The Marvellously Powerful Princess
A World of Draconica short story
By Dan Wright
By Dan Wright
Brother Raphel and Sister K’ren both went down to one knee when they saw the Enlightened One’s down the golden hallway. Their heads remained low in deep respect for their gracious leader, for the Enlightened One was considered the highest of all in every Temple – some even considered the Enlightened One to be as close to Jeova as you could possibly be.
“Rise, my children.”
Raphel and K’ren stood up before the Enlightened One, looking resplendent as ever in her purest white robe. The numerous lines across her skin and the slight creek in her bones when she walked indicated the years of her life. Even for a shadori she was incredibly old – but she had dedicated her life to serving Jeova and did not seem to give up now.
“How does our ‘champion?’” she asked.
Raphel sensed the condescending tone in her voice. She hadn’t been for this plan since Raphel brought it to her. And why not? Raphel had come to the Temple claiming he was from the future – a future where Draconica had been turned to ash, thanks to the return of Her. His prophecy did seem to be coming true and that was the only reason why she still listend. She, Abadon (it was forbidden to say her name aloud) had returned, and for the better part of a week, her disciples known as the Kthonian Knights had laid waste to the world. The JEA, as well as the other Temples around the world, did everything they could to hold them back and save as many as they could; but their resources were being depleted with each passing day. For every one person they saved, ten more would be slaughtered. The Kthonian Knights were inhuman monsters, and even with the blessings of their Lord, they couldn’t defeat them – just hold them back.
Raphel was determined to prove that Benji Dragonkin was the saviour they needed, that only he had the power to destroy Abadon. He had the ‘Soul Fire’, so Raphel said, and that alone would be enough to turn the tide in their favour. The problem was that, at present, he wasn’t acting like much of a saviour.
“He,” Raphel hesitantly replied, “Benji, hasn’t… come to his senses yet.”
“He grieves for his loss,” K’ren said, “and for his mother.”
In his last encounter with Her, Benji had lost his aunt and his mother had been fatally wounded; losing an arm in the process. K’ren was able to save her using magic, but only barely. Daniar was yet to wake up from her deep sleep – and in the meantime, Benji was despondent. And whilst he mourned, Draconica fell into darkness.
The Enlightened One shook her head slowly, even this small action caused her bones to groan. “I have placed a lot of faith in you, Raphel,” she said, “you promised us we would have a weapon to fight Her – and now you tell me we can’t even use him?”
“Please, Your Grace,” Raphel begged. “I can get him to fight, but he needs his mother to be awake. Once she wakes up-”
“And during that time, Draconica burns from Her dark fire!” the Enlightened One replied pointedly. “We have wasted too much time already. And besides – we already have a weapon.”
Raphel grit his teeth hard. “With respect, Your Grace, she isn’t ready.”
“She’s more powerful than anyone I have ever met,” the Enlightened One replied. “She is just what we need to fight the Kthonian Knights.”
“She’s really not that powerful, you know, not compared to Benji.”
“She did take you down the first time,” K’ren reminded him.
“I was just – going easy on her,” Raphel pouted.
“My mind is made up,” the Enlightened One replied. “We must send Princess Bridora.”
They found Princess Bridora in her usual spot – sparing with the male soldiers. She insisted on fighting men, though no one understood why, she just seemed to have a problem with them. A large number of soldiers lay on the floor, groaning from the many injuries they had suffered.
“Princess Bridora!” the Enlightened One called.
Bridora turned, her long pink hair following her as she did. Her eyes glowed as bright as her golden armour; her tanned skin a reminder of her Ira-Kaian heritage, the same place that K’ren was from. From a young age, Bridora had always been good at everything – she was a natural with a sword the first time she picked one up. Without any training, she could instantly beat the most experienced soldier in battle. For most of her life she had to fight in a Man’s world, taking no shite from any of them. And why should she? She was the most powerful girl in the world. Her mother was a priestess that had great magic in her, and Bridora had that very magic flowing through her. She had never lost a fight against any man that challenged her.
