The Legend of Princess Wildheart

by Snowder, Thomas

  “From what I saw, both of you seemed to have eyes for each other Prince. I say go for it. She won’t be common anymore if she marries you Prince,” said Prince Morgan.

  “Thanks Morgan. I respect your opinion. See you all in the morning,” said Prince Tangent, standing and walking a few feet away to lie on his bedroll.

  “I think we should sleep right here. The fire is warming and I am already comfortable with you in my arms,” said Prince Morgan to Princess Wildheart, pulling a blanket over them.

  “I’m not moving, this is perfect for me,” she replied giving him a kiss. “What is your Kingdom of Caledon like Morgan?”

  “Caledon is great. It has a substantial amount of lands and a large castle. It is a prosperous community where people thrive and gladly pay taxes to the Kingdom. I believe you will feel at home there Princess. Everyone will welcome you and adore you just as they do here in Rose Kingdom. We have a large army to serve us. Duke is the commander over the entire army.”

  “It sounds wonderful Morgan. I can’t wait to go there with you.”

  “I can’t wait to introduce you to everyone Princess. They will love you.”

  The two of them were soon asleep along with Duke and Pricilla. It was a clear night as the firelight faded and the only sound was that of the spring bubbling gently nearby as the group slept with ease this night.

  FOURTEEN

  Princess Wildheart woke up early still warmed by the glowing red embers of the campfire. She looked at Prince Morgan still sleeping. She began thinking what a fine husband he would be and the children they could have together. She knew that the future would be wonderful with her Prince. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of a twig cracking near Prince Tangent who was still sleeping. She could barely make out a dark figure bent over his saddle, going through his things. The Princess grabbed her sword and slid it quietly from the sheath. She slowly stood up and walked over to the darkened figure which had his back to her. Startled by her footsteps, the thief jumped up when she was just a few feet away from him. He wielded a small sword, pointing it at the Princess. She did not hesitate in swinging her sword, striking his small sword and knocking it from his hands to the ground. She slashed the thief across the shoulder and rammed the butt of her sword into his forehead, knocking him to the ground on his back. The others awoke at the commotion, still bleary eyed from their sleep as the thief lay on the ground holding his bleeding shoulder. Princess Wildheart held the point of her sword to the chest of the thief.

  “Please don’t kill me Princess Wildheart!”

  “You know of me? Why should I not finish you thief?”

  “I am but a humble servant of Prince Darksoul. I was told to follow you all and see where you go. Please, I was only searching for a few coins for myself. Please don’t kill me!”

  “Prince Darksoul? Today you shall be spared your life thief. Go and tell Prince Darksoul that Princess Wildheart will not be intimidated by him and show him your wound as proof of that! Now be gone with you,” she said raising her sword to strike again.

  “Yes, Princess, I will tell him as you say,” said the thief, rising up and running for his life.

  Princess Wildheart wiped the blood from her sword on some grass and returned it to the sheath.

  “Lucky for me you woke when you did Princess, thank you,” said Prince Tangent.

  “I dislike thieves, lucky for him I didn’t plunge my sword into his heart,” said the Princess.

  The others were awake now with swords in their hands. Still stunned by what had happened.

  “I’ll restart the fire and make us some hot tea and biscuits. Well done Princess, I am proud of you,” said Pricilla, smiling at the Princess.

  “I’ll say! You were brilliant dear!”

  Prince Morgan gave her a kiss. He was proud of the way she handled the thief.

  “I have my moments,” she said smiling.

  They all enjoyed the quick breakfast Pricilla had made. It was now time to pack up and continue their journey in search of the missing brothers. Prince Morgan was again riding next to Duke in the lead as the others rode behind them.

  “That Prince Darksoul is going to continue to be a pain until we deal with him Duke.”

  “I agree that we must do something to discourage him. For now though, more pressing business at hand,” said Duke.

  Prince Morgan nodded. The group was now very deep inside of the Dark Forest. The trees were huge and provided a massive canopy overhead that blocked out most sunlight to the forest floor below.

