Here is my story as best as I have it yet. It is long, and parts of it are a bit choppy, but overall I think I've written a pretty good story so far. Write under comments if you enjoy it. I'd love to hear what you think. Thanks, -Mercycat

My Furry Tail:

Dragons, Heroes, Faeries, and 157 Princesses (tm)

By Mercycat (copyright 2005)

In a dark hall on a dark night in a dark corner of the world, dark laughter emerged from a dark cave deep inside a dark mountain.

A hideous dragon was laughing…

Dragon’s laughter is a fearsome and horrifying sound which shakes a surrounding continent like one billion mischievous imps just given hammers for X-mass. With each new guffaw, a new color of flame would lash from the dragon’s nostrils and scorch whatever lay in its path. Dragon’s laughter was no laughing matter.

            The bravest of knights lay buried under the ashes of other bravest of knights, all slain by the wrath of this mighty monster. For hundreds of years it had terrorized cities, eaten princesses, and slayed dragon slayers. Life was good for the dragon in those days…

            But life was not so good, at the moment, for one very little boy. This little boy was Prince Tobias of Neverwonderland, and in ten years, he would get to be a King of his country, and be able to drive a horse. If he lasted so long… Right now he was an 8 year old Prince, bicycles weren’t invented yet, and he was just barely hidden enough to avoid being scorched to death by a monstrous laughing dragon.

            As a matter of fact… the dragon was laughing at him.

            When Tobias had stepped in front of the dragon’s nose and said, “I am Prince Tobias, and I have come to slay YOU Dragon!” The beast had at first had swelled up, ready to toast another mail clad hero, but stopped when he couldn’t find one. He looked round and round and nothing was to be seen. No enemies, no armies, no elves, no kings. Not even another yummy princess. And then the dragon caught a whiff of that strange smell that little boys give off to dragons… and the dragon looked down… down… down…. And down a little more until finally he saw Tobias.

            Now let’s imagine your pet hamster escaped. Let’s further imagine that when you woke up the next morning, it was standing on your pillow in a Napoleon hat, claiming to be seeking vengeance for some unknown random thing. Well, a dragon would have a very similar reaction to a little boy in a cotton tunic asking him to a fight for the death.

That was where the laughing began...

Tobias was no dummy, though, and he certainly wasn’t going to miss this golden opportunity. He’d worked long and hard to get there in order to slay this dragon and seek his revenge for the beautiful Princess Marlene. He’d had plenty of time to think up a good plan and there were no excuses now… He was going for it.

Quick as a flash, he’d dashed up onto a pile of charred hero remains, just in time to avoid being incinerated by more fiery giggles. All the while, the dragon laughed harder and harder…

Each guffaw randomly and recklessly began combusting this and emblazing that, as the boy climbed higher and higher. All the while, the cave got hotter and hotter until Tobias had to wonder if he was melting. But he wasn’t melting and he’d finally made it to the top. Now the dragon was laughing so hard (dragons don’t get to laugh a whole lot, so when they do, they yum it up) and giggling so completely that he’d had to roll on his back and hold his sides to keep from bursting.

            Soon the moment had come. Tobias was teetering as far off the edge of the highest platform he could climb. He reached into his knapsack for his super special secret dragon-slaying sonic slaughterizer... also known as broccoli with no cheese. As he dangled with the broccoli over the cliff’s edge, he waited for the perfect moment. And it came…

            Mesmerized, Tobias watched the small green bushel of broccoli fall, fall, fall, deep down to the back of the dragon’s throat. The broccoli hit the dragon’s tonsils and bounced straight down into his tummy. The damage was done. Tobias had destroyed the wicked dragon! Well, nearly…

            There was a horrifying silence as the broccoli hit the dragon’s throat. A strange red smoke began to poor out the dragon’s ears. Its eyes began to melt out gigantic purple tears. Little rays of smoky green light started peeking from beneath the edge of every scale. Our little hero struggled to a safer shelf… Well, as safe as you can be in the lair of an exploding dragon anyway… Exhausted from his long search and great battle, Tobias slumped into a pile on a small ledge and no one really knows what happened after that…

~2~

Hours Later, Tobias slowly blinked himself awake. All around him shimmered and glimmered like a happy yellow star had just dived into crystal blue water and now had its own personal job of illuminating that cave.

“Hey! Over here!” exclaimed a sweet feminine voice. “He’s moving now!” And then Tobias heard a rustling of thousands of soft fabrics and a tip tip tip tippity tap of hundreds of tiny shoes. All around him were princesses from all over the world. There were princesses in foreign silks, patterned cottons, ball gowns and robes and costumes. All were from different races and cultures and from very distant lands. The Princesses stood gaping at Tobias where he lay sprawled on the floor of the great cave. Tobias stared up in amazement at the dozens of faces, all of them were frowning.

“So he’s awake now huh?” said a voice moving closer from the out of the crowd. The Princess who spoke strode forward and towered above the little boy. She wore all white and had fiery red hair. She looked really ticked off.

“Why are you here and what in Hades were you thinking killing our dragon, mister?!” snapped the fiery princess. “Of all the nerve!” This was in fact Princess Elizabeth (or Liz) of the Land of Previous Copyrights, under the rule of King Trademark. They were a powerful land, and she was a powerful princess. She did not like surprises, disruptions, and especially, not knowing answers immediately. Nonetheless, she would have to wait.

Tobias tried to comprehend Liz’s demand for a moment. Tobias had expected adventure. He had expected obstacles, strangeness and deep dark magick… He’d even made sure to expect the unexpected. But nobody, even someone who had done all of his homework, could expect to have an answer to that. He stared into the crowd of Princesses, digesting his new information, until a familiar green caught his eye.

“Sister!” he squeaked, and forgot all his tiredness and dizziness and confusedness and went running towards a Princess dressed in a green velvet dress. This was the Princess Marlene, Tobias’s beloved older sister. When the dragon had come to Tobias’s home demanding human food, the king was forced, like all other kings, to send his only daughter to be eaten for the good of the nation. This was an ancient tradition that had been for as long as anyone could remember. When a dragon came to a king’s land, it was popular knowledge that unless the king sent his youngest daughter to be eaten, the dragon would ravage the land and terrorize its people until there was no more kingdom to protect. Thus, the princess would be eaten, and the kingdom would be safe a few more decades.

Tobias, however, couldn’t accept that rule. When his favoritest sister had been fed away, Tobias had journeyed all around the world to find how to get her back...

In the lands of Snow and Ice, he’d learned that dragons are vulnerable only when they are laughing.

In the Great Grass Plains before the Unending Mountains, Tobias discovered broccoli was the only thing that could kill a dragon instantly.

With the Cave Folk of the Upside-Down Mountains, he learned where to find and how to read the map to this particular dragon’s lair.

Now, after all that adventuring, he was finally reunited with his sister. He gave her a great big hug. His first adventure was finally over and he had succeeded. The evil dragon lay dead by broccoli, and his sister stood before him, ready to return to Neverwonderland.

“Hi… Umh… brother… Umh… Well. Lessee.” Marlene trailed off looking for the words, still embracing her brother.

“Aren’t you happy to see me?” said Tobias.

“Well of course I am… I missed you a lot. It’s just…” said Marlene.

“What?”

“Well, did you have to kill the dragon? Wasn’t there another way?”

Before Tobias had time to be confused and amazed, the white princess with the fiery hair came blazing up again. She didn’t like it when it went that long before she could speak or be answered.

“It just so happens, that that dragon was our home!  And we happened to like living there very much. Now we’re all stuck out here with a big smelly dragon carcass, nowhere to go, and much too cute of shoes to go walking anywhere!” Princess Liz let out an exasperated little sound and gave him an I’m expecting an answer look. Her flare for the dramatic, and her straight thinking, made her a natural leader for the princesses.

Tobias looked around him for the first time. To his right side, was a little village that looked like someone had picked up all the little houses, put them inside a cup and started playing dice with them. Everything was inside out upside down and backwards. Then his eyes took a huge step backwards… The entire messed little village was showing through a gaping hole in the rib cage of the dragon! The princesses had made a village inside which at one time must have been rather pleasant. A soft clear blue light, coming from a large crystal which must have been the dragon’s heart, illuminated the walls of the dragon’s stomach, the lining of which was itself violet in color. Green sparkling lights radiating throughout the belly.

Tobias peered closer. The entire lining of the dragons’ stomach was actually made of purple amethyst, and the green sparkles were really huge emeralds embedded in the crystal lining. The yellow glare which flowed into the cavern was from a fountain of golden liquid which spilled into a small river… A little known fact about dragons, their blood is made of honey wine, making it a rather precious commodity at trading points along Pirate Coasts. This dragon’s blood was pouring over finely grounded gold, which had hitherto lined the bottom of its belly like sand. It was a soft moving substance which must have allowed the princesses’ entire village to slide around on top of it, impervious to the movements of the great dragon.  It looked like a fine and heavenly place, with many comforts and conveniences for anyone who happened to be living there.