“What is it, Your Grace?” Bridora asked, her voice brimming with fire.
“We have held you back long enough,” the Enlightened One said. “It’s time you fought Abadon and her followers.”
Bridora said with a haughty smile. About time.
“Your champion didn’t work out, right?” she chuckled. “Not surprised – we need a woman’s touch here!”
“Go forth and eliminate the servants of Her,” the Enlightened One ordered.
“That all?” Bridora laughed. “Easy! I’ll have that done and be back before suppertime!”
“You’re making a big mistake, Your Grace,” Raphel whispered, “Benji is the only one that can save us.”
“Typical male,” Bridora scoffed, “always thinking they have to be the saviours. Always scared of change.”
Raphel clenched a fist and thought about blasting her with a magical spell – but held his temper.
“Maybe, when this is all over,” Bridora said as she passed, “you and I can get to know each other a bit more.”
“Like I’d ever spend some time with you,” Raphel snorted.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Bridora snapped. She patted K’ren on the backside, causing her to cry out. “I know you’re shy, but being the first openly gay, eastern female warrior in a male dominated Temple, I get so lonely.” She winked at K’ren as she went to her mission.
“What a pretentious bitch!” Raphel said when he was sure she was out of earshot. “She’s clearly just saying all this for attention.”
“I don’t know,” K’ren said, her cheeks glowing, “I think she’s really brave – and quite attractive.”
“Oh give me strength,” Raphel sighed.
The mother held onto her daughters’ tearfully, her back pushed against the remains of the wall of their house. Her husband’s body lay face down, already losing colour. He had done his best to protect his family – but there was no chance he could have survived against this enemy.
Jihadain smiled, the husband’s blood still wet on her blade. Jihadain wanted to take her time with the family; but the father had gotten stupid. Jihadain had slain entire armies with just a few flicks of her sword – how he thought he could beat her was laughable. Love made people do stupid things!
Her brother and sister knights were at other parts of the world, having their own ‘fun’. Their plan to draw Daniar and her friends out by drowning the world in blood hadn’t exactly gone according to plan as Daniar and her son were yet to show themselves. Still, that didn’t mean they weren’t going to have their own fun!
The blood dripped off the end of Jihadain’s new sword. After Daniar’s arm had been forcibly removed, Jihadain stole her sword; Truthbringer, her mua wood weapon. Twisting it with her own magic, Truthbringer had been transformed into a twisted steel abomination – the serrated edge of it looking like a collection of teeth. Mua wood was not created to kill, and Daniar used it to disarm rather than hurt – but now it was a perverted version of Jihadain’s own idealised way of life.
She had even given it a new name to reflect this – Hatebringer.
Jihadain intended to do a similar thing with Kalak’s weapon that she had also stolen, but the Leonidan magic protecting it was harder to undo than she thought.
“Please!” the mother cried, holding her daughters’ close. “Please don’t hurt my children!”
“Mummy, I’m scared,” the younger of the two said.
Jihadain’s smile couldn’t possibly have widened any more, on account that she had stretched it out as far as it could go. “Awww, are the poor widdle childwen upset that I eviscerated her daddy?” Jihadain asked in a childishly mocking voice. “Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing him again soon.”
She took slow steps towards the family, dragging out their fear as much as possible. The children clutched onto their mother’s dress tighter, soaking it with more tears of fear.
If this doesn’t bring out Daniar, I don’t know what will!
But I can only wait so long!
There was a difference between dragging things out unnecessarily and giving the hero TOO much time to save the day. And there were a lot more people on Draconica that needed to taste her blade.
“Ah, to hell with it!” Jihadain said aloud. “If Dany-kins isn’t going to show her face I’m not going to play.” She increased the tempo of her steps towards the family, her blade swooshing through the air. “Time for bed, little ones!”
The mother let out a scream so loud that her throat went hoarse. She wished she could turn and run, but there was nowhere to go. The mother prayed for Jeova to let her and her family in – she had been a good woman and always tried to do good deeds in life.
Jihadain didn’t care about that, she only wished to add more blood to her weapon.
