The Dragon and St. Egroeg
Once upon a time, in a far away land...
A wizard named Mither pulled a cloak over his midnight blue robes, and removed his hat before placing the hood over his greying, brown, wiry hair. He examined his reflection in the mirror. Unfortunately, the shadow the cloak cast over his face was not enough to hide his appearance, so he muttered, "Occultaba se veran meas," and no longer looked his wizened old self.
Mither now appeared as younger looking, maybe mid-thirties, and his nose had shrunk a considerable amount. His eyes were slightly wonky, with bushy eyebrows covering them slightly. His eyes were the same shade of brown, but that wasn't an unusual colour for eyes anyway.
Satisfied, he stalked out of his small home and into the dark woodlands neighbouring them.
Wolves howled, trees creaked and the wind blew, but nothing frightened Mither in the least - he was highly skilled in magic, and after what he would obtain tonight, no one would dare cross him again.
He slipped down a path which no ordinary human would have noticed, and followed the winding path until he reached a clearing - a dead end. The leaves of the trees surrounding the place didn't quite touch at the middle, leaving a hole where a shaft on moonlight shone through.
A deer darted across the clearing, and Mither knew he had come to the right place. He whirled his cloak around him, and said, "Ulti sequita animai visus oculi." A breeze surrounded him, and only his vague figure could be seen - it was as if he was a part of the force. The wind followed the deer, until it stopped by a stone table between two young trees. On the table was a large glowing green stone, like a beautiful, smoothly cut garnet. Still in the breeze, Mither said, "Probihere," and was his normal, disguised self once more.
He reached forward and touched the stone. It made a high-pitched noise like wind chimes. Mither smiled, and picked up the stone, then returned home.
The wizard placed the stone on the fire.
"There we are, little one. It was too cold in the forest, wasn't it?" he said fondly to the stone, which shook as if in agreement.
Hours later, he was still sitting there, waiting. But his waiting had paid off, for the stone began to shake and a small tapping noise could be heard from inside. Quickly, Mither picked it up after shielding his hands from the heat, and placed it on the floor, where it continued the behaviour.
"Come on..." said Mither excitedly. "Crack!"
And crack it did.
Out of the stone came a green creature covered in a slimy, wet encasement, which it immediately began to lick off. After that was finished, it eat the stone - or egg - which it had come out of.
Finally, Mither had his very own dragon.
"I shall call you Verida," he said, picking it up. Feebly, the green and silver creature coughed out smoke, making the wizard holding it laugh lightly.
"You'll learn. I'll make sure of it," he added darkly. Mither pulled out a golden coin from his pocket, and showed it to Verida.
"This is gold, and it is extremely precsious. You should try and get all the gold you can, but not from me. And, for your imformation, pretty girls taste nicest."
Time passed quickly, and by the time Verida was a year old, she was at least sixteen feet tall and fourty feet long, with a thirty feet tail. She was extremely devoted to her owner, but had to live in the forest so she wasn't tempted to eat the humans in the village, or make them run away.
Verida and Mither had established a strong bond through their minds, so they could speak over long distances.
Verida! Mither called. Meet me at the hill on the other side of the forest.
Of course... is something wrong?
No.
Half an hour later, Mither was standing beside his dragon, and began to speak.
"Verida, there is a cave east from here which used to belong to my brother's dragon, who died at the age of four hundred and ninety-eight. It is full of gold and treasures, and nearby, there is a city who sacrifice a girl every month so the dragon who inhabits the cave won't terrorise the village! I want you to live there, and... be happy."
But what Mither really wanted was the city for himself. Soon enough, he would pretend to be able to rid the city of it's dragon, and he would, in return for the throne...
Are... are you sure?
Of course I am, my darling. Fly!
And so, Verida flew.
~
The residents of the city gathered around the podium, and waited anxiously as the King drew a name from the bowl. They held their breaths as his eyes opened wide with horror.
"Gertrude... Gertrude Royale..."
The Princess standing beside her father looked calmly at him.
"No, Gertrude! I won't allow it! You... you can't go!"
"Yes, I can. Every other girl in the city fears it will be them every single month! I am going tomorrow, and you can't stop me!"
She hoisted up her skirt and ran into the palace, everyone's eyes on her.
The King stepped down, and dismissed the people.
"Jidus, what should I do?" he asked his advisor.
"Let her, your majesty. There's always Simon..."
Simon was the Prince. He loved animals, and even though the only boy and heir, no one wanted him to take over the throne when his father died. He made rash desicions and was extremely stubborn. He also had... problems. With most things.
"No."
"Please, then, sire, ask your wife."
The King sighed, and looked and his advisor solemnly. "She'll have to go. Gertrude is too stubborn to let anyone change her mind. Even if we bound her with chains and locked her in the dungeons, she'd find a way..."
Egroeg was riding his snow white horse through the forest, when he saw a beautiful palace.
"This must be a kingdom! I shall ride to the palace and offer my services as a knight to the King! Or... ruler!" he said to no one in particular.
It was extremely lucky that Egroeg happened to be passing by at that time, because as he came to the edge of the forest, he saw a large cave. A beautiful girl was sitting on the back of a horse being lead by a man, and she was being followed by two rich looking people.
Egroeg stayed put and watched. The man and woman started crying as the girl walked calmly into the cave. There was a roar, and smoke came out of the cave. More tears were shed, then everyone left.
Egroeg rode forwards into the cave. He inhaled sharply when he saw an emerald coloured dragon sleeping by a large pile of gold. He dismounted his horse, and ventured into the cave, sword in hand. He tip-toed past the dragon and into another part of the cave, where there were prison cells. In one of them was the girl he had seen earlier. She looked up when he came in.
"Who are you?" she said.
"Egroeg, a knight from somewhere very far from here. And you, my lady?"
"I am Princess Gertrude, a sacfrice to the dragon. She'll surely eat me tomorrow."
A princess! thought Egroeg. I must save her!
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