Once upon a time, there was a smart and very wise young girl named Princess, who lived in a village, with her magical talking cat Sir Fluffymittens-Snowball IV, near the deep dense forest. She had a malicious neighbor named Chester. He was a tall man with red hair and lots of freckles. One day, Chester dared Princess to go deep into the forest and take a scale from the great dragon Vasenthior. If she did not fetch the scale by sundown of the next evening, Chester would sacrifice Sir Fluffymittens-Snowball IV to Demeter when Persephone was occupied in the Underworld with Hades.
The next day, she set up her picnic basket and a few other supplies and headed into the deep dense forest. Since she didn’t know exactly where to go, she just headed straight down the path. After a few minutes of walking and light dancing while singing musicals, she came across a fork in the path. In the way stood a ten-foot tall tarantula.
“What brings you here?” said a deep voice, which Princess soon realized was the spider himself talking.
“Uh, I need to get to the great dragon Vasenthior. It’s important.”
“Well, that gives you two riddles. One for letting you pass, and the other is if you want directions to which way you must go.” The spider said, “Are you up for the challenge? If you are wise, you will surely get them right.”
“I’m ready for the riddles.” Princess replied uneasily.
“Alright then. Here is the first riddle.”
It has teeth, but cannot chew--
The golden door you must get through.
And yet the gateway sealed tight
Holds heavy bars to keep the night.
The eighty-eight lined in a row,
Designed as to exclude the foe.
In lonely word you must progress,
For with the answer comes success.
“Hmmm… I think the answer is a…key!” She exclaimed.
“Correct! Now here is your second riddle. If you do not answer this riddle, you will not be allowed passage through here and you must find the path on your own. And I will tell you, it is quite treacherous if you go the wrong way.”
She pulls you in with loving arms,
She promises she'll never harm.
Cerulean master of guise,
She'll never let you take the prize.
The friendly stranger she once was
Has become hideous with flaws.
She leaves you lifeless on the ground,
Yet with death, closely you are bound.
“Huh, that’s a hard one, but I will have to say the answer is the ocean.” She said nervously.
“Unbelievable! You got it right again! I must say, you are a very bright young woman. Let’s hope you shall make it to your destination.”
“So which path do I take that will lead me to Vasenthior?” asked Princess.
“You must head down the left path. That is as far as I can assist you. It would sure be a shame to have you die.”
Soon, Princess was heading down the left pathway. She saw a tree stump and decided to stop for lunch. She once again headed down the path. Out of seemingly nowhere, a rather large acorn came and hit her on the head and landed neatly on the ground. Right behind it came a squirrel wearing a cape and carrying a wand. When the squirrel sighted Princess, he stopped short.
“Can you pick up that acorn?” asked the squirrel
“Oh, sure.” said Princess, and she went over to pick up the acorn.
“Now open it.” Princess opened the acorn and out flew a cloak. It fluttered to the ground. She picked it up and turned back to the squirrel.
“That is a cloak of invisibility. The acorn has clearly chosen you to be the keeper of such an item. You are to use it wisely and sparingly, so as not to bring attention to the cloak and its full powers.” Princess put to cloak over her body to test it out. Sure enough, she could not see the rest of her body unless she had her head under the cloak as well. The squirrel told her to go straight until she saw the creek, and then follow the flow until she came upon the dragon’s hill. She thanked the squirrel and headed on her way.
Finally, she came upon the creek. By this time it was mid-afternoon, almost five o’clock. She turned and followed the stream. She didn’t have to go far before the land began to slant upwards. She quickly pulled on the invisibility cloak and proceeded up the hill. Soon, she was at the top of the hill. She looked around curiously. The hillside was surrounded by rocks, so there was only one entry point. There was a small fire going near the center, and around it laid Vasenthior. She jumped back when she saw his great size. Remembering what she had to do, she carefully stepped forward, taking comfort in having the cloak on. She approached his tail and prepared to take a scale. The instant her hand touched his smooth emerald green scale, his tale roughly jerked, sending her reeling onto her back. The cloak fell off of her. The dragon stood to his full height. She estimated that he stood at 20 feet, 5 inches and 2 centimeters tall. The dragon had deep eyes that appeared to be reading her every thought, and perhaps he was. She didn’t know what kind of power Vasenthior had.
“What are you doing?” the dragon demanded.
“Uh, I, oh, y’know…” She couldn’t think of anything to say to Vasenthior. How could she explain her situation? “Don’t kill me” She finally managed to say.
“Kill you? Why would I want to kill you? It seems rather unreasonable to kill someone for climbing up a hill and disturbing my rest. I simply want to know why you were thinking of stealing one of the scales from my body, when I shed them every year and keep them in a pile over there.” He pointed to a large pile full of bright green scales.
“Well, I need to have one of your scales because--“
“I know. My power isn’t as weak as you think. I know that Athena has disguised herself as your neighbor Chester to meet you. I know that this goddess of wisdom and strategy feels threatened by your wit and wisdom.”
“Really? My neighbor is Athena? Is there any way you can help me?”
“Well, you can have one of my scales over there. The colors are a little diluted, but it should be sufficient enough. As for getting rid of Athena, I think I can help.”
“How?” Princess wondered.
“Dragons’ blood is poisonous to the gods if they were to drink it and harmful if they were to come into contact with it, yet gives strength to mortals. Do you have any containers with you?”
“Yea, I do.” She pulled out her canteen from her picnic basket and emptied out its contents. She handed it to Vasenthior, who lightly took it.
“I will be right back.” With that, he flew off to a cave in the distance. After a few minutes, she could see him extend his wings and smoothly glide back to the hill. He handed her the canteen, which felt heavy in her hands. She placed the canteen of the dragon’s blood, as well as the scale, in her picnic basket.
“That should get her to go away. After that, it’s up to you what you do with it. However, I must warn you to use it sparingly.”
“Of course, I will.” The Princess said, turning away and heading back down the hill. She went all the way back to her cottage in the village by the dense woods. She found Chester/Athena waiting patiently by the door of the house. Her cat sat in a carrier in Chester’s hands.
“You are almost late.” Chester said.
“I know who you are Athena.” The man looked at her. Then he began to get brighter. She looked away, since she heard that looking at a god in their true form could kill you. When the light dimmed, there stood a young woman with gray eyes and blonde hair.
“Do you have the scale?” Athena asked
“Yes, I do.” Princess pulled out the canteen. Before Athena could see what it was she was holding, she swiftly opened the cap and threw the canteen to Athena. The goddess backed up quickly with a shriek as Vasenthior’s blood came out of the canteen and onto Athena. She dropped the cat carrier, which Princess quickly scooped up.
“Thank you so much, Princess. You would not believe what she gives me for food in that place! It’s store brand!” said Sir Fluffymittens-Snowball IV. Princess looked back at Athena, but there was nobody there. It was as though she had teleported away. Princess walked into the house and put out some food for her cat.
“Thank you very much.” her cat thanked her.
As for the rest of the dragon’s blood, it all soaked into the ground in Princess’ yard. After a few weeks, they produced a magical bean plant that she would sell to a man for a profitable size of money. She did not know what happened to the magic beans until one day, a few miles away, she saw a rather large bean stock protruding out of the ground.
Didja like it?! Anna and I certainly had a blast coming up with it!