“Stay away from her, monster!”
“Well, about frecking time!” Jihadain sighed. “Do you know how long I’ve been-”
To her dismay, she didn’t see Daniar. But rather a new foe in golden armour, a bright light surrounding her.
“Who the hell are you?”
“I am Princess Bridora,” the new Champion of Draconica growled. “I am here to stop you in the name of the Jeova Enlightenment Army!”
“You guys again?” Jihadain sighed. “I’m getting so bored of you-”
“Silence!” Bridora cried. “Though I can see you are of the same race as me, I cannot allow your evil to exist any longer. I must destroy you.”
She held aloft her sword, and with her free hand, she pulled at her golden necklace, whipping it off with one motion. Her body seemed to explode with energy, surrounding her like the heat of a sun. Her eyes glowed white hot and would burn a hole in anything that gazed at them. She flexed her muscles as the explosive energy coursed through them, ready to smite all evil.
“I have removed my limiting necklace,” Bridora roared, her voice several times deeper. “Now my power has fully woken, I am one hundred times stronger than before!” She gripped her sword in both hands. “Today, justice shall be brought to you. I am Princess Bridora – and I fight for the honour of Draconica!”
She flew forward, like a fireball through the sky. She pulled back her sword arm. One strike would be all that was needed. One strike and Jihadain was destroyed!
Jihadain took one step to the right and limply swung Hatebringer.
Bridora crashed, legs first – then torso.
The Princess turned, seeing the lower half of her body a few feet away from her. The energy that had been released vanished as the blood poured from her body. Jihadain stood over her, her expression one of disappointment and disgust.
“No,” Bridora gasped as her blood drained. “I’m… supposed to be… perfect… in every way…”
Jihadain swung her sword with even less effort than last time. Bridora’s head was lopped from her body and it tumbled away.
“What an utterly dull and vacuous person,” Jihadain scoffed. Uncharacteristically for her, she wiped the blood from Hatebringer. “Even her blood offends me. THIS is what counts as a hero these days? If this is the best the JEA can send, this will be easier than I thought.”
She turned back to the terrified family, her smile returning.
“Now,” she said, lifting up Hatebringer. “Where were we?”
“Rise, my children.”
Raphel and K’ren stood up before the Enlightened One, looking resplendent as ever in her purest white robe. The numerous lines across her skin and the slight creek in her bones when she walked indicated the years of her life. Even for a shadori she was incredibly old – but she had dedicated her life to serving Jeova and did not seem to give up now.
“How does our ‘champion?’” she asked.
Raphel sensed the condescending tone in her voice. She hadn’t been for this plan since Raphel brought it to her. And why not? Raphel had come to the Temple claiming he was from the future – a future where Draconica had been turned to ash, thanks to the return of Her. His prophecy did seem to be coming true and that was the only reason why she still listend. She, Abadon (it was forbidden to say her name aloud) had returned, and for the better part of a week, her disciples known as the Kthonian Knights had laid waste to the world. The JEA, as well as the other Temples around the world, did everything they could to hold them back and save as many as they could; but their resources were being depleted with each passing day. For every one person they saved, ten more would be slaughtered. The Kthonian Knights were inhuman monsters, and even with the blessings of their Lord, they couldn’t defeat them – just hold them back.
Raphel was determined to prove that Benji Dragonkin was the saviour they needed, that only he had the power to destroy Abadon. He had the ‘Soul Fire’, so Raphel said, and that alone would be enough to turn the tide in their favour. The problem was that, at present, he wasn’t acting like much of a saviour.
“He,” Raphel hesitantly replied, “Benji, hasn’t… come to his senses yet.”
“He grieves for his loss,” K’ren said, “and for his mother.”
In his last encounter with Her, Benji had lost his aunt and his mother had been fatally wounded; losing an arm in the process. K’ren was able to save her using magic, but only barely. Daniar was yet to wake up from her deep sleep – and in the meantime, Benji was despondent. And whilst he mourned, Draconica fell into darkness.
