Chapter Twenty One: Who's A Handsome Boy!
Jason and Stella were close to the stage waiting for the festival performance to begin. The sun had set and the energy from the crowd was buzzing.
They were in a large crowd, young men and women from all over the kingdom were seated nearby in their most extravagant outfits. Some of the girls had glued fake diamonds to their faces.
Everyone was drunk, full of good food and ready to see the first performers take the main stage.
The MC stepped onto the stage and got everyone’s attention. He was dressed in a white silk button up shirt, he had shoulder length hair that was lightly wet and curled. It was parted in the middle. The MC had an interesting face, and a striking jawline. He was very handsome.
“Hi Arcadia! Are we ready to start the festival!” The MC said, and then raised his hands into the air. The crowd cheered loudly, and some people whistled through their fingers. A wizard in the crowd shot a spray of water droplets over the crowd like confetti and everyone cheered as a rainbow could be seen through the droplets.
“First things first, we’ve had an escaped animal. There is a massive, I’m telling you, massive cow somewhere out there. If anybody’s seen him, come and see our main staff at the yellow staff tent. And with all that out of the way. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce our first act of the festival, Kane and the Mage!” The MC shouted and the crowd went wild. The MC walked off the stage and some curtains parted, on the stage was a handsome man with very long hair standing in a rowing boat. He started singing to the audience as several instruments floated beside him. A cello, a violin, a bass drum and an accordion.
As he sang the instruments started to grow and form a beautiful upbeat melody. It was inspiring and clever. He sang slowly.
“My lover is a devil!
She tastes like fire and metal!
Her kisses leave scorch marks on my skin,
She’s got sharp teeth and a devil’s grin.”
The song suddenly went doubletime and the violin and drums got everybody dancing. Jason and Stella swung around in the mosh pit, both of them couldn’t dance that great, but they were in the right place and they both cut loose.
“My lover is a godly being
She kisses me with sunbeams every evening
I love my goddess, she’s exciting
Her eyes shoot lightning”
The boat then lifted into the air and sailed above the crowd. Small blue pieces of paper floated from the stage and created a floating layer over the crowd. The layer of paper rolled and moved like the ocean, with waves that carried the boat above the crowd.
“My lover is a devil!
She tastes like fire and metal!
Her kisses leave scorch marks on my skin,
She’s got sharp teeth and a devil’s grin.”
The mage then conjured a giant holographic snake illusion. The serpent swam through the paper water surrounding the man in the boat. The crowd was shocked, thrilled and stunned to see the massive beast above their heads.
“My lady is a fire
When the dark is far too strong, she burns brighter.
I will love you, and always take you higher.
My lady is a raging, burning, melting fire.”
The man in the boat turned the giant serpent into a beautiful holographic woman by singing to the snake. Then the girl stepped onto the boat and kissed the singer as the song ended with a crescendo.
The hologram vanished into butterflies and the boat was returned to the stage safely with the singer inside. Then the magician stopped the spell on the confetti paper, which caused the pieces to fall into the crowd.
Jason kissed Stella as the confetti tumbled around them. Her kisses were sweeter than anything he’d ever tasted. They looked into each other's eyes and Jason was so happy.
The singer started to move into his stage positions for the second song and felt chills run down his spine. So did everyone in the crowd, including Jason and Stella.
Freya inside the guard’s tent narrowed her eyes and sprinted outside to stare up at the night sky. She knew what was coming. She conjured her skeletal horse and then she mounted it and sprinted out of the town as fast as she could go. She passed Redran, who was standing at the outer gates with a team of fifteen knights. Redran let her go, but wondered why she was in such a hurry to leave.
“Classic, Freya.” He thought to himself. Redran was sure the danger he felt meant the bandit attack was imminent. He was at the north gate, and had fifteen men at the south gate. They had a hundred more knights inside the festival, keeping peace and confiscating any weapons. He was not impressed by his knights.
“Lord Redran, would you sign my helmet?” One of the knights asked weakly.
Lord Redran gave a very long sigh and agreed to sign his helmet.
Batuuk and the bandits had started walking towards the town slowly. The sounds of the festival were muffled from the paddocks, but they could hear a grand show being put on. The crowd was cheering and having fun.
Batuuk’s natural orc instincts kicked in and he felt danger. More danger than he’d ever felt before. He wasn’t scared of anything though, so Batuuk didn’t know why he felt so… Strange. Surely he wasn’t afraid of a few peasant meatbags with swords. They knew all about the additional guards and Batuuk definitely wasn’t afraid of them. Measly humans. Why do I feel scared? Batuuk asked himself silently. He felt uneasy. But he stayed silent and kept moving forward with his army.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Back at the festival, the singer, Kane, stepped out of the boat and onto the stage. The curtains closed but Kane stood in front of them. He started singing his second song. This was a slow song. The mage played the violin, cello and a piano as Kane sang.
“I’m wishing for you, daily.
I’m saving all my karma.
I know god put you here, to be my lady.
So just come on and be my baby.
Oh Baby please give me your heart.
Without you, Girl, I fall apart.