Tobias contemplated the upturned princess houses. Aside from the beauty and splendor of it all, it was still a big dead dragon with a tumbled and destroyed village spilling out of its exploded belly. Which is pretty gross when you think about it, you know…

Princess Liz leaned in closer and hmmmmmmmd? her impatience at the prince.

“Wow! Did I do all that!” exclaimed the little Tobias.  “So, I’ve saved my sister and all you other Princesses, too? From a dragon that was that big and vicious!? I can’t wait to tell Mom and Dad about this!”  His eyes got real big. “I did it! I saved you all!” Tobias exclaimed and he danced just a little.

“Saved us!” repeated Princess Liz, with a flare of her famous temper. “Why, this ruins everything! We were all perfectly happy until you and your wonderful plan came along! We had everything we wanted in the dragon’s belly. Where are we going to go now?”

“Well, we all get to go home now!” smiled the little boy, still very confused. “Or I guess I can take you all back to Neverwonderland with my sister and me. It’s awfully nice there. If you don’t want to go home that is...”

“I don’t want to go home.” interrupted his sister, Marlene. “And I don’t think anyone else here does either.” Tobias looked very confused, so Marlene continued. “If we go home, some other monster will just come along and demand he eat us. Or worse, want to marry us...” To this several eww! faces were made and sounds of agreement came up unanimously from the princesses. “Inside that dragon, we had everything we could want and no one could feed us to anything, because we were already eaten. I missed you and our parents a lot, Tobias, but I don’t want to go back to being a princess… It was much safer in there.” She pointed to the monster.

“I would have never guessed it was so great to be eaten alive by a dragon.” admitted Tobias. He wondered for a second. “Gee I wish he had of gobbled me up when he had the chance… Sounds like fun living in a dragon…”

“Well this is useless.” snapped the Princess Liz. She was usually a lot more fun to be around, but she had happened to be in the middle of planning a very exciting Princess Party at her house in the dragon. Now she was upturned, messy, and homeless. This makes for a very irritated princess. Especially after she had spent so much time putting the individual candies in the party favor bags. And don’t start her on the lemon honey cream butter bruilee party cake that had been cooling on her window sill in the dragon… The one she happened to be wearing…

“Well, we can’t just hang out here.” sighed Liz as she put on her thinking cap. “I don’t think any of us want to go home again….” No one interrupted her. “I guess there’s only one thing to do.”

“What is it? What is it?” squeaked a very small princess in yellow silk. She’d always hated suspense…

“We need ANOTHER DRAGON!” declared Princess Liz.

~3~

            “Wonderful!” exclaimed a small princess in maroon. “Just a lovely idea… but where the Vishnu are we going to find another dragon?”

            “And how do we know there aren’t different kinds of dragons?” said a little princess with a crown of feathers. “What if the next one chews his food?”

            A shiver arose from the hundreds of princess at the last thought, and for awhile all was quiet. Dragons were common enough, but you would almost never find two dragons neighboring. Dragons were rumored to all hate other dragons almost more than they hated princesses or heroes. And everyone knows there are no two dragons just alike. Perhaps not all of them had emerald and gold-lined life-sustaining bellies…

            So the princesses suffered in silence, each finding an unoccupied corner of the cave to stare in, to help them think. Everyone was fairly perplexed, even Tobias. It was just seeming as if their ultimate decision would be to stand around thinking about it when, of a sudden….

            “I think I know a way…” started Liz, cautiously. Not many people knew, but Liz was a Faerie Princess. In case you don’t know, a Faerie princess means somewhere along the line, you had a Faerie in your family. And that means you have a natural disposition to some magicks. Liz knew a thing or two about faerie magick when she was borne, and had studied a bit more since then. She wasn’t quite perfect yet, but she knew a few spells fairly well.

            “What is it? What can we do?” asked several of the princesses at once. Everyone had gotten a bit panicky at the thought of returning home un-eaten with no good excuse. And at journeying, which most Princesses are irritated with even when they’re being drawn by horse. And an unknown journey especially, to find another dragon which may just gobble them up and smoke their bones… well, that thought wasn’t too princess-ey either. They were fairly open to alternatives…

            “Well…you see the faeries had this spell and…” began Liz.

            “Yes?” asked the princesses.

            “They could change things with magick and…”

            “Yes…?” questioned the princesses….

            “Well… I learned a few things and…”

            “YES!?” demanded the princesses impatiently…

            “I know a spell that can make a dragon.” stammered Princess Liz. She looked nervous, which was a very very odd way to look when you were Princess Liz… What was she hiding?

            “What is it? What is it? Tell us the spell! What do we need to do?” demanded Tobias. He was intent to make things right again.

            “Alright… I’ll tell… But I must warn you…” said Liz with a sigh. “Faerie Magick is not always what you want, and sometimes the complete opposite even. We can ask the magick for the dragon, It may give us a dragon… it may even be the kind we want. Remember though, whenever magick forms in one place, it has come from another place. And that place is usually closer to you than you think…”

            The princesses turned this over in their heads. Only a few of them had had dealings with magick, and truly Liz was the most experienced. Everyone knows there is good magick and bad magick. Though, the line between these is often invisible to non-magickal humans, who go blundering between all manner of magickal things.

            “We must try to follow our hearts.” said Marlene, looking softly at Tobias. “My heart says we are doing right… though I don’t know to what end. I think I would feel more wrong about not trying if we have a hope. If a dragon that was good has died, then it seems it must be time for another good dragon to be borne.” And at this Tobias and the other princesses agreed, and started the work to build a new dragon…

~4~

            “Well first we need the tail feather of a donkey bird.” said Liz. The princesses murmured in wonder. Donkey birds were giant, vicious, and hard to come by.

            “I’ve got one…” sighed a little orange princess with long black braids. “My servants were all turned into donkey birds after my father forgot to invite the 13^th Faerie Queen to the Ball… This is all that’s left of poor old Mother Hubbard!” and with that princess sobbed a little and handed over the feather.

            “Alright… hmmm… well…” started Liz, a little concerned, but still focused. “Now what we need is a set of golden scales… the kind you weigh out sugar with…”

            “I got a little one.” Said Princess Marlene… she did love to bake, and princesses always use gold instruments. She handed it to Liz excitedly. She loved baking and mixtures and concoctions and spells.

            “Okay… We’ll need the tongue of another dragon next.”

            “Well, that’s easy enough.” Said Tobias… also very interested in the dragon making process. Follow me and we’ll pull it out…”

            “Eww!” exclaimed all the princesses unanimously. “We aren’t going to do that!” and they all looked at their feet and away, waiting for someone else to volunteer. A single Princess might pull out a dragon’s tongue if no one is watching. Princesses are capable of performing feats of great strength. After all, they are the daughters of Royalty. But they also had an image to uphold…

            “Fine.” Said Tobias… and climbed on top of the dragon’s teeth and pulled with all his might until there was a loud popping sound and he and the tongue went rolling straight backwards into the center of the princess’s circle. Tobias noticed that the tongue had slobbered a few very grossed out princesses. He did his best to hide his chuckles.

            “How do you Princesses plan on getting into the belly of the next dragon if you’re not willing to touch a tongue?” complained Tobias.

            “Well, it’s not so bad on a live dragon… but I don’t want to touch a dead dragon’s tongue…” explained Liz. And the answer seemed to work for the rest of the princesses, so they went on.

            “We only have one last ingredient… but it’s a little harder to come by…” Liz paused for effect; she liked feeling so important today. “It’s kind of complicated now, actually… I mean when you put it all together... if it happens that way and… and well… I don’t know if…”

            “What is it? What is it!?” gasped Tobias… He was absolutely intrigued by all the preceding and was interested in meeting a dragon he didn’t have to kill. Whatever the ingredient was, he could find it. In fact, aside from Dragons having eaten a good amount of the would-have-been-matriarchs in his family lineage, he had always been fascinated by them. He had dragon action figures, a subscription to Dragonal Geographic Magazine. He was even a member of their special Dragon and Drake fan club mailing list. If this whole dragon-making thing worked… he would just have to try it at home.

            “Well that’s the thing, little warrior…” said Liz to Tobias. “We need a little boy to turn into a dragon!”

~5~

            And a suddenly, not a one present had anything to say. No gasps, no whispers, no chuckles, no groans… No protests, no sighs... No nothing… A silence had fallen that was nearly as loud as if they’d all began screaming at once. All eyes turned to Tobias.

            The little boy shivered. A new feeling crept inside his liver and wrestled a home. He felt dragon green already. What to do? What would you do? If you’d traveled for millions of miles just to save your sister, and then accidentally messed everything up, and then were offered a way to fix it all again, but at the cost of leaving everything you know and love behind… would you do it? Well, maybe you’re older than eight, and think you know all the answers… but Tobias was eight and very aware of the situation… And he only occasionally thought he knew all the answers… but now wasn’t one of those know-it-all times at all.

