The final one

Some legends are never told. Hidden deep under the sands of time they lie, forgotten by the human mind. Their origins are unknown and their subjects have been asleep for far too long.

Within a scroll this tale lies about a knight and his untimely demise.

His name was Belfrontes or so he was told for he knew not where his elders roamed. Their demise was his shame as no one wanted a bastard orphan. From one family to another he was tossed, until he was old enouogh to be roam alone.

So he wandered the bitter land with a blade in his hands, his only trustworthy friend and companion.

The blade concealed a faith, a destiny imposed on him in such a young age. For years he fought and destroyed. Dark hearts and fearsome creatures cowered in his wake and the kind and poor celebrated him as their savor. Salvation to those who needed him the most, people chimed and cheered where ever his feet would stand, but victory was still not in his hand.

He heard stories about creatures of myth, thought to be long extinct. They were magnificent fire breathers of the sky, the reptilian scourge of the world, annihilators of villages and devourers of herds.

He read about them, studied their appearance, but nowhere did he find one. He read about white knights, garnished in gold, as they wielded their holy blades and slaying every single one, until there were none left.

Years past and Belfrontes’ experience grew. He had slain the troglodytes of mountain Evergrow, dethroned a ruthless emperor Zelkior and fought against the barbaric nation of Ragnor.

The more he saw, the more blood was on his hands, the more he loved the thrill. His heart grew cold, his mind dark and in his eye, a glimpse of madness shone as bright as the red moon of the night.

No more was he the protector of the poor, no more was he the guardian angel for those who need his help. Now he was the guardian for the highest toll, sold to those with the most gold.

His life turned to sin and his mind just wished greed. Meat and wine flowed like milk and honey in the Promised Land, women threw themselves at the sound of his charming voice and beasts fell dead at his single glare.

And thus he wandered about and where his foot would stand a river of blood flooded that land.

On his many journeys he came across a kingdom in flames. Smelling chaos and distress, Belfrontes saw an opportunity. It was like the doubloon’s golden shine was emitting out of the hellfire.

He rushed into town, garnished by the white armor covered in blood. As the villagers rushed out to Belfrontes he could hear their screams. The deeper he went into this dying kingdom the more destruction he saw.

Chaos and fire reigned suprem in this kingdom as burnt corpses littered the street. Among the dying bunch, Belfrontes noticed one that could help him out on his quest.

An elder man lied beneath the ruins of his shop. His legs were demoished by the heavy load imposed on them, but Death grasp still alluded him.

“What caused this horrid sight?!” he asked the barely conscious man

Barely breathing, the undying corpse stretched out his finger in the direction of the castle.

As Belfrontes' gaze turned, he saw a beast, neigh, a demon, spreading its crimson wings and carrying a valuable load safely in its clutches. On the back of this winged monstrosity sat safely a dot, a small speck compared to the beasts size.

Belfrontes smiled a bloodlust grin.

It was a dragon. No doubt it was. Belfrontes' time had finally come. The last one shall fall by his hands.

Quickly the mighty warrior searched for a steed worthy of a task like this. The fire that beast caused burnt down quite a few stables as the horses, foals and steeds came rushing into the streets.

Chaos ruled and Belfrontes knew he had to think quickly He rushed through the burnt and damaged kingdom.

Lady Luck seemed to have favored him that day as he discovered a stable, untouched by flames, with no keeper. He snuck in and noticed a horse unlike any other.

“A winged horse,” Belfrontes mouthed out seeing the pure white Pegasus expose its wings in fear. The animal backed away, trying to intimidate the bandit that had invaded his home. Belfrontes growled.

“Powerful steed you shall heed my voice. Guide me to the dragon’s lair that had ravaged this kingdom and I shall return you to thine home,” Belfrontes tried to comfort the winged horse.

Truth to be told he had no intention of returning it to the rightful owner, but something compelled him to sooth the animal as divine as this.

The winged stallion hesitantly inched closer to Belfrontes until it was within his grasp. In one swoop the barbaric knight mounted the winged Pegasus.

