass once told me, is vital when talking to a ghost or spirit. Coddle them, because they are sensitive souls at heart and you do not want to make them angry for fear of your life.

I was pleased though. Even in death, the King had a sense of humour. He laughed at my little joke.

“Your humour does you credit young man.”

I bowed at the compliment.

“But why would a northern Lordling concern himself with the affairs of so southern a Kingdom. Your, and my, prejudices not withstanding?”

“No reason Your Majesty, but that my friend and companion asked it of me.”

“This Witcher that accompanies you.”

I could see no sneer on the King's features but I could hear it.

“As you say your Majesty. I would also suggest that I accompany him, rather than he accompany me.”

“Mmm. You could do better you know. A well spoken young man such as yourself.”

“Maybe your majesty. But this man has saved my life more times than I can count. He introduced me to the woman that I will probably marry and saved my family from scandal and disgrace that was not their fault. I owe him a significant part of what I am today and what he has helped me to become.”

I was very good. I managed to completely ignore the expression on Kerrass' face.

“That you speak so well of him elevates him in our eyes. Stand forward Witcher.”

Kerrass did so with another bow.

“You are also a northerner I see.” The King intoned. “Two northern men. One noble of blood and the other of character. What brings you to our court?”

I took a deep breath. This was the part where it started to get really dangerous. “Your majesty cannot have failed to notice that your court seems to have fallen on some hard times of late.”

“My house is not what it was to be sure.”

“We would lift the curse Your Majesty. Your Kingdom has been gone from the world for too long.”

“You speak well young man but I think that you are missing something out. You are not from my part of the world. Why concern yourself with us.”

I took another breath.

“Your daughter Majesty.”

The King seemed to smile a little.

“My daughter? I would not see her married to some northern lord of whom I have not heard before this day.”

“As I say Your Majesty. My word is all but given to another. I speak not of myself...”

“She will not marry a Witcher.” A certain green tinge began to creep into the light.

“Again Your majesty, that is not the manner of things. My companion is here in service to her. Yes he may love her but may not a man love a woman above his station and show his devotion in other ways. I cannot speak for the southern Kingdoms but the North is replete with poems and sagas of such courtly loves, driving and inspiring men to acts that would have been beyond them otherwise.”

I was relieved to see the greenish tinge withdraw from the light. Back to it's pale blue colour.

“You astonish me young man. I was not aware that the concept of courtly love had travelled so far north. Nor had I considered that a Witcher would be one such Knight errant.”

“I assure you Your Majesty that my companion is full of surprises.”

“So why do you summon me?”

“Forgive me Your Majesty. But are you aware of your current predicament?”

“You ask whether I am aware of my death? Yes. Although some hereabouts are unaware?”

“As I say Your Majesty. We would lift the curse.”

The King visibly shook his head. “It is impossible. It cannot be done. Do you not think I have tried everything that could be done?”

“I have no doubt that you did everything that could be done at the time Your Majesty, but now it is more than a hundred years later. Long after the projected initial hundred years of the original curse. Magical theory and knowledge on curses and how to remove them safely has moved on in that period of time. I would even go so far as to say that my companion here would rightly be considered an expert in such matters.”

“Then I charge you to do what you can.” he moved to turn away.

“Your Majesty,” I called. “It is not as simple as that. After all he,” I gestured at Kerrass, “has been doing what he can for many of those intervening years.”

The King returned to view.

“Why do you need my help?”

“I will defer here to the expert.” I bowed and offered the floor to Kerrass who stepped forward with another bow.

“Knowledge your Majesty.” he said.

“Knowledge?”

“Yes, Your Majesty. This curse that affects your country is, by far, the most powerful curse on record. It's not that current Magic users couldn't cast something similar. They certainly have the power but it's more that they haven't. As a result, to combat the curse we need to know as much about the curse as possible. I have never fought a war but I suspect it would be very similar to the way you would prepare yourself to fight a battle. Learning about the opposite general and the make up of his army.”

The King nodded.

“I can recommend any number of people who would know more about the curse. You may ask them anything that you require.”

“If I may your Majesty. They might tell me many things but that is not the reason we are talking to you.”

“Explain. I may be dead but I still have a Kingdom to run. Most, if not all but the most intelligent of my subjects do not believe that they are dead and as such, they look to their King in these trying times.”

“As well they should Your Majesty. But in this case we have come to you directly for a reason.”

“What is that reason?”

“So far, efforts to combat the curse have centred around your daughter. Because the curse was cast on her naming day it has generally been believed that the curse was meant for her.”

“That was what my advisers also believed.”

“We do not think that is the case.”

“Why?”

“Your Majesty, with all due respect to your advisers past and present.” Kerrass made a little bow here. “This curse has been worked on for over a century. We know it's not to do with your daughter because we've been trying to lift the curse on your daughter for all that time. If the curse was cast at your daughter it would have been broken by now.”

“I do not follow your reasoning. Just because it has not been broken does not mean that it will never be broken. It is powerful, complex and all consuming. It must be cancelled with equal power.”

“There are other factors your Majesty.”

“Such as? I warn you that although the curse is important to me, my patience is not limitless.”

I saw a flash of anger cross Kerrass' face and stepped forward before he could say something that would ruin us.

“There is too much hate here Your Majesty.” I said. “For a curse this powerful it would need to have been cast with a hate that would poison the sun itself. Despite all possible prejudice, despite racial barriers, religious barriers or cultural ones. If you show a young baby to any human being then it is an impossible amount of hatred that has been levelled at your daughter. That kind of hatred needs time to fester.”

The King seemed to gaze at me for a long time.

“I remember being as naïve as you once, northerner. It is a nice world in which you live where such things are impossible but I assure you. The hatred is real and palpable.”

“Indulge us anyway Your Majesty.” Kerrass had swallowed his earlier burst of anger it seemed. “You have nothing to lose and much to gain by the answering of our questions. For your daughters sake if not for your own.”

The dead have no body language to speak of, no eyes to read or faces to examine. But I thought I saw the Witcher's barb strike home.

“Very well. Ask away.”

“Tell us about the Sorceress who cast the curse.” Kerrass spoke, “We have examined the history books and the books of the time and we can find little mention of her. We do not even know her name for certain.”

“She did not have a name or at least she never gave us one. She came to our Kingdom, unlooked for and unannounced to take up residence in one of our former border towers. The place had fallen into disuse and had been abandoned to nature as our border had expanded beyond that point in my father's time. We received word that there was an unusual glow coming from the tower during the night, some villagers had seen it and sent word to us. We sent heralds that went unanswered and eventually asked a Sorceress friend of the realm to investigate the matter.

“Our friend told us that a Sorceress of unusual power had taken up residence in the tower as she required solitude and privacy for her experiments.”

“This tower would be the fourth border fort. The High Crag?” I asked.

“Yes. If you already knew the answer then why did you ask it?” An edge of irritation had crept into the King's voice.

“It is the nature of scholars to seek surety Majesty. Forgive me this foible of mine.”

The King grunted.

“If she had no name, what did you call her?” It seemed that it was Kerrass' turn to jump into the gap in an effort to forestall disaster while talking to the spectral King.

“She called herself “Draig ddyn Hardd” when we could speak to her and pressure her on the subject as she needed to be announced to the court b the herald. She seemed to like the idea and that was the name she chose.”

“The name sounds elvish.” I commented.

“We thought so to at first but she seemed scornful of the idea that she had anything to do with the elves. Eventually we were able to strike up something of a relationship with her.”

“What was she like?”