            “What are you thinking, Toby?”  asked his sister. She wanted more than anything to get back to her happy life inside the belly of the dragon. But could she ask her brother to do this? The hardest part of leaving her home in Neverwonderland had been saying goodbye to Tobias. If he turned into a dragon, he could never go home again.  Much less ride a bicycle…

            The other princesses were working the expressions of awe off their faces. You could feel the anxiety of the crowd. Each princess was hanging on Tobias’s every exhale. No one else dared breathe.

            “Would it hurt?” asked Tobias sheepishly. Even at his curious whisper volume, his words echoed off the wall of expectancy emanating from the princesses.

            “I don’t know...” sympathized Liz. “I’ve never been turned into a dragon. It is faerie magick though, so perhaps you wouldn’t even know it if it did hurt. But I don’t think it will. It doesn’t hurt the chickens when I turn them into geese…”

            “Probably not, huh?” wondered Tobias. “Would I still be me? Like would I still have my own thoughts and still be able to talk and all… like I do?”

            “Well, the geese still clucked, and lived on seed… And the last dragon could think and talk… Perhaps he was a little boy once too, though.” Wondered Liz, and then promptly regretted it. Heads turned to the exploded carcass of the last Dragon. Tobias wondered if he and the dragon had ever been related.

            “Can I talk to Marlene alone, please?” asked Tobias. And the other princesses dispersed as best they could through cave to give Marlene and Tobias a chance to whisper.

            “Are you sure you don’t want to just go home?” said Tobias quietly. “We could bring the other princesses with us and I’m sure Mom and Dad wouldn’t mind. They we’re really sad when you left. I’m sure we could talk 'em out of feeding or marrying you to anything… And it would be nice to be heading home after all this… it’s such a story…”

            Marlene looked thoughtful and sad. She gazed around at the half- listening princesses, at her tiny upturned cottage inside the dragon, at the pile of dragon mix... “Tobias, I don’t want to head back home yet. But I won’t ask you to do anything you don’t want to. Turning into a dragon is a big responsibility and all... I know that the princesses and I would love to go back to our lives inside the dragon, but I wouldn’t want even that, if it was to cost you your happiness.”

            And Tobias sat and sat and thanked and thunked and thinked through every thought he’d ever had in all his life trying to figure out what to do and what was right and if there was a wrong and how wrong was it…

            “I’ve decided!” he announced after a very very very long short amount of time. “I will do what I think is best for the most people and the most, well, most! I have decided to become a dragon! Let’s begin!”

~6~

            Thusly, the Princesses finished Liz’s instructions to the letter. They found a giant cauldron and filled it with water and started it boiling. Tobias was covered in olive oil and oregano, and sat in the middle of the princesses feeling strangely hungry.

            “So here’s what we gotta do Tobias.” explained Liz. “You have to wrap the dragon tongue about your shoulders as a royal cloak.” Gasps of eww and a single boyish grumble filled the cave… “The magical donkey bird feather must be set upright on your head and the golden scales must hang about your neck. Then all we have to do is wait for the water to boil and in you go.”

            “Waugh!” yiped Tobias, “I’ll be scalded to death for sure! I’m not going in there!”

            “You’ve got to be fearless as a Dragon,” stated Liz. “And I’m sure you’ll be invulnerable to heat before you even touch the water. You look half-dragon already.”

            And she was right. Aside from looking rather ridiculous with a cooking scale hanging from his neck, a donkey feather in his hair and a smelly dead dragon’s tongue for a cloak, not to mention dripping with heavy Italian spices…. Aside from all that, Tobias was looking a shade of metallic green. His eyes had grown about an inch bigger, and his nails looked longer and thicker than a crocodile’s. It was beginning.  

            “Besides, we’re going to have to warm you up if you want to be a fire-breathing full-fledged flying drake. I’m sure the scales you’re growing now will make the water absolutely nothing.” assured Liz as she hoisted more olive oil over Tobias. If all else failed, they could see what dragon tongue tastes like with oregano…

             Tobias could feel his back itching and went to scratch the top of his neck. But as he reached around he found giant green-gold spikes growing out his spine instead of an itch. He went to push his hair out of his face, and found it was turning into a long grey moss-like fur, with tiny intricate diamonds growing in it. He went to itch his foot, but found it had grown nearly three feet long, and he couldn’t reach his own toes! He felt himself getting larger by the minute. He was already very powerful, and getting stronger.

            “This feels great!” exclaimed Tobias. He lifted up his arms and found he had grown long thin webbing swirling with colors like abalone and stronger than titanium. He laughed and a huge wind came swirling out nearly knocking over two princesses. His teeth stretched far out his mouth and curled just under his chin. He was now about 8 feet high and still changing rapidly. All of a sudden, Tobias felt very cold. Very Very Very cold.

            “It’s time!” exclaimed Liz excitedly. “Quickly get him in the pot before he grows anymore!” and the princesses threw as much wood as they could into the fire and stood back.

            Tobias was drawn to the fire and felt like a giant scaly moth for it. He stomped his first step and found his legs to be strong and powerful. His footsteps echoed from the cave. He was filled with excitement and joy like he’d never felt before. He tried to walk slowly to the cauldron, but found it to be such a hassle to walk slowly, that before he even knew it, he was bounding towards it with his entire new dragon might, knocking over anything and everyone else in its path.

            Reaching about 4 feet away from the pot, his legs suddenly felt like they were made of elastic and a huge Tigger-like bound welled within him and before he knew it he was about 30 feet in the air. His arms spread out wide before he could think and caught the soft updraft of the boiling water and he was coasting coasting coasting closer to the center of the cauldron. A hundred miles an hour he was free falling into the boiling water. And it felt wonderful…

K-E-R-S-P-L-A-S-H!!!

~7~

            “Ugghh…” groaned Tobias. “What a weird dream that was… Dragons and, hmm… I wonder where I am…” He slowly opened his eyes to see a low ceiling that looked vaguely familiar. He’d have sworn it looked like the one from his dream, but something about it was different. Tobias looked closer at the crystals embedded in the rock. Inside of each diamond, emerald, ruby, amethyst and other ancient priceless pebble were baby Faerie folk. Elves, imps, goblins, dwarves, faeries, brownies, and all manner of magick creatures were curled inside the jewels. This cave was a nesting place for magick creatures. This was an egg lair, so to speak, for magickal children of the ethereal to be borne. Suddenly, one of the ruby eggs seemed to be shining brighter than the rest, and Tobias peered closer…

            Clink-Clink, Vwooosh, Schweeeee… was the sound the little ruby made, and then it lit up brighter and brighter until Tobias had to close his eyes. Of a sudden, there was a tiny giggle. Tobias opened his eyes and found there, floating just in front of him, was a tiny naked faerie. She was giggling at him.

            “Welcome to the Otherwerld.” She smiled at him. Her voice sounded like watching a cherry blossom fall, and Tobias could have sworn it was in another language entirely when it hit his ears… but by the time it had hit his brain it sounded like the same Neverwonderland language he’d always known. His brain tingled like it had just been through the deep cleaning cycle and was still drying in the breeze. He felt open to a thousand and one new ideas… that suddenly all felt like old ones… What had happened?

            “Welcome to you to.” smiled Tobias. “Weren’t you just borne?”

            “Well, I could say the same to you.” She giggled and it made Tobias want to giggle too.  “I understand little boys rarely get to see so much magick. Well, are you still a little boy though? It seems like I can still see you in there… How are you feeling?”

            “Well, umh, fine I suppose.” admitted Tobias, scratching his head. “What do you mean by…” but before he could finish, the hand that was scratching his head passed down in front of his eyes. It seemed almost natural for a moment and then he noticed the inside of his hand was thick solid gold plating, but still living and leathery. His nails, once dirty and a little chewed were now 6 foot long talons made of solid diamond. His arms were now huge abalone wings, light and unearthly strong, with his new claws on the end. Over his shoulders hung the thick moss-like hair, silver-grey with small icy crystals shining gently within it. The moss felt cool and warm, and wrapped much of his new body like clothing. His belly was the same gold plating as his palm, and as he was soon to discover, the soles of his feet.

            He had grown scales covering his back and face and legs that much resembled tree leaves, but were thicker and harder and sharper than any trees to be found. They seemed to be emerald, but infinitely stronger. He felt invulnerable to any force, and was. This dragon thing was pretty cool.

He wasn’t sure how, but he knew he was smarter, and could understand things that his human brain could not have comprehended. He could hear water falling half across the continent if he so chose. He could speak any language without a thought for it. He could fly and fight and howl like an earthquake. He could do almost anything. He could breathe magickal fire. And did….  Groooooooowwwwr! Flames burst forth in blue and gold. He could even smell a flower from millions of miles away… and he could smell… well, umh… singed hair…

~8~

            “Hey knock it off up there! That’s too darn hot! You nearly got me!” shouted Liz from a rock ledge nearby. Her hair was now a rather flattering little bob… not that that needed be pointed out right then. “Are you done celebrating now?” she said a little nicer. “How does your new belly feel?”

            “This is wonderful, Princess Liz!” exclaimed the Dragon Tobias. “I never knew things were so beautiful! Can you see the Faerie Gems Hatching? Have you met… umh…? What was your name?” he turned to the tiny faerie.

