Once Upon a Time

TITLE: "Once Upon a Time"

AUTHOR: K.A. Vandlyn

Once upon a time, there was a young boy who led a simple life in a village. Although the village was a beautiful place glistening in a brilliant white snow cover, it was constantly under attack by bloodthirsty monsters seeking to plunder and destroy it. The other villagers grew used to these attacks and no longer took much mind to it—already having accepted it as a normal part of their life—but the boy grew frustrated and tired of seeing villagers go out and then never return. He sought out to find a way to defend and protect his home. 

The other villagers mocked and laughed at him, telling the boy that it was a useless and vain goal. He ignored them, paying them no mind. The boy trained with the rise and fall of the sun, growing stronger and stronger with each passing day. He soon rose to be the village’s youngest fiercest warrior and hunter.

Each night he sat in his room pondering and banging his head against the wall trying to design better defenses and weaponry. One sleepless night, he wandered the village and tripping over a rock made it click. He designed walls made of an ore that the village once deemed unusable and threw away. It was sturdier than wood and managed to better withhold against the attacks. The villagers did not approve. In fact, they mocked the structure and demanded the boy tear it down. However, the boy refused as he pleaded and begged for them to give it a chance. 

They gave him a fortnight. 

The monsters attacked one night and the walls stood strong, the creatures shot down from above.  The mockery quieted. And soon enough, the monsters became discouraged as more of their own were being slaughtered and the forces of darkness receded away. The villagers profusely thanked him, showering him with lavish gifts and praises.

Time passed and the boy, now a young man, soon grew bored–peace did not suit a child who grew up in a world of constant pain and destruction. He decided to leave the village for a new challenge to get the adrenaline back coursing through his blood. The villagers begged him not to leave, grasping at his hands and clothes, frightened of the monsters still lurking in the shadows, but the man refused, swearing that he would return. 

He left his home and traveled through the terrain meeting all sorts of new people: traders, artists, thieves, nobles, governors, murderers. His world expanded within each passing day. 

Sitting in a tavern resting after a battle with a giant that was terrorizing a village, the young man heard of an old legend of a dragon with scales as black as night, gray ridges that looked like shooting stars, and toxic yellow eyes that chilled the blood. It came from a land no one knew where and it would fly by once every century, slaughtering all who were unfortunate to be caught in its sight. Raising his glass, he swore that he would find the dragon and be the one to slay it, ending its reign of terror. Once again, everyone laughed and mocked him, but, much like before, he simply ignored their laughter and set out to find the dragon.

He has found his final grand adventure. 

The young man traveled far and wide and looked over every map, desperately trying to find the dragon’s home. He crossed every inch of land, every wave of the ocean, and looked under every stone, but he never found anything. Discouraged, he set himself on the path back to his home village, but having taken a wrong turn, he found himself somewhere new. The enchanted forest he stepped into took his breath away. The leaves were the colors of the rainbow, slowly fading into the other, webs wet with dew that shined like diamonds, and fireflies that lit his way with every step that he took. 

In awe, he explored the enchanted forest, finding lakes with fish the size of his arm, the dirt dark and rich with minerals, and berries that burst with sweetness and flavor in his mouth. 

He eventually stumbled across a mansion, which stood tall with daffodils sprouting around it and had a small stream running nearby. A sheep noticed the man and baad at him, before skipping off into the distance. Walking up to the massive doors, he reached out his fist to knock, when the doors swung open. With widened eyes, he looked around but there was no one.  

Confused and his heartbeat beginning to quicken, he took a step inside, going against the heavy feeling in his gut. Its elegance and wealth was more than the young man had ever seen or dreamed of and the unsettling feeling was left forgotten. He explored every room, which to his delight and excitement, opened for him on command. 

He walked down a darker hallway and came across the door, waiting for it to open for him. But it never did. The young man tried to open the door but the handle was stuck, no matter how hard he jiggled it. He jumped at the door with his shoulder, attempting to break it down. 

