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The Pointless War

Princess Yerishia stared out of her bedroom window at the kingdom of Valdora before her.

The capital was eerily peaceful despite the pointless war between Valdora and the elven kingdom, Mistis, that had been raging for years because her power-hungry father had stubbornly refused to accept a peace treaty. Both kingdoms were evenly matched in military power so the princess couldn't imagine the war ending anytime soon.

"If this damn war doesn't end soon, my marriage with the king of Serutha will be moved up," the princess muttered solemnly.

She knew that to her father she was merely a political tool, just like her sisters had been. No matter how much she pleaded, he refused to annul her engagement with the nearly sixty year old king. Next year she would be turning fifteen, the official marriageable age, then there would be nothing stopping her marriage.

"If only my life were a fairy tale like the ones mother used to read to me. If magic could still be wielded like in the olden days, maybe I'd have a chance of escape." She gazed one last time at the setting sun before retreating to her bed for the night.

~•~•~

A loud crash woke Yerishia. Startled, she sat up and looked around, rubbing the sleep from her eyes in the process. What she saw made her think she was still dreaming. One wall of her room had turned into rubble, exposing her to the outside. But the most unbelievable thing was the crimson dragon flapping its wings and staring directly at her. Yerishia pinched her cheeks just to make sure she was awake. The slight sting told her that this was reality.

She opened her mouth to scream, but before she could the dragon dove into her room and snatched her from her bedsheets. It then flew away from the castle as the alarm bell went off.

Yerishia was far too shaken to scream. Her mind was groggy and rather than struggling she felt like sleeping. It was only an hour later that she began protesting.

"Let me down!" she screamed, trying to make her voice louder than the howling wind.

'I'm afraid I can't do that.'

The deep voice echoed in her mind, startling her. She quickly regained as much of her composure as she could.

"Why not?" she asked. If she was going to be kidnapped, she at least wanted to know what for.

'You'll fall to your death if I do that. And then the bitter old man would become even more bitter.'

Now she was curious. The sun had started to rise and Yerishia realised that they were heading in the opposite direction of Mistis.

"Why does he want to kidnap me?" She had initially assumed Mistis was behind this but now she wasn't sure.

'Because he's a bitter old man.'

She tried asking more questions after that, but the dragon remained silent until they arrived at their destination.

Unsurprisingly it was a tower. It's walls were cracked and filled with moss. Vines wrapped around it and small windows were scattered about. Despite the fact that she was being kidnapped, Yerishia couldn't help but think that it was a beautiful tower, especially since the sun rising behind it illuminated the forest around it giving it an almost ethereal feel.

The dragon placed her gently down onto the balcony near the top of the tower before situating itself around the tower's pointed roof.

'If you run, I'll easily catch you.'

Not knowing what to do, Yerishia stood for a few minutes, taking in the scenery. The sound of banging doors startled her and she spun around to see an old man with an unusually long walking stick.