“She was an astonishing woman. Completely unlike anyone else that had ever been met. She was...Sharp. She was the kind of person who says what she thought without pause for consideration of politics or the persons feelings. She was the kind of person who you would invite to a party when you didn't like the other guests. She was always stellar company, full of humour and wit but that wit was wicked and barbed in nature. I once saw her in the company of a puffed up idiot of a visiting Count from somewhere to the north. He was a stuck up man who looked down on us from the south.

“Like all Sorceresses, she was a striking woman. Intensely beautiful and the Count was trying to make moves on her. She absolutely demolished him until he was the laughing stock of the entire party and he did not realise what was happening.

“She was a difficult woman to like but a lot of fun to be around and watch from a distance.”

“What service was it that she provided to you that you gifted her this fort? This...High Crag?” I asked.

“That business is a matter of state and not relevant to the curse that she later cast.” The King was getting angry and defensive again.

I had to bite my tongue hard there. I so desperately wanted to tell this man that it might have been very important.

“Why was she not invited to the Princesses naming day?” Kerrass asked.

“She had been locked in her tower for so long and without contact that we simply thought she had left as quietly and abruptly as she had come.”

I exchanged glances with Kerrass. If the King had been alive he would have been squirming in discomfort.

“Why did she hate the Princess so much?” Kerrass asked.

“We don't know. We asked. We begged her to reverse the spell. I offered her my crown in return for lifting the curse but she refused. The Queen tried to speak to her. Her fellow Sorceresses tried to speak to her. But she refused. She was... Malevolence personified. Venom and hatred dripped from her speech.”

Kerrass and I looked at each other. I shrugged. This was the impasse. Again. He was giving us the official line.

“May I speak frankly our Majesty?”

“Of course.”

“If this were any other curse Your Majesty, my course would be clear.”

“What would that course would be?”

“I would tell you that you are the one that is cursed. I am not cursed and I can, and will, just walk away from this place without a backward glance. I would do all of these things here but I owe your daughter too much. But I owe you nothing. You are cursed. Your Kingdom is cursed. Your daughter lies in her coffin. The same coffin in which she has slept for over a hundred years. The original cure of True Love's kiss does not work. We know this because many people have tried.

“We know that this is because she is not the one that is cursed. The curse was cast at you Your Majesty, not your daughter.”

“I have heard enough of this.” The King's voice tried to override Kerrass'.

“With respect Your Majesty, you haven't.” Kerrass' own voice rose to meet the King's. “This curse destroyed your nation. That amount of hatred is impossible to reconcile with “not being invited to a party”. So what happened between the two of you?”

“I've had enough...”

“WHO IS THE PRINCESSES MOTHER?” Kerrass thundered.

“How dare you?”

“We found the adoption papers Your Majesty,” I put in, “hidden in the notaries office.”

“You are the father Your Majesty,” Kerrass put in. “Who is the mother?”

“I've heard enough. GUARDS!”

“Crap,” Kerrass muttered drawing his sword.

The King's spirit vanished before our eyes and a green glow crept up around the walls as six Wights appeared out of the darkness.

“That could have gone better,” I commented.

But then the Wights were on us and we were fighting for our lives.

Movement was the essential thing. Just keep moving, stay away from them, try and draw one away from the rest of the pack so that you can fight or banish that one and cut down their number.

Wights would be fascinating creatures if I had a bit more time to be able to look at them and spend some time looking at the thing. But when you destroy them then they have a tendency to dissolve into a small pile of magical dust. This is not too surprising really as they essentially appear out of nowhere. I have seen many of these things before, in ones and twos. I've even been responsible for fighting one or two of them myself. Never in this number.

Apparently they come from the spirits of dead people getting angry enough to be able to manifest in the real world. Often they look a lot like walking corpses that have been animated by green light rather than anything else. These six moved a little heavier and wore something that looked a lot like armour. Beyond that, they all had the long, thin, blade like weapons that many wights manifest. One or two of them also seemed to be carrying their gravestones on their backs, which is also not uncommon.

But I didn't have time to worry about that now. I registered the appearances at the time and tried to make some notes. But at the time I was just trying to stay alive rather than make scientific and accurate reports about what they looked like.

My tutors will be so disappointed.

You see another problem about wights is that they can disappear and re-appear at will. There is a small moment where they seem disorientated after they reappear. But still. As they often reappear behind you or too far away, you can only really take advantage of this if they just happen to reappear right next to them.

Which is rare.

I didn't have time to think. I didn't really have time to plan anything either. I just had to move.

Kerrass had cast one of his signs at the floor which provided some protection. We stood back to back in that circle for maybe ten seconds before the sheer pressure of numbers meant that we were forced to move. I do know that in that initial flurry, Kerrass had managed to mark one of them which had collapsed to dust at his feet.

Then, as we had rehearsed and practised so many times, we split up and ran, still in the room, but we were trying to split them up, to isolate them.

I didn't expect to take down any of those wights. But if I could just distract one, maybe two of them then that was one or two wights that Kerrass wouldn't have to worry about.

They give off a kind of scream when you destroy them. Destroy is probably the wrong word. Disrupt is possibly closer to the truth. It's not a cry of pain, rather it's a call of...disappointment. A cry of stymied rage.

I heard one on the other side of the room and knew that this meant that Kerrass had reduced their number even further.

I risked a quick glance over to his end of the room and it looked like three of the four remaining wights were at the point of surrounding him. I turned and ran, sprinting across the room, hurdling the King's corpse and swept a blow through the back of one of the wights that were hemming him in.

I was rewards when, two seconds after my blow I heard another sound of a wight being destroyed.

I didn't see it because I was still running but Kerrass later told me that two of the wights had turned to face me and he was able to skewer one of them.

Three left. I risked a glance behind me and ducked quickly as a blade would nearly have decapitated me. I swung my spear quickly in a flat strike and the wight fell back. Kerrass was at the other side of the hall fending off two wights. He didn't look tired and he was pressing one of the two hard while having used a blast of air to send one backwards.

I thrust at my wight a couple of times, two, short strikes to drive it back.

It pulled back and vanished.

At the same moment I dived and rolled. An ingrained response that Kerrass had spent a not small amount of time drilling in to me.

Not for the first time, it saved my life as the wight had reappeared behind me. As I rolled to my feet I was astonished to find one of Kerrass' Wights directly in front of me. Without thinking I stabbed forward, the thing screamed and dissolved into the dust at the floor.

Such random strokes of luck are common when you fight wights and you have to capitalise on them whenever you can.

Two left and it was all but over.

Kerrass was able to push the one wight to making a mistake and destroyed it. He gestured me behind him and made short work of the remaining one.

“Ok.” I said, leaning on my spear and breathing heavily. “That could have gone a lot better.”

“You hurt?” Kerrass was carefully cleaning his own sword. I imagined that he was doing it a little pointedly and suggesting that I should see to my own weapons. I took out a rag and wiped the oil residue from the blade.

“Maybe a bruise or a cut from throwing myself across the floor a couple of times.”

Kerrass nodded and gazed out over the main hall. The casket containing the sleeping Princess was still off at one end. The fight hadn't got close to her.

“You did well. But we didn't really find anything we didn't know.”

“That's not quite true.” I said, wanting to reassure him. “We got confirmation which is sometimes just as important as getting the original information.”

“I suppose so, but what do we do now?”

“Well I've been thinking about that.”

“And?”

“You know how you said trying to talk to the King was a bad idea?”

“Yes.”

“I have a worse idea.” I grinned at him.

Later that day, we were stood at the top of the castle. It was not the most stable of surfaces and we had tied ourselves on for what little stability we could find. The rather optimistic view that if we fell, or jumped off, or the tower collapsed underneath us then we would be safe.