The door creaked open, and a green mist slowly leaked out. The young man looked inside and his jaw dropped. He saw a large white frame placed on the floor in the center of the room. The middle sparkled as if the night sky itself was trapped inside. Treading toward it, he stuck his hand inside and felt his nerves spark as his vision turned yellow. He quickly retracted his hand, protectively holding it to his chest. He was relieved when his vision cleared. This was some sort of portal, but what did it lead to?

The young man looked around the room and walked to a sword mounted on the wall. Its hilt was decorated in yellow gems that he could see his reflection in, hanging casually on the wall, like a decoration. Carefully, he picked up the sword, surprised at its lightness. He slid off the sheath, setting it against the wall, and admired the sword whose blade glinted in the blue light. 

He pressed his palm against the blade and winced, looking at a bleeding cut that now decorated his hand. This sword was not a mere decoration, it was real. Who was able to craft such a beauty?

He looked back at the portal and stepped forward again, a little closer to it. He could feel a strong pull to it and the power emanating from it. After a moment of thought and hesitation, the young man leaped into the portal. 

Emerging from it, he found himself in a completely different world than his own. The ground was coarse, hard, and stone. Its color was a sickly black and made up many of the islands that were floating in the air. He wandered around in silent amazement, discovering more yellow gems that were twice his size and height. 

Fear struck the young man’s heart, however, when he discovered whose home this world belonged to. The man heard a roar above him and with a yelp, he ducked as a dark shadow consumed him. His heart thundered in his chest. He found the dragon. 

Unsheathing his new-found sword, he pointed the shining blade at the dragon, his vow to defeat it echoing through his mind. With a deep breath and a loud cry, he lunged into battle. 

The battle wasn’t easy nor was it quick, but with blood and cuts covering the young man’s body, he stood over the fallen dragon. He had won. To prove to the others back in his world, he cut off the dragon’s head as a trophy of his victory. 

The ground shook underneath him and his heart soared as a portal formed just a few feet away from his feet. Lightness filling in his chest, he blindly jumped into the portal, rolling back out into the room. Pulling himself back onto his feet, he slashed into the portal, breaking off a chunk of the portal’s frame. The portal sputtered and crackled before it died out. 

Slipping the chunk into a satchel and clutching the dragon’s head in his hand, he ran out of the mansion. Breathless, he stopped, leaning against a tree. He looked at the enchanted forest he once admired. Once. Now he looked at the forest with nothing but disgust. The unnatural coloring of the leaves. The fish. What more could it hide other than the dragon? The man had an undeniable feeling that every monster he fought to protect his home came from here–the forest that reeked with the overwhelming presence of something supernatural. Something vile.

 The man sprinted out and was overjoyed when he reached the end of the wicked forest. He made his way back to his village to which his heart had begun to ache for. However, on the way home, he came across a beautiful woman who had the voice of an angel, the cleverness of a fox, and whose eyes sparkled like a million stars. 

He fell in love with her and he asked for her hand in marriage. The woman said yes as she loved the man as well.

Together they returned to the village where villagers were eagerly waiting for his return and, after a few months, they got married surrounded by their loved ones. 

The villagers were afraid that the man would leave them again and, in an attempt to keep the man and woman in the village, they asked the two to lead them. The man and woman were deeply honored and agreed and so the villagers crowned the man and the woman as their king and queen. 

Years have passed and with putting forward their strength in and sacrificing their sleep, their small village steadily grew into a thriving kingdom, the Evergreen Kingdom. 

As the kingdom grew so did their family and the king and queen had three sons.

The eldest was a strong warrior whose skill with his weapons was like none other. He was able to defeat his masters and was rumored to be able to take down whole armies with a slash of his ax. 

The middle son was not like the eldest. He fought his battles with a stroke of his quill and through the sharpness of his words. He was a fine musician, playing the guitar with the grace of a swan, and inherited his mother’s angelic voice. 