  “I believe on the other side of this forest we will find the Barbarians encampment Princess,” said Prince Morgan.

  “How far away do you think that is?”

  “I figure it to be maybe a few hours or half days ride at most from this point,” said Prince Morgan.

  “Good I will be happy to meet those who bring grief to my family. Let them experience my vengeance.”

  “I believe that Wildheart, your quite good with that Princess sword of yours.”

  “I told you I was and so is Pricilla. You will see for yourself that we two girls are a mighty force to deal with,” said Princess Wildheart, smiling.

  Both girls giggled as they continued riding through the Dark Forest.

  “Beautiful horse Princess,” said Prince Morgan. “What is her name?”

  “Yes she is. I named her Mystical. Father bought her for me when I was still a child. Mystical is a great horse. Fast, and smart, I love riding her,” said Princess Wildheart, patting Mystical.

  “What about your horse Morgan?”

  “This is freedom. I have had him since I was a boy. We have been on many adventures together and he is like a family member to me,” said Prince Morgan smiling.”

  “This forest gives me the chills,” said Pricilla.

  “It is dark but you will be safe. I won’t let anything happen to you my love,” said Duke.

  “I love you Duke,” said Pricilla.

  “And I love you my darling,” said Duke

  They traveled about another half hour into the forest before they came across a large fallen tree blocking the pathway. The group had to dismount their horses and walk them around the fallen tree and then back onto the path again which appeared to be clear ahead of them. Suddenly, from out of nowhere in particular they came under assault by hundreds of tiny arrows. Most of the tiny three to four inch arrows just bounced off of the light armor and leather the group wore. However, a few managed to pierce through clothing and stick into flesh underneath. They were easily pulled out since they did not penetrate deeply, leaving only small surface wounds on the skin. Prince Tangent was the first to feel the bite of one of the small arrows by being struck in the stomach.

  “Ouch! What is going on here?”

  Prince Tangent grabbed his stomach, removing the small arrow from his flesh.

  “I’ve been hit by a tiny arrow!”

  Prince Morgan knew what to do.

  “Everyone dismount now and find cover!” He yelled. “Duke, protect the girls!”

  He pushed Princess Wildheart to the ground underneath himself to shelter her from the tiny arrows which kept coming.

  Duke did the same by covering Pricilla with his body to protect her. The arrows continued to bounce off until one found its mark into Pricilla’s leg and another in Duke’s shoulder. Prince Morgan took an arrow to his thigh. Everyone had been struck except Princess Wildheart by the small arrows. The attack stopped as suddenly as it began as the group lye on the forest floor. Princess Wildheart, still lying protected under Prince Morgan looked around. She could see Prince Tangent lying a few feet away, not moving. Duke and Pricilla were also and still along with Prince Morgan who was still on top of her. She tried to wake him up.

  “Wake up! Please wake up!”

  No one was moving or making any sounds. Princess Wildheart began to cry.

  “No! It can’t be! My love! My friends! All gone! No!”

  She lay there crying softly for a m
oment and then wriggled out from under Prince Morgan. She rose to her feet standing above Prince Morgan’s motionless body in the middle of the Dark Forest. Kneeling down to him with tears rolling down her cheeks she called to him again.

  “Please wake up! You are the love of my life and you can’t die, you just can’t!”

  Princess Wildheart fell down on top of him with her head on his chest crying softly.

  A small figure appeared from the trees and came walking up slowly to the group. It was a very tiny female wood elf which had a skirt fashioned from large leaves coming from the forest. A tiny leaf top covered her breasts. Tree bark sandals tied with vines were on her feet. Her hair was short cropped and her ears rather pointed. Her skin had a slight blue greenish tint to it.

  “You are my prisoner!”

  FIFTEEN

  Princess Wildheart looked up from her crying to see the tiny figure who was barking the command. Anger filled her as she stood up and pulled out her Princess Sword.

