ONC 2024 ~ On Hold
Once upon a time there was a little golden dragon. He was the last of his kind and knew nothing of the ways of dragons. One day his hoard of gold was stolen by some men from the castle down the hill. This is the story of how the l...
"How do we cross the sea to reach the island?" Golden Scale asked.
"I'll go see if I can find a way across," Yellow Feather said, and she took off. While they waited for Yellow Feather to come back, Golden Scale made a sand castle like the castle at the foot of the Dark Mountain in the forest. He made piles of treasure inside the castle walls and made a little dragon outside the castle walls. And he dreamed of the day he would learn how to fly and rescue his treasure.
Yellow Feather came back with news. "Look, there is a little dock and a ship over there!" And the three went and found the dock and the ship, which was large enough to carry the dragon, but seemed more like a rowboat than a ship to the large beast, who was growing up to be a very large dragon.
Golden Scale ripped a huge decorative oar from the side of the ship and used it to paddle across the narrow sea to the island. They landed in a wild jungle teeming with animals that all ran when they heard the dragon coming. The tiny bird and the tiny lizard sat on Golden Scale's back as he walked through the jungle, crushing plants and toppling over trees as he went.
Soon, they came across a stone temple covered in vines with dragon statues decorating the walls, the stone bridge, and even the towers. "Look! This must be where the dragons are!" Golden Scale shouted. "They must have made this island their new home." And Golden Scale ran across the stone bridge to the temple. He pushed open the door and entered the dark temple.
Inside, there was a gargantuan room filled with even more statues of dragons. Golden Scale looked small next to some of the statues. He was confused. "Where are all the real dragons?"
"You're looking at them," came a small voice deep inside the temple.
Golden Scale turned his head toward the voice and saw a large throne at the end of the even larger room.
Golden Scale slithered and crawled around all the dragon statues until he reached the throne. There, upon the large stone chair, sat the ugliest human Golden Scale had ever seen. The man had a hunched back, a huge wart on his nose, and a lumpy uneven face. The man stood from his throne, and Golden Scale saw that his legs and arms were also uneven, so that he walked with a limp and used his extra-long arm like a cane.
"What do you mean?" Golden Scale asked while Yellow Feather and Shina shivered with fear on his back.
"The dragons have all turned to stone," the misshapen man said as he gestured to the statues filling the room. "They failed the test, and have been trapped like this ever since."
"What test?" Golden Scale asked.
"My test," the man said with an ugly smile. Even his teeth were uneven. "The test to acquire the most valuable treasure in all the land. Do you wish for this treasure?"
Golden Scale sat down with a thundering boom that made the uneven man stumble back into his large stone throne. All the dragon wanted was to get his own treasure back, but if this uneven man's treasure was better, then maybe it was what he wanted.
"I wish for it," Golden Scale said, and he felt Yellow Feather and Shina shiver with fear all the more.
"Excellent." The uneven man clapped his hands unevenly. "Here is what you must do. Give me all your treasure, and I will consider it payment and bestow upon you the most valuable treasure that anyone can ever own."
"What treasure will you give me?" the dragon asked.
"You will have to wait and see for yourself," the uneven man said with a crooked smile.
"Don't do it," Yellow Feather whispered into Golden Scale's ear. "It's a trick!"
But Golden Scale didn't listen. He thought about how his only treasure was the mirror hanging around his neck, since the rest of his treasure was in the hands of the humans in the castle and was no longer his to give away. He thought about how one piece of treasure seemed like nothing compared to the most valuable treasure that anyone could ever own. Whatever it was, Golden Scale thought it had to be more valuable that the little trinket around his neck.
So Golden Scale took the mirror from his neck and looked down at it. In its reflection, he saw a stone dragon statue, and he looked up to see the statue, but there was nothing behind him. He looked directly into the mirror again, and saw the statue stare right back at him. Golden Scale blinked and then held the mirror out to the uneven man. "This is the only treasure I own anymore. Take it as my payment."
The uneven man frowned a lopsided frown. "All dragons have caves full of treasure. You lie, and you will be turned to stone for this!" And the man yanked the mirror out of Golden Scales claws and held it up in triumph.
And that is how something happened that the uneven man did not expect. Instead of the last dragon turning to stone, a stone dragon came back to life.
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