Elijah Mikaelson & The Dragon's Quest

Chapter 43

The Prophet laughed at Elijah's threat returning to his table and picking up the key again. Elijah continued, "Prophet, did you know my wife is quite a remarkable woman? I fell in love with her from the first moment I laid eyes on her." The Prophet commented that Angelica was quite beautiful. Elijah replied, "Yes, she is absolutely gorgeous, but the world is filled with gorgeous women. It is her spirit, Prophet. She has the soul of a warrior. She was moments away from death and she quite literally remained in the battle until her dying breath. She is quite tenacious. She is determined. And she is fiercely protective of those she loves."

Angelica had begun to stir, the effects of the spell were wearing off and she was regaining consciousness. She opened her eyes to which the Prophet commented, "Good, good, no sense in me suffering alone to your husband's final words."

Elijah laughed softly, then continued, "Angelica has a great capacity for love and forgiveness, and that is an extremely rare quality. But she does have her limits." Angelica looked toward Elijah as he spoke. The Prophet focused on his table as he prepared to speak the incantation that would unlock the portal inside of Elijah's mind.

"Do you play chess, Prophet?" asked Elijah. Annoyed, the Prophet answered that he did, on occasion. "Well, my wife is a grand master at the game. I am not ashamed to tell you that I have never won a single match against her, not once, and I am quite good at the game." The Prophet shot back, snarkily, "Would you like me to bring you a set so you can lose one last game to your wife? I will if that will shut you up."

Elijah continued, "I would certainly love to play chess with her, I have come close to winning, or at least I thought I was close. I would capture her pieces but just when I thought I had her, she made her move. She is very patient when it comes to battle plans and strategy. Again, she is quite remarkable and a master of surprise."

"Mr. Mikaelson, is there a point to all of this?" Elijah squinted his eyes slightly at the Prophet, "Of course there is a point. I am sharing with you where you made your biggest mistake so that you know why it is you died today." The Prophet laughed as he picked up the Key again and turned toward Elijah, inquiring, "My mistake?"

"Oh yes, you see, my Angelica is an expert at strategy and she has that remarkable capacity for forgiveness. But she is more than a brilliant mind. She is more than just a beautiful creature. She is more than a fierce warrior. She is a Mikaelson, and Mikaelsons do not take kindly to attacks against our family. There is no room for forgiveness for those that violate her code of conduct. You see, she spent five years eliminating unsired vampires who sought to harm my brother. Those she marked disappeared without a trace. She spent months tracking a criminal street gang that terrorized innocents around a local community. Every member of this gang was given a death sentence for their atrocities. The entire group disappeared without a trace. But you, Prophet, you put our son's life in danger when you chose to go after Davina Claire and Bonnie Bennett in Mystic Falls. And that is where you made your fatal error and for that, you," Elijah paused as he looked around the mill at all the remaining Coven members that had gathered there to witness their victory, "and your entire Coven, will pay the ultimate price."

"Such a heart-warming story, Mr. Mikaelson. But seeing as how I have both you and your wife incapacitated, and I am soon to open the portal between realms, it is you who will disappear without a trace. It is you who has made the fatal mistake when you thought you would defeat the Pentadeae." Elijah smiled as he dropped his head then raised it back up, "Perhaps, Prophet, or perhaps not. You have your Pentadeae, but I ... well, I ... have a Dragon."

At that moment, screamer grenades sounded followed by an explosion that blew open the entryway into the mill, sending shards of wood and plaster and other shrapnel flying into the room, killing several witches in the process. The Prophet's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open in surprise at the unforeseen attack. He stared at Elijah as Elijah seethed, "No one hurts my family and lives, no one." Elijah pulled the restraints taut just as a streak of dragon fire connected with the beam and the restraints, and both disintegrated in mere seconds. Elijah was free.

Behind Elijah, the Prophet saw the impossible. Dragonetti vampires swarmed into the mill, quickly felling the Pentadeae witches but it was their leader that caught the Prophet's gaze. It was Angelica. The Prophet looked to the table where Angelica lay then back to the Angelica that had just walked into the mill through that gaping hole surrounded by smoke and dust and debris. Freya Mikaelson was with her giving the Dragonetti vampires a magical advantage.  As the battle raged on, vampire versus witch, the Prophet was momentarily frozen as he tried to reconcile what he was seeing, "How were there two Angelicas?" he thought. The Angelica on the altar offered the answer. She strained against her bonds and was able to reach the pendant that hung from her neck, with a simple pull she broke the chain. As she did so, the appearance of Angelica vanished revealing instead a female vampire member of the security detail. The Prophet was taken aback at how he had been fooled by such a basic witch trick.

Elijah advanced on the Prophet but was propelled back by the Prophet's magic. The Prophet recovered quickly and began to incant the spell that would allow the Celestial Key to unlock the portal secreted within Elijah's own being. Elijah writhed in pain as the spell forced him to his knees. The Prophet continued to chant the ancient language as he stood in front of Elijah, Celestial Key in hand. But the Prophet had done exactly what Elijah wanted him to do.

As the Prophet raised his arms up with the Celestial Key, his spell nearly finished, Elijah knocked the Prophet off his feet and pinned the Prophet to the ground, his arms still raised above his head, holding the Celestial Key. "Now, Angelica, Now!" yelled Elijah. Angelica sent her dragon fire streaming at Elijah and the Prophet. Both were on fire but only the Prophet screamed in agony as his body was consumed by the deadly fire. As Elijah glared into the Prophet's eyes, he whispered one single word to the Prophet, the last word the Prophet would ever hear, "Checkmate."

The dragon fire dripped off of Elijah and dissipated without a trace, revealing that Elijah had not been harmed by the flames at all. Elijah ripped the Prophet's arms from his body as they gripped the Celestial Key. Elijah was careful not to touch the Key itself not knowing whether the spell had been completed. Charlie rushed to Elijah and secured the key inside the ornate box from which it had been housed, slamming the lid shut. Freya sealed the box shut with a powerful spell.  Charlie would add this deadly item to the collection of dark objects  contained within the Dragonetti vaults.  Elijah dropped the severed limbs onto the remnants of the Prophet's smoldering remains and they too soon disintegrated into nothing but ash.

Elijah turned around in time to see the last of the Pentadeae witches fall. Angelica sent streams of dragon fire through the mill, removing all traces of the deadly Coven. The ashes of the witches blended with the sawdust on the mill floor, disappearing into nothingness. Charlie freed the Angelica imposter from the table as Angelica walked up to her husband. She paused as she stood in front of him, the mill dust swirling in the air around them like a fog. Angelica bit her lower lip slightly, not sure of what to say to her husband, but Elijah filled in the gap as he embraced her and kissed her firmly on the lips. "So, you're not angry with me then, my Love?" she asked, coyly. "My darling wife, I am absolutely livid that you kept me in the dark," he paused as he looked around the mill, now quiet as the Dragonetti vampires surveilled their handiwork, "but I forgive you. You put your King in jeopardy to bring your opponent out into the open. You clever, clever, girl."