The youngest was neither the best warrior nor was he able to end arguments with a single word. Instead, he had a fiery spirit for justice and a loyal heart. He was the most mischievous of the three, pulling pranks on unsuspecting servants. He was able to brighten the whole castle with his gleaming smile. The boy brought people together, distracting others from their worries, and stopped fights long before they began by simply redirecting their anger into laughter.

Their family grew well and strong with their kingdom, but all good things must come to an end. Nothing was ever truly permanent. 

The queen soon fell dreadfully sick, soon unable to leave her chambers. The king and her sons stood by her side as she closed her eyes and her breathing stilled. 

The kingdom was covered in darkness as everyone mourned the passing of their beloved queen. The king was devastated but tried to move on for the sake of his sons, even with the gaping hole in his heart that could never be filled again. The eldest cried, hugging himself as he tried to remain strong for his family. The middle son softly played his guitar, his tears falling onto his instrument. The youngest son’s smile lost its shine and the days passed by without a single prank, his laughter a distant memory. 

Time moved on and things began to settle into a new routine. The king held great pride for his three sons and would do anything for them. However, sometimes, nothing can be done and sometimes consequences arise from problems a person didn’t know existed.

The king over time forgot about the mansion and enchanted forest, busy with the kingdom he ruled with a steady hand and the grief for his deceased wife. Until one day an enchantress, with lavender locks cascading down her back, elvish ears, and wings shining of light, appeared in his office, accusing him of breaking into her home and disrupting the balance. She told him that he was to fix what he had done and threatened to curse his sons. 

 The king was enraged and ordered the enchantress to leave his kingdom and the enchantress became infuriated. In a fit of pure rage, she acted on her threat and cursed his eldest son.

A fine warrior, like none other, but with time, teeth will grow to fangs and the hunter shall become the hunted. 

The king ordered her to never return but true to the enchantress’s words, the eldest appearance began to deform— his teeth growing sharper, and fingers sharpening into claws. He began to hear small whispers in his head and fear struck his core whenever his vision became tinted in red and the whispers turned into screams twisting his mind. The eldest hid in his room, slinking in the shadows of the hallways turning away from his family in fear of hurting them. 

His younger brothers did not understand their oldest brother’s withdrawal and the king became distressed by his son’s misery.

The enchantress returned and the king begged for her to take back her curse, but she said what was done couldn't be undone. The king asked what he did to cause such suffering on his son. 

The enchantress, seeing that the king had still not learned his lesson and was still as ignorant, shook her head and cursed his middle son.

On the dawn of his tenth birthday, he will be there but never found. Always listening but never heard. Insanity will grip his mind and then he shall be gone.

The enchantress faded away, leaving the further distressed king behind. The king ordered for the middle son to never know, fearing how his son would react. He searched through every scroll and consulted with all his advisors, but he could not find a way to break the curse nor what it meant. He went into the forest screaming for the enchantress, tears running down his face, but there was no response. 

On the morning of the middle son’s tenth birthday, the king rushed into his son’s room crying out seeing the sheets empty. No matter the searches or tears wept, the middle son was never found. 

The eldest and the youngest mourned the loss of their dear brother as the king desperately went on many expeditions outside of his kingdom to find a cure for the enchantress’s curses and the enchantress herself.

One day the enchantress returned, giving the same warning to the king. The king was furious, having already gone through much pain and suffering from her hand, at the enchantress and ordered her to leave the castle and never return again. The enchantress wasn’t pleased with the disrespect and to give the king a final warning, she cursed his youngest— a young child walking amongst the rose gardens, not understanding why his brother no longer spoke to him. A life of sorrow and pain shall take over, as roses grow and live and die, his life will be but thorns.

The king jumped to apologize but the curse already left her lips, sealing the youngest brother’s fate. The enchantress vowed to never return again and any consequences from the king’s negligence no longer concerned her. 

The king’s heart cracked and hardened with burning anger. With a stroke of his quill, he banned magic and anyone found using it would be sent to the enchantment forest to their deaths. And as he said, so it was done.