The Enlightened One shook her head slowly, even this small action caused her bones to groan. “I have placed a lot of faith in you, Raphel,” she said, “you promised us we would have a weapon to fight Her – and now you tell me we can’t even use him?”
“Please, Your Grace,” Raphel begged. “I can get him to fight, but he needs his mother to be awake. Once she wakes up-”
“And during that time, Draconica burns from Her dark fire!” the Enlightened One replied pointedly. “We have wasted too much time already. And besides – we already have a weapon.”
Raphel grit his teeth hard. “With respect, Your Grace, she isn’t ready.”
“She’s more powerful than anyone I have ever met,” the Enlightened One replied. “She is just what we need to fight the Kthonian Knights.”
“She’s really not that powerful, you know, not compared to Benji.”
“She did take you down the first time,” K’ren reminded him.
“I was just – going easy on her,” Raphel pouted.
“My mind is made up,” the Enlightened One replied. “We must send Princess Bridora.”
They found Princess Bridora in her usual spot – sparing with the male soldiers. She insisted on fighting men, though no one understood why, she just seemed to have a problem with them. A large number of soldiers lay on the floor, groaning from the many injuries they had suffered.
“Princess Bridora!” the Enlightened One called.
Bridora turned, her long pink hair following her as she did. Her eyes glowed as bright as her golden armour; her tanned skin a reminder of her Ira-Kaian heritage, the same place that K’ren was from. From a young age, Bridora had always been good at everything – she was a natural with a sword the first time she picked one up. Without any training, she could instantly beat the most experienced soldier in battle. For most of her life she had to fight in a Man’s world, taking no shite from any of them. And why should she? She was the most powerful girl in the world. Her mother was a priestess that had great magic in her, and Bridora had that very magic flowing through her. She had never lost a fight against any man that challenged her.
“What is it, Your Grace?” Bridora asked, her voice brimming with fire.
“We have held you back long enough,” the Enlightened One said. “It’s time you fought Abadon and her followers.”
Bridora said with a haughty smile. About time.
“Your champion didn’t work out, right?” she chuckled. “Not surprised – we need a woman’s touch here!”
“Go forth and eliminate the servants of Her,” the Enlightened One ordered.
“That all?” Bridora laughed. “Easy! I’ll have that done and be back before suppertime!”
“You’re making a big mistake, Your Grace,” Raphel whispered, “Benji is the only one that can save us.”
“Typical male,” Bridora scoffed, “always thinking they have to be the saviours. Always scared of change.”
Raphel clenched a fist and thought about blasting her with a magical spell – but held his temper.
“Maybe, when this is all over,” Bridora said as she passed, “you and I can get to know each other a bit more.”
“Like I’d ever spend some time with you,” Raphel snorted.
“I wasn’t talking to you,” Bridora snapped. She patted K’ren on the backside, causing her to cry out. “I know you’re shy, but being the first openly gay, eastern female warrior in a male dominated Temple, I get so lonely.” She winked at K’ren as she went to her mission.
“What a pretentious bitch!” Raphel said when he was sure she was out of earshot. “She’s clearly just saying all this for attention.”
“I don’t know,” K’ren said, her cheeks glowing, “I think she’s really brave – and quite attractive.”
“Oh give me strength,” Raphel sighed.
The mother held onto her daughters’ tearfully, her back pushed against the remains of the wall of their house. Her husband’s body lay face down, already losing colour. He had done his best to protect his family – but there was no chance he could have survived against this enemy.
Jihadain smiled, the husband’s blood still wet on her blade. Jihadain wanted to take her time with the family; but the father had gotten stupid. Jihadain had slain entire armies with just a few flicks of her sword – how he thought he could beat her was laughable. Love made people do stupid things!
Her brother and sister knights were at other parts of the world, having their own ‘fun’. Their plan to draw Daniar and her friends out by drowning the world in blood hadn’t exactly gone according to plan as Daniar and her son were yet to show themselves. Still, that didn’t mean they weren’t going to have their own fun!
