Memory in the End

Chapter 15: Three Tests

I never thought I'd see my bedroom again. The purple walls with different kinds of flowers painted on them,the large bed with a canopy running across the top. The comfy covers that were much warmer than a cloak, and my favorite long, dark blue dress. I felt like I was at home for a brief second, before I remembered this was a test.

I got out of bed and made my way down the long corridor. I wasn't sure where I was going or what the test was. The castle was full of noise and chatter with servants running around attending to every need, and guards talking loudly, their voices echoing. The whole castle was in full spirits with happiness and light embracing it. But I realized what was happening when I got closer to the study and saw Victor's dark outline over an elderly man who could only be a wizard. This must be right before Victor's betrayal. This could be my chance to reverse what happened. Is that what my test is?

But I can't enter inside the study. It's almost as if there's a barrier keeping me from going inside. I don't know what to do, but I know I can't let him kill the wizard, or he'll gain his powers. So I grab an axe, hitting it against the force field, but it doesn't budge. The forcefield will not give. I try all sorts of weapons and things to break it open, but nothing works. Finally I sink down in defeat.

"I need to break the forcefield and I can stop this from happening," I say, banging against it once more before I really do give up. It finally dawns on me, "Wait, I remember this...this a memory...".

I've seen this before. I saw Victor and the wizard, only I didn't know it was a wizard. I simply strolled past without another glance. That's when I realize what the test is.

"I could've stopped it but I didn't pay attention. I made a mistake not interrogating Victor and figuring out his plan. But it's too late now; the damage is done. Now I just have to stop him in the present," I finally say and the wizard appears right next to me.

"Very good," He says with a smile, "You passed the second test.".

"What did that test?".

He chuckles, "A good leader knows when they made a mistake and a great leader can admit the mistake and try to fix it. That is what you did; you admitted the mistake and now you're trying to fix it. Now time for the next test.".

Before I can respond, I'm jolted from the castle to elsewhere. That's when I finally notice I'm back at the market, staring at the four whom all look pretty angry. Before anyone can say anything, we hear a loud growl and a huge shadow falls over the town. I didn't have to look up to know what we were dealing with; I could from the dark pair of wings outlined in the shadow. When I looked up, I was faced with a dark green, almost black scaly face, with beady yellow eyes. A giant mouth revealed sharp menacing teeth with each roar. It was definitely a dragon.

They were the stuff of legends. I'd never seen one before, nonetheless fought one. I stared at it, and I couldn't move. I felt grounded in my spot, and I saw the dragon send a ball of fire my way.

Michael hits into me, knocking me out of the path of the fire and onto the ground. He tells me to stay before getting up to join the other three in fighting. They sent Aru to evacuate the village, because air would only fuel the fire more. I saw parents rushing to grab their kids and running out of the village in fear. I couldn't help but feel like a failure. Despite being their princess, I was lying on the ground, scared witless. How I even hope to face them as a leader if I couldn't even fight this dragon?

But how do you kill something that can fly? It wasn't until I asked that question that my mind finally remembered. My father's old advisor was studying a book about dragons and told me that if I ever faced one, the best thing to do was to distract it. A dragon would easily be distracted by something shiny, because it looked like a dragon's scale which would draw its attention. If I could just divert the dragon's attention for even a second, perhaps Michael or one of the other three could kill it.