The Princess' Battle

Once upon a time in a world full of mixes of beauty and shadows, there lived a princess. She was the Princess of Light; daughter of the mighty King of Light. She was loved by her father and oftentimes he would speak to her and remind her of the duties and obligations she held as a princess. Her father ruled the land, but there was a man who sought to overthrow them; the Shadow Lord. He had legions of soldiers and they fought day and night to gain the kingdom; but the kingdom of Light would win. The King told his daughter that one day she would have to fight, that they would try to take her away but she must remain strong. She would nod her head and her father would kiss her cheek and she knew she was safe with him. Yet little did she know what great struggles lay ahead of her; for she was unaware that the Shadow Lord fought not only with men, but with magic; a magic that she knew of but had convinced herself she was immune to.

   That was when the nightmares started. They would come in the night and torture her; those nightmares were the work of the Shadow Lord. Every night she would wake up panicked in the middle of the night and be unable to sooth herself back to sleep. Sleep eluded her. One night after having a nightmare of the worst kinds, she screamed for her father to come in. She heaved giant sobs and begged him to tell her if this was the work of the Shadow Lord. As she had feared, her father nodded. "So teach me to stand." She told him. So the training began. Under the Kings supervision, the Princess began to learn how to fight off their enemy. She studied in the castle library and listened to the Kings advisers and some scholars that lived in the kingdom. She learned under some of the best strategists, and they taught her how to outmaneuver and trick the enemy. But at last she also was trained in the art of attack; the King gave her a weapon: a sword. She named her sword Tharsos; which meant 'courage.' It was the sharpest sword known to man, even sharper than the enemies sword, Pseudologos. The Princess was equipped for battle.

   As his daughter trained, it became apparent to the King what his enemy was attempting. It was a fair strategy, kill the Princess of Light, the Kings beloved. It enraged him, but he knew that he would have to let his daughter fight, for he too, had a plan, and as clever as the Shadow Lord was, you can't outsmart a King.

   With new knowledge of her enemy, the Princess was now able to fight; and she did so valiantly and with good courage. She spoke truth against the lies of the shadows and shone light on the dark places.He knew she must be stopped; if she wasn't, it would surely lead to his downfall. But she was invisible. He found that no matter how much he tried, he could not kill her. But the Shadow Lord only realized her new strength and he forged a new plan; one that was even more clever and twisted. The attacks on the Princess' life became subtle and nonchalant; so subtle, in fact, that she would often mistake them as being from her own father. He left his poison in beautiful goblets and his flying arrows looked like fireworks. The Shadow Lord was a master at deception and he treated it as an art; he blended lies with truths and fact with fiction to the point where the Princess couldn't tell her father's voice from the enemies'. He sought to overtake her mind and bend her to his disturbing will. The plan, I must say, was ingenious. It was as dark as could be; so perfectly fitting for a lord of shadows. Using his dark magic he began corrupting the Princess' mind. What a devious plan: convince the Princess to kill herself. If he couldn't do, surely he could convince her to do it herself! 

   This dark magic caused the Princess of Light to become terribly ill, and the King saw his daughter and her sickness and he helped her all he could. The light was fading from her eyes and her spirit was heavy with burdens. Three times she asked the King to take the burden from her; and three times he denied her. In the night she pleaded and spoke of how she wished this had never come to her, and in the morning she felt sorrow. Her world was melting away into things she couldn't understand. Her advisers and strategists turned against her; for they were unknowingly under the influence of the Shadow Lord. The whole castle was under siege. With her fortress now a battlefield, the Princess fled into the tower and found a goblet on a nightstand. She was now exactly where the Shadow Lord wanted her; alone with a single goblet of poison. The Princess knew she could escape through the drinking of poison and with the enemies' voice in her mind, he told her it was the only way. She grasped the cup and moved her fingers along the enticing engravings and smelled its contents. The beautiful smell filled her lungs; she brought the cup to her lips. 

   "My grace is sufficient for you." her father whispered.

   She dropped the cup. The sound of the shattering cup pierced the silence. The warmth of another body wrapped around the idle Princess. Her father was here. She fell into his arms and he picked her up and carried her away from the tower. He took her to the safety of his chambers and cleaned her battle wounds and began the process of healing his sick Princess. After that day, the goblet of poison seemed to follow her everywhere. The monsters that haunted her in her darkest days never left. The attacks would press on continually. Her father assured her that they would always be there; they wouldn't stop until she was dead; but one promise gave her strength.

 The King said to her "They will always be there. But so will I."