The blood dripped off the end of Jihadain’s new sword. After Daniar’s arm had been forcibly removed, Jihadain stole her sword; Truthbringer, her mua wood weapon. Twisting it with her own magic, Truthbringer had been transformed into a twisted steel abomination – the serrated edge of it looking like a collection of teeth. Mua wood was not created to kill, and Daniar used it to disarm rather than hurt – but now it was a perverted version of Jihadain’s own idealised way of life.
She had even given it a new name to reflect this – Hatebringer.
Jihadain intended to do a similar thing with Kalak’s weapon that she had also stolen, but the Leonidan magic protecting it was harder to undo than she thought.
“Please!” the mother cried, holding her daughters’ close. “Please don’t hurt my children!”
“Mummy, I’m scared,” the younger of the two said.
Jihadain’s smile couldn’t possibly have widened any more, on account that she had stretched it out as far as it could go. “Awww, are the poor widdle childwen upset that I eviscerated her daddy?” Jihadain asked in a childishly mocking voice. “Don’t worry, you’ll be seeing him again soon.”
She took slow steps towards the family, dragging out their fear as much as possible. The children clutched onto their mother’s dress tighter, soaking it with more tears of fear.
If this doesn’t bring out Daniar, I don’t know what will!
But I can only wait so long!
There was a difference between dragging things out unnecessarily and giving the hero TOO much time to save the day. And there were a lot more people on Draconica that needed to taste her blade.
“Ah, to hell with it!” Jihadain said aloud. “If Dany-kins isn’t going to show her face I’m not going to play.” She increased the tempo of her steps towards the family, her blade swooshing through the air. “Time for bed, little ones!”
The mother let out a scream so loud that her throat went hoarse. She wished she could turn and run, but there was nowhere to go. The mother prayed for Jeova to let her and her family in – she had been a good woman and always tried to do good deeds in life.
Jihadain didn’t care about that, she only wished to add more blood to her weapon.
“Stay away from her, monster!”
“Well, about frecking time!” Jihadain sighed. “Do you know how long I’ve been-”
To her dismay, she didn’t see Daniar. But rather a new foe in golden armour, a bright light surrounding her.
“Who the hell are you?”
“I am Princess Bridora,” the new Champion of Draconica growled. “I am here to stop you in the name of the Jeova Enlightenment Army!”
“You guys again?” Jihadain sighed. “I’m getting so bored of you-”
“Silence!” Bridora cried. “Though I can see you are of the same race as me, I cannot allow your evil to exist any longer. I must destroy you.”
She held aloft her sword, and with her free hand, she pulled at her golden necklace, whipping it off with one motion. Her body seemed to explode with energy, surrounding her like the heat of a sun. Her eyes glowed white hot and would burn a hole in anything that gazed at them. She flexed her muscles as the explosive energy coursed through them, ready to smite all evil.
“I have removed my limiting necklace,” Bridora roared, her voice several times deeper. “Now my power has fully woken, I am one hundred times stronger than before!” She gripped her sword in both hands. “Today, justice shall be brought to you. I am Princess Bridora – and I fight for the honour of Draconica!”
She flew forward, like a fireball through the sky. She pulled back her sword arm. One strike would be all that was needed. One strike and Jihadain was destroyed!
Jihadain took one step to the right and limply swung Hatebringer.
Bridora crashed, legs first – then torso.
The Princess turned, seeing the lower half of her body a few feet away from her. The energy that had been released vanished as the blood poured from her body. Jihadain stood over her, her expression one of disappointment and disgust.
“No,” Bridora gasped as her blood drained. “I’m… supposed to be… perfect… in every way…”
Jihadain swung her sword with even less effort than last time. Bridora’s head was lopped from her body and it tumbled away.
“What an utterly dull and vacuous person,” Jihadain scoffed. Uncharacteristically for her, she wiped the blood from Hatebringer. “Even her blood offends me. THIS is what counts as a hero these days? If this is the best the JEA can send, this will be easier than I thought.”
She turned back to the terrified family, her smile returning.
“Now,” she said, lifting up Hatebringer. “Where were we?”