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Arielle had never felt so nervous in her life. Inside the palace was a grand theatre, with marble tiers of lofty seating meant to hold and entertain large audiences. Word had filtered through royal courts, and hundreds of the elite Dragonruu were coming to watch the surprise performance. Once she was introduced to the intimidating mix of beautiful female and male Dragonruu, her nerves somehow disappeared. The lights had dimmed, and everything fell silent.
Unaccompanied by instruments, she sang a lovely song about freedom. Aadall and Zefelli sat in the front row to root for her, and with a mix of supportive love for her, neither could also get images of last night’s passion-filled encounters out of his head.
Instead of the crowd’s attention being captivated by the young beauty’s gift, the whole crowd began to shift around uncomfortably, and a hushed murmur circulated the room. Arielle continued to sing, totally unaware; so determined in her bursting heart to elicit a positive response from them all. The King, as well as the entire crowd, began to feel hypnotized. They began to feel weak in their physicality and special powers, as they began to absorb and empathize with the pure human emotion of romantic love. Some of the Dragonruu suddenly fled the theatre in terror, covering their ears. As the crowd became more and more restless, finally, the King spoke, halting Arielle.
“STOP! Stop at ONCE!” demanded the King. He got off his golden throne, walked down the main aisle of the theatre, and hopped right onto the stage. “You wicked, wretched little siren! How dare you terrorize my people in this way!” He unsheathed a long, glinting blade from beneath his silken robes, ready to slay her, without any further questions. Arielle stood frozen in tremendous fear; her life was flashing right before her eyes as her dreams, too, were about to be sliced in half. More of the others screamed and ran out, not wanting to witness the gory horror.
Zefelli leapt in front of Arielle to protect her from his own father. “Stay away from her, Father,” he sneered, baring his dragon fangs in both fear and anger.
“No! This human is a witch! She is cursed, and must be banished from Ansuul – at once!” his father bellowed, with his sword still held in swinging position.
Aadall now fell to Zefelli and Arielle’s aid. “Your majesty, if only you could understand that Arielle has a special gift, meant to bring harmony to us – not harm. She means to bring us all LOVE!” Aadall pleaded.
The king gasped in utter shock, with his heavy sword still ready to strike, wondering if Arielle had poisoned the minds of the two, and that they too, needed to be exterminated as well. But, the King hesitated, feeling unnerved and haunted as the three looked up at him, pleadingly. Perhaps Arielle had managed to tap into the King’s inner empathy, at least enough to keep him from murdering the three.
He quickly threw the sword to the side, where it hit a marble column; and shattered into shards of broken metal. He said, “Then you, my boys, are TRAITORS. Go and frolic with this nasty seductress, and you, too, will be banished from Ansuul. FOREVER.”
Zefelli actually felt relieved. He said, “Maybe I don’t want to be here anymore, anyway!”
His father’s face reddened with fury and secret hurt, stopping to stare his son in the eyes. “Then, LEAVE!”
Zefelli looked back at his father one last time, realizing this was the last time he would ever see his family, and all that he had ever known. But, Zefelli wanted a change. He was not happy. In fact, had he ever been happy in this kingdom of cruelty? Aadall and Zefelli guarded Arielle until the King turned away with no more words to say, but had shaped into his own majestic dragon form in his sheer fit of anger, blasting away bits of the sturdy columns in his path of fury.
As stone and marble crumbled and began to fall from the monumental structure and fires broke out, Zefelli and Aadall quickly shifted themselves, guarding Arielle beneath their mighty spread wings, before escaping Ansuul. Behind them, the palace theater had erupted into a scene of terror, panicked screams, and fire. The blaze spread to all of Ansuul as the King raged.
Aadall quickly informed telepathically Zefelli that he had another plan and would be back. Zefelli carried Arielle back to the cave in the Outlands; the one, refuge left between the two breaking worlds. Arielle clung to Zefelli’s shiny, black mane, closing her eyes and trying to calm herself in the silent bi-atmosphere, with only the comforting sound of Zefelli’s swooping wings to be heard. She knew they were both still in shock, and relieved to be away from the terror in Ansuul.
The woods surrounding the forbidden forest and cliffs were eerily quiet. But, nearby shouting from town echoed in the valleys, letting Zefelli and Arielle know they were still in grave danger. Zefelli assured Arielle that Aadall, always the more logical one and quick thinker, had a plan and promised to return to them as soon as he could. But nonetheless, Arielle had begun to sob, feeling defeated as she sat alone in the darkness at the back of the cave, while Zefelli had been standing near the entrance, on the lookout. Upon hearing her sudden deep and desperate sobs, he immediately went to her, hugging her and trying to calm her, but she was terribly shaken, as reality began to finally sink in.
