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...
"Golden Scale! You came back! You saved us!" Yellow Feather said.
"Of course I did. A lot of people helped me see that friends are more important than treasure," Golden Scale said. "Now I have real friends, not just shiny treasure I made look like dragon friends."
"That's wonderful news," Shina said.
"Who are all of you?" Golden Scale asked the others.
"You'll never believe it, Golden Scale," Shina said. "This brown turtle is actually a dwarf named Tedric. This red fox is actually a wizard named Felix. This fawn is actually a fairy named Fawna, and this black snake is actually an elf sorceress named Selene. And the frog is actually a centaur named Windam. The satyr put a spell on everyone."
"A spell? I know a wizard! Maybe he can break the spell," Golden Scale said.
Everyone thought that was a marvelous idea, so Golden Scale said, "The wizard is from the castle in the west, and I saved his life, and he healed me, so he will help us, I just know it."
"We will come with you then," said the little frog who was really a centaur.
"Yesssss, take ussss there," said the snake, who was really an elf sorceress.
"Can someone carry me?" asked the brown turtle, who was really a dwarf.
"I'll carry everyone," Golden Scale said. "If you can all hold on, I can fly us there in no time!"
So everyone climbed onto Golden's Scale's back and found a back spike or scale to hang onto. Selene the snake and Shina the lizard and Tedric the turtle did not feel comfortable hanging onto the back of a flying dragon though, so Golden Scale gently took them all up in his claws.
Golden Scale took off as softly as he could, ballooning up and bobbing in the air. As he carried his newfound friends out of the Dark Forest toward the west castle, they looked up and saw a Red Dragon flying toward the Island, carrying a large bag of treasure with her. Later that day, there came the sound of a hundred angry beasts waking up, and then a hundred dragons filled the sky.
Golden Scale flew on toward the west castle. They made great time on the back of the wind, and before the sun even set, they landed in front of the castle.
The princess and the queen and the wizard all came out onto the drawbridge to meet them.
"Your mean dragon friend took all my treasure!" the spoiled princess complained. "I want it back!"
"The red dragon used that treasure to bring back all the dragons," Golden Scale said. "The treasure belongs to the Crooked Man now."
The spoiled princess huffed and stormed off into the castle.
"What brings you here then?" the queen asked.
"I have made friends with animals who are actually people under spells," Golden Scale said. "Derrick, do you think you can undo the satyr's magic and turn these creatures back to their old selves?"
"I'll certainly try," Derrick said, and he walked forward and took the snake into his hands. He waved his hand, and the snake transformed into an elf sorceress with black hair and ruby red lips.
"Thank you, Derrick!" Selene said. "I'm in your debt."
"You're welcome. Who's next?" Derrick said. One by one, the wizard turned all the animals back to their original forms. Until he made it to the fox. When the fox turned back into a wizard, Derrick exclaimed, "Felix! My brother, I've been wondering what happened to you!"
Felix, the fox-now-turned-wizard, smiled and said, "It's only fitting that my brother would save me."
Once everyone had been restored to their rightful forms, the queen said, "We have helped you. Now it is your turn to help us. We have a great need that only a dragon and his grand party of faithful followers can help us with."
"What do you need of me?" Golden Scale asked.
"My son, the heir to the kingdom, is missing. We have no idea where he is. Will you nine companions band together and find my son?"
Golden Scale looked at everyone, who all nodded one by one.
"Yes, we will help you," said the dwarf named Tedric.
Fawna the fairy made a small tinkling noise, like a miniature bell.
The centaur, Windam, said, "I will join you on this quest."
"I would be more than happy to help you find the lost heir," said the elf sorceress Selene.
"And we would follow you anywhere," said Shina, and Yellow Feather agreed.
"Would you have me go too, your majesty?" asked Derrick.
"Of course," the queen said.
"Yes, the more the merrier, wouldn't you say?" Felix said.
Everyone agreed. And that is how a group of nine companions decided to band together to go on a quest to find the lost heir.
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762 Words ~ 8,244 Total
I chose this chapter picture, because my original plan with this story was to create a series of children's books and the series is going to be called Frog and Fox fairytales. My favorite animal is a frog, and my son's favorite animal is a fox. So I thought this picture would be perfect! Yes the image is AI generated. The centaur's name is also my husband's handle. He goes by Windam83. Isn't it fun?