  “Your prisoner you say! Look what you have done to my love and my friends Elf! I shall slay you right here!”

  Princess Wildheart raised her Princess Sword to strike a blow.

  “Don’t move or you will befall the sleeping fate of the others!”

  Many more elves began to come out from behind bushes with tiny arrows notched in their bows. With that many arrows pointed at her, the Princess had no choice but to agree to the elf’s commands.

  “I am Chelsi, leader of the Wood Elf Army in the Dark Forest,” said the elf. “Make one move with that sword and we will unleash many arrows into your flesh.”

  “Oh? While I may take a few arrows to my flesh, you will have no head elf!”

  The Princess still held her Princess Sword raised up high to strike a death blow.

  “Princess Wildheart will be no one’s prisoner, especially a small forest creature as you! Having killed all those I love here, it would be only fitting for you to feel the vengeance of my Princess Sword!”

  “Wait! You say you are a Princess and your friends are dead? No! They are alive! Not dead. Those are sleep arrows! They only make you sleep!”

  Chelsi stepped back from the enraged Princess Wildheart as she prepared to strike with her Princess sword.

  “Sleeping? Only sleeping you say? Thank goodness, my love and my friends are still alive!”

  Princess Wildheart sheathed her Princess Sword.

  “Sleep arrows huh? So when will they awake from this sleep?”

  “They should all awaken in a couple of hours when the potion wears off. They have not been harmed aside from a few small puncture wounds they got from the arrows,” said Chelsi. “You are still my prisoner and will have to come with me to our village and stand before the queen. Then you will be judged by her,” said Chelsi.

  “Did I not make myself clear Elf?”

  Princess Wildheart glared at the elf while tapping her sword.

  “I am Princess Wildheart from the great Rose Kingdom north of here. No one will be judging me or taking me as a prisoner!”

  Princess Wildheart drew her Princess Sword once again as the elves continued to hold their bows aimed at her.

  “Must I take your life to convince you Chelsi?”

  “No! Please! Just follow me to meet our queen. We will bring your friends and your belongings. Please! Just follow me Princess Wildheart,” said Chelsi.

  “Alright Chelsi, I will follow you. You better just watch your step though! Anything goes wrong and you will be the first to die,” said Princess Wildheart.

  The elves put the Princess Wildheart’s friends and Prince Morgan onto small wooden handmade sleds. Then the elves tied the sleds to their horses, along with their belongings. The elves led the horses, dragging the sleds and occupants behind them. Princess Wildheart who towered above the tiny three foot tall elves walked with Chelsi in front of the group down the path. She glanced back to see that everyone was still out cold being led along by the many elves. There were close to a hundred elves following behind her by her best guess. She became aware of the amulet that Prince Morgan had given her. The merchant woman had called it the “Amulet of Protection.” This must be why she had not been harmed. Princess Wildheart noticed that all of the elves were female. All were dressed like Chelsi in clothing fashioned from leaves with the tree bark sandals. Their leafy skirts and tops covered their small pixie bodies which appeared to have the same attributes as her body did. She looked closer at Chelsi as they walked along. Her skin had a mild greenish blue tint to her otherwise milky white complexion. Atop her slightly pointed ears her hair had a light blue tint. Chelsi packed a small bow on her back with a quiver filled with tiny unused arrows like the ones that struck her group. A small vine like belt held a brown pouch hanging by her side. Chelsi, like the other elves who were all dressed the same, made no noise at all as they walked along the forest path. The only sounds Princess Wildheart could hear were the sounds of her own footsteps and the horses as they drug the sleds behind them. She could hear birds and the trees leaves rustle in the slight wind as they walked but not one sound from the elves. She looked at the other elves following them. All looked different in the face from each other and had different sized and bodies but all were very close in size to each other.

  “How much further Chelsi?”

  Princess Wildheart had now calmed down and was eager to get on with things to tend to her mission. Chelsi looked straight ahead as she continued to walk.