            “She can’t see or hear Me.” chimed the little faerie. “My name… well… I think I like Greta right now. But I might change it. I haven’t had long to think it over yet.”

            “Well, Princess Liz, this is Greta; for now.” He introduced them. “You can’t see or here her now, but she’s a faerie that was just born here from out that ruby.”

            “Why can’t I see or hear her?” said Liz.

            “Well, She could see me if I formed a little shape for myself in her world, but that takes a lot of energy, and is usually kind of dangerous. I don’t want to get stuck there. I’ll wait until I’ve been around awhile longer thank you very much.” decided Greta.

            “She says it’s hard to go to the human world.” repeated Tobias. “How come humans can see dragons and not faeries?”

            “Because dragons are made from earthy things, and faeries are ethereal. Human eyes and minds often can’t comprehend the ethereal.”

            “Often?”

            “No rule is finite.”

            “I see…”

            “What’s going on?” quizzed Liz, wondering why her hair felt so much lighter… She didn’t think she liked the idea that there could be hundred of invisible creatures buzzing around her right then and she didn’t even know it. What if faeries really do bite? She wondered…

            “Greta’s just explained to me how humans can’t see ethereal beings.”

            “And thing”

            “And things…” continued Tobias.

            “Lovely.” said Liz. “Well Tobias… Do you think you’re almost ready? I don’t want to rush you and all but if it’s not a bother, can you eat us please?”

            “O Yes, well, of course… umh… how shall we… umh… well? Where to begin?” He tried to turn his head, but the cave was now much smaller to him. He was large enough to swallow an entire village now… He managed to curl up without knocking anything over, and if he twisted just right, with his now oak tree-like neck, he could peer at the now tiny princesses.

            “Hullo Tobias! How are you? What’s it like?” shouted Marlene. To Tobias, her voice now sounded much like a cricket. Not that he couldn’t hear her, but it seemed harder to focus and listen to human words than it did to hear Greta’s for instance. There was something more guttural, and somehow less honest to the words. I suppose it’s why faeries distrust humans like they do. Tobias realized that human language must be based on sounds, like how he used to use, and not images and energies and magicks that the faeries and the rocks and the trees and the wind and all the ethereal creatures use to communicate. No wonder humans were hurting themselves all the time. They can’t even hear cliffs warning them they are about to fall off, much less figure out how to fly on the whispering updrafts of the winds. Being a human suddenly seemed very sad to Tobias.

            “I’m feeling great, Marlene. It’s incredible. You’ve no idea what you’re missing by being human. This is like being friends with everything in the world!” he looked at her and tried to send his feelings in the ethereal way.

For a moment, Marlene felt as if a million butterfly wings all covered her in a sweet breeze of flower perfumes and giggles. And then it faded. She smiled at her brother.

            “All that huh?” she laughed. “Well then, what are we waiting out here for?” she skipped towards her brother and gave him a kiss on his huge scaly nose. “I think it’s time. May I go first?”

            Tobias opened his gigantic jaws enough for his sister to get inside, who was now the size of one of his smaller teeth. She walked straight back in and called back from his esophagus… “It’s an easy walk through here, and everything looks right. You can send in the rest of the princesses if you’re alright Tobias…”

            “Uiaym Haiynne.” He said, which translated to “I’m Fine”, but he didn’t want to accidentally chew his sister.

            “Let’s go then.” Said Liz, and hopped right up, carrying what she needed from her little cottage, and wandered way down into the stomach, followed by all the other princesses in a long line. Tobias fought back his giggles as the silky skirts tickled his tonsil. And then it was over. All the princesses had climbed into his belly and he could feel them settling in.

            “What do I do now?” he wondered aloud.

            “Well, you should swallow up some of this gold and finery so the princesses have things to work with.”

            “What do I do when I want real food?” asked Tobias.

            “Dragons don’t eat real food. Dragons eat gold and jewels… Dragons are like… well… most of them are… Giant Treasure chests, really. I think that’s what they were made for… to keep precious things safe. Even the bad ones I think.” answered Greta. “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll come around with you. See, I’m a fairly young faerie, I’ve only been born 263 times, well, as a faerie, and I don’t think I’ve had the chance to observe many dragons. If you don’t mind my company that is…”

            “Of course not.” Said Tobias. “Now which of these treasures do you think I should eat?”

            “Well, maybe some of their cottages, and some non-melted vats and some of those dishes and fineries. Seems to me they’ll need some useful things.”

            So Tobias carefully swallowed the cottages and useful things, and knew he’d done it correctly. He could hear and understand everything the princesses said and felt, like it was a part of him, and they were happy. So was he.

~9~

            “Why don’t dragons need to eat food?” asked Tobias. He had crawled out of the cave into a nearby-to-dragons but not-so-nearby-to-you-or-me, meadow of flowers. He was lying on his belly and Greta was sitting on his nose, wearing a dress she’d made of yellow flowers.

            “I think it has to do with being a treasure chest dragon.” She wondered. “I think you should swallow food, but only whole, so that the princesses can eat it. Maybe swallow a cow or a flock of geese, too. And you should drink lots of water, for yourself and the princesses. Everything good needs water. Not everything needs food” said Greta.

            “I think you’re right. The idea of eating anything as food does sound pretty strange.” He wandered off into a day dream again. They were both resting off the excitement of their birthdays. After the princesses had settled in, Tobias and Greta’d gone to clean up the other dragon’s remains. However, they discovered that as soon as Tobias had changed into a dragon, the other dragon’s body had shrunk into that of a small emerald toy, thus saving any irritating clean up. Tobias swallowed the figurine, and sent a thought message to the princesses to take good care of it, and any other’s they may find. So far, they had a collection of three.

            “Do you think all the other dragons were once little boys?” wondered Greta absently.

            “I don’t think so.” Tobias answered. “Maybe some dragons are, but I think it would be like assuming all faeries come from gems, and I see faeries being born out of petals and pods and rocks and cocoons even right now. We’re all a part of the same thing, but each made a little differently. I think some dragons always were, some were made, like me, and some just appear when they need to.”

            “That makes sense… Not even much different from faeries.” nodded Greta. “You know, you’re catching onto all this faerie stuff pretty quick, huh?”

            “Well, I’ve now got the collective thoughts of 157 princesses as my own. As well as whatever knowledge was naturally embedded in my dragon’s brain. And I think there’s more in my head that’s just stashed there, too… For when I need to know it, you know… I feel like there are things I will have to do now that I’m a dragon.”

            “Probably.” Agreed Greta. “Everything that comes from magick has something it will have to do. Dragons, Faeries, humans even… At times we all feel compelled towards something or another. Some of us know. Some of us don’t. But I think if you could draw a magickal life, scrawling it across the page of time, it would look something like sheets of music. Each note representing an event that took place in the magickal life. I think it’s all about the song you leave behind, and how it helps to add to the orchestra that all things play in. Of course, I’m just a very small faerie… “And she leaped and chased a grass fly in lazy circles for a moment. Faeries hate being too serious for too long.

            Tobias was just wondering what his song would sound like, when he heard an awful clatter, and all the small lovely things in the field shrieking out. He turned to see 50 human men clad in inconvenient-looking armor. They looked frightened, but determined. The leader stepped forward and held aloft his crude pointy sword towards Toby.

            “I challenge thee, Evil Dragon Beast!” he exclaimed, sounding rather silly to Tobias, though he knew better than to laugh.

            “Why?” said Tobias. This took the men aback. Many humans don’t know Dragon’s can talk. They usually only remember the evil ones I suppose… who bite a lot more than they bark. The little army looked about them, unsure as to what to do. They were waiting for the dragon to start simply spraying fire everywhere so they could each run or fight.

            “Well… uh… Because thou art a hideous dragon and we are sworn to slay thee!” retorted the Leader with a harrumph that nearly sent Tobias laughing again.

            “Sworn to slay me…” repeated Tobias. “That seems rather finite. Well, my faerie friend here has just taught me,” he waved at Greta, which of course, the men couldn’t see. “…that no rules are finite, and that how you live is all you are. Are you sure you want to be wandering around swearing to slaughter innocent creatures simply because you don’t know them? If you do, that means you’re truly evil, and I shan’t feel bad about killing all of you.” Here the soldiers quivered. “But if you don’t want to go so quickly, then perhaps you would like put down your weapons and take up a tea kettle instead. Then perhaps I could help you make some tea faster than you’ve ever seen and if we get along well, perhaps I could help you out with something in the future.” Here he stopped and gave the soldiers an inquisitive look.

            “Well, I suppose we could sit for some tea a moment.” stammered the Captain.

~10~

This Captain was in fact Captain Patrick of the Castle-Beyond-The-Mountain in Everafter Land. He had heard from some gypsies several hours before that the dragon cave to the south of this city had become full of fire and sound. He immediately set out to protect his city from what he assumed must be another dragon attack. He was a good man, smart and proud, and not afraid to admit when he was wrong. If he could have tea and make allies with a dragon, he would take that over having to slay one any day. 

