This story is a fairy tale of sorts, told in an old fashioned way, if you've ever read, say, St. George the Dragon Slayer, or King Arthur, or any other aged tales. It was taken from the third chapter of my Lord of the Rings story Belonging to Someone; my character Rhian, a young woman who finds herself in Middle Earth, begins telling a story, made up on the spot of course. I thought it might be enjoyed by a wider audience (aforementioned LOTR fic has as of this writing a grand total of two reviews from the same person); the story is incomplete, because it is supposed to feature a troll and a prince as well as a princess and a dragon, AND they're supposed to be at Camelot, with the princess in the tower guarded by the troll and the prince at the gate (read third chapter of Belonging to Someone for an explaination) and I know how it will all come about, I just need to take the time to write it down, and I probably won't until it's needed in my other story, because I'm a lazy bum (surprise surprise). But enough of me rambling. I've probably scared any readers off by now, but...

An Ancient Tale
by Kathryn Angelle

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a beautiful princess named Briyann, who was the daughter of a great king, his only child and a warrior in her own right. She traveled far and wide, seeking adventure, until one day she came to a distant land that was plagued by a dark and terrible dragon called Raygen who breathed his fiery breath on the fields and withered the crops, unless the king, a sickly aged man, sent out a maiden from the city walls for him to devour. When Briyann rode into that place, she found much weeping, for the king's daughter, a fine lady and true, had made up her mind to go to the dragon and would not be detered. When Briyann had heard all this, she said to the king's daughter 'Let me go to be the dragon's maiden, for my blade is strong, and with the help of heaven perhaps I may slay this foul creature.' The king's daughter agreed, 'But,' she said, 'if you do not suceed and the dragon returns I shall be the one to go and none shall stop me.' To this they agreed, and the next day the king's daughter took Briyann and clothed her in white, girdled about her waist with a silken cord of blood red, and Briyann took her sword in one hand, and a shield bearing the device of a silver falcon in the other, and went out of the city gates alone with none beside or behind her, and before her the dragon. And when she reached the dragon's lair, deep in the mountains, she called for it to do battle with her, or be named a coward. The dragon Raygen came forth from his cave, fire shedding from his nostirels, to see who would so defy him. When he saw that it was a maid who spoke so bravely, he laughed, and flame spread from his jaws, but inwardly he quaked, for he could see that her heart was strong and brave. He set upon her fiercly, with wing and fang and claw, and the blood of both stained the ground until, with what strength was left her, she cleaved the creature's head from its shoulders, and it fell dead at her feet. Briyann sank down in a faint from weariness, and the next day when she did not return, the king's daughter, thinking her dead, went out of the gates alone as Briyann had done. When she reached the dragon's lair she called out, but there was none to answer her, for the dragon was dead and Briyann dead to the world, though her heart beat yet in her breast. Finally, after some time past, the king's daughter went down into the cave, and found the beast beheaded and Briyann lying still, and mourned her; but then, wait! For Briyann's shield where it lay by her cheek was misted with her breath, and when the king's daughter saw this she rejoiced, and bent to tend her wounds. And soon she was revived and her eyes opened, and she bid the king's daughter to take the red girdle from about her waist and bind the dragon's head with it, that it may be brought back to the city for proof, and that her horse be brought, for she would return home to the land of her birth. This was done, and with much rejoicing was Bryianne given a hero's leave of that country.

This story is loosely based on a story of St. George, which is where the red girdle, or kirtle in some versions, comes from, but instead featuring a female knight, who is loosely based on Bradamante (if anyone knows where I can find more information on Bradamante, pleeease email me! My research yields little). The Silver Falcon crest is important, if you plan to read the story this comes from, and the story I plan to follow it (if, in several years time, you contact me and say 'did you ever write such and such', expect me to deny ever knowing you, unless of course I actually did it). Oh yes, and please review! I live for reviews, give me a review and I will love you forever!