Chapter 20

The red flaming fires that had characterized the streets of Donerien City died down into darkness. The pall of smoke that had clouded and hovered over the city skies cleared into a starry night with the moon shinning brighter than usual. Blood still reeked all over the city but the stench was dying down as if giving up. The Dark Army soldiers who had been immobilized into unconsciousness regained their consciousness but became enveloped in a mammoth confusion. They couldn't tell who they were or what they were doing by the gates of the palace. The shinning stars added to their confusions as they at first took them for the lighting on a roof.

The Emperor, the empress, Jonathan, the Royal Army and the Guards of the empire all climbed to the roof of the palace to witness the spectacle that unfolded just above the palace as Prince Mamadu and Malin went for each other like mad elephants, cutting and arrowing at each other until the ground became too squeezed for them, forcing them to venture into the space.

Malin, glistening in bright light, struck Prince Mamadu with a thunderbolt of lightening, sending Mamadu crushing down onto the walls of the tall spectacular buildings that surrounded the palace. But Mamadu, whose transformation was increasing as time went by and was already emitting red flamed rays of light through his eyes, bounced back like a ball and caught Malin on the left side of the stomach with a powerful blow that sent Malin rolling uncontrollably in the air before falling onto the ground with Mamadu in quick pursuit. He slid on the ground as fast as he fell to avoid being caught by another strike from Mamadu that had been targeted at his head.

They rose into the air once more, Mamadu directing the sword-like rays in his eyes at Malin who dodged and flew higher to avoid being split into two. The rays strayed onto the buildings, destroying some of them completely while ruining others partially. Malin responded by scintillating a powerful bright light in a glittering luster, blinding Mamadu temporarily. He struck him with lightening in quick successions as Mamadu fell fast from the air onto the roof of the palace, this time unable to bounce. Still covering Mamadu in the blinding fulgid, Malin dug his knees onto the chest of Mamadu, breaking the ground and rolling down the floors of the palace until they fell with a loud thud on the ground floor just above the pyramidal chambers, Malin on top. He hammered Mamadu's eyes with strong blows intended to completely blind him.

Sensing Malin's intentions, Mamadu speared blindly in every direction, the rays from his eyes sending Malin scampering for safety. Malin created a shield of light against Mamadu's sharp rays as both rays collided in the air, Mamadu pushing and Malin pushing forcing them to rise into the air again, none showing any signs of relenting. The collision path spread wider and bigger, rising up into the sky and lowering down to the ground, forming a thick layer of a hot burning circle. The city became too warm, forcing the Emperor and his people to rush back into the palace for the metals that surrounded the roof of the palace began to melt, the glass windows began to crack and people began to dehydrate.

The great Eunice Sea that bayed into the city started to steam, the surrounding rivers began to evaporate into dryness and the heat could be felt everywhere and all over the empire. Lord Parafon, Revina and the Oracle who had all been watching the fight through the mirror by the potted pool went out to see the monstrous light and from where they stood, they could see the trees in Medan forest starting to dry, shedding off their leaves to try to preserve the little water they had left.

Parafon went to the Holly corner and bent on his knees for a while before sitting into a meditating position. It's from here that he managed to communicate with Malin, soul to soul.

"You are going to burn down the entire empire," he said. "The heat is too much, the empire is burning down son."

"What do I do then?" Malin asked. "The prince is tougher than Pell had indicated. What do I do to defeat him?"

"I'm sorry son, he knows you are a prince and he is fighting you like a prince. It will be difficult to defeat him."

"That's very encouraging from you Lord Parafon. We only have one hour to daybreak and it seems like he is quickly transforming into that monster."

"Fight him like an equal and you'll be able to contain his transformation for a while as we come up with a plan."

"Now? You mean you haven't come up with that plan already?"

"Concrete on the fight son but please, don't ruin the empire in the process. Remember, he knows who you are and you must therefore fight him like an equal," Lord Parafon said. He rose to his feet, breaking the soul to soul communication with Malin.

Malin concentrated his energy on the edges of the huge burning circle and balled his fingers into a fist. He punched into the circle, striking Mamadu with the entire heat and breaking the circle, returning the city into normal temperatures. Mamadu rolled in the air uncontrollably, groaning and screaming in pain as the heat entered his entire system. Malin followed him swiftly and caught him by the shoulders, rotating him until Mamadu was completely overwhelmed with dizziness before striking his head with his knee, releasing him and striking his heart with a nother lightening. Mamadu crushed through the air like a nose-diving plane to the ground. He hit the ground so hard that his head got buried into the ground up to his shoulders. Malin was relentless with his pursuit and he descended onto the ground, raised his sword and cut through Mamadu insanely. But Mamadu never bled, got wounded not. He healed as fast as the sword left his body, making Malin's efforts useless.