            Once the tea ingredients had been gathered, and the men and faeries properly situated, Tobias put the herbs and water in the boiling kettle and blew a tiny burst of dragon flame over the pot. It was heated instantly and he gingerly poured it into the tiny cups of the men.

            “So, what are your names, and where are you from?” asked Tobias, attempting to make the impromptu tea party a comfortable experience.

            “I am Captain Steven, of the Everafter Land. And these are my loyal men. We are sworn to protect this land from all evil, and to report to our king all that goes on in his land. And yourself…?”

            “Well… I am Prince Tobias of…” but there he stopped. “Well, I don’t think I’m a prince anymore actually, and I’m not sure where I come from now. I don’t think I can go back to my old home…” Tobias trailed off in thought.

            “Welcome to Everafter Land, then.” said Capt. Patrick. “Perhaps we could help to change you back. If you were truly a Prince, you will need to be restored.”

            “I can not and will not need to be “restored” thank you, captain.” stated Tobias. “I am also sworn to protect, though I don’t feel comfortable telling you exactly what I protect yet.”

            “But you are a Prince underneath that hideous Dragon exterior!” exclaimed the Captain. “Surely your people will need you to rule them. They can’t crown a Dragon King!”

            “I know they can’t.” said Tobias, a little forlorn at the thought. “But I have become a dragon for the good of my country, really… and for my love of a beautiful princess. You would not ask me to forsake her for a kingdom well under control.”

            “I would never ask a man to break his word. Or a dragon I suppose...” said the Captain. “But how would a princess profit from her Prince being turned into a dragon?”

            “Well, she is not my princess, per say.” answered Tobias. “She is my sister. It is she and 156 other princesses that I am sworn to protect. I can only do this as a dragon, so here we are.”

            “I see.” said the captain. And he wandered into his thoughts trying to add up how a young prince turns himself into a dragon to save 157 princesses. Luckily, he knew there were many things he didn’t know, and simply had learned to accept this. Though, his curiosity had been peaked. That was a lot of princesses.

            “Perhaps I could ask you to sup with the King and myself.” asked Captain Patrick, after a pause. “Our King has been rather… forlorn… of late, and could use a distraction. I think bringing a good dragon like yourself to our fair city may help to set the King’s mind at ease. It may be difficult at first, but our king is a good King, I think... I know he would love to have an ally such as you. The answer is blowing in the wind.”

            “I guess it couldn’t hurt…” said Tobias. “I’m not really doing anything else.”

            “Be careful, Toby.” whirred Greta, close to his ear. “Humans will never fully trust ethereal creatures. They don’t understand how we work, and some of them, if they get a chance, won’t rest until they find out. No matter what. Remember that.”

            Tobias nodded in agreement, and decided not to share the knowledge of his little faerie friend attending with the soldiers.

            “I will go and meet your king, by your leave.” said Tobias... “I could also use allies, now that I am a dragon. But don’t forget that just because I am a nice dragon, does not mean I can’t be furious and vengeful if betrayed or misused!”  He looked horrible and dangerous so that the men quaked and quailed making the most horrible rattle of their battle gear.

            “I will mark these words…” replied Captain Patrick, a little shaken, but still resolute. “I will mark my invite as a promise of free entry and leave into this land, provided you are in my company for either, until the king breaks or takes my vow.  Until then, I trust such displays from either of us need not be necessary.” He referred to Tobias’s threatening stance, and Tobias relaxed and chuckled a little, making himself look much more docile and inviting. The men relaxed as well, and then began their journey to the Everafter Land.

~11~

            They traveled for awhile by foot, before Tobias got very bored with waiting on their hundreds of steps to his one, and offered them all a lift. So up, up, up, they went, on the back of the Great Dragon Toby, flying high above the plains towards the Castle of Everafter Land, with 50 mail clad men on his back, a belly full of princesses, and a small faerie riding on his nose. The villagers on the outskirts of the city fled in terror as Tobias’s giant shadow crossed the sun.

            Tobias landed about three miles outside the city in a stony field. “Well, I imagine they know we’re coming. But they might not have seen you on my back. I don’t want them thinking I’m an attacking dragon, so I suppose from here you should go forth and introduce me. Unexpected company and all…” Tobias watched the last soldier slide down his tail to the ground.

            “Well thank you for the lift.” said Patrick. “That would have taken a day’s journey at least by foot. Were only an hour away now!” and with that he led his men forward. What a site they must have been, 50 windblown soldiers being followed by a giant drake, near half the size of their palace. The soldiers were all huffing and puffing, moving as fast as they could to reach the castle. While the dragon lumbered behind them, watching patiently and slowly for them to move far enough ahead of him to warrant taking another gigantic step (which was really a baby step for Tobias…). Soon the dragon just sat and watched them make it to the door. It took about an hour. Then in about 4 steps and 30 seconds, Tobias had caught up with them, and was waiting outside the door to the castle, while half the soldiers went in to announce him, and the rest stayed by his feet, to explain to the braver subjects what a dragon was doing on the castle steps.

            That’s how Tobias arrived at the Everafter Land. The people began gathering around him as he waited outside the gate. He giggled at them for being so frightened of him. After all, a few hours before he was a near ignorable, though perhaps special nonetheless, little boy. His previous image didn’t exactly strike fear into the onlookers. Now he was a giant glittering dragon being gawked at by hundreds of tiny villagers, awaiting the arrival of an important king to greet him, and perhaps make friends with each other for as long as his dragon life may be. Being a dragon was looking up.

            As the wait for the king and the captain to return lengthened, the villagers surrounding him became braver in their curiosity. The young boys approached first, staying far away enough to flee if they had to. Tobias noticed that human children smelled strangely of milk. One boy, a little older than he used to be, came closer and closer to Tobias. Tobias could tell by the holes in his jerkin and bloomers that this must be the adventurous boy. Every village seems to have one. A boy that just has to see what happens when… Tobias watched him intently.

            “You’re a dragon, right?” announced the young man after much scrutinizing.

            “Well, as far as I know.” answered Tobias. Greta flittered to the top of his head. Tobias could tell the boy made her nervous, as did all the humans around. The human habitat made it absolutely unlivable for faerie folk. There was nothing ethereal within miles of the castle, and the plants and animals had grown quiet and non-magickal where masses of humans dwelled. Even Tobias felt the pull of the place. A tugging feeling, seeming to say he oughtn’t to believe in himself.

            “Where did you come from?” the young man interrupted his reverie. “And why are you here?”

            “Well, I don’t know really where I come from anymore.” said Tobias. “I think I come from a lot of places really. And I’m here to meet with your King. And to make friends with your country.”

            “Really?” said the boy with a queer look on his face. “And why do you think our King would want to be friends with a dragon?”

            “So I don’t eat you all!” said Tobias, thinking himself rather funny. He knew it was one of the last things in the world he would do, but they didn’t.

            The boy leaped back in surprise. A dragon that would be the height of a couple thousand of you standing head on head, threatening to eat you, is a good thing to jump back from… If you’re ever there, now you know.

            “Well our King hates dragons.” Retorted the boy, from a bit farther away. He ignored his mother calling him to come back that instant. “And he has sworn to destroy all Dragons that enter his domain! Why would the King wanna be friends with an Evil dragon? We haven’t got any princesses to eat, and our knights are the strongest in the land! Why would he need a smelly, ugly, mean, dragon as a friend?”

            Tobias realized that what the little boy was saying was possibly true, and also very familiar. He began to be a bit squeamish about having come. Why, no less than yesterday, he himself would have been in the exact same spot as this little boy. A ways off in his own Neverwonderland, he would be cursing and hating all dragons everywhere, never having met one even, just like this little boy. He would have been the first to run up and throw stones and make it known that dragons were generally unwelcome, such as this particular boy had begun doing. Tobias watched the tiny stones bounce of his toe talon and land softly in the mud. He was in a land of sworn dragon haters with no magick understanding. Greta whirred in front of his eyes.

            “I think we should leave now.” She whispered excitedly. “I don’t think we should be here. This isn’t a place for magickal beings.” She watched the villagers cautiously.

            “But Greta…” answered Tobias with his mind. “Humans are everywhere. And many of them think just like this. They’re spreading through every place, and have no ability to see magick. We must learn to coexist with them now, for I see no intent in them to stop growing. They have a magick we just can’t see through our eyes, as they can’t see ours. This bridge must be gapped or I’m afraid of what might happen…”

            Greta shivered and went back to nestling in his moss. Tobias watched as the little boy was carried off by his ear. But the faces of the villagers nearby shared the little boy’s distrust and dislike for dragons. Their faces showed their general lack of understanding for the magickal things. Tobias sighed and watched the castle for signs of the captain and the king.

~12~

            The Captain did not reappear.

            The King never appeared.

            What did appear was large net, weaved entirely of dragon’s bane. This was the kind of net used for capturing a dragon, and keeping him alive, but helpless and under total control. Something Tobias had known existed, but was not expecting in the slightest. Before he knew it, he was ensnared in a net, feeling all of his magick fade, until he was weak and helpless as a newly borne kitten.

