The dragon opened its mouth, and Skippy expected it to blow fire, but only smoke escaped. That made Skippy laugh. "Let's name it Puffy!"
Janushi Raichura
Trippy was back in the library, set on going on another adventure. This time, the book that caught her attention had a menacing dragon on the cover, with its sharp teeth poking out! It scared Trippy in the best way! This time, she had brought her younger brother, Skippy. His real name was Sebastian, just as hers was Tessa, but he was an excited soul, with a tendency to jump around, and she tended to trip- a lot.
Skippy found the cover daring and, without asking her, opened the book, not knowing that it would lead them to a realm of magical beasts.
This time, they found themselves in a dark cave. Skippy took her hand in his out of fear, which Trippy held protectively. "No one will hurt you as long as I am here!" she told him. They followed the sunlight that peeked through the rocks at a distance, and on their way, Trippy tripped on something and fell face-first into a puddle of water, making Skippy laugh.
Curious, Trippy touched what had come in her way, only to find out that it was an enormous white egg. Suddenly, the egg began cracking, and came a small snarl before the egg popped open, and the cutest little creature came out. Trippy guided it into her palm, where it rested its head against her palm, looking tired and weak.
"I wondered who left it here," Skippy said, but his eyes caught a piece of parchment. It read,
'Keep him safe and take him to the castle.'
The dragon opened its mouth, and Skippy expected it to blow fire, but only smoke escaped. That made Skippy laugh. "Let's name it Puffy!"
Trippy agreed and put it in her pocket before guiding herself and her brother out of the cave. The place was crawling with Hunters, and Trippy was certain they were all looking for the baby dragon. In the distance, they saw a castle standing tall amongst the mountains. "This must be where we are supposed to go!" Skippy exclaimed, hopping on his place. "We have to be discreet," Trippy told him, and they began to make their way through the woods surrounding the castle. They had only walked a few meters when a friendly villager approached them and asked,
"Are you the guardians of the egg?"
"Yes!" Skippy replied quickly, before Trippy could warn him.
"It is here!" the villager screamed, and soon, his clothes began to shift, and he turned into a hunter.
"Oh, no!" Skippy exclaimed. Trippy took his hand, and they began to run. Little did they know that the woods were spelled! The trees began to shift, the roots began to rise, slowing them down, and thorns began to cover the ground!
Suddenly, a giant tree moved in their way, blocking their path. Puffy peeped from his place in Trippy's pocket as the Hunters surrounded them. It opened its mouth, and the hunters backed away in fear, but just as they thought it was going to roar, only smoke came. The hunters laughed before lunging forward to grab it. Frantically, they began to climb the tree to reach the other side before they resumed running.
Two guards stood outside the castle- they both looked at the kids before asking, "What do you want?"
"We have the dragon," Skippy replied, bringing Puffy out of Trippy's pocket. The guards stepped aside, the long metallic gates moved, and they were allowed inside the castle. Carefully, they walked through the musty tunnels that led to the heart of the castle. Puffy stared in awe along with them at the gold and diamonds that formed heaps on the floors. The guard led them to the throne room, where a huge dragon slept on the floor, covering almost the entire room.
"You are here finally!" the dragon said in a weary voice. His eyes barely opened as he took them in. "My son," Puffy hopped out and walked slowly to the old dragon lying there. "My heir,"
"What happened to you?" Skippy asked.
"I have lived for hundreds of years, fought countless battles, now, I am succumbing to time, and that is a war I am afraid I cannot win. "Can you help me out, Child? Take care of my son until he is old enough to rule,"
"Why is he being hunted?" Trippy asked.
"The humans want our land. I am the only dragon left alive, and if I die, they get to keep all of our lands."'
"That is not right," Skippy said, and Trippy agreed.
"You must protect him until he is old enough. I brought you here to give this to you," the dragon took three necklaces in his claws and handed them to Trippy. "These will keep you safe, but their magic will not work here, so you must take him back to wherever you came from until he is strong enough."
Before Trippy could reply, a loud announcement came, "The Hunters have broken in!"
As if on cue, dozens of hunters filled the room, all aiming their arrows at the baby dragon. Trippy shielded him with her hand, but instead of cowering, Puffy raised his head, opened his mouth, and finally, a roar escaped.
Flames came out of his mouth, burning the evil hunters in the room. Trippy turned to look at the old dragon in time to see a proud look on his face before the flames engulfed them too, and brought them back inside the library.
"That was wonderful!" Skippy cheered while patting his sleeves that had caught fire. Trippy took one last look at the book before putting it back in the shelf. Puffy looked in amazement at the library before hiding him in her pocket.
Trippy, Skippy and Puffy- they were going to have so much fun together!
