The last bird took flight from its tree. Every squirrel scurried away and hid. All the crickets hopped out of the way. Something was up. Maria strolled softly into the woods, she was almost afraid to wake the silence. Something flashed past. Her soft walk morphed into a steady jog. Just as she broke into a run, she stopped. Once again, Maria let her curiosity get away with her. She wandered up to an old oak tree, and she unexpectedly felt as if she was hypnotized, like she was meant to do something and did not acknowledge it until now. Before she had a chance to think about it any longer, she stepped behind the long forgotten old oak, and walked into the small woodland clearing.
Before her, lay more beautiful old oaks, chirping birds, and tall, bright green prairie grass that went at least up to her knees. But something, something lay in the middle of the clearing that didn’t belong there, it just didn’t make sense! In the middle of joyful moving wildlife, was the resting spot of a book, still as a stone.
The book was a bright vibrant blue, with stunning gold binding and silver clasps. The binding was slowly peeling away from the cover, and the cover was slowly wearing away. You could no longer read the title, but by the remains of the letters you could clearly see it was written in some ancient language that even the most accomplished historian would be baffled looking at.
Maria came closer to where the book laid. She carefully examined it and turned it over with her expert hands. She was known around her school for repairing, writing, and binding books.
She slowly opened the book, and all the animals seemed quieter than before, except for the joyful shriek, “You won’t be able to read it! It’s all blank- ask anyone who has tried! You won’t even be able to take it out of the clearing to examine it, just try just try!” Maria turned around to see who was speaking, “But it isn’t blank!” she protested, “It’s a book of prophecies! I mean, only prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled.”
Now, most people in her circumstance would have stood there in shock. However, Maria studied what people thought were, “mythical,” creatures. She was expecting to see one, in fact, that is why she came to the forest in the first place, although, she wasn’t exactly looking for pixies.
He stood there, wide-eyed. It was quite a sight, a creature about the length of your forearm, floating, about five feet from your face, no wings. It was strange, and comical, in a sense. He had bright red curly hair, and blue eyes so big compared to his face you would think they’d explode.
“Pixie?” Maria asked him, “Cornish, Pixie?” “Never mind what I am,” the pixie replied, “how do you know the book is about prophecies?” This got Maria annoyed. “I can read, you know!” Then she added with haste, “It’s in Dragonese, no wonder you couldn’t read it. “Well aren’t you sort of, well,” Maria cut him off, “A human? Of course I am, I’m not offended. I study magical creatures, you see.” “Study?” The pixie asked. “Dragon Hunter, full-fledged. Fluent in Dragonese, as well as pixish, as you’ve noticed.” Maria clarified.
The pixie flew back, struck with surprise. He flinched, as if she had hurt him. Maria spun around, and it seemed the world went up in flames. Fire. Heat. Screams. In the mist of terror, was her adoptive family. Fairies, millions. “Amamaranta!” She screamed to her fairy mother, “Ma!” she called to her again, but no one heard her. There were arrows, flying swift in the air. She saw that the arrows came from the fairies, and their bows were pointed to the sky. She looked up and saw a bright blue dragon.
She was magnificent. She spun in the sky her wings out-stretched. Her head was pointed proudly at the moon. You could see arrows pricing the poor dragon everywhere. She was slowly losing strength.
“The work of Dragon Hunters.” There was the pixie again, but this time, his voice was not high pitched and shriekie like it was before, it was deep, angry, and quick-paced, almost a chant. “So this is your entertainment! This to you is a worthy cause? You have been promoting this.”
Maria ignored him. She took he own bow and arrow out of her back pack. She shot the dragon strait in the neck. The world stopped, the dragon fell, all because of Maria’s one arrow. Helpless, the poor dragon limp on the ground, gave one last fleeting look at Maria, and was dead. Maria fell, and the world went black.
“Wretched girl! If only she knew!” muttered the pixie as he went to work lighting the fire. Another pixie flew into the clearing. She was a women pixie, with flowers in her hair. “Yes, if she knew, but she didn’t know. It most likely wasn’t her fault. If she was brought up a Dragon Hunter, fairies raised her. They most likely didn’t warn her.” She said.
She walked over to where Maria laid. She was surprised to find that Maria was awake, head down and tears pouring from her face. When Maria saw that someone was coming, she hastily brushed away her tears and began to read the book of un-fulfilled prophecies she found in this very same clearing, minuets ago.
“My name is Impya, Do you like reading?” she asked, gentle in her voice, “I have another book you may enjoy reading.” She flew over to the fire, and only then did Maria acknowledge how beautiful she was.
Unlike the pixie she met earlier, Impya had long brown strait sparkly brown hair with flowers woven in at every which angle. She drew a book out of the fire with her bare hands. To Maria’s astonishment, the book was unharmed. “Just thought you may like to know a little more about what you are hunting.” Impya stated. Maria nodded her head, speechless. Impya lugged the book over to Maria. The book was nearly bigger then her!
“Since you’re too stubborn to ask,” The pixie said, “The name is puck. I just took you to a battle that has lasted over thirty years and you just ended it. You fainted because you are not powerful enough to kill something as pure as a dragon. Had you been a second younger, you could have died.”