            And in such a state, he was dragged away by herds of ox towards toward a rocky valley, serving perfectly as a dragon sized pit. There a fence was erected so no one person could enter alone, or get out. And Guards were posted in a circle surrounding the dragon all day and all night. A great sign was erected near the pit simply stating:

            And people saw the dragon. Crowds of onlookers from all walks of human life came to see poor Tobias the Dragon tied in a pit. Some people walked away terrified, most of the little children cried, and the older ones threw things and jested at him. To see all of his majesty corrupted and controlled made some humans feel better. As if all the dark magickal things that tormented them and left them afraid, the things they could not understand were also something they could keep in a deep pit and mock. Tobias was full of rage for his betrayal and pain, but his sadness for them all overpowered it. They could not know the great joy because they could not feel the great pain.

            Greta Had stayed by him, unnoticed and unaffected by the net. She tried everything she could to get him free, but she herself was not strong enough to free Tobias from the great heavy net. She asked the wood creatures for help, but all were too afraid by the capturing and torture of the dragon that they didn’t dare to venture any closer to the castle than they were… and many were packing up and moving away…

            So Greta stayed by Tobias, everyday looking for a way to escape and ways to keep Tobias from giving up.

            “This may take some time to figure out, but there’s no reason to give up after just a little bumper like this.” She consoled him. “Soon we’ll be laughing about this as that time when… well… maybe not laughing…” she trailed off into a little song that sounded much sadder than it had been written to be on that day…

            Days went by and turned into weeks. Tobias stopped noticing the onlookers and sunk further and further into his day dreams. He could barely hear Greta anymore, save as if by a dream. She was something small and sweet always, but far far away… and that somehow made him feel very sad.

~13~

            Tobias awoke in ancient forest with ancient oaks towering above him. He was a little boy again, but with a dragon tail, and wings. He started into a run and swooshed up into the air and flew on a warm breeze to the tops of the trees. But when he reached the air, he found the sky was red as a painting. He felt as if the whole forest were on fire, sparkling and breaking, making all the sounds and heat and manner of ruckus associated with fire, but not a tree was falling, and there were no flames to be seen. He flew higher, always gaining more and more heights by the billows of heat erupting from the not burning forest.

            Soon the forest began to look very small. Soon it didn’t even look like a forest anymore. And soon the forest was only a speck and he was looking down on mountains that seemed like polished beach pebbles. And suddenly the edges began to curl back and the clouds covered the spot of the forest where he had just been and suddenly the world he was previously just swooping over was now millions of miles below him, looking something like a snow globe and a marble.

            Tobias zoomed through the dark matter of space, spinning in miniature vortexes, and stretching his arms in little black holes, and shrinking them again in small white holes. Tobias zoomed free beside the stars, taking interest in each star and planet and comet and supernova that passed him by. He flew further and further away, always examining something new. Always wanting to learn. Time went by in pockets, sometimes long on one star he visited, and short on another. He had no idea how long he had been flying, but it held no cease in delight to him. He was a dragon flying free through the galaxy. He had no worries. He had no cares.

            As he flew he became seized with an overwhelming urge. Stronger than anything he’d ever felt before, he felt the need to find where this galaxy ended. He wanted to see what was beyond even the stars to see. So he traveled with an ever-gaining velocity towards what he thought must be the end, if any linear path could be taken to it. Faster and faster, and further and further out into the galaxy he went, never stopping to rest. His only intent became to find the edge the end. He felt closer and closer to discovering what was just beyond what he knew.

            And then he reached it.

            Bam! Head first into a rubbery wall that was black as night, and then into the rubbery wall, and then pooping right through it. He sat stunned for a moment. On the other side he had found himself laying in a strange black forest with a light like which he had never seen before. He closed his eyes and let it fade away.

~14~

            “Tobias! Wake up! Can you hear me?”

            Greta was trying with all of her might to awaken the sleeping dragon. Aside from a few dream like murmurs, Tobias hadn’t said a thing in a week. A strange silence had fallen around him, and even the humans had sensed it, and had quit attending, for the most part. The guards were lessened, and it was generally assumed the dragon was dieing. Greta was in a panic.

            “Tobias!” she yelled into his ear, not knowing what else to do. The great dragon just shifted its head away as if by remote, and seemed to slip a little further into somewhere they could not follow.

            “What to do? What to do?” she said to herself. “I’ve never been good at making decisions! Well, I have no experience in this life time anyhow… What do I know? What do I know? I know I was borne, there was Tobias… he swallowed some princesses and… But that’s it!” she exclaimed to herself. “I have to get the princesses! They’ll help for sure they’re human! But they can’t see me… I’d have to change… but… but…”

            Greta rested gently down onto Tobias’s head and put her head on her knuckles and wondered and despaired. But like is known, faeries are not good at being serious or sad for long, and within a minute she was giggling.

            “Well,” she reasoned. “Tobias would do it for me I’m sure. Plus I just like him, and I know that I couldn’t let a good thing die if there was anything I could do to stop it. I think Tobias must’ve felt the same. Or he wouldn’t be here. Alright… into the belly we go!” and she flew to his nose and was just about to enter when…

            Snatch! She found herself in the fingers of Captain Patrick! And he was looking right at her.

            “Who are you and what are you doing here?” he asked her

            “Nothing! Leave me alone!” Greta struggled in his grip, though truthfully he was being very careful not to crush her at all.

            “Be quiet! Keep your voice down!” he ducked them both into a shadow. “They might be able to hear you while I’m holding you!”

            “But you’re one of them!” kicked Greta, perhaps a little quieter. “Or you would let me go!”

            “Listen Faerie… I have been exiled and my titles stripped, all due to this dragon friend of yours. My secrets are laid bare, and if I am found here, I am to be killed on sight. And that would be a pity now, as I would have no chance to amend the damages I have caused you and your friend.” He looked hard at the Faerie, and she sensed a glimmer of Faerie language from him. It was weak, but honest and kind, such as she had not sensed in weeks.

            “How is it that you see me?” she asked. “What are you?”

            “I am a wizard. Well, Almost… only half really... My Mother was a witch, the daughter of a Willow Faerie and a troll. She was born in human shape however, and raised in faerie land. My father walked through a toadstool ring one evening, and they found each other. He was a human soldier, but a fearless one, and was not afraid to fall in love with a faerie. They moved here, to the Everafter Land. And most was fine… until the last crowning, anyhow. Now magick in all forms is illegal, and the people forget more and more everyday.”

            “Who is this King that thinks he can Outlaw and Forget the Ethereal Beings?” demanded Greta. “That’s ridiculous! It’s like being afraid of one’s self!”

            “I can’t speak for the king’s reasoning, for I do not understand him. It seems to me that something has angered him beyond countenance, and he no longer acts out of logic such as yours and mine. He seems a man obsessed with… or maybe even possessed by something… Your guess is as good as mine.”

            “Well…” wandered Greta. “I really should be going now if you don’t mind… I’ve got to help my friend now.” She wriggled a little.

            “If I let go of you, I won’t be able to hear you, unless you alight of me on your own will.” He paused. “I should let you go if you can tell me how I can help you and the dragon. I owe this to you both, and can’t rest knowing I am the cause of such suffering.”

            “Let me go and we’ll talk.” And Greta was free. She started to talk and then remembered, and flew back down to the captain’s arm. “Why can you see me and not hear me?”

            “Because I am only half Wizard.” He answered. “I cannot hear the magickal creatures unless I am touching them, but I see them all the time.”

            “Is that why it was hard for you to send your thoughts to me earlier?”

            “Yes, I am still learning. Now come and tell me, what is this plan of yours to help the Dragon?”

            “Well, The Dragon’s name is Tobias.” She started. “And he is a special kind of dragon. First, tell me why it is you have been exiled. I am still unsure of many things about you.”

            “The King here has set a ban on all magick within his realm. My mother and father went into hiding, but I did not want to go. I felt I had too much to do, and that it was worth the risk of being caught. I rose the ranks to be one of the most respected captains in the land, even at the loss of all things magickal to me. But I could not rest with both worlds so separate, and my loyalty between the two was stretched. I was determined to greet humans and ethereal folk again, as it should be. I awaited my opportunity.

            “And I thought it had come. When I was sent off to do battle with the dragon, I thought it would just be another rampaging beast, ill, or perhaps an evil dragon. I’ve seen them both. To find one like yours that was cognizant and also wanting to bridge the gap was the happiest I could find. I had no idea our kingdom owned any such nets, and it forebodes great evil to me to think of why we may have had one constructed… but that for later.

            “The King was first thinking I had brought a captured foe, but once he discovered it was here only to make allies with him, and especially at my suggesting and welcome, the king immediately went into a rage. He ordered me to be dungeoned until trial by King, and started giving out orders to snare the dragon. I was dragged away and locked in a cell until just 2 days ago, when the king saw fit to have banishing be my punishment. I then worked out how to get to the dragon but was at a loss beyond that until I saw you…”

            “Well, I only have a small hope…” said the faerie. “But I have a larger purpose so hopefully it will balance out. I think I have…”

            But she was cut short by the sound of armored footsteps and the voices of men nearby…

            “I think it came from over here!”

