Chapter 21

Malin, having learnt how to command the dragon and fight alongside it instead of inside it, flew high into the sky, Prince Mamadu trapped firmly between the dragon's legs. The dragon of lightening had completely drained the Emperor's dragon that Mamadu had transformed into, forcing Mamadu to regain his human form. However, being that daybreak was near and Mamadu's son's soul was fighting in him, he had managed to slightly transform into the beast he was intended to be by break of dawn. But Malin's power had greatly multiplied by his ability to ride and command the dragon, overpowering Prince Mamadu and fully controlling him.

The dragon squeezed Mamadu's head so tightly between her legs, muzzling his mouth and suffocating him, making him weaker and weaker as the dragon rose higher and higher. When Malin himself started to lose oxygen because of the high altitude, he commanded the dragon into a lightening nose dive, pulling Mamadu to her mouth and putting him in front as they skidded vertically towards the ground, the resulting light coruscating through the old aging night. When almost about to hit the ground in a nose crush, the dragon dropped Mamadu and dived forward like a plane and rose higher as Mamadu crumbled to the ground at a supersonic speed.

Everybody who was watching including the soldiers of the Dark Army who had partially regained their memories, broke into celebrations as they thought and believed prince Mamadu to be dead. The Emperor jumped in joy as he watched from the roof of the palace where they had regathered, Parafon and Revina among them. The bastard was finally no more, the betrayer, the traitorous brother was finally dead. He couldn't contain his joy as he hugged empress Regina and kissed her on the cheeks, on the forehead so fondly, celebrating the final fall of the wicked man he had been forced to call a brother because they had accidentally shared the same parents. He had always likened Mamadu to a worthless and thankless donkey that did not only deserve to be his brother but also disgraced the royal blood that flew in his veins.

Revina broke to tears, overwhelmed by what she termed as a victory of love, a triumph of good over evil. To her, no evil had ever won against good and today was a clear manifestation of her belief. What elated her more was that it was the love she shared with the dragon rider that made such a triumph possible and she looked at Malin lovingly and with a longing desire to be next to him, wishing upon the fading stars that one day she'll be on that dragon with him, flying towards the nowheres of the world, guided and directed by their immense love for each other. If she wasn't sure that she loved him or that he loved her too, now every doubt, every fear, every worry had been trampled upon, trashed and scattered into oblivion, her heart thumping only to the hungriness of his company, his embrace and the taste of his kiss. With this victory, she belonged to him in a way she had never belonged to anyone before.

All were happy, all were celebrating, all except for one man, the High Priest Lord Parafon who had remained quiet, still and unmoved by what just happened. He wanted to be sure, he wanted to confirm that Prince Mamadu had finally really died before he could start any celebrations. As a prince, the possibilities of healing for Mamadu were numerous and countless and the Lord was surprised to see the Emperor prematurely celebrating despite knowing better than anyone that to kill an immortal you need more than just a crumbled fall. But maybe they were right, maybe Mamadu had really died and he needed to discard his fears and join in the celebration. But it was a chance he was scared of taking. He needed surety that Mamadu was in deed dead. He needed Malin to lift his head and show it to everyone. He needed Mamadu's body severely dismembered beyond any possibility of healing. Only then would all his fears be cleared, all his doubts cleared, all his worries cleared.

The Oracle who had just concluded the ritual that would prevent the occurrence of the curse frowned at first and then broke into a loud laughter. Finally the evil Prince Mamadu was being taught how it feels to feel pain, how to grieve, how to mourn and finally, an immortal royalty was tasting the salts of death. For the first time in over six hundred years, an immortal was dying and her joy of having to watch it first hand filled her heart with excitement and celebrations. She remembered how Prince Mamadu and the Great Wizard had hypnotized her and drained her powers. She remembered the excruciating pain she went through during that process and to finally feel better and have the fortune of watching the orchestrator of her pain crumble before her own eyes to his death was to her, a blessing.

Malin rode the dragon, flashes of light scintillating into the dark moonless night. He stopped above the palace and waved to the people as cheers and applauses filled the air. He circled the palace in triumphant swerves as his dragon swam through the air like a fish in the sea. The dragon was clearly pleased with his master, obeying his every joyous command. Then, at the hour of their greatest excitement and celebrations, Lord Parafon's fears were rudely confirmed.

First, there was a sudden drop in temperature until it became freezingly cold, stunning everybody and wiping off their celebratory moods. Then a gigantic man with a sledgehammer whose head towered over the roofs of the tall buildings emerged, eyes darker than midnight and redder than berries, his teeth long and snarled, his body huge and broad. Prince Mamadu had transformed into the beast with only one default in his transformation, lack of the crown.

