The Hidden Dragon

“He’s coming! He’s coming! EVERYONE! HIDE!” The villagers all rushed into their houses, bolted their doors, and turned off all the lights in their houses. Peering outside their windows, all of them gasped as a large, red dragon landed on the ground and glared around. Its magnificent wings folded onto its back and wisps of smoke flew out its nose.

All the villagers shuddered behind their windows. Suddenly, a hic-cup noise filled the silent air. The dragon whipped its head around and spotted the little girl that had made the sound. Before anyone could blink, the house was set on fire and everyone knew that no one had escaped. The other villagers all gasped at this sight in front of their eyes, but that mistake would never be forgotten for just then, the dragon knew that there were more people. More people to burn and kill. And so he stood up on his hind legs and blew his fire over the whole village. The sound of screaming filled the air as he flew away, his wings stretched out wide upon his backs.

Those that were able to escape stood and watched the dragon, not knowing that this would be the last time they will see him. All that was on their minds was why this dragon had suddenly turned evil.

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In a cave deep in the woods on the mountains, a witch walked back and forth across her room, deep in her thoughts. I’ve done everything I can to try to gain everyone’s attention and like me, but all they do is hide and run away from me! What did I do wrong? I casted many spells on them, making them gain diseases, curses, EVERYTHING! But they still are afraid of me! She thought.

She glanced at the curse she had gotten from her mother – an extra finger on her right hand. She looked at it with awe and love, remembering how special her mother was. Witches love curses; it is a symbol of love in their world. However, the humans seemed to not understand that. With one last look at her finger, she continued to think again. Just then, a thunderous roar filled the air. Looking out the opening of her cave, the witch noticed a pair of red wings soar above her before it disappeared.

That’s it! If the villagers don’t like evil…perhaps they like good! I’ll be good to the villagers by capturing that dragon and keeping him away from all humans so that everyone would be happy…and like me!

So the witch set out to achieve her goal. With her powerful powers, she was able to do just as she had planned. The dragon was captured and the villagers became great friends with someone they had used to see as an enemy- the witch.

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Cyril! Put down whatever you are working on and go to sleep!” Cyril’s mom shouted. Cyril sighed and put down the new item that he was working on. It was small mechanical elephant. He had been working on the motors, so the elephant would be able to move its ears, trunk, and legs. Glancing behind his back, he looked at the other mechanical items he had created- a dog, cat, snake, dragon, phoenix, cow, rabbit, and so on.

Cyril had always loved animals and building items with his own hands. It amazed him and everyone else that he could build such things. When he had turned the age of twelve, his mother had given him a belt filled with tools. There was even a pouch that could hold many pieces of metals, screws, springs…just about anything he would need to create his items! Now that he was fourteen, he had actually started to create moving animals which were much more complicated than helicopters.

With one last sigh, Cyril climbed into his bed and turned off his lights. His eyelids closed and he immediately fell into deep sleep.

“Cyril.” A woman appeared in front of him. Her white robe flew around her and although they were inside a room, her hair flew around as well. Her brown hair flowed down onto her shoulders. When Cyril examined her more closely, he noticed that one of her eyes was green while the other was blue. There was a glow of light all around her the body. Cyril could immediately tell that she was a powerful woman.

“Cyril, do not be afraid of me.”

“Who are you?” Cyril could hear his voice shaking.

“I’m the queen of all spirits. Cyril, I need you to do a quest for me. Many spirits have become lost and this has caused an unbalance of things in the world. I need your help to find all these spirits and return them to me.”

“H-h-how? And why me?” Cyril could feel his heart beating against his chest.

“It’s because I can sense a powerful fire within you that will help you along this journey. I have also ordered one of my best spirits to find the perfect one to do this quest and he had picked you. You know him, after all, you see him almost everyday.” The woman smiled kindly.

“My teacher?” The woman smiled even more. Cyril couldn’t believe that all along, his teacher had been strict towards him just so he could prepare Cyril for this. All of a sudden, Cyril was grateful for all the stress, humiliation, and exercise that he had to do. All these had made him stronger.

“But how would I be able to complete this quest? I mean, do I use a GPS or Google Maps or something to find where the spirits are? Are some of the spirits mean?” Cyril could feel a growing determination in himself.

“Ah, your fire in you is burning bright. This fire in you will tell you where to go and guide you. There is something, though, that will help you. Follow the fire until you come to a dangerous looking place. Over there, you will find something that will help and accompany you on your journey, as well as maybe one or two spirits. Do not worry, for I can see that you will not be harmed there. Be brave,” She smiled once again, “and don’t worry. None of the spirits are mean. They’re all kind and will help you on your journey.”

Cyril nodded and bowed to the woman.

“I must go now. Follow your fire and go to the place I told you about by tomorrow. I know your mother and I have already told her what you must do. Please hurry before the balance of things gets worse.” Before Cyril could ask her anything else, the woman waved goodbye and disappeared.

Cyril bolted up from his bed. He rushed downstairs to tell his mother the news, only to find her packing food and clothes into a backpack, along with a sleeping bag.

“She told you, didn’t she?” His mom asked. Cyril nodded.

“I used to be a spirit under her. She was a kind queen.” Cyril’s mom said.

“You used to be a spirit?! How are you a human then?” Cyril exclaimed.

“Spirits are humans too…they’re just more….mystical. I was what they considered a ‘mortal spirit’. It’s complicated. I helped the queen with things such as taking notes for her during spirit meetings.” Cyril’s mom explained. “Now, you must hurry on and do your quest.” She handed Cyril the backpack as well as the sleeping bag. Before putting them on, Cyril hurried up to his room to grab the tool belt from his birthday as well as the elephant he had been working on.

“Bye mother! Wish me luck!” His mother waved at him and he stepped through the front door. What he saw was not what he expected. There was no street with cars, his neighborhood wasn’t there. Instead, the fire in his heart had transformed the doorway into a portal. Cyril found himself in front of a canyon filled with fire.