“Now take flight my powerful stallion and let us destroy the monster that brought such misery,” the blood hungry assassin yelled.

The Pegasus snarled and with all of its might the stallion took flight, soaring through the skies above. Belfrontes could feel the dragon’s sulfuric breath fill the air. Victory was so near.

His heartbeat quickened and his blood boiled as Belfrontes saw the dragon’s lair. A dark cloud of smoke coming from the cave made it indisputable. The beast was here.

“Onwards!” he yelled as the Pegasus whined and rush into the damp and dark cave.

Belfrontes left the winged horse outside the cave’s entrance and proceed to go deeper inside, following the smoke as he went. The loud thunderous roars of the beastly slumber the dragon took made weren’t the only sound coming from the deadly cave. A voice so angelic and beautiful came from the very bowls of the cavern.

He could hear this siren sing to the monstrosity.

“Sleep tight my child
Sleep my love
Leave your worries behind
Close your eyes and unwind

Shush now my beauty
don’t say a word
your mother is here
to wipe away your tears”

Belfrontes was baffled by the sight he saw. A fair maiden with the hair of gold stood by the crimson beast’s side singing it a lullaby. He raised his sword to slay the sleeping dragon, but the woman threw herself at his feet.

“Please noble warrior, lower your sword,” she cried “It mean yous no harm”.

The woman pleaded and cried, but Belfrontes kept his eyes on the prize.

“Fair maiden that is a request I cannot grant thou. For this beasts actions led to the deaths of many down below. It must suffer the consequences!"Belfrontes responded and pushed the maiden.

Unyieldingly, the brave warrior took out his trusty blade and approached the sleeping horror. Just as he was about to exact his holy task, the woman threw herelf in front of him yet again, narrowly escaping his blade.

"Your intereference is starting to really annoy me!" Belfrontes growled at the woman.

"If you must execute him, at least grant me one wish," the woman began to cry at Belfrontes' feet.

“I am listening,” Belfrontes said, intrigued by the sudden turn of events.

“I shall allow you to kill the sleeping beast if you allow me to take some of the dragon’s blood with me” the woman said desperately. Belfrontes looked at her and grinned slyly.

“I think you can sweeten the deal” Belfrontes said looking lustfully at the woman.

“What?!” the woman yelled in wide-eyed shock. Belfrontes took the woman by the hand and pulled her closer to himself.

“I want you to promise me to be mine wife” Belfrontes demanded.

The fair haired maiden looked at Belfrontes and then back at the crimson beast. She sighed in sorrow as tears flowed uncontrollably from her baby blue eyes. Such a decision was not easy to make, but she knew it had to be done.

With her last barrier broken, her heart sank as she nodded in respond to the brute’s request.

A mixture of satisfaction and lust appeared on Belfrontes’ face as the woman fell on her knees, covering her eyes from the bloody massacre that was about to happen.

As Belfrontes approached the slumbering giant, something happened. Something Belfrontes wanted to avoid.

The beast’s slumber ended.

Furious at the intruder the dragon swiped his knife like claws at Belfrontes. Unable to process what just happened Belfrontes was swiped from his feet and sent flying to the other side of the cavern.

After the impact,Belfrontes, battered and bruised, barely got up to his feet.

The golden eyed reptile roared exposing rows upon rows of sharp teeth and the infernal depths of his burning bowls. Belfrontes screamed as he lunged at the thick scaled monstrosity. The dragon rose to his hind legs to intimidate his attacker, but Belfrontes saw that as a golden opportunity.

Quickly evading the burning breath of the crimson beast, Belfrontes lunged at the dragon’s only weakness, his soft underbelly.

As helped by the gods themselves Belfrontes’ strength grew immensely. He screamed once again and dug his silver blade deep into the dragon’s core.

The beast roared for one final time as Belfrontes evaded the collapse of the dying giant.

The maiden’s eyes turned red and puffy from all the tears she had cried when Belfrontes approached her.

“Now you can take his blood, wife,” he said triumphantly as he slowly walked out of the cave.

She walked over to fallen behemoth with tears in her eyes. The last one of his kind has fallen. Another creature extinct with pain and agony garnishing it’s dying gaze.