I will love you until our sun glows dark
Until our earth explodes or tears in half.”
Kane sang from his heart such a beautiful melody that moved everyone. Jason and Stella couldn’t help but feel special. The wizard conjured some magical fireflies that assembled to form the shape of Kane’s face and torso. This massive hologram of Kane hovered above the stage.
Batuuk watched from the paddock, confused. He was looking all around him and felt huge, looming danger. His orc senses were being triggered by something and it pissed him off. He couldn’t find who or what was making him nervous. He got agitated and looked at the forest behind him and saw more of his own men. He looked at the soldier beside him and thought maybe it was him so he walked over.
He looked the soldier right in the eyes and snarled. The soldier weakly ran away confused.
Kane was singing with sweat pouring from his brow.
The violins peaked and the piano started to arp beautifully.
A giant dragon then flew through the hologram of Kane. It tried to bite the illusion but failed. The dragon smelled meat, and it was hungry.
It landed in the middle of the city, and turned to face the crowd. Some people thought maybe it was part of the show until they looked back at Kane, who was staring at the Dragon in horror.
“It’s a fucking dragon! Run!” Kane screamed and he sprinted backstage. Kane and the Mage used a portal to teleport back to their hometown with their stage manager and their stage crew.
The Dragon opened its mouth and breathed fire over the village. Screams were heard from people in the village square. Jason and Stella were in the middle of a screaming crowd. They tried all they could to not be trampled by other escaping people. Most people ran, but some stood still in silent shock, staring at the dragon, as if cursed. They were jostled to life by friends, or strangers who were running past them.
The dragon leaned down with its neck and ate a horse in one bite. It sniffed, and everyone in the village could hear the sound of the dragon’s nostrils taking in air. The dragon’s irises narrowed into slits and it looked towards the main stable. It quickly walked, stomping buildings beneath it, and arrived next to the stables. It curiously clawed open the roof and looked inside.
“THIS is the delightful smell.” The dragon thought to himself. He had found the source of the luring scent that had drawn him near. He then started to use one claw to grab fistfuls of prize-winning animals and stuff them into his mouth. He swallowed them like a pelican, sometimes not even chewing on the meat. The dragon then turned his attention to the rest of the village. He was getting shot by arrows from guards and villagers.
Batuuk and his armies watched as the dragon descended from the sky and attacked the village. His eyes lit up as he witnessed the massive beast.
“RETREAT!” He screamed to his horde, the army sprinted back the way they came. No man wanted to join that fight. Not even Batuuk, the strongest Orc alive.
The dragon, being slightly annoyed at the arrows, decided to demonstrate his power. He spread his wings wide and stood on his back two legs. He extended to his maximum height and he towered over the small village like a colossus. This dragon was huge.
A hot spray of fire escaped the dragon’s jaw as his front two legs came forward, destroying Jason’s house and a few others nearby. He filled the streets of Buttermilk with white, hot fire.
The dragon killed hundreds of townsfolk, and reduced parts of the city to smouldering ruins.
He flexed his large wings and started to fly above the town. He started spraying fire over unburned parts of the village. Redran looked at the Dragon from the city outskirts. He had never seen anything so massive.
“Fuck it, Redran, I’ve seen you do worse.” Lord Redran said out loud to himself. He gripped his sword tightly and he let out a cry and ran towards the city.
The dragon saw a few crowds of tasty snacks trying to escape the burning village so he flew over them and landed near them. He opened his mouth and his snake-like neck began swallowing victims like a whip. His head was like a tunnel to darkness. He swallowed more and more travellers.
Redran was in the village centre and saw the church tower on fire. It was about to topple over and land on a family. Redran called out.
“Move! The building is falling!” He called out to the family. They heard him and started to run.
The bell tower fell over and echoed.
The dragon was distracted by the sound of the bell. It came very close to it. The head of the beast looked at the vibrating gong and smiled. It swallowed the bell and then looked at Redran, it attacked like a viper and tried biting at the wolfman with lightning speed. Redran dodged the jaws by jumping backwards. He started running toward the edge of town, trying to escape the beast’s attention. Such power and speed for such a massive beast. It was impossible. The dragon lost sight of the wolfman, and decided to attack Aaron’s chicken stand. It sucked up the wicker cages like a vacuum. Then it picked up a building with a claw and dropped it onto another building.
Jason and Stella were escaping in the woods to the north. They came across a small dock that had a canoe moored.
“We should take this down stream, to Port Anna, and we can buy a ride on a carriage back to my father’s at the Castle of Flowers.” Jason said to Stella.
“There are no oars,” Stella said, so Jason grabbed a large branch and removed the twigs.
“Let’s go.” He said shortly.
He gently helped Stella into the canoe and then tiptoed into it himself. They lay down, Jason poked them off the shoreline and they lay down and floated down river.
The dragon killed hundreds of townsfolk and animals.
He continued to rampage, and burn everything until he was bored. Then he flew home, very satisfied with his delicious meal and curious new friends.
“I’m so handsome,” the Dragon thought to himself as his massive wings lifted him into the clouds.