That was of course if the tower being unstable was the only problem we had.

Kerrass was hammering in a large spike into the side of the tower wall.

“You're right you know.”

“What's that?” I passed him the largest single white piece of cloth that we could find in the castle and he started to hang it from the spike that I think had been made out of some kind of dagger.

“This idea is worse,” he straightened up and passed me another corner of the cloth so that I could attach it nearby.

“But it's such a good idea.” I attempted to put some good cheer into my voice but it didn't sound as though Kerrass was convinced.

“Don't get me wrong. I suspect it's one of the few things that hasn't been tried before in the large amount of time that the curse has been going on. In that it's certainly a new idea.”

“I was going for novel.” I suggested.

“But at the same time. I can't help but think that the only thing the Dragon is going to think when seeing a large white cloth. Even if the dragon is intelligent enough to know what the flag means, which is a big 'if' by the way. I just think that the most that the Dragon is going to think is. “Ooh, kindling,” followed by, “and here's dinner.””

“I will admit that I'm hoping that curiosity will win out at the end of the day.”

“Curiosity? Cat's are curious. Dragons have the luxury of being able to flatten the area and then search through the rubble to find what they were looking for.”

“Ah well.”

I took a flask from my belt and drank some of the vodka that it contained. I felt the need for a small amount of courage.

“Here it comes,” Kerrass commented.

It was true, flying low over the treetops, a little bit below the level that we were standing at. It was huge, immeasurably big. At the moment all I could see, or rather, all I could really take in was the vast wingspan and the small arrow-head shaped head that was setting fire to the tree tops.

“Well Kerrass,” I said as the thing came closer and closer. “I just wanted to say....”

“Likewise Freddie, Likewise. Thanks for trying. It means a lot.”

I laughed, “No Kerrass. I was going to say that if it kills me. Could you tell everyone that I died heroically. That I was saving people from the dragons jaws or something rather than standing up here and inviting it to eat me alive.”

Kerrass stared at me for a long moment, then he grinned.

“This is pretty stupid isn't it.”

“Hardly the heroic ending for the saga poets to sing about.”

The Dragon was much closer now. Jet black it was and I could make out it's eyes, They were glowing green and I could see a kind of steam growing up from them as though the eyes themselves were hot.

“For what I am about to receive.” I breathed.

I shut my eyes and started waving my arms around.

“WE WANT TO TALK,” I bellowed up into the air. Kerrass' voice rose up to join mine. I think we managed to get the words out twice coherently as well as shouting them out in incoherent babbles.

I had my eyes closed but I didn't need to see the dragon.

I could feel it.

Huge. it rent the air as it past through. It was followed by an almost thunderclap noise. Vast wings buffeted at us and we staggered. My eyes flew open out of reflex as I felt myself beginning to stagger. The huge vastness, the overwhelming size of it.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

It was beautiful and terrible at the same time.

It was awful in that inspired awe.

It was Amazing in that inspire amazement.

It was terrific in that it inspired terror

For me, in that moment I passed out. My brain just kind of...shut down in the face of something so huge and amazing. I gaped at it. The thing was hovering in the air as it stared at the pair of us. It reared back and as it's mouth opened I swear I saw the onrush of flames. I passed out.

It must have only been a fraction of a second but I was certainly unconscious for a moment. I remember falling. I remember the moment before the fall but I do not remember the moment of leaving the ground, unstable as it might have been.

I understand that Kerrass took a running jump and attempted to land on the dragon itself. I know that he wasn't successful as the dragon essentially swatted him out of the air and into the castle wall. The rope that was tying him on went taut and caught him. Then the Dragons flame caught both his rope and my rope, instantly dissolving them both in the heat. Kerrass was at the wall though and had the opportunity to angle his fall so that he could catch a handhold.

I had no such luck and was sailing through the air.

I opened my eyes mid fall and saw the dragon coming after me.

When I had first imagined dragons I had imagined large ungainly beasts that would move relatively slowly through the air which would track with it's massive bulk.

This dragon spun on it's wing tip and dove at me faster than I was falling.

It caught me. I have no other way of describing what happened. It's head snapped forward in a snake-like motion and I had time to wonder if being eaten by a dragon would be worse than falling to my death.

There was an impact and I shook around inside the things mouth. I had been folded into a smaller ball and was in danger of falling down the dragons throat when the jaws opened and a claw reached in and pulled me out by a leg.

I had a distinct moment where I was hanging in the air from the claw of a dragon. As the blood rushed to my head, I was able to realise that I was being examined by it. Inches away from it's Bright Green eyes.

It roared at me.

The sonic assault was more than just an audible wave, it was a sonic shock that buffeted at me. It wasn't something that I heard with my ears it was something that I felt in my chest somewhere. That I felt it assail my entire body.

In the past I have kind of... avoided talking about my involuntary body reactions when my body decides that I should just get out of the way and does things all by itself because more often than not. These things are embarrassing.

I shit myself. Apparently, this is not uncommon but at the same time it bears mentioning.

I was flung. I don't think it was very hard but it was certainly painful. My brain was still reeling from the Dragon's roar that I must have been limp enough that I didn't take much more damage from the fall, other than the bruises and the scrapes that were to be expected.

I slumped, dazed.

It was overwhelming. I was in some form of shock but I couldn't make my mind think. I couldn't make it......react in any way that I was comfortable with. I was staring into space trying to shake the ringing sound from my ears. Hoping, just hoping that at some point the world would start making sense in some small way. That I could hold on to something and make sense of it all.

Something huge was approaching me then. A huge vast expanse of claws and teeth and scales and it roared at me again.

I was too far gone by that point. Slumped as I was against a wall, a spreading pool of wetness underneath me.

There was a strange kind of inrush of air, a kind of popping noise and I felt someone grab me by the throat. I was hauled upright and was left dangling off the ground, suspended by my throat. Out of nowhere, whether by pain or by the reflexive need to try and survive, my arms came up and I clawed at the implacable grip that held me by the throat. Without apparent effort.

I fought for breath, lashed out with my legs trying to find some purchase, or anything that I could use to ensure my survival.

But I was already weak from the earlier assault. I had been tossed around like a cat toy.

I was staring at the sky, the hand holding my throat was forcing my sight upwards so that I couldn't see my assailant. I could hear words. I thought it was a woman's voice but my entire being was ringing. It wasn't just my head that was ringing but it was my entire body, my entire brain that had been shaken.

I registered movement out of the corner of my eye. I thought I recognised Kerrass but my eyes were tearing up with pain, shock and terror.

I felt, rather than heard a whoosh, Kerrass grunted and the dim sounds of a body flying off, bouncing along the floor in the same way that I had a matter of seconds ago.

Abruptly and without warning, I was dropped. My legs wouldn't support me and they folded underneath me so that I just collapsed into a small ball of pain. Wheezing, angry, terrified pain.

I coughed, choked and vomited for what felt like hours but can only have been a few seconds.

I heard more words. I thought they were Kerrass' voice. I concentrated in an effort to try and find the right... bits so that I could understand them and put them into the right order to form sentences in my brain.

“You've deafened him,” I thought he was saying. I tipped over and collapsed onto my side so that I could see Kerrass. The prospect of turning my neck so that I could do the same thing was dismissed as lunacy by the rest of my body.

He was on his feet at least. Weaving a little bit, his sword was out and it was tracing patterns in the air that didn't look as though they were entirely intended. He had a large cut across his temple that was oozing blood down the side of his face which was covered in dust from where he had fallen. He was also limping and favouring his left leg.

I tried to get to my limbs under control so that I could stand up. I was unsuccessful, staggered and fell in a manner that felt almost comical. The effect was a lot like being drunk.

