Outcasts and Royals

Chapter 17

Meanwhile, the wedding of Prince Nathaniel and Princess Madeline had begun. The two royals began to walk down the aisle, Madeline in her simple yet elegant white gown and Nathaniel in his royal gold tunic, bejeweled crown, and five-yard long fur cape, up to where the minister was waiting.

"Dearly beloved. Today, we witness the union between Princess Madeline of Katrela and Prince Nathaniel Frederick Oliver Gregorious Clancy Humphrey Archibald Leopold Edmund Kristian the Ninth of Xebia. If anybody has a reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace," the minister began.

All of a sudden, there was a giant crash from the window. Everyone looked to where it was coming from and realized it was Mercuris the Malicious on a dragon!

"Who on earth are you, and why must you interrupt my wedding like this?" Nathaniel whined.

"I am Mercuris the Malicious and am here to destroy the kingdom!" Mercuris announced to the crowd.

"Not if we can help it!" Erik yelled as he and the rest of his friends entered the chapel through the broken window.

"You know, I secretly hoped that I would never see Mercuris again, but in this case, I'll allow it," Madeline thought to herself.

"Who are you?" the priest asked Damien.

"We helped Madeline escape Mercuris and are now here to defeat him once and for all. Right now, you need to get out of here with the rest of the crowd!" Damien urgently exclaimed.

"Well, if you insist, I will see you later," the priest replied as he ran out of the chapel with the rest of the wedding guests.

"Don't forget about me!" Nathaniel yelled as he sprinted down the aisle.

"Seriously, Your Supreme, Handsome, Intelligent, Powerful, Highness Prince Nathaniel Frederick Oliver Gregorious Clancy Humphrey Archibald Leopold Edmund Kristan the Ninth of Xebia? You were able to rescue Madeline on your own with supposedly little to no help. I bet you would be able to take Mercuris down with assistance from those people over there," Francis explained before closing the chapel door.

"What do we do now?" Erik asked after the door was closed.

"You group of outcasts, you may have been able to free Princess Madeline from my enchanted tower, but you'll never be able to defeat me one-on-one," Mercuris told his opponents. "Spot, get them!" he commanded the dragon as he jumped off its back. As Spot began to fly around, ready for action, Damien and Erik approached the wizard. As the battle ensued, Nathaniel hid under one of the benches.

Spot chased the girls into the corner and looked ready to attack.

"Spot? Is that your name?" Katherine asked the beast.

The dragon's pupils widened as he looked at the girls inquisitively.

"Were you the one that tried to attack the kingdom of Saradore?" Madeline questioned, recalling one of the stories Mercuris had told her while she was his prisoner.

Spot nodded.

"What are you doing?" Sylvia whispered, confused by the girls' actions while not wanting to anger the beast.

"Did you really want to attack the kingdom, or were you forced?" Madeline asked Spot while ignoring Sylvia's question.

"We're trying to tame the beast and make him not want to kill us," Katherine told Sylvia.

"Would you like to make some true friends and help save hundreds of innocent people?" Madeline said to Spot while rubbing his head.

Spot nodded once again and allowed Madeline, Katherine, and Sylvia to climb on his back.

"Now, you measly group of mortals, prepare to meet your doom," Mercuris said as he cast a spell on Damien and Erik. They suddenly found themselves hanging on for dear life from an ornate candelabra suspended near the ceiling, high above the stone floor below.

"Hey, Mercuris! Why not pick on somebody your own size?" Sylvia taunted the wizard on Spot's back.

"What? Three girls were able to tame Spot the Sinister with no magical powers of your own? That does it!" Mercuris exclaimed as the room all of a sudden started to fill with black smoke.

"What's going on?" Katherine asked as the girls and Spot rushed toward the ceiling to rescue Damien and Erik, bringing them safely onto Spot's back.

"Since you told me to pick on someone my own size, I have decided to make the playing grounds more even!" Mercuris declared as the smoke settled to reveal that he had transformed himself into a giant dragon!