“I am a terrorist, by Ansuul’s standards; the cause of the King’s anger. In Denbyshire, I am considered a missing victim. But, please know this, Zefelli. I could not ever deny my love for you or Aadall. Just take me down to the valley, right now, and I will just run and tell them what has really happened!”
Zefelli looked at her sadly. “Arielle, no. They won’t believe you or try to understand; they are too angry. Besides, we would never be able to see you again. And it would leave you behind to a life of enslavement from the Dragonruu. I do not even want to think about what they would do to you now for punishment. Too, you would be outcast forever from Denbyshire, and disowned by your own family...You don’t deserve that, and I am never leaving you...” He held her beautiful, pouting face in his strong hands. Her bottom lip wavered, and tear drops continue to spill down her cheeks.
“What is it, that brought us three together, Arielle? The yearning for CHANGE. The yearning for ACCEPTANCE, among ALL. The yearning to know how to LOVE. And it was your beautiful voice that brought us all together. It has proven that you are as powerful as the Dragonruu. We three may be the only ones in this messed up universe that are such radical thinkers. But, we are pioneers in this effort for a better world, and damn it – we’re going to go find a better world!”
Arielle sobbed gratefully with relief into Zefelli’s strong shoulder as he slowly rubbed her back, thinking about how wonderful Arielle truly was, and how he would never regret their dangerous adventure together. The sun was beginning to set, and the two had fallen into a weary sleep, still holding each other.
All of the sudden, a huge rumbling overhead awoke them with a start. Aadall signaled with a roar that it was him. Aadall quickly flew in, shifting and panting. “I forced the fairies currently in Ansuul to steal a ship for us from Azure Harbor. I threatened to smash and obliterate them into oozing piles of goo they could not ever resurrect from. I simply told them that I would collect them into a container, and release their slime into the pool next to us. Sinking to the bottom, they would emit healing powers from their remains, and finally be at peace. I told them they were traitors to Arielle and all humankind. The wicked and conniving fairies were not phased by my accusation, but only by my threat of putting them to final rest.”
Aadall finally took in a breath, trying to calm down. “Perhaps we, too, can be seen as traitors to our two cities, but you know what? Then, we do not belong here. So, we must hurry. Rumors and bullets are both flying: The humans are angry at the Dragonruu for allowing Arielle’s unauthorized escape to Ansuul to promote her talent. The Dragonruu are angry at the humans, suspecting them of trying to overthrow the King’s rule with some type of witchcraft from Arielle’s performance. Look, we tried to make a difference for the better, but these two ancient worlds are doomed. Let us go now, in peace.”
Zefelli felt proud of the new and heroic attitude that Arielle had brought out of Aadall. He and Arielle somberly nodded in agreement that it was indeed time to go.
The dragons quickly helped swoop her into a large spacecraft that Aadall had docked onto the massive cliff top overhead. It was as large as a cruise ship. Once aboard, Aadall and Zefelli frantically worked the control panels in preparation for final launch. A few minutes later, an explosive takeoff took the ship far out of the atmosphere. Arielle looked back one last time at the two cities, now both far below, where smoke and fires were seen rising from each.
Once they were at cruising altitude, sailing over planets with new horizons, where beautiful glowing sunsets with shooting stars blazed over peaceful clear skies, and lush, green islands with crystal pink sand shimmered at them welcomingly, Arielle felt her bravery and strength being renewed.
She began to hum a melody, and the three embraced in relief. She guided her two lovers’ faces against her ample breasts, feeling overwhelming relief and desire be exchanged between the three of them.
“We are going to be leaders of a free world, and that means we can start a family of our own, that shares traits of both of our races...” she stated calmly, and a bit seductively.
“Yes...,” Zefelli said with his warm mouth muffled against her chest. “Let’s start right now.”
Aadall moaned his agreement, as he helped delicately position Arielle over the guardrail in front of him, that gave a lovely view out their balcony of three moons suspended over a shimmering jade and purple sky. Arielle began to receive Aadall and then Zefelli, in turns of sheer, shared bliss, as they all whispered chants of their love for one another through breathy kisses and slow thrusts, as their ship sailed peacefully onwards towards a new destination to land upon, and call their very own.
THE END