A wave of nausea struck me then and I vomited hard for a couple of seconds.

I made it up to my feet on the fourth attempt but then had to bend over, concentrating on breathing in and out for a minute or so.

Entirely by accident I found that I was facing Kerrass.

A mad kind of laughter was bubbling at the bottom of my throat.

“Heh, told you it was a bad idea to try and talk to a dragon.”

“Freddie, that Dragon is behind you.”

I span, a little bit too quickly for my balance and nearly fell again. Later it would turn out that both my ears were bleeding. For those people that don't know. A persons ears are linked, very firmly to their sense of balance.

I gave up and let myself sit down so that I could blink up at the figure in front of me. It took me a while to reconcile the details.

“Milady Draig ddyn Hardd I presume.” I managed.

She reminded me a lot of Ariadne, the first time that I saw her. I don't know why, the two women looked nothing alike. But something in that terrible, awful beauty was still reminiscent of the first time I saw Ariadne.

This woman was much taller than Ariadne. Made slightly taller by the fact that she had huge horns that sprouted from the top of her head that seemed to wrap around in an odd spiral pattern. Her skin was a light purple in hue with her eyes being plain Green. No iris or pupil was visible just a hot green that seemed to steam in the daylight. Overly pronounced cheekbones with a pointed chin. Her teeth were bared in a grimace of utter fury.

In theory she was naked. But you couldn't see anything. Scales like those that might covered a dragon hid much of her shape and it seemed as though she had a cape that was attached to her arms. A cape of leather that was black and purple.

Other than that colouring and the horns, she was a woman, two arms, two legs and very, very female. Female enough that I wanted to avert my eyes.

I should have seen what was happening but I defend myself by saying that I was in shock from what had happened over the last few hours.

I will try to explain it.

Have you ever been to a pub or a tavern where they have an area off to one side for a band or for live music to be played? Then picture the scene. A person walks in with a harp. It's an old harp, obviously much loved at one time but now it seems as though both the harp and the man holding it have fallen on hard times.

One of the regulars in the pub tell you that this is the first time that the old man has played his harp since his wife died in childbirth. They tell you that he used to be the finest musician in all of the land, who's music used to bring grown men to tears.

The old man sits at a stool and spends a long time tuning his instrument.

It takes him a couple of attempts to start playing.

At first, all you hear is noise, nothing that would qualify as music but the entirety of the rest of the audience is looking on. Rapt.

Then, you begin to hear it. Just on the edge of your perception. On the edge of your hearing. The man is making music as you listen to it.

He's rusty. Old. Incredibly out of practice but he remembers how the music is supposed to feel under his fingers.

That was what this woman looked like.

She remembered what a human body was supposed to look like. But she hadn't been human for many years and couldn't quite bring it under control. She was leaning on a long staff. Black, very thin while holding a glowing green orb at the top. The green was the same colour as her eyes.

“How do you know that name?” She demanded. Her accent was very similar to what the King's had been. “How do you know that?”

“I don't know.” I said. “It was a guess. I thought it was a good one though.”

She was plainly furious. I've never seen an angrier woman.

“Give me one good reason.” She hissed. “Just one good reason why I shouldn't rip your throat out with my teeth.”

I looked over at Kerrass. He was still looking at the woman. Clearly ready to leap into combat at a moments notice.

Something inside me snapped.

“Can I just ask you a question though before you do that. Where does the staff go when you're in your dragon form?”

She stared at me dumbstruck for a moment.

“I mean, it has to go somewhere. It's not as though it just vanishes.” I went on.

She closed the distance between the two of us with astonishing speed and suddenly I was dangling off the floor by my neck again.

But another sound intruded then. Just on the edge of my hearing.

Kerrass was laughing.

I had a sense that both the woman and I shifted to look at him.

Kerrass seemed more sure of himself. A little steadier on his feet, his sword was steady and pointed directly at the woman. He was very pale and I wondered if he had taken the opportunity to take a potion while the two of us were so preoccupied.

“Freddie does that I'm afraid. When he's absolutely terrified beyond the capabilities for the rest of his mind to process, he takes on a strange sense of humour and tends to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. I rather think that if he was born into one of those societies that use that kind of thing, he would have been trained as a berserker. But anyway. Let him go.”

His voice hardened at the end, sinking into his stone-killers voice.

It was as though his voice at sucked all the anger and rage out of the woman. She just let me go and I collapsed at her feet.

“What do you want?” She sounded very tired. If she had looked more human I would have guessed that she was on the edge of tears.

“We are here to try and help your daughter.” I said.

She looked at me sharply. “Another guess?”

“Yes,” I admitted, rubbing at my throat. “But it's the only thing that makes sense in all of this.”

She stared at me for a long moment.

“Do I know you?” she asked suddenly. “I feel sure that I should. Something about you is awfully familiar.”

“I feel sure I would have remembered lady.”

She grunted.

“Anyway,” she went on. “I'm afraid you're dead wrong, I don't have a daughter. I'm a Sorceress you see. We can't have children. The magic makes us barren.”

I felt the bottom fall out of my world.

That had been my theory. That the King had made the Sorceress pregnant and had taken that baby as an heir. That they had spurned the biological mother and that was what had fed the hatred for the curse.

But she was right. Sorceresses can generally not conceive children in the normal way.

My face must have fallen. As the woman crowed in her triumph. A little nastily in my view.

“So now I can eat you as I first wished.” There was a sense of growth coming from her then. My mind wasn't working properly but fortunately Kerrass' mind was.

“But you're not a Sorceress are you.” he said.

The woman shrank back down to normal scale again.

“Freddie once told me something that scholar's use. A motto. “When you have eliminated the possible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” You're a dragon. You're one of those than can transform into a human. He's right.” Kerrass gestured at me.

“It's the only thing left that makes sense. For whatever reason, you allowed the King to make you pregnant. He declared that your child was going to be his heir but then he took her from you and you cursed him for it.”

She shrank in on herself. Kerrass' words were like physical blows to her and she shrank away from us both.

Kerrass and I exchanged looks and our strategy was decided. In some places it's called Good Watchman, Bad Watchman.

“You cursed him and it went on to curse the entire Kingdom.” Kerrass went on, “Including your daughter. There she lies, in a coffin, helpless and defenceless for anyone to come across and abuse as they see fit.”

She span on Kerrass then, spitting and furious, The cape that seemed to flow from her arms was beginning to look more like a robe and it swirled as it went.

“For you to use Witcher. Oh yes I know who you are, Witcher,” she spat the word as an insult. Not the first time I had heard the word used in that way. “You're the man who guided them to her. You watched as they raped and abused her and you did nothing.”

“Yes.” Kerrass said coldly. “Yes I did. That was before I knew what was happening. But where were you. Where were you, her mother, at the time. Why did you not protect her? When those men were raping her and beating her and using her for their own ends. Where were you?”

For all her face looked alien to us. For all she looked scaled and horned and....other. Kerrass' words struck home.

“Where were you all of the other times? When other men decided that they would come and make use of her. Where were you?”

“I am a dragon and I....”

“I know all about the nomadic nature of Dragons, madam.” It was Kerrass' turn to spit in scorn. “But it is also in the nature of dragons to teach their children everything they need to learn to survive before moving on. You just left her. Worse. You made her helpless.”

The woman had turned away so that we couldn't see her face. I was still trying to get my head to stop ringing.

“Is it not true, madam,” Kerrass went on. “Is it not true that you left her here. You left her to be abused and raped and beaten. I might have been party to one of those instances but none of it, none of it would have happened if you hadn't decided to be petty. To curse your own daughter because your lover couldn't be faithful.”

