Oona loved learning new things. The ten-year-old rummaged through her parents' books in search of new knowledge in every free minute. She didn't care if the book was for children or adults. Her clever mind absorbed information like a sponge.
She didn't have many friends because she was too smart for most children her age.
One of her few friends, Princess Annemarie, was visiting. She would spend the weekend with Oona's family. The two girls were excited.
They wanted to have a pillow fight at night and tell each other scary stories.
At that moment, they were sitting in the library. Oona had a large lexicon on her lap and showed Annemarie the entry about dragons since Annemarie could see two of these from the castle.
"White and black dragons?" Annemarie smiled. "Almost like at home. The big dragon is white and the dragon cub is white and gray. I think... They always fly up high."
"Grey?" Oona frowned. "There is nothing about grey dragons here. Are you sure the dragon is grey?"
"No. But he is not white. And not black either." Annemarie touched one of the pages of the lexicon. "They look scary, don't you think?"
"Somewhat", Oona agreed. "Maybe the grey dragon is a half-breed?"
"A half-breed? That might be. But we only ever see his mother."
"Sure. Black dragons are loners. They only look for a female if they want to reproduce. But usually, they don't choose a white dragon. That's written all in here! Do you want to see something really scary?" Oona was already flipping through the book until she found the page she was after.
"What is that?", asked Annemarie, startled. On the side was the picture of a creature that was half human and half bird. Above the drawing was written in large letters 'Harpy'.
"Harpies! They live behind the desert. In the mountains! Like the dragons, only further away. They build their nests in the trees, and they have sharp claws with which they can defend themselves against dragon attacks! They are the only creatures that can be dangerous to dragons!"
"Wow!" Annemarie looked at the long claws on the hands and on the bird's feet of the harpy. The creature scared her. "This is amazing. But... Are they more birds? Or human? Or vampires? What does the text say?"
"That they are neither human nor bird of prey. They feed mainly on small mammals. Raw. Exciting, isn't it? I would like to see them. They can fly very fast!"
"I'd like to see that too!"
At night, the girls told each other scary stories in which dragons and harpies fought against each other. They had built a cave out of their blankets. They talked for a long time until they finally fell asleep cuddled up to each other.
(c: sasi)
YOU ARE READING
WITCH - The Queen
FantasyAbout three years have passed since Julia was kidnapped and fled with the elves to the steppe. Fritz has joined the uprising and tries to find further support for them. He is determined to overthrow the queen and asks Paul and Ingried for help. Will...