The Emperor's shock stunned his heart as he shrieked in horror. He had seen this monster before in his dreams. The monster had rained havoc on the city and ruined everything, turning Dalawa empire into a warzone where people fought against each other without knowing or caring to know why they were fighting or who they were fighting against or for. How the monster could have been Mamadu both muddled and mystified the Emperor profoundly. And to think that just a few moments ago he had completely and absolutely believed Mamadu was dead, really very dead. It pained him to learn of how transient his celebration lasted.

The High Priest, though was open to the possibility of Mamadu healing, was dumbstruck by his quick transformation. To transform into that beast Mamadu needed a lot of energy which according to the High Priest, he didn't have. Malin had completely drained his power and crushed him to what most people believed was his death and so it was surprising for the Lord to see him fully transformed. It took the High Priest a moment to recover from his bewilderment which wasn't as strong as those of the people who had already counted victory on Mamadu's mirage of death.

In the mirror Malin and him had seen, the beast was unstoppable and destroyed everything and everyone that crossed paths with him. But, the High Priest noticed with great relief, there were two major differences between the beast on the mirror and the beast that stood just a few feet from them, his head slightly above the roof of the palace. Despite the fact that it was one person, the beast Mamadu had transformed into lacked the crown which could have made him invincible. Second to that was the colour of his eyes which had turned into a mixture of red and dark colours instead of a complete red colour. He had immaturely transformed. He was beatable.

Malin's transient victory turned, momentarily, into a terrified and frightened feeling of defeat as he watched Prince Mamadu the beast walk toward him, his sledgehammer in his firm grip. His heart almost stopped had it not been for the dragon, when the beast lifted the hammer and aimed it at Malin. The dragon instead of cowing away, flew into the sky and roared in confidence as if it revered the challenge presented by the beast. The dragon's confidence encouraged Malin who had almost given up when he noticed it was only five minutes to daybreak.

"Use me as a weapon master and I'll bring down the monster in one blow," the dragon beamed with confidence to its master. Malin turned the dragon around and fast they went, not into the sky but away from the palace, needing to cover more grounds for a better spearing distance. When they covered enough ground, they turned back, heading towards the beast at a supersonic speed.

Moving at a speed of lightening, the dragon speared into Mamadu, ejecting his heart from his body and creating a huge void in his chest without Mamadu falling to the ground. The dragon, Malin still aboard, stopped at about fifty metres away and turned back with Malin stretching out his sword and moving at the same high speed, Malin slashed off Mamadu's head and before the head could fall to the ground, the dragon dived and caught it, handing it to Malin who held it by its long hairs and raised it up for the people to see. Mamadu's huge hollow body still remained upstanding as if undeterred with what just happened to it. Riding on the dragon once again, Malin knocked down huge beastly body to the ground and to the amusement and merriment of the cheering people. It was just fifty seconds to daybreak when victory finally bid them welcome. In a matter of seconds, the beastly body of Mamadu turned into smoke and smoldered away.

Lord Parafon finally celebrated with all his might clinging on to the Emperor and then warmly embracing Revina who was still in sixes and sevens with the quick twists of events. Micaleaon, the Emperor, breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw Malin lifting the head of the beast and his falling body sweetened the Emperor's heart as finally in deed, the wicked Mamadu bled and had no chance to bid farewell to immortality for his death came fast and hard. The Oracle was too confused to celebrate. All her joy had been swept away by the transformation of the dead into a living monster and she didn't know what to make of his second death. Was it permanent or temporary?

To finally finish the beast and to make sure that the Oracle's ritual was a success, Mamadu's head had to be offered to the dragons and if they devoured the head then the curse was suspended but if they rejected the head then the curse was activated. Lord Parafon gave Malin the direction to the well of dragons where Mamadu's head was to be taken and offered to the dragons as a feast. Malin wasted no time in heading to the well of dragons for he wanted to be over and done with it so as to spend time with his Revina. He had began to miss her so much already. In one victorious lap, he flew to the well, a triumphant smile on his face. The well of dragons was situated three miles from the capital city Donerien, and it was surrounded by fine meadow lined with beautiful flowers. It was calm and quiet and one could easily mistake it for a lost swimming pool had it not been for the scary signs of dragons placed on either sides of the well.

Malin dismounted from his dragon and walked to the shore of the well and with his eyes closed, he threw Mamadu's head into the well. He waited for a second for the splashing sounds the head was to make when it landed on the water surface but when there was no sound, he opened his eyes to inspect whether the head hadn't been thrown into the water or the dragons had rose to meet the head midair. But when he opened his eyes, he was shocked to see Pell holding Mamadu's head while floating over the water like a bird. Pell, after confirming that Malin had seen her, carefully immersed the head into the waters of the well and quickly dashed away from the well's surface as dragons rose to the surface to devour the head even before it could completely sink.

"What on earth are you doing here Pell?" Malin asked as Pell walked up to him and gently kissed him on the cheeks.