“You don't know what it was like.” She tried. I knew my cue when I heard it.

“Why don't you tell us, Lady? It might not seem like it but all that the two of us care about is curing the Princess. Of giving her a proper chance at life. Doesn't she deserve to live. Doesn't she deserve a life, to live, and love and take part in a world that is passing her by?”

She turned back to me. Her moods seemed as though they could change on a coin.

“Are you sure I don't know you?” she asked. “I swear that there's something...”

“I am twenty years of age lady. In all that time, this is the furthest south that I have ever been.”

“So familiar,”

She shook her head suddenly, seemingly in an effort to dislodge a thought.

“So what do you need from me?”

Kerrass and I exchanged looks. What we needed was for her to dismiss the curse or to disrupt it with a kiss of true love. But if we just pulled that out on her she would probably just dismiss it.

“Come inside with us.” I suggested. “I know very little about curses but what I do know is that we need to talk about it. We need to understand it if we're going to disrupt it.”

We led her into the great hall. There was already a chair next to the casket that I knew Kerrass used to sit and talk to the Princess when I was nose deep in books and studies. I found another chair for the Dragon/Sorceress woman and sat on the floor.

Kerrass re-lit a set of candles and busied himself by building a fire. Now was the time for the “Good Watchman,”

The woman seemed to marvel at what had happened in the place.

“Did you dress her?” she asked me quietly.

“Me? No. That was Kerrass' doing.” I said in a similarly quiet voice. I have no doubt that Kerrass could hear us if he put his mind to it. “She was naked and in some uncomfortable looking positions when we found her. Kerrass was prepared for that though. He had a dress that he brought from the villagers on the edge of the thorn fields. Apparently he does that every time he comes to visit.”

She took that news stolidly and without comment.

“Who's that?” she asked, gesturing at the corpse of the King.

“That,” I said looking over at the King, doing my best to inject a tint of dislike into my voice. “That is the mortal remains of King Stefan.”

She nodded again. She was almost visibly becoming more human before my eyes. The horns now looked as though they were some kind of head-dress. Her cheekbones were still pronounced to an extreme degree and her eyes were just as green. but the rest of her was increasingly human. She looked as though she was dressed in a rich, dark purple robe. It looked black unless she moved or it was caught by the light which was when the purple highlights came through.

She spent a long time looking at the body.

“He was so handsome once. So...charming and kind.”

I didn't say anything. Kerrass had a fire going now. The woman leant back over and looked down at the Princess.

“I tried you know,” she said after a long while. “I tried “True Love's kiss” or whatever you call it. Many many times but she still refuses to wake up.”

“I don't doubt you.” I said. My brain was screaming at me that I was sat talking to a dragon but I ignored it. “Why don't you start at the beginning?”

She looked at me a little slyly.

“Where do any of these things really begin though?”

I laughed at her. Her eyebrows rose in surprise but then she laughed as well.

“Well why don't we start with your name madam. I translated what they all called you, Draig ddyn Hardd. Literally translates as beautiful black dragon but surely that isn't your name.”

“It's closer than you might think.” she sighed and looked down at the Princess again. “We're quite literal creatures are Dragons. But it would be a lot more scrunched together in our language. Closer to Draigthinharth in the original pronunciation or Beautifulblackdragon in your more modern tongue.”

“Well I can't call you that?”

She seemed to smile at that a little but she didn't take her gaze off the Princess.

“I always forget how small she looks, lying there.” She said suddenly. “By my egg I'd forgotten how much it can hurt being in a human shape.” She laughed suddenly. “These stupid feelings, hormones and emotions running through your systems. I honestly don't know how any of you get anything done.”

“I won't lie. It's sometimes an effort.”

She nodded. I saw a tear run down her face. “Oh my little Briar Rose.”

“I hadn't heard her called that.” I said quietly.

She wiped her cheek with the back of a gloved hand. “I used to call her that when I saw her which was not often. She was beautiful but she had grown out of so much pain for me and I found the name very apt. A beautiful flower growing from a bush that was full of thorns, tangles and pain. She never understood though.” She laughed again. Humour replacing sadness so quick that it seemed to take enormous effort to keep track of. “She hated it when I called her that. She used to get so cross and scowl at me.”

We sat in silence for a long time. I was dimly aware that Kerrass had put some water on to boil and was doing another number of chores around the place. Keeping busy, being present.

Just as suddenly as her other mood changes, she started speaking.

“What do you want to know?”

“I've been thinking about that.” I began.

“And?”

“I really really want to know about the staff thing.”

“This?” She twirled it in her hands. “I used to find it a useful affectation. Changing shape is hard and going from having four legs to having two and no tail to help you with balance is sometimes tricky. Therefore a staff. I also used to find that it lends a kind of mystique that can sometimes be quite useful.”

“I can see that but...”

“Where does it come from?”

I nodded.

“The tail mostly. Are you a Sorcerer or Wizard?”

I shook my head.

“No. I was tested once as apparently my mind leans roughly in the direction of someone who could use magic but it turns out that I have about the same magical talent as a brick.”

“But you are a scholar?”

“I am.”

She nodded. “It's to do with mass displacement. It might be vanity but I insist on being a beautiful creature, whatever I turn into. But a lot of extra draconic mass needs to go somewhere after all. My staff is one of those places that I put it.”

“I see. So my name's Frederick von Coulthard but my friends call me Freddie or Fred.”

“What should I call you?”

“There's an old saying amongst us mortals that says that the giant, fire-breathing black dragon can call me whatever she damn well pleases.”

I'm pretty sure I heard Kerrass snort from where he was fussing over cups and a kettle.

“Fair enough. Then I shall call you Fuck face von clownstick.”

“That's a big mouthful.” I commented without missing a beat. “Also, how will I tell that you're talking about me and not my Witcher companion?” Her eyes narrowed a little before she shook her head in wonderment.

“Then I shall call you Freddie. People once called me Malevolence so that will do for now.”

“What did your friends call you?”

“I didn't really have friends. Dragons are solitary creatures. All I tended to have were long term.... acquaintances.”

“Can I call you Mal?”

“That will do.”

“Then I will start with this. Why didn't you reverse the spell?”

“I've tried. Many many times. It might surprise you to learn that this wasn't supposed to happen. It wasn't supposed to be like this.”

Kerrass finally approached and handed us both cups of strong tea. He offered a honey pot and I noticed that she added a large spoonful to her own cup.

“What was it supposed to be like?” He asked gently.

“It was supposed to...” She cut herself off and spent some more time looking at the Princess. She took another sip of the tea and added more honey. “Then here is my story. Such as it is.

“I used to prefer travelling at night. One of the benefits of being a black dragon. Just to be clear, the ability to poly-morph into other shapes is not as rare as some works would have you believe. There are plenty of other Dragons in the world it's just that most of us prefer to be in human shape so that we can avoid witchers and other such hunters. A human shape does have certain advantages. Food tastes a lot better, the act of mating for pleasure as well as for the production of offspring is a huge bonus but also it is much easier to control the flows of magic when you have fingers and thumbs instead of claws and talons.

“I'd had an idea for a new spell. An experiment, the root of which I have long since forgotten and I was looking for somewhere that would be a suitable enough place to build a laboratory to test my theories. I came across a tower in the local area that was abandoned. One of the benefits of draconic society is that we are less precious about possessions than humans are. The place was deserted, it wasn't being used for storage or anything that I could see and so I just set up there and got to work. The odd night time raid on the local flocks saw to my physical needs and I was making good progress on my theories.