To Malin's disbelief, Mamadu zoomed out of the ground fully transformed into a dragon, spitting fire at Malin in great speed. He pinned Malin to a corner and spewed fire at him until Malin collapsed on the ground, his body sore with pain everywhere. Mamadu flew to him and lifted him into the space where everyone who was watching could see them. He scaled Malin with steamy vomit until Malin lost his balance and control and crushed to the roof of the palace, his body smelling like a burning tire.

Revina shuddered in horror as she watched the unfolding disaster on the mirror. She couldn't believe her eyes when he saw Mamadu plunge his long nailed fingers into Malin's chest as if he wanted to take out his heart. She cried painfully, closing her eyes not to see what Mamadu would pull out of Malin's chest. Fortunately, Malin managed to kick Mamadu away before he could pull out his heart with his long sharp fingers. However, he was too weak to stand up to him and he couldn't defend himself against the arrows of flaming fires that the dragonized Mamadu shot at him, bouncing him onto the roof like a tennis ball. Revina screamed as she watched painfully and helplessly. Mamadu was winning and he was winning at a great expense.

Both Lord Parafon and the Oracle were surprised to see Prince Mamadu transformed into the Emperor's dragon. Nobody could command that dragon except the Emperor and they were perplexed with Mamadu's ability to transform into it and still be able to control it despite the fact that he hadn't won the crown. The dragon was the oldest living creature in Dalawa having been rode by the first ever emperor over ten thousand years ago. It was so sacred that even the Emperor couldn't ride it unless he was compelled to. How Mamadu could ride such a sacred dragon defeated their imaginations.

To defeat a dragon one needed a dragon. There is no battle in the entire empire where a non-dragon had defeated a dragon. Malin, however, had shown that he wasn't ready to ride the dragon in him. If he transformed into another dragon then Mamadu would still win because the playing ground would be uneven since Mamadu was fighting through the help of powerful dark magic. To defeat Mamadu, Malin needed to command the dragon, to ride the dragon. Without doing this, Mamadu was going to win not by killing Malin but by dragging the fight till daybreak and then he would be unbeatable. A catastrophe would strike.

"Is there anything we can do Lord Parafon?" the Oracle asked, disturbed to the core by the unfortunate turn of events. She didn't want to die, not yet. "Is there anything in the broken mirror that could help us figure out how to defeat this monster."

Lord Parafon thought for a while about the mirror. Maybe it had a solution. But the parts that had been revealed to him had not mentioned such a fight or how to win it. This, Malin was supposed to do on his own. But if Malin was the broken mirror then he must be able to read the foreign language that Lord Parafon was defeated to read or understand. Even if he could, he was already immersed in a huge fight in which he was greatly disadvantaged. Then it struck him. The role of Revina in the mission began to become clear. In order to be able to command a dragon, a boy needed to become a man first. Malin was a boy and as such, he could not command the dragon.

"I think there may be away to stop Prince Mamadu," he replied, his face brightening with the prospects of his new discovery.

"And what's that?" the Oracle asked interestedly.

"Her," he replied as he pointed at Revina who was sobbing uncontrollably by the mirror.

"Her? Are you kidding me? She is just a girl from the upper dimension. She stands no chance against Prince Mamadu, she'll die from the first blow," the oracle objected.

"No Oracle, she won't need to face off with the monster. She is the other half of Malin and until she completes him, he won't be able to command the dragon and Mamadu would win by daybreak."

"What are you talking about?"

"Her role in the mission. I hadn't figured it out until now. But time is running out and I can't explain everything to you right now. I have to head to the palace with her. She is the only one who can save us right now. Meanwhile, you need to make sure that the curse doesn't get activated for now I am more certain of Prince Mamadu's death than before."

Lord Parafon took Revina by the arm and without explaining anything to her, led her into the god's plane, a sacred flying carriage that could only be used by the High Priest himself. They reached the palace in a matter of seconds and before Revina could even have time to ask what was going on for she had not even sat well enough when they reached the palace.

While in the palace, the High Priest explained to Revina that it was the time for her to trash her fears and be strong enough to tell Malin the truth about what she felt for him. It was time for her to declare her love to Malin. In order to complete Malin, he needed at least a kiss from the one he loves the most and Lord Parafon, just like Pell, knew very well how much the two of them loved each. It was as if they had known each other all their lives or from a different life before. With the kiss, Malin would become a man and immediately be able to command the dragon. Revina was more than willing to oblige. Malin had saved her so many times that she was ready to give out her own life to save his. And she loved him. Declaring her love to him was the sweetest thing she could ever do. She had wanted so badly to tell him how she felt about him but had restrained herself fearing Malin's rejection. But now his rejection was not an issue, his survival was.

