Dragon Heart

Chapter 5

Prince Nicholas woke to screams in the distance. He looked over to the tree. That fool girl escaped. He grabbed his sword noticing that it was moved. He shook his head. The princess truly loved that beast, he was lucky that she didn't kill him in his sleep.

Judging by the screaming, the princess had not found herself in a better situation. He could take his heart and go home and save himself. If he explained to the Northern King that the princess ran away then there should be no reason for the Northern Nation to attack. Or better yet, he could tell the King that the dragon ate the girl before he arrived to rescue her.  Then he could use the heart to break the curse and marry the woman that he truly loved and nobody would be the wiser about the princess's fate.

As tempting as it was, Nicholas couldn't leave the girl to her own devices. She could barely handle his sword, there was no way she would manage on her own through the goblin and troll infested country side.

He grabbed his knapsack and sword and stumbled in the directions of the screams. The witch's curse was upon him and he felt the venom in his body making him sick. Prince Nicholas could barely walk and would be dead in a week if it were not for the heart he carried in his knapsack. "Please forgive me for what I have done." He said aloud to the bag he carried.

"I wanted to save my own life and if I knew that the soul I took was good." He choked. "I'm sorry. Help me protect her."

The prince tried to run at a steady pace with each step he felt the witch's venom inching closer to his heart. He should just take the heart and leave the woman who vowed to kill him behind.  But he couldn't, even if it were to his own detriment.  

He smelled them before he saw them. The stench of trolls hung in the air like rotting fart. The princess was surrounded by three of the giant ugly orange monsters.

"I heard you would like to marry a troll." One of them said grabbing the princess's arm and smiling at her with black rotting teeth. He moved his mouth in for a kiss and she tried to turn her face away. Not that Nicholas could blame her.

"Oh, what the hell," he said aloud before trotting to the troll who held Olympia with his sword drawn. He brought his sword down on the troll's arm cutting it straight off at the shoulder. However, the arm kept its grip on Olympia even though it was no longer attached to its body.

Green Goo spurted from the arm hole before the orange troll fell over from a lack of blood. The other two trolls stalked towards Nicholas clumsily showing their sharp rotting fangs. Nicholas lost the element of surprise and the two trolls were going to eat him alive.

Olympia fought with the arm clutching her, finally freeing herself. She dropped to the ground to grab the knife that the troll was holding in his other hand.

Nicholas lunged at one of the Trolls. He had to keep them out of breathing distance, especially since the stench of their breath could make him faint. He didn't need any help passing out, not with only being at half energy thanks to the witch's curse.

They cornered him and Nicholas could only take one troll out. He stuck the closest one with the pointy end of the sword, expecting to feel the sharp fangs of the other troll sinking into his neck. Olympia jumped up with the troll knife and stabbed the other troll with the little knife. Both orange trolls fell to the grounds with thuds.

"I think it shat itself!" Olympia said covering her nose and mouth trying to avoid the stench.

"You saved me." Nicholas said facing the princess.

"Well you know what they say: The enemy of my enemy is still my enemy." She said holding the gut and blood-soaked knife to Nicholas's throat.

He didn't know if it was the stench of the troll or the witch's curse but Nicholas felt himself crash to the ground before he passed out.