“Then one day a man turns up at the tower door. Big prancing horse, armour, lance and a scroll. I pretended not to see him and stayed hidden but he came with greetings from the King and Queen of the realm. He was there to bid me welcome and invited me to a soiree that they were having here at the castle.

“I ignored the invitation of course but then another came and another and another until I decided that the only way to get them to leave me alone was to go and get this social function over with.

“Much to my annoyance I found that I liked them both intensely.

“They say that you always hurt the ones you love and I did love them. They were both getting on a bit. He was in his mid to late thirties by that point. Still handsome and fit whereas she was in her early thirties. At first I took it to be a marriage of convenience as in every way that he was beautiful to look at, she was plain and boring. He was quick with his intelligence whereas she seemed to be slow witted and dull. But I couldn't be further from the truth. That was how she had been trained to be by her parents in an effort to catch herself a husband.

“She was actually frighteningly intelligent and what she was doing was scanning the entire conversation in an effort to see which was the right set of words to say in any given situation. She was looking at the big picture, what to do, what to say, as well as working through the possibilities. Before finally delivering her responses.

“To this day I don't know what.....” She swallowed. “I don't know what made Stefan look beneath the surface of what she looked like to see the remarkable mind that operated under there. He must have had to work really hard to find it. But they found that they suited each other. I once guessed that she had an insight into a particular problem that he had been thinking about for some time and as such he had been able to dig that little bit deeper.

“Theirs was an intellectual love. They loved each others minds and they supported each others emotions. For his part, although Stefan kept several lovers that were aesthetically pleasing to the eye, he would always return to her bed afterwards where, probably, she asked him how it went before they snuggled down to sleep for the night.

“But there was a problem.”

“The Queen couldn't get pregnant?” I prompted.

“It was rather more serious than that but yes that was the essential root of the problem yes.”

Kerrass poured her some more tea.

“What happened?”

“She still wasn't pregnant. They had had this arrangement for some time but the Kingdom still didn't have an heir.” She took a drink, grimaced and I handed over the honey pot. “Do humans still have the superstition that a Kingdom without an heir is a cursed Kingdom?”

“We do.” I answered. “It's less of a problem now as the entire continent is ruled by a man who is currently handing over ruler-ship to his daughter.”

“Really?” She crowed in delight. Once again I was struck by how fast her mood could change. “How wonderful. I'm going to have to meet her. A woman in charge of a continent. Fancy that. I might even offer my services as royal dragon. I could roast anyone who looks at her funny.”

“From what I'm told she might take you up on that.” I commented, “She is well liked by the upper crust of society and the common man. But all of the people in the middle seem to look down on her and I'm told that she's got a list of people that she refers to as her “die screaming in a fire,” list.”

Malevolence's eyes glittered. “How interesting.” This time it was my turn to think I recognised the woman sat next to me. I saw Kerrass glance up at the same time. But then she turned back to gaze down at her daughter.

“But yes. The King had done what he was told and married but the nobility and the common-folk had been waiting for another handful of years for a royal heir to turn up. Things were starting to be said about “curses” and that the King should set the Queen aside and try with another one. This proving the common prejudice that the Queen was solely responsible for the lack of fertility.”

“Was she?”

“Yes and no. She was just... uninterested in the act of physical lovemaking which was part of the problem if there had been anyone with the wit to see it. There was no doubt that she and.... and Stefan were physically intimate but for them it was an occasional thing. A rare thing. It certainly didn't happen with regularity enough to ensure pregnancy.

“But the countryside was getting restless. People were getting worried and neighbouring Kingdoms, jealous of the wealth that was being thrown around here, were fanning those flames of dissatisfaction. There were concerns of a revolt or disruption to the trade that the Kingdom relied on so the King and Queen started to take steps.

“Leah came to me first. We had struck up something of a friendship in as much as we could given that I was a dragon and she was not. It should also be said that I was still not a social creature and actively went out of my way to discourage company. There were another...heh... seven Sorceresses in the local area anyway and I'm told that they had proven ineffectual in their efforts to help the royal couple produce an heir.”

I opened my mouth to form a question. I was going to ask about the other Sorceresses but Kerrass gestured that I should keep my peace.

“So Leah came to see me. She rode up with a small escort of knights and a few handmaidens. I told the lot of them to fuck off which I'm sure endeared me to them no end. The advised Leah not to come into the tower and that they should turn around and seek out someone who was actually willing to help. I would have been ok with this but some people are just determined to talk to me.”

“I notice that you don't call her “Queen” Leah.” I mentioned.

“No. I found that I had to separate the two so that I didn't go completely insane with rage and hatred. Leah was a nice person who I miss dearly. She had a startling intelligence, the driest sense of humour that I've ever found in a human being and the deepest understanding of just wanting to be left alone that I have ever met.

She was a good friend to me.

“The Queen, however, was a bitch Queen from hell and I'm glad that she's dead. If you know which one is her corpse I will take great delight in squatting down and pissing in her mouth.”

The image was startling.

“But Leah came in,” The woman's voice was mild and sad again after the brief burst of fury. “Honestly seeming glad that all of her hangers on had left her alone. We talked for a long time and I performed a quick examination.

“It should have been obvious to anyone what the problem was. It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that all seven of the other bitches had filled her head with nonsense about hope and “that life and love will always find a way.” Insipid milk-sops the lost of them.

“Leah had an imbalance, I hadn't studied much human anatomy but it went like this. The thing that makes a woman a woman, more so than the mammary glands, uterus and vaginal tract is a particular kind of hormone that starts to tell the female body how to work. This is the stuff that makes women horny at the wrong moments, grow breasts and go “Oooh, he's pretty. I think I'll have that one now.” and then we go all gooey. It's also the stuff that means that our ovaries release the eggs and push them into those areas where the sperm can make with the fertilisation. Which is just about the only useful thing a male human seems to do in the production of offspring.”

I Frederick would like to remind readers that the above opinions on how these things work was put forward by an angry Dragon. Not by me.

“What Leah had,” she went on, “Was none of this. If her father had thought about it and contacted a magic user when she was born then this could have been corrected fairly easily by magical means. But the long years without it meant that her sex-drive was all but non-existent and her....” she gestured at her own lower belly “was not properly developed. There was no way that she was ever going to conceive. Ever. It was unlikely that we could even produce a viable egg from her ovaries for the use of an artificial insemination.

“If anything she seemed rather relieved by this and rode off.

“Unfortunately for us all King Stefan came to see me shortly afterwards.

“I had made a mistake you see. It was a simple mistake. A stupid mistake. As part of my prescribed treatment, one of the things was that Leah should find a surrogate of some kind.

Stefan came to see me. He was all but in tears the insufferable walking set of male genitalia. Much to everyone's astonishment, including mine, he was madly in love with his wife. He wasn't faithful in the most traditional sense of the word when it comes to marriage but he was loyal. He couldn't bear the thought of setting his wife aside but likewise he was well aware that the countryside was getting....restless and he didn't know what to do. He sat in a chair after I had told him that there was nothing that I could do for Leah for the forty second time and he wept he honestly wept.”

I should mention here. The Dragon's words were angry. She was clearly furious. With us, with the King and Queen but also with herself. She was also in tears. Hot tears which steamed as they ran freely down her cheeks. Something that the written word cannot clearly convey.

“I'm a Dragon. I like being a Dragon. One of the good things about being a Dragon is that when it's my time to mate it's a biological imperative. Male's can smell it for miles around and they come and try to tame me.” Her teeth flashed in a hungry smile as she said this. “They always fail. Always but then I choose the one I like best of all for my mate and we consummate our union in fire and claws and it is glorious.