“But she didn’t end the battle. Now that she got into it, she has to end it.” Now Impya was speaking directly to Maria. “The dragon in question was a warrior mother. She laid her egg at the sphinx camp. Steal it and bring it here so we can keep it from destroying anything else. This will complete your training as a Dragon Hunter. Now go! And take care the dragon book with you; I’ll give you your leather bag so you can carry it.” Impya took the book the book of prophecies and said, “It’s not good to know too much about your own future.” as she handed Maria her bag.
With that, Maria left the forest. Only then did she realize what Impya meant. “My story must be in that book of prophecies!” she muttered to herself. Now what should she do? Go home and be gloried beyond imagined for her victory? Or venture the dangerous land of the sphinx? Seconds later after thinking this, it started raining. Maria sighed. She knew what she had to do. It was time to get out her father’s old book of riddles. She reached in her back pack and pulled out the old book.
Chapter 1, Basic riddles. Maria read aloud; what goes on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon, and three in the evening? All the way down to; Chapter 107 riddles for the expert only. What force and strength cannot get through, I with a gentle touch can do, and many in the street would stand, were I not a friend at hand.
She memorized every riddle and its answer in that 713 page book. She didn’t have much choice. For she was about to do both the thing that every body feared doing and the only way to convince a sphinx to do something. Request a riddle challenge, where the riddle master asks the riddle. If you get it right, you win, if you don’t, you lose. If Maria loses, she’ll probably end up as the main dinner course for many hungry sphinxes.
She was glad she was walking wile reading because it would take her about 4 hours to get to the sphinxes’ camp as well as read the book. And sure enough, when she finished reading she arrived at the gate of the camp as soon as she looked up from the book. The book was covered with rain drops soaked into all 713 pages, but Maria ignored them and put the book back in her back pack.
She looked up and saw a large golden gate that must have been as tall as a 40 ft. giant! It had and intricately carved lion head knocker, the size for a sphinx to knock with and at a reasonable height for them but nowhere near the size range that Maria could reach. Although, fit for her size was a small bell dangling from a string attached to the gate. She rang it. “Yes?” the gate opened. Standing before here was a fully-grown sphinx. “Ummmm, Mr. Sphinx?” Maria was unsure of the correct title. “Errrrrrrr, I was wondering, if, well, maybe I could, errrrrrrrr, borrow, ummmmmm, your, your dragon egg please?”
She looked him in the eye. She knew what was coming. “Sorry, child. No.” The sphinx began to close the gate. “Wait!” Maria hollered. “Yes?” The sphinx replied, his patience growing weaker. “Sir, I was wondering if I could challenge you to a riddle challenge, and if I win, I get the egg?” “And if you lose?” the sphinx asked, “then you may do with me as you wish.” Maria answered. Maria knew he couldn’t refuse.
“Come this way.” The sphinx gestured, leading her through the gate into a room with marble floors and walls. “Now, I shall ask the first riddle.” He said with a mocking smile and a humoring tone. “Now, listen carefully; in marble walls as white as milk, lined with skin as soft as silk, within a fountain crystal clear, a golden apple does appear. No doors are there to this stronghold, yet thieves break in and steal the gold.” Hummmmm, Thought Maria, White walls, lined with skin, fountain holding apple, enclosed, yet thieves- thieves what? Thieves break! Whites! Break! Egg! “Sir, you are describing an egg, the answer to your riddle is what I seek, an egg.” “Oh, very well; take your egg.” Maria won. The sphinx’s voice was no longer mocking, it was dead serious. “Thank you, Sir, and she took the egg from his hand.
She ran, and ran, never stopping. She ran through the gates, past the bell, through a puddle, into the forest, and finally, past the oak tree. She reached the clearing. Now all I have to do is dispose of this egg and I’ll complete my training as a dragon hunter! Maria thought. The fire in the middle of the clearing was still burning strong, but there were no pixies there! “Oh, well.” Maria sighed to herself, and she threw the egg into the fire. It cracked.
In the fire, Maria saw a bight blue horn pop out of the silver egg. A dragon flew out of the crack. Maria was confused. “What’s going on?” Maria cried. “What’s going on is Ashling the mighty dragon is being born!” The little dragon laughed in Dragonese. She spread out her wings, and spun around, her head pointed toward the sky. Then, unexpectedly, the little dragon zoomed at Maria and knocked her strait on her back. They both laughed. “I’m Maria, Ashling.”
Impya and puck walked into the clearing. Puck held the book of prophecies, Impya held a dagger. “Good work child,” Impya said. “Now let’s dispose of this creature.” “Kill Ashling? No! I won’t let you! Don’t kill her!” Maria cried. Ashling hid behind Maria, “They don’t have any right to do this, do they?” Ashling whispered to Maria. “I don’t know.” Maria whispered back.
“Are you sure?” Puck asked. “Of course I am!” Maria cried. “Then you have completed your training.” Impya said. “But I don’t want to be a dragon hunter anymore!” Maria yelped. “Did I say that?” Impya said. “So I wasn’t training to be a dragon hunter, I was training to be a dragon owner!” Maria Exclaimed. “Correct.” Puck Said. “Here, the book of un-fulfilled prophecies. You can keep it.” Maria took it from Puck’s hand. She flipped through the pages. “Ashling, look! It’s written in Dragonese. But Impya, Puck- Where is my story?” “You said it yourself. It’s a book of un-fulfilled prophecies. Your story’s past.” Puck laughed.
“Ashling,” Maria whispered. Wait till I teach you how to read…..” and she took out the dragon book from her back pack.