"I came to congratulate the hero of Dalawa empire," she answered as she looked at Malin lustfully.

Malin felt very uncomfortable by her look and put a distance between them. "Well thank you," he said, trying his best not to look at her in the eye. "I have to head back to the palace now, they must be waiting for me."

"Yes they are Prince," she answered seductively as her eyes searched for his. "You must be thrilled with your victory, aren't you?"

"Yes...I am," he replied shyly.

"What about a celebration then prince," she said as she bit her lower lip sexually and provocatively.

Malin cleared his throat to try and get rid of the sensual erotic desire that was starting to heat him up. "There is a huge celebration in the palace I suppose, would you like to come with me?"

"Is that an invitation prince?"

"What?"

"Are you inviting me to the party in the palace?"

"No...it's not ...I'm not inviting you. Im only offering to give you a ride if that's ok with you."

"How gentlemanly of you," she responded as her fingers gently toured Malin's chest. "But there will be so many people in the palace don't you think?"

"I...yes. But that's the idea of celebrations Pell," he said as her charm started to slowly and steadily enthral him. Pell was an expert who could captive and control just about anybody in the empire, both men and women, enslaving them to do whatever she wanted them to do. The only people she could not enthral were the Emperor and her father, the High Priest. All she needed to do in order to enthral a person was to initiate a conversation and within no time, the person would be totally subservient to her.

When she was chased away by her father, she thought of leaving Dalawa empire for good as per her father's wish but chose to stay behind for she realized what she felt for Malin was more than an infatuation. It was the kind of feeling her mother had told her she felt for her father the High Priest, several years ago. Despite being a goddess, it was allowed for her to fall in love with a human for she was half human, half goddess. She realized Malin made her feel what no man or god had made her feel before. She was deeply in love with him.

She had secretly wished victory for Mamadu and she even helped Prince Mamadu take control of the Emperor's dragon in order to unbalance the fight to Mamadu's favour but when all her attempts failed and Malin still won, she decided to use her powers to take him. She followed him to the well of dragons where she knew for certain she would find him alone and not in the company of her father or the Emperor. Had Mamadu won, the city could have been mired in war and she could have used her powers as a goddess of war to extract Malin from Dalawa and take him to her world. But now, she had only one option, making him her slave.

"How about a special celebration worthy of a hero?" she whispered to his ears as she moved her body closer to his until her breasts slightly grazed his chest.

"I... I don't know," he replied in a low toned voice, his heat rising by the feeble touch of her breasts. Pell rubbed his ears gently and then fully pressed her breasts onto his chest and pulled his head to hers.

"Don't worry my hero, I'll do the knowing for you. Just follow my lead," she said as she softly kissed his hair and put his left arm to her waist, Malin following like a young child.

"Ok," he replied as he let her kiss his nose and then his right cheek, then left cheek.

"Good boy," she answered as she dug her fingers into his shirt, caressing his chest as she lowered her hands towards his belly, touching his six pack as if counting the steps on a staircase. She slid her hand to his thighs, caressing them over his tight pants as he moaned in confused pleasure. She lifted her hand to his neck, gently massaging his collarbone before pulling his head to hers and joining their lips together, not kissing but rubbing them against each other's.

She parted her lips as if inviting him to go in and he reluctantly accepted her invitation, kissing her upper lip gently and tenderly before she kissed back and they clasped at each other into a tender and we'll controlled kiss, exploring each other's mouths pleausurely until Malin completely forgot who he was, completely submitting to her every lead, her every demand.

She led him to a shed of trees next to the well on a well lain grass and lay on her back. She motioned for him to join her and he lowered his body to hers as the morning rays shimmered through the fine trees and fell on their faces, the lustful heat inside him beginning to reach uncontrollable level. This was his first time to do this and it felt so nice. He sank his head between her voluptuous breasts and kissed the skin on the sides of her breasts before kissing the tit of her left breast while caressing the other with his fingers. Pell moaned in sensual pleasure as she slightly twisted her body to adjust to the pulse of the erotic arousal that began to consume her.

She pulled his head to hers, interlocking their mouths into a delicious kiss, digging their tongues into each other's mouths in alternations as their mouths danced in excited pleasure. The tranquility of the well of dragons added to their intimate satisfaction as Malin kissed her neck, his breath caressing the hair on her neck. She moaned his name as he moved his body on top of hers, his hard projectile grazing over her wet private until she called for him to invade her interior.

Malin slid his fingers to unbutton his pant, his lips still locked to hers and when he finally pulled his lips away from hers to remove his trouser, his eyes strayed to what he at first thought were shadows of human beings. He shook his head and looked again to confirm his hallucinations but when he traced the shadows, he realized sadly, that it was a reality. Lord Parafon, the Emperor and Revina stood just a few feet from them, Revina holding her mouth with her hands, her face aghast and horrified.