She closed the beast’s eyelid and kissed the dragon’s fearsome horns.

“I am so sorry,” she said, taking out a dagger. The dagger’s blade was made of the moist finely tuned diamond enchanted by dark magic of moonlight, the only thing that could cut through the dragon’s scales. She caressed the dragon’s scaly head as she cut under his throat.

His blood ran and the fair haired maiden took just a few drops of his blood, filling her bile only half full.

“Do not worry my child” she spoke smoothly “Your death will be avenged”.

With her final goodbyes the woman left the fallen dragon to his final slumber.

Belfrontes waited impatiently as the woman sorrowfully left the cave. As he saw he figure emrging from the cave, Belfrontes smiled pleasently. His life dream was fnally achieved and now he was ready to collect his prize.

Ten years have passed since that faithful event. Ismir and Belfrontes were married now with two wonderful children. Belfrontes had finally settled down in a small village where he was celebrated as a hero and an icon for slaying the final descendent of the dragon race. He lived in a bountiful home filled with riches of all sorts.

He thought that he even won Ismir over as she was much kinder and much more subservient to his whims then she was at the start. Sure, she still resisted him from time to time, but he knew sh

But ‘twas all a game the sly woman had played. For all these ten years she has been plotting Belfrontes’ final fall. And it was all just about to come true.

As their tenth anniversary came along Ismir made sure to send their kids out to play. She did not want them to see her plan being put into action.

As Belfrontes sat near the fire Ismir noticed that same ruthless killer she saw eons ago. Flashbacks of that torturous event tormented her as she carried the golden chalice filled to the brim with enticing wine. The powerful aroma hid the scent of blood mixed in with the wine. Belfrontes snatched the wine from her delicate hands and slurped it down in a haze.

“Ah that was just what I needed” Belfrontes grunted.

“Glad you liked it dear” Ismir smiled pleasantly as she noticed his skin color slowly changing. The drink seemed to have its desired effect.

“You know, you never asked me why I was so protective of that dragon” Ismir started. Oh how she longed for this speech! Vengeance shall finally be hers.

“Oh really and why is that?” Belfrontes said, coughing slightly.

Ismir noticed that he started to scratch his skin and his coughing seemed to worsen by the second.

“I raised him since he was just a baby. Of course he was much smaller back then, but the speed they grew is truly remarkable.” Ismir spoke with such glee as Belfrontes was coughing.

He wanted to ask her what she had put in his drink, but words seemed to have evaded him.

“And they are extremely intelligent and loyal too. They don’t use words like we do, but you can sense it. Unfortunately, my father nor you could see that. All you two saw was a beast, a dangerous threat to society. They sent out hoards upon hoards to destroy him and once the dragon retaliated, you showed up. You had your eyes so set on destroying the last that you failed to notice that the beast was nowhere near the fire. It was trying to save me from the burning inferno, not cause it,” she spoke slowly, enjoying every second of his torment. She looked down at Belfrontes who was contorting in agony.

“It seems my potion worked. The dragon blood has a funny effect like that my dear. its venom is rather weakat first, but the longer it lingers and boils, the more potent it gets. I figured ten years would be just enough for you,” she gloated over the tormented body of Belfrontes.

“You,” he barely mouthed out amongst his painful contortions. Belfrontes tried to get to his sword but Ismir just kicked it to the side.

“No, no my dear. That is not for you. After all, you wouldn't want to spend your last moments drenched in blood, now would you?” she gloated as Belfrontes felt his insides burning up. Y

“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of my children. I always do” Ismir spoke and kissed Belfrontes’ forehead as he fell silent once and for all. His eyes glazed over as his final breath left his lungs.

Ismir closed his eyelids and smiled contently over the lying corpse of her tormentor.

What happened to Ismir and her kids afterwards, we may never know. Some say they were killed in a barbaric war. Others claim they can see them to this very day walking over the land and righting all that is wrong.

Thus ends the tale of Belfrontes, the knight who slayed the final one, even if it did cost him his life.