“I've sometimes thought that humans would benefit from this kind of thing as well. A biological imperative where the woman is in desire of a mate periodically, goes out and chooses one from all the men that are arrayed for her choice. I think it would get round so many of those problems as men wouldn't be sniffing around women who didn't want them. There wouldn't be any of those, frankly stupid, mating rituals that humans seem to have and both men and women can get on with the rest of their lives knowing that when she gets the urge then she will choose someone to scratch that itch,”

“I've known some women like that anyway.” Kerrass murmured.

“Yes well, you're plainly an idiot.” said the Dragon scornfully. “But as it was, there was Stefan, in my chair and I put my arms round him in an effort to comfort him. Next thing I know we're tearing at each other's clothing and fucking each others brains out.

“I can't claim it wasn't enjoyable.

“We saw each other occasionally. I was astonished when Leah came to see me to tell me that she was quite alright with the arrangement and she was glad I was helping Stefan with the crisis.

“Six months later I was pregnant.

“Stupid human body with it's stupid involuntary reproduction cycle. And stupid me as well for forgetting to monitor it all and make sure that this kind of thing wasn't going to happen. I don't think it even occurred to Stefan to check if I'm honest. He certainly never mentioned it.

“I'll give him one thing. Never once did he suggest that I should get rid of it. Not that I would have done. I am a dragon after all and we look after our young but then we had to decide what to do with it.”

She sighed then. Just a little sigh and a lot of her anger seemed to leave her. She looked like a woman deflated.

“What to do with her I should say.”

She stared down at the still sleeping figure of her daughter lying there in the casket.

“I couldn't understand how she could be so beautiful. Even as a baby she was so... I never understood the way humans gather round the young of your species. Going “Coo” and “Aww” and other such nonsensical words but then I understood it for the first time. That little girl represented hope for the future.

“I couldn't understand the way I felt. I didn't understand it, I didn't want to understand it. I was angry as well. With myself for allowing Stefan to do this to me but also angry with him for taking advantage of me when I was in a vulnerable state.”

“What state was that?” Kerrass asked.

“Being human.” She answered without pause. “”I was a dragon” I thought to myself. “I don't allow things like this to happen to me” so then I let him talk me into letting the pair of them take my daughter. To raise her as their own. They both loved her, it was plain to see how much Leah in particular doted on the little girl and she was the very apple of Stefan's eye. I agreed that they would raise her in their castle as their daughter and I was given the High Crag as my own domain in perpetuity.

“What I didn't know. What I didn't understand was the effect that this would have on me. I tried to turn back into a dragon several times in an effort to try and shake these feelings off. I hadn't been able to poly-morph while I was pregnant for fear of hurting the baby. But now I found that I still couldn't do it.

“It was the right thing to do. Logically there was no other choice. I couldn't raise a human. What was I thinking in getting pregnant. My entire experience with parenting is the way I was brought up. I was conscious and aware almost immediately and as a result my mother told me everything I needed to know to survive and that was that.

“But humans don't work like that. I knew it. I could see it. What was I going to do. Raise the Kings bastard in my little tower while being manifestly unsuitable for the task.

“So I let them take her. Stefan came and took her away from me.

“He was so grateful then. So very grateful.

“But then there was something else that I didn't understand which was that I was no longer welcome and I came to see that I had been used. Used and cast aside like so much roadside waste.

“I tried to visit you see. Tried to see my daughter but time and time again I was turned away by guards or by one of the many “good” Sorceresses that the pair of them surrounded themselves with. Flora, Forna and the rest of them. Oh how I curse those women now.

“The final insult was when I wasn't invited to the baby's name day. Then the anger that had kept me warm during the long nights turned cold in my heart. I could turn into a Dragon again. They had forgotten that as well as a love sick first time mother I was also a powerful Sorceress. Twice as powerful as the other seven of them combined. It was liberating as suddenly I was able to think again. To plot and scheme and I was still so very angry.

“I wanted them to know you see? I wanted them to feel my rage and the sense of their betrayal. They had taken advantage of me. They had taken a woman, with little or no experience at being a woman, impregnated her as a surrogate and then taken the baby from her with whispered half truths and cold logic and wisdom.

“I don't claim that I was thinking rationally. I wasn't. I really wasn't I was just so angry and so hurt.

“I wanted to make them hurt.

“So I created a curse. There is a reason that I had chosen that particular deserted fort over the few others that there were lying around. It was the centre of several lines of force crossing and I was full of that power. I created that curse, stored it, bound it and then I went to their little ceremony. The other seven of them had formed a web of protection around the place. They thought I might “crash the party” but I laughed at their feeble attempts to keep me out. I strode in, evading their laughable attempts to keep me out and I stood there, defiant in my power, rendering the other women's power useless.

“I was nearly undone then. There he stood. No longer the King but he was my Stefan and he was holding our daughter. That small nub of beauty and wonder that should not have existed but who defied nature by continuing to suck down air.

“But then he put on his best King's voice and told me to “Begone, foul wretch.”

“I wanted him to know what it felt like to have true happiness taken from him so I cursed him. For all the wrongs that they had done to me I told them that on the day of their daughter's sixteenth birthday she would prick her finger on a spindle and then die. I told them that but that wasn't what I had done.

“What I had done was to spoil their happiness. They would be able to watch their perfect little girl grow to the flower of womanhood and just when she was about to turn into that wonderful flower of femininity that we all knew that she was going to turn into. That would be the moment that I would take her away from them. Then she would know the truth. She would know what they had done to me and what they had kept from her. I would lay out everything before them. My point of view as to what had happened. My pain. Because didn't I deserve that? Didn't she deserve to know the truth? To have access to the knowledge that they would keep from her.

“One of the other points was that the curse was easy to counteract. All they had to do was to tell her the truth. Bring the girl to me and say “Look, this is your mother,”

“I didn't think it was too much to ask.

“But then “Mistress Merryweather got involved didn't she. Stupid bitch. If there is anyone that was guilty of this whole messy fucking affair then it's her. I'm angry with Stefan and Leah. But I hated her, the no good interfering old busybody.”

“What did she do?”

“She had to meddle didn't she. She had to stride in with her huge, high-heeled boots and stupid red dress and try to interfere in things that she didn't understand and actively didn't bother with even trying to understand. If she'd taken the Princess...”

Another thing happened then. A thing that you never think you would hear. I heard a Dragon sobbing.

“If she'd taken my daughter off and run some experiments on her to figure out what was actually going on with the curse rather than what she thought was going on with the curse then she would have found out what was actually going on and how to break the curse. I thought I'd made it powerful but, if anything, a little too simple.

“So instead she decrees that she can't change the curse because she, correctly, thought that I was too powerful for her. So instead she adds to it. She says that it won't be death but that it will just be sleep. Then she grows a pair of wings out of her back and floats off leaving everyone going... “Aww bless her. She did her best” Stupid little toad.

“So now the curse is changed. Instead of getting all the knowledge when she pricks her finger on her sixteenth birthday. She falls asleep. Then all the people of the Kingdom, instead of knowing the King and Queen and seeing what they were and what they had done to me and to others. They fell asleep.”

The woman was openly sobbing now.

“All I wanted to do was to let them know how much they hurt me. How hard I felt it and how angry I was. That's all I wanted. I wanted the Princess to know, to know what kind of people her “parents” were and I wanted her to know her heritage. That way, if she wanted to she could seek me out and learn about that side of her history.

“But she fell asleep. And nothing I could do could change that.”

“I know you must have tried.” Kerrass leaned forward. “I'm not criticising here I'm just trying to help. But what did you do? And why did it fail?”

The dragon wiped her eyes with a cloth that I passed over. I noticed that the cloth where her tears fell was smouldering.

