Chapter 12: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Nataleigh watched in horror as her brother fought for his life alone and unaided. At first it appeared he might hold his own with the High King’s sword and Shield, but with the giant’s massive fists hammering relentlessly against his shield and the dragon attacking with fire, tooth and claw from the other direction, it was only a matter of moments before the prince would fall.

Nataleigh’s heart broke as she watched her brother suffering under their attacks. Desperate, she ran to help her brother, throwing herself on the dragon’s hind quarters and pounding him with her fists. She screamed for the beast to leave her brother alone, but the dragon, hardly turning to acknowledge her at all, flicked his tail and sent her sprawling back.

She lay there in a crumpled heap, the air knocked from her. Looking around, she saw now that Hagwig was tying up the jester with Frangen. So the inventor had been captured as well. Hope died at that moment as the princess realized what a fool she had been. There was no one left to rescue them and it was her brother who was suffering the most from her choices.

She watched now as he fell to one knee, dropping the sword and holding the shield up for protection with both hands. It would be only seconds now before he would fall.

What have I done? She pondered. I never thought about how my choices could affect others or hurt the ones I love. How could I have been so foolish? If only I could do it over, I never would have left Amiera. If I could take it back I’d just tell my father and let him deal with the problem.
“Oh Father,” she cried, “Help us! Daddy, save Nathan! I’m sorry I disobeyed. Please forgive me. Don’t let Nathan suffer for my pride and jealousy! I can’t stand to see him suffering because of me. I didn’t mean to hurt him, father. I’m so sorry. Please help me save him. I wish I’d never even laid eyes on that stupid Serpent’s Eye. All I did was to give more power to the dragon to…”
She stopped. As she cried out the words, the answer came to her like a bolt of lightning from the heavens. The dragon’s power was increased by the Serpent’s Eye! Of course! The Serpent’s Eye was the key to the dragon’s power! That’s how it had gotten its name. Destroy the crystal and destroy the dragon! That was it!

But what would it take to break the crystal and what would be the result of destroying something with all of that power contained within? Would there be an explosion? Mightn’t it be dangerous or painful? Could it kill her?

Suddenly there was a final bellow as Gart came down with both arms in a crushing blow and dropped the prince to the floor. Shield gone, armor dented, the prince lay on the cave floor unmoving beneath the giant’s feet.

The dragon gloated in triumph. “At last, I have conquered the son of the High King! His father’s armor and weapons could not defeat me and now I will have Darrowold and Amiera for my own. There is no one left to stop me!”

“You’re wrong, dragon!” came a voice from the center of the tunnel. “You may have defeated the son of the High King, but you forgot about His daughter!”

Snagglefang’s horned head snapped around to see the princess standing with both hands on the Serpent’s Eye and in that moment realized his horrible mistake. His eyes grew wide and all the hypnotic power within them was shattered, replaced by fear.

“NO!” He pleaded. “Gart, Hagwig, Reginald, stop her! Quickly!”

But the princess hesitated no more. The price for what she had done had to be paid and it was hers to pay, not her brother’s. She knew what she had to do to fix everything, and if it meant her own suffering or even death, than she was willing to face it.

Before anyone, even the fast-flying hawk, could move to stop her, she lifted the Serpent’s Eye, pedestal and all from the cave floor, flipped it over and smashed it down with all of her strength.
There was an explosion of power as the crystal ball shattered into thousands of pieces and the magic within the ball was released. Waves of green fog rolled over the tunnel in every direction and Nataleigh was knocked back several feet.

The mist clung to everything and everyone for a few heartbeats and then suddenly there was a great sound of rushing wind and all the power that had escaped the Eye, suddenly began to rush back toward the bronze stand and the remaining shards of the crystal ball. It was as if a great black hole had been created by lack of magic where the Eye should have been and now it was sucking everything that was connected to it back into itself.

Nataleigh noticed that the dragon had already returned to its normal size and color and was clawing at the stone to resist the pull of the magic. The giant too had grabbed hold of a stalactite and was hanging on for dear life as his legs lifted from the floor by the power of the magic drawing him sideways.

The great hawk was the first to go. Already in the air, the bird had no defense against the magic except the futile flapping of its own wings. Within seconds, the hawk was pulled into a swirling mist with shards of crystal orbiting its center - all that remained of the Serpent’s Eye - and was gone.

It was followed by all kinds of magic items possessed by the witch and the wizard. Panganiban’s staff flew into the green maelstrom and flashed out of existence. Pouches with magic powders and other items tore loose from both of the magic-user’s robes and flew into the mist. The tugging nearly pulled Panganiban in as well, but the wizard came to himself in time to grab netting on the floor and stop himself.

Finally, Gart and Snagglefang were pulled in. The giant’s stalactite snapped with a loud crack and his flailing arms caught hold of the little dragon’s tail and pulled him in after, both screaming into oblivion as they disappeared.

But the fading magic of the Serpent’s Eye was not satisfied only with the drawing of all things magic or magically conjured into its vacuum. Whether the dragon still exerted some will over his power and wanted to take his destroyer with him or because the princess was now linked to the magic because she had been the one to release it, the mist began to claw at her and drag her toward the swirling pool of magic.

The princess felt the magic biting into her skin and pulling. She could not resist its pull. It went beyond the physical, gripping her mind and her soul. Was it too late for her? Had she already sold herself to the power without hope of redemption? Did the Serpent’s Eye now own her?
The idea of losing her soul into the swirling mist terrified her. That was the one thing she had not considered sacrificing for her brother, the one price that she thought she had escaped.

As she lost her grip on the floor, she cried out with one last desperate plea, “Father, please! Save me!”

And then she was gone, sucked into the void!