  “Not much further, the village is just there ahead of us.”

  The pathway began to wind as the forest cleared out a bit allowing more light through the trees. Up ahead a small village came into view along the path. They came upon a clear small stream with a small wooden bridge arching over the top of it. Across the bridge she could see that there were many beautiful plants and flowers on the other side. This was a very beautiful land with many flowers, plants and lush vegetation everywhere. There were many animals running around such as rabbits and deer that stopped to look at them as they passed by. Bees and butterflies were darting from flower to flower gathering their pollen. The filtered light from the trees cast a faint golden glow to the entire surroundings. Looking further ahead, Princess Wildheart could see many tiny cottages on the ground and in the trees above. The ground cottages were grouped together. In the trees the cottages were connected by a series of tiny wooden bridges which formed pathways through them. All of the buildings looked sturdy and well cared for. Very cute and cozy thought Princess Wildheart to herself. As she drew even closer, she could now see that the tiny buildings were constructed of wood, vine and other forest products that had been gathered by the elves. There were bits of forest plants and some animal hides woven into the shelters. The village was teeming with life as hundreds of tiny female elves went about their daily lives. Some would stop for a moment and glance at the group as they passed but they quickly returned to their tasks at hand. The procession continued down the path through a fruit orchard and some grapevines which were being tended by the elves. There were many small huts along the way with elves busy at work, making wine from the grapes or filling baskets fashioned from long grass blades with fruit from the orchards. They passed more huts where elves were making carts and tiny furniture from forest wood. As the path widened a larger, more substantial dwelling appeared before them.

  “This palace is where the Queen lives,” said Chelsi. “We will put your horses and belongings next to that spring pond over there,” said Chelsi, pointing at a clear water pond off to the side of them.

  Chelsi instructed the other elves to make some soft beds for the sleeping group near the pond and care for their horses and belongings. There was a large canopy by the pond made of animal skin and the elves fashioned soft moss beds under it for the sleeping group. They gently placed their bodies onto the soft beds under the canopy.

  “The sleep potent will wear off soon and your friends will be awake,” said Chelsi.

  Some of the elves cleaned and bandaged the wound
s left by the tiny arrows. The rescue group continued to sleep under the effects of the knock out powder.

  Chelsi and Princess Wildheart walked to the front of the palace. It had a few tiny steps in front leading up to a large porch with a half a dozen chairs and an elaborate wooden throne. The throne was made of some sort of wood which appeared to be different than the other wood in the village. The entire palace was under guard by many elves. A giant tree stood behind the palace, guarding it from the elements with its huge limbs towering above it.

  “Wait here please, while I announce you to our queen,” said Chelsi.

  Princess Wildheart did as she asked. Soon six elves emerged from the palace and stood behind the chairs on the porch. They wore short skirts made from animal hides and small furry tops. Their hair was long and each had small crowns on their head. The Queen emerged with Chelsi and took her place, sitting on the throne as the others sat in the chairs on either side of her. Two guards with small swords stood at the ready on either side of the throne to protect the Queen from harm. The Queen was dressed in what appeared to be a long green dress made of suede. She had leather boots which were tall and went up under her dress. She wore a golden crown on her head with some colored jewels embedded in it.

  Chelsi went down the steps to the Princess.

  “This is the one I spoke of your highness. She claims to be Princess Wildheart from the Rose Kingdom to the north. Her companions are sleeping on some moss beds over there by the pond,” said Chelsi pointing to the pond.

  “So you are a Princess. What business do you have passing through our forest? I must know what brings you here,” said the Queen.

  “Yes, I am Princess Wildheart from the great Rose Kingdom to the north of here and those sleeping over there near the pond are my friends. We needed to cross your land in order to save my brothers who have fallen into the hands of a Barbarian army which attacked a Rose Kingdom outpost. We were unaware of your Wood Elf Kingdom and trying to save time by cutting through the Dark Forest. That was when we were attacked by your elf army,” she said.