“The magic had changed. In a stand up fight, those seven women would have just been destroyed by me. They had nothing that even remotely compared to my power. I'm a dragon, I absorb magical energy, that's what I do. But in changing that curse. In.... in mutating that curse it became something new. Something different. Curses are almost like living things. They are fed by our emotions and behave accordingly. But now the curse was changed by Merryweather's desire to protect the baby from me. She had no idea that I was her mother and that I had no intention of harming the princess. But that was what she feared and so the curse changed. It was no longer the magic that I had cast, nor was it really the magic that Merryweather had cast. When I worked on it, it would actively protect itself from me.

“Stefan and Leah both came to me in the immediate aftermath of the curse and begged me. Begged me to reverse it but I was too angry to explain it properly. I still blamed them. I was still angry with them and could barely manage to look at them before growing claws and ripping out their spines. But I was also working on the curse.

“I went to see Merryweather you know. She refused to see me and fled before me. I ransacked her tower in an effort to try and find something. Anything that would help me counteract her part of the curse but she had one of those contingency spells up that was all the rage. When she sensed me coming all of her notes and equipment went into a pocket dimension.

“Stupid Bitch.

“I went to the other, heh, good Sorceresses and they were even less help. I was forced to destroy two of them in self defence and the others fled my anger. None of this was helping my reputation as the “evil” Sorceress.

“I worked on the curse. I tried to change it in the same way that Merryweather had done but it still didn't work. It fought me and I still have the scars.

“In the end The curse happened. I worked on it right up until the day. I threw my entire weight against it when it happened and I tried to shut it down, to kill it, but I failed. I just failed.

“Afterwards I tried True Love's kiss. I loved her after all. She was my daughter. I had seen her often, using a simple scrying spell and she had ridden to my tower a few times as part of her fathers efforts to try and appeal to my pity.

“But it didn't work. It never worked.

I tidied up, I resolved to wait for the hundred years and see which prince would turn up and cure the curse. But none ever did. Or rather they did and sullied her.”

She suddenly hissed at Kerrass.

“You would know something about that wouldn't you.”

Kerrass nodded sadly.

“But that was a hundred and twenty years ago.” Malevolence went on, “I've done my best to protect her. I've done my best to make sure that people don't come and plunder her Kingdom with the thorns and things but.... Here we are and she still sleeps. Still sleeps, always sleeping.

“Oh my little Briar Rose.”

She wept then. I felt a little bit ashamed. I could follow her feelings. I even understood some of them. She had reacted harshly to be sure but at the same time she had caused everything.

She wept for some time but then just as it had started she wiped those tears away and looked back up at the two of us.

“So there you have it. That's my story. Does it help?”

“It might,” I said carefully setting the cup aside.

“Might?” she said mockingly. “Do you have a cure? Have either of you tried True Love's kiss.”

“I have not.” I said. “I've seen the lady, she is undeniably beautiful but I don't know her. For me that makes all the difference. I find I do want to help her though. I want to protect her. She strikes me as being so helpless and defenceless.”

“Have you?” She spat in derision at Kerrass.

He shifted uneasily. “I have. But I swear to you, her mother that I have done no more than chaste kisses on her forehead. I kissed her lips once when I was operating on the theory that that might make a difference. I love your daughter madam and I cannot say fairer than that.”

“Hah. You hope to wake her and capitalise on her gratitude.”

“No. No I do not. I dream that, but I am a man of the world enough to know that that's not how it works.”

She grunted.

“So,” she demanded. “Does my story give you any ideas? Have you got a plan?”

I exchanged a look with Kerrass and I saw him shift his weight slightly in an effort to be ready for a fight.

“I do as a matter of fact.” I said. “But you will not like it.”

“Sounds promising,” The woman said. “What's your theory?”

“I think that you, like everyone that has ever heard this story or come here to see the Princess. Like the Sorceresses that tried to help her. Like the King begged you to do. All of us have thought that the curse is centred around her.”

“It is. While she sleeps it spreads to the rest of her Kingdom.”

“Yes. But she was not the person that was cursed was she. It wasn't her that you hated enough to curse. Therefore it's not her that you have to kiss.”

The woman stared at me. She was much more human than she had first appeared. She was obviously wearing a dress now. Heavily muscled but slim for it, in the same way that female athletes or warriors are also slim. Her cheekbones were pronounced, over and above what a humans would be and her skin was still oddly shaded pink. As I said previously, her horns resembled a head dress but it was only her eyes that were so inhuman. Blank and Green. Again I was reminded of someone although that reminder was on the edge of my mind.

She stared at me for a long moment. Then she laughed. Long, loud and bitter.

“A human,” she said. “A little, non-magical human.” She spun on Kerrass. “I take it that this wasn't you that came up with this?”

“No,” he said. He looked as though he had relaxed again. “This is all Freddie. If I'd seen this all that time ago then the Princess would have been awake years ago. That is if you hadn't eaten me in advance.”

She laughed again.

“No-one else saw it. Even I didn't see it. Oh humanity, I may have misjudged you.” She said again looking at me.

“Not really.” I said.

“Freddie is a rare human.” Kerrass added.

“Yes I can see that.” The woman's face became calculating for a moment. Then she sighed.

“Is that him?” She asked, pointing at the King's corpse. “Is that Stefan?”

“It is.” Kerrass said.

The woman nodded. “This might take some time.” She murmured. “I hate him still.”

“A better writer than me once said that the line between love and hate is a thin one.” I said. “We'll wait here. We'll make some food later.”

The woman nodded. Gathered up her staff and strode down the room.

“Well done Freddie.” Kerrass said to me.

“I don't feel like I did very much.”

“Make no mistake. We're still alive because of you.” He muttered.

“Your friend is right.” Called the dragon from the far end of the room. “If I could have some quiet though.”

She pulled over a chair and sat next to the Kings body.

She was right, it took some time. Kerrass and I carried on with some chores. I did some writing and note-taking. Kerrass made some more tea but mostly we watched and waited.

The woman spoke. There were words that she said but they weren't meant for our ears so I intentionally didn't listen. Sometimes she shouted and raved, sometimes she laughed and sometimes she wept. Most often though she was just sat quietly talking to him.

I didn't see any of the signs of whether or not the King's ghost had been summoned. Indeed I don't think it had. I think that this was a dragon working through her thoughts and feelings.

At some point I dozed. I was woken up by Kerrass shaking me. He was excited. More excited than I had seen in a long time.

“Wake up Freddie, it's happening.”

I pulled myself up, shook myself awake, not unlike a dog. We were watching. The Dragon was on her knees, cradling the corpse of the King. She was obviously weeping gently. As we watched she slowly leant forward and kissed him on the brow.

There were no rainbows. No fireworks or sudden flashes of light. Nor was there a peal of thunder. Instead it was like a sigh. As if the air and land could breathe a sigh of relief.

Kerrass spun and stared down at the still sleeping form of the Princess.

“How long do you think it will take?” I asked.

“There's no way of knowing.” He answered. “That's if she wakes at all. All of her long years might just catch up with her.”

“That won't happen.” Said the Dragon. She was striding up next to us, cleaning herself up a bit. “I'm afraid I've rather ruined your handkerchief.” She said to me.

“I'll live.” I said.

“She won't waste away. She will just wake up, sooner or later. That's not the concern.”

“What's the concern?” Kerrass asked.

“That she...”

The Princesses eyes snapped open as she shot upwards into a sitting position. Her eyes boggled as she stared at us, one after the other. A slow look of dawning horror crossed her face as she scrunched up her eyes, covered her ears with her hands and just started to scream.