~15~

            Tobias awoke in the same black forest. The ground was warm and smooth. He stood up and tested himself. He felt fine, but very different somehow. He flew into the air to get a better look at what he was standing on. Just in time to avoid being obliterated by a giant paw.

            At least that’s what it seemed to be. Tobias flew further and further back until he realized he was floating just in front of two large yellow eyes, looking at him intently.

            “I’ve never seen a flea like you before.” said a voice beyond the eyes. It was communicating like faeries do, but was much louder and larger than anything Tobias had ever heard or imagined before. The images the cat conveyed were of things larger than his largest imaginings. And Tobias was in fact face to face with a sleek black cat that made him the size of, well, a flea…

            “I’m not a flea, I’m a… well…a… Tobias, at least I think I am.” He stammered. “What are you?”

            The cat purred.

            “I am many things. It all depends on my mood, I think. Or yours, I suppose.”

            “You look like a cat.”

            “And what kind of mood are you in?” purred the cat, sneezing a little laugh.

            “I am well… where am I?”

            “What a silly question.” laughed the cat. “You’re here of course.”

            “But where is here?”

            “Here is well,… Now, of course... Don’t you know?” The cat looked irritated… or bored.

            “Maybe I do…” said Tobias, not wanting to upset the giant creature. “Not wanting to be rude or anything, but I think my planet is somewhere inside your belly.”

            “Well why did you leave it there then?” said the cat looking at its belly, slightly concerned.

            “I didn’t leave it. I well; I think there are entire galaxies inside your belly, including mine, and maybe yours.”

            “Well my my…” chimed the cat. “Perhaps there is a cat inside us all…”

            Just then, Tobias felt a tickle in his throat. Then a glimmer of something else… something else he was supposed to be doing… Something just beyond… What was that?...

            “Tobias!” screamed a small strange voice. It was somehow familiar to him. What was it that the voice was saying? It sounded like…like…

 “Open your mouth right now!”

            And he did.

~16~

            “There’s no other choice! I must take you with me!” squeaked Greta. “Follow me!”

            “Into there!? Are you crazy?” said Captain Patrick. “I’m no coward! I’ll stand and fight any day.” They stood in between Tobias’s temporarily open jaws, and a fleet of soldiers gathering around them from every angle. The game was up, and I don’t think a rock and a hard place could convey the decision captain Patrick believed himself to be in.

            “No harm will come to you! This is a Treasure Chest Dragon. I promise you will enter and leave safely, and will find amazing things inside. You have to trust me. Forget your human side…” she waited in nail-biting anxiety for him to decide. All the while the soldiers drew closer, shouting orders for more manacles and more guards.

            “I can’t wait any longer!” said the Faerie and whizzed into the dragon’s throat.

            But Patrick was close behind her, each of them leaping just before SNAP! the jaw was shut and the guards locked outside. While Greta and Patrick were now standing on the tongue of their friend, Tobias the Dragon, and possibly locked inside a dieing dragon.

            “Well what do we do now?” asked Patrick as he admired the dragon’s canines and incisors. “I don’t think we should go out there just yet. But I also don’t see much sense in waiting here.”

            “Now we have to walk.” said Greta from Patrick’s shoulder. “We go down that way. There are some people I want you to meet.”

            “People? Here? Really? Like more Faeries? Or… what is this place?” he said as he peered closer at the dragon’s throat. He could have sworn the inside of the dragon’s throat was made entirely of cut obsidian, shaping a perfectly airy tunnel that sweet clean air seemed to be softly blowing in and out of. There were stairs carved that led towards the source of the air. There seemed to be a light at the bottom.

            “This is a treasure chest dragon. He was made to protect something special. You are about to meet what he is protecting.”

            “Is he protecting it from people, or for people?” wondered the Captain. “How was such a creature constructed? And by whom?”

            “He was not built, not in the way you are thinking.” explained Greta. “He used to be… well… I’m going to tell you as much as you need know for now. I’m still not even sure I should bring you in here. Yet, as I have no other allies here, and as you are seemingly what you say you are, I have no choice.”

            “Why do you still not trust me?” said Patrick, truthfully a little hurt. “I am magick too.”

            “But you are drawn between both worlds. You have spent a long time with those people, and I don’t know how badly you want to join them again. You gave us no warning of the magick ban before you led us here.”

            “I figured it must be known.” said Patrick. “And I did not know the king had a way to interfere with a dragon, especially one so obviously powerful. I think the King exceeds his station even, and has plans darker than what he shares. If he has had such a net constructed, what for really? Who knows what other powers he may be acquiring? He is not of himself as I’ve explained.”

            “What do you think he is doing?” asked the faerie. “I’ve never understood why humans do the things they do.”

            “I imagine that simply banning magick was not good enough for the King.” considered Patrick. “I imagine he knew as long as there was magick, he would always be reminded of it. I believe it is the King who hates and fears magick, and I do not believe he will rest until he has controlled or resolved his fear of the ethereal. Or perhaps controlled the ethereal it’s self.”

            “That sounds like the makings of a dark wizard indeed.” shivered Greta. “The sooner we get Tobias out of here the better. Would your King really let him die?”

            “I pray that he is only dimly aware of the violence he is causing. Or does not know he is doing wrong. For if he knows and is willingly destroying a magickal creature against the will of the ethereal, then my homeland is in graver danger than even the... Tobias here.”

            The pair continued on in silence towards the ever increasing illumination. They began to feel a peaceful calm come over them as they got nearer and nearer. They soon arrived on the edge of a golden sand that stretched across and expansive landscape. There were planters at the edge of a great golden colored lake. The prettiest silver windmills ground away in the ever present breeze that seemed to be breathing them in. The pair stood in awe on the edge of the world of the 157 Princesses.

~17~

            “I’ve just felt the strangest sensation. Like I wasn’t really here at all, but that I was. I felt the need to go somewhere. But I think I was already there. It’s like none of this is real, or maybe none of that is real… I’m not sure.”

            “You don’t seem to know who, what, or where you are.” said the cat. “What is so hard with being a flea right here and now?”

            “Because I am not those things.” answered Tobias. “I’m certainly not a flea, and I would like to be here right now, but I just don’t think I am.”

            “Sounds quite complicated to be a Ffll….uuuh… Tobias.” smirked the cat. “Well this is a big world, and there’s many more to explore beyond that. I am sure you can find somewhere to belong. Where would you like to go?”

            “I think I should just sit still for a minute and not go anywhere.” Said Tobias and flitted himself to the ground to think.

            “Must we think in here?” quizzed the cat. “I know a much better spot for thinking, if you would like to join me. I think I am interested in you problem. For now.”

            And so the cat and Tobias traveled what seemed a very long way to Tobias, who eventually had to just rest on the cat until they arrived. When Tobias had opened his eyes again they were on the branch of a large ancient tree. So said the cat. It was much too large for Tobias to get any sort of accurate understanding of it without flying very very very very far away. And even then he wasn’t sure. Can you imagine a flea looking at a tree? It would be pretty incomprehensible.

            “I like to watch the stars from here before I hunt. I suppose it is like giving thanks.”

            “Giving thanks to what?” asked Tobias.

            “To whatever it is that holds the galaxy together and allows me to enjoy it. To the great cat in the sky.”

            “But you are the great cat in the sky. Are you thanking yourself?”

            “O yes, I forgot… your galaxy’s in my belly is it? But since your world is now in my reality, I have become a part of your reality, so therefore must be inside myself, within you? Is that it then?”

            “I don’t know…” said Tobias, trying to grasp what the cat had just said. “I feel very lost and small.”

            “Can you see those three stars in a row up there?” asked the cat. “And the four that arc above them?”

            “Yes. I see them.”

            “Someone once told me when I was very small that those stars marked the door where the first cat leaped to this planet from the plains beyond. I don’t know if it’s true or not. Nothing could really prove or disprove it for me. But sometimes it just makes me happy to believe.” The cat said, looking far beyond into the stars.

            “Are you saying I should believe in things that aren’t real?” asked Tobias after a moments pause.

            “No. I don’t think I am.” smiled the cat. “I just think you may need to make more room for things you don’t understand. Like galaxies in the belly of a cat… that is perhaps only a galaxy within something else’s belly entirely. Understanding that you do not understand leads to understanding.”

            “I think I understand that I don’t understand.” said Tobias, grumpily.

            “Then understand that the only way you can understand more is by living and learning and sharing what you may know and learn.”

            “Are all cats like you?”

            “I don’t think so. But then again I’ve never been another cat. I can only say what I understand. Which isn’t much I suppose?”

            “But you’ve got my galaxy in your belly!” squeaked Tobias. “You must know something of how it all works.”

            “I know that it does work.” sighed the cat.

            The cat paused and yawned luxuriously. And then the Great Cat turned its moon-like eyes to be level with Tobias’s tiny floating body.

