"All this nauseating talk about "true love's kiss", it really does bring out the worst in me."

***

As the audience continued to clap, Narissa snarled, thrusting Nathaniel away from her and snatched Edward's sword. "NO!"

Her scream alarmed the room, silencing everyone. Brendon pulled Giselle away from her who gasping in sheer terror. The evil woman then proceeded to point the sword at the group who had foiled her masterplan, it was time to go to desperate measures. "The most powerful thing in the world. Ha! I don't think so."

Narissa descended the stairs as the group loomed over her. "You have no idea who you're dealing with."

"Stay behind me." Brendon whispered to Giselle, protecting her.

"You want a show? I'll give you a show." She swung her blade, forcing the crowd to make space. "Back up and get ready for the main event!"

"You selfish, evil..." Nathaniel started.

The prince and his friend charged at her as she recited her transformation spell. "Speciosus, formosus, praeclarus!" She stuck the sword into ground, bouts of smoke flame leapt from all around her. The two men were knocked aside by her immense power. 

Giselle, Brendon and Sarah observed from above as Narissa's body metamorphosised into a huge, dark blue creature. Their eyes widened in fear and shock as the evil queen turned into a creature they had never seen before nor thought was real; a dragon.

Narissa emerged from the fire, unscathed. Her head was reminiscent of the Statue of Liberty's as if to send a message about keeping her crown. "All this nauseating talk about "true love's kiss", it really does bring out the worst in me."

"Stay back." Brendon softly spoke to his true love, knowing that she was the one Narissa was after in the first place.

The crowd backed away in shock, finally realising that everything was true and there really was a dragon in the room. Narissa landed on the floor, on all-fours. "You know, I've been thinking. If I'm going to remain queen, I'm going to need some sort of story when I go back. Hmm... what if a giant, vicious beast showed up and... killed everyone? And poor, defenceless Queen Narissa? She just couldn't save them." She spoke in a light, sarcastic tone before eying Giselle. "Let's begin with the girl who started it all, shall we?"

"Over my dead body." He stated as Giselle backed away from him.

Her eyes shifted over to Brendon, growling. "Alright, I'm flexible."

Unexpectedly, Narissa, with her giant claws, snatched Brendon from the ground and started to take him away. "Let me go!" He screamed.

The crowd all ran away from the fearsome beast as she snarled at them, heading towards the large window at the end of the room. "Come along, Giselle. I don't want you to miss this ending."

Narissa punched her head through the glass, shattering it without ease. "What do we do?" asked Sarah.

In fairytales, it was always a woman who was in distress. Edward and Nathaniel were knocked out and everyone was running away in fear. There was only one thing Giselle could do. "Someone's got to be the hero of the story."

She ran down the stairs, stopping next to the sword. Thinking her heels would probably wound Narissa, she removed one before glancing next to her. A blade, that would do more than just wound a dragon. Giselle grasped the golden handle of the sword, pulling it out of the floor. She darted across the ballroom floor, weapon in hand and dropping one of her shoes in the process.

Thunder and lightning clattered all around as heavy rain poured from the sky. The dragon scaled the building, Brendon yelling for help in her hand. "Let me go! Put me down! You're crazy!"

Then, she froze, yanking him up to her face. "No, spiteful, vindictive, very large but never crazy." 

Abruptly, she winced in pain, both looking down to see that Giselle had followed them up and had cut into the dragon's skin. "Giselle!"

"Oh, my. This is a twist on our story! It's the brave little princess coming to the rescue." Narissa glanced at the man in her hand. "I guess that makes you the damsel in distress, huh, handsome?" She began scaling the building once more, her tail swishing through the air. "Keep up with me, dear. It's time to take our tale to new heights!" 

Narissa climbed to the top of the building, clutching onto the spire as she cackled victoriously. Soon enough, her cackle turned into a fearsome roar that could be heard throughout the city.

Meanwhile, Nathaniel, Edward and Sarah were observing the battle from below. The men had both recovered from their casualties. Before heading out into the rain, Edward gave Sarah his cape to hold over her to head to be protected from the rain. 

They didn't know what to do to help their friends, until Pip came rolling along in his hamster ball that he was still trapped in. "Pip!" Edward picked him up, watching the chipmunk try and explain his plan. "You'd like to finally be released... to help Giselle... to best the beast. Why didn't you say so in the first place?"

He facepalmed yet relieved that the prince eventually understood his messages. Edward unscrewed the lid, allowing Pip to escape and scale the building. 

"Narissa! I'm not going to let you take him!" Giselle yelled, swinging her sword at her.

"We're coming to the end of our story now. Are you at the edge of your seat, Giselle?" The dragon flapped her tail against her podium, startling her. "Just DYING to know how it ends?"

Beside her, Pip had managed to catch up to her. "Pip!"

He saluted her before climbing up the rest of the building to get to Narissa. "How about this: "And they all lived happily ever after!" Well, at least I did!" She laughed in Brendon's face, ready to crush him between her fingers. 

However, Pip remembered how he put weight on the ogre when trying to save Giselle, realising that it could be the key to stopping the dragon. He leapt on her head, causing her to move downwards. "Whoa, what?"

Attempting to hold on, she threw Brendon out of her hand and into the air. He screamed, falling back to Earth. Nevertheless, Giselle targeted the sword at him, successfully catching his sleeve on the broken spire and holding him up. 

On the other hand, Narissa's fingers began to slip off the spire. Unable to hold on any longer, she finally fell. She tried to recite her transformation spell to save her life. But, as she fell, she crashed into a pillar midst spell. The queen was immensely injured and screamed as she plummeted to the ground, losing the battle. As she hit the tarmac road below, her body vanished and became sparkly dust right where the ambulance crews were arriving.

Giselle glimpsed back at Brendon, who's sleeve was ripping off. He swung his left hand onto the spire, then the other. "Brendon! Hold on!" He tried his hardest to hold on, but the metal was too wet from the rain. Pip leapt over to him, pulling his fingers. However, it wasn't enough to stop him from falling.

Further below, she put her arms out to catch him, ultimately falling with him down the side of the roof. They tumbled down, Brendon grabbing onto Giselle, both screaming. The couple continued to slide down, unable to stop. 

Luckily, the end of the roof managed to bounce them back, leaving them squatting on the roof in relief. They gasped, gazing down at the New York street that was full of cars, police and ambulances all unaware of what just happened.

Brendon stared back at Giselle, smiling at her. She raised a hand, fondling his cheek. "Is this a habit of yours? Falling off of stuff?" She joked, reciting the question he asked her a few days ago.

"Only when you're around to catch me." He said as they passionately began to kiss on a rooftop, high off the ground. 

But they didn't care. They had each other. They had true love.

***

Two more chapters left! May I just say that I wrote this whole book in just under a week! I am amazed and strangely proud of myself!

- Alice ❤