The Emperor was greatly disturbed and when he saw the High Priest enter the palace, he rushed to him for explanations. He didn't know what was going on or how Prince Mamadu could have easily assumed the control and shape of his dragon without wearing the crown. He wanted to know why prince Mamadu was fighting Malin as he would a prince and why to him, Malin's face turned into Medan's whenever he fought. But Lord Parafon just dismissed him and told him to wait for the answers by daybreak if he would be lucky to be alive by then for they lacked the luxury of time to explain the situation to Emperor Micaleaon. It was only thirty minutes to daybreak by now.

Lord Parafon and Revina sat in meditating positions and with his left hand touching Revina's shoulder, he connected her soul with Malin's, making their communications possible. He had instructed Revina to be as brief as possible for too much emotions could weaken Malin even further.

"Malin," Revina began, her eyes closed, her lips slightly parted as they began the communication. "It's me Revina, the girl you have always rescued. I know this may not be the right time to tell you how I truly feel about you and I agree, it's not the right time neither is it the right way. But under the circumstances, I have to do this because I really need you to rescue me once more my prince. For a while now I have been battling with this feeling inside my heart, confused whether to tell you or not. But now my prince, I came to tell you that I owe you not only my life but both my body and soul too. I don't know what exactly would best describe my feelings towards you but I believe it will be safe to describe it as love even though it feels greater than love.

"I adore you my prince, I love you and with my life, my heart beats only for you. My prince, if you have even the slightest of these feelings for me, if you in any way reciprocate my feelings for you, then grant me the honor of sealing my love for you with a kiss. Just a kiss my prince. I'm waiting for your rescue for one last time." Revina finished and with that, Lord Parafon left her shoulder, breaking the communication between them.

"You have to fight your way into the palace Malin," Lord Parafon said. "Revina and I will be waiting for you in the courtroom." He finished and without waiting for Malin to respond, broke the communication.

Malin gathered all his energy that was left and shoved Mamadu away, pushing him off the roof. He dragged himself to the hole of lift they had created before and fell into it to the ground with a huge loud thud. Revina and Lord Parafon heard him fall and rushed to him. He lay on his back, his hands and legs strewn on the floor. His chest wasn't moving as if his heart had stopped pumping, his eyes opened but staring blankly into nothingness. It was hard to tell whether he was breathing or not and for a moment, both Revina and Lord Parafon thought he was dead.

Revina took him into her arms, sobbing and sniffing as she tried to wake him up. But just then, Lord Parafon saw Prince Mamadu from the roof, preparing to jump on them. "Now!" he shouted at Revina who saw Prince Mamadu at that instance and kissed Malin on reflex. She planted her lips on his and gently kissed his lower lip, caressing his left ear with her right hand as she prayed for his quick recovery. Lord Parafon stood up, straightened himself and prepared to shield Revina and Malin from the fast approaching dragonized Mamadu whose mouth was already wide open, ready to vomit fire. Despite knowing that he stood no chance, Lord Parafon offered put his body as a buffer between them. In the presence of Malin, a direct descendant of the throne, Mamadu's dark magic couldn't affect him or harm him but the power of dragon could decollate him. But he took refuge in the fact that for as long as Mamadu was not the Emperor and Malin was not dead, he could still heal from anything.

When Prince Mamadu inched closer and Parafon rose to meet him in the air, Malin's strong hands grabbed him from the back and flew them both out of Mamadu's way leaving Mamadu to collide with the hard floor. He hadn't expected to find an empty floor. To both Parafon and Revina's amusement, Malin regained consciousness and all his powers back in time to prevent what was an eminent decapitation of Lord Parafon. Revina looked at him with relief in her eyes as she kissed him on the lips, glad that he awoke for her. He kissed her back, holding her head with both his hands as Lord Parafon watched lovingly from behind Revina.

Breaking from the kiss, "thank you for coming to my rescue my princess and yes, I do feel the same way about you too, maybe a little more," Malin said as he smiled with her, looking straight into her beautiful eyes. Mamadu rose from the floor where he had fallen and roared forward towards them, vomiting fire at them. But Malin just lifted a finger as if Mamadu had transformed into a piece of paper and held him back. He kissed Revina again, completely disregarding the presence of Prince Mamadu or his flames that were not reaching them as if they were droplets of rain or nothing harmful. Mamadu the dragon struggled to move forward but somehow, Malin's finger proved too powerful for him to manoeuvre through. Lord Parafon marveled at the sheer power of Malin's finger and wondered whether he had underestimated the power of the kiss.

"Now princess...wait, it's alright to call you princess now ain't it?" Malin asked Revina who was all smiles.

"Yes my prince,"she replied as she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "But my prince, time is running out, you have to..."

"I know," he said as he pulled her away from him. "Lord?" he called out to the High Priest who had been silently and secretly laughing with joy. "Thank you."

Lord Parafon nodded and immediately looked at the watch. There was only twenty minutes left till daybreak, twenty minutes to survive or to perish. "Now prince, awaken the dragon and feed not on the souls of the empire but on her enemies," he said while looking straight at Malin in a voice that was deeper than usual.