            “I agree with you Tobias.” said the cat with a flick of its tail. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be here…”

            And in one movement swifter than lemmings on holiday, the cat’s great jaws were closing around Tobias in mid-air… and he found himself being swallowed by a cat.

~18~

            “What is this place?” stammered Captain Patrick. He stared in awe at the magnificent splendor of the village of the princesses. He was spellbound.

            “This is the belly of the dragon, where the precious things he protects dwell.” Explained Greta, herself in awe of the magnificent splendor spread before her eyes. Rainbows seemed to shoot out of everything. The whole place was alive with magick. Greta breathed in the place like she was thirsty for it.

            “Where are all the princesses?” she asked aloud.

            “What princesses?” said Captain Patrick curiously.

            “There are 157 Princesses that keep house within this belly, but I don’t see hide nor hair of them anywhere. Where could they all have gone?”

            “Well, I see cottages over yonder; let’s see if we might find them there.” Thus the Captain began his march across golden sand to the houses of the princesses.

            They arrived at the houses a half an hour later, but only to find them shut and silent. There were no signs of movement anywhere. A strange silence had fallen upon the little town, and it was keeping both Patrick and Greta on their toes.

            “Something’s not right.” whispered Greta as they walked by yet another silent cottage. “Something’s very wrong.” They were nearing the end of the line of cottages and wondering where to go next when…

            “I see something inside!” exclaimed Patrick near the window of a small green cottage. He rushed inside and there was the princess Marlene. She was lying still as death in her little green bed. Her eyes were shut tight, as if she was having a bad dream and frozen in it. A layer of dust had collected on her cheek.

            “What happened here?” wonder the captain, aloud. “Why is she frozen like that?”

            “I don’t know.” answered Greta. “I can only imagine it has something to do with Tobias’s condition. It must have affected the princesses as well.”

            “I feel tired here too.” agreed the captain. “We must agree not to fall asleep for as long as we are in here.”

            “Agreed.” said the faerie. “But these Princesses were to be our escape. We need them to help free Tobias from the net.”

            “How do we wake them?” asked Patrick, dusting off Marlene’s face a little.

            “I don’t know.” admitted Greta. “This looks more and more desperate, I’m afraid. I really don’t know what to do anymore.” And she slumped down with a little sob and stayed there.

            “I don’t think giving up is an option just yet, little faerie friend.” said Patrick, though he felt much the same as the little faerie. “We have too much to do and too many people counting on us to do them. We have no time for despair.” The captain straightened up his head and called upon all the magickal knowledge he ever knew, and even more than he knew and he asked himself what to do.

            “The only story I’ve ever heard about waking a sleeping princess required a kiss from a handsome prince.” said the Captain after much deliberating. “But we have no princes, much less 157 of them.”

            “Well, it can’t hurt to try it…” said Greta. “I think it’s the only way I’ve ever heard as well.”

            “That seems awfully rude, though.” protested Captain Patrick. “Kissing sleeping people without even so much as a hello… And I’m no prince, by any means…”

            “No…” agreed Greta. “You’re even better than a prince…”

            “How’s that?” asked the captain, puzzled…

            “Why, you’re a hero!” stated Greta. “Now start your kissing!”

            So Captain Patrick leaned towards the sleeping princess Marlene, quickly checking his teeth in the sheen of his armor. He closed his eyes, and peck! He kissed her quickly on her lips. Greta and Patrick leaned back, waiting… waiting… waiting…

            “Maybe you didn’t do it right.” Said the faerie after a minute had passed like molasses.

            “How do you do it wrong?” retorted the captain. He wasn’t in the mood for kissing criticisms from a faerie. “Obviously I’m not a Prince, or a true love and I’m definitely not…”

            “My Hero!” exclaimed Marlene from the bed. Greta and Patrick leapt in the air, having already given up on the kiss having worked.

            “You’re awake!” stammered the captain.

            “I know I am!” said Marlene as she shook the dust from her hair. “And thank you for waking me. We’ve got work to do now though. You should go start kissing the other princesses and I’m going to change... I’ve been wearing this for weeks!”

            Somewhere around 3 hours later, the princesses were yawning off their kisses and gathering in the center of their town. Patrick sat massaging his sore cheeks. That was a lot of kisses to have to give, even if they were little ones…

            “May I please have your attention?” announced Greta from her perch on Patrick’s head. The princesses quieted and gathered round the tiny faerie. “You have all fallen asleep due to the spell of a horrible king who has caught your dragon and left him in a pit. We all must loose the net which holds Tobias here or he may die!”

            A wave of excited murmurings swept through the crowd of princesses. Leave the dragon? Fight a King? Die? The waves subsided finally and Greta continued.

            “We may meet resistance on the way. Captain Patrick and I narrowly escaped into the dragon before the castle guards caught us. However, I am counting on 157 princesses waltzing from the belly of the dragon intent to free him a distraction large to be enough to stop or stall any resistance. I can think of nothing but to deal with the rest as it comes. That or we can all waste away here and never try…”

            The faerie looked around at the princesses sternly. Greta was afraid, they were afraid, even Patrick was afraid. But they were all more afraid of nothing more than they were of something… so the princesses prepared for battle the best they could and began the ascent to the outside world.

~19~

            Far Far away in a castle beyond a mountain sat a king. He was a lonely king, even with all his subjects in constant attendance. A long time ago, it seemed, he’d had a mother and father who were queen and king of everything he knew. He’d had a sister whom he loved dearly and often did nothing but spend long afternoons chatting with in the royal gardens. A long time ago when he was a prince and not a king.

            He sat on his high white throne, slumped to the side of it. He was watching his jester bounce around in exhaustion. He used to love jesters… but now they just made him sad. He watched the sweating clown gloomily before he waved for him to leave.

            “What else is there to do?” he asked his royal attendant.

            “There are some laws to look over, your majesty.”

            “Nah… that sounds dull. What else?”

            “There are some weddings to approve sir.”

            “Love! Blech! I don’t want to see happy people. What else is there?”

            “There are some prisoners, sir.”

            “Perhaps that would entertain me.” smirked the king. “A little reminder that life could be worse.” he rubbed his hands together. “Send in the prisoners!” he proclaimed.

            A line of ragged looking old men were brought in dragging chains behind them.

            “Your majesty, these men are accused of telling faerie stories to children.”

            “What!?” roared the king. “How dare you bring magick into my kingdom!” the king flamed towards the prisoners.

            "Your Highness!” groveled the younger of the old men, “We were but repeating old adventures to those that would listen. We meant no harm.”

            “But harm was done nonetheless!” retorted the king. “Every child you tell a faerie story to will go out with their heads cluttered full of thoughts of good faeries and nice dragons. It will only further the delusion amongst my people that faeries are something they want! Why don’t I just go unleash my savage dragon on the lands while we’re at it?”

            “And why don’t you?” said the oldest of the old men. “That dragon meant you no harm, or he would have caused it and not allowed himself to be caught so easily! I think I know exactly what I am afraid of seeing wandering through my homelands… and the dragon is not it!”

            The old man gave the King a hard look and for a moment the king seemed to quail.

            “Why this man is trying to use magick to frighten me!” declared the king in frenzy. “Did you see him!? He tried to give me the evil eye and hypnotize me with his words! He is a menace to the community and must be disposed of! Guards! I want all these men hanged immediately.”

            “O no your highness!” exclaimed the middle-y old man. “Please sir! We will keep our stories to ourselves, and tell the children we lied. Please don’t kill us now!”

            “I will not lie to the children.” said the eldest, stolidly. “And I will share my knowledge for as long as I live. Be it even 5 minutes at most. This Highness is nothing more than a sick frightened child who is too afraid to admit he is afraid!”

            “Stop that this instant!” shouted the king.

            “I will not stop!” shouted the man, equally. “You are not a real King! And I am not a real criminal! It is wrong to hate and abolish what you can’t comprehend, and the longer you continue to do so, the more this hate and prejudice will return to you. You may find that you are much more human than king, and a sad human with no friends, and no magick, at that!”

            “Stop him. Take him away now! Make him quiet…” commanded the King.

            “You can take me away, But my words are still here!” the ancient man was shouting as he was being led away. “You know you are wrong! You are no king; you are a fool in king’s clothing!”

            The king leaped to his feet and threw a royal grapefruit at the beggar man, but missed and hit his guard instead.

            “I want those men executed by morning.” said the King.

            “Yes Sir.” said the attendant.

~20~

            It was a quiet afternoon for the men guarding the dragon. It was a good afternoon for chatting with friends, drinking and waiting for the sun to set. It was especially beautiful in the lovely valley on the outskirts of Everafter Land. But no one and nothing in the valley could celebrate today. Something beautiful was dieing, and so were the spirits of everything else in the valley.  The men stared mournfully as the dragon became stiller and stiller. It seemed like all the lovely colors that made up Tobias were leaking out into the valley, leaving the dragon colorless and faded. The guards stood with heads bowed.

            It was due to the heads being bowed that many of the soldiers present that day claimed that hundreds of princesses appeared from nowhere. Though some had seen the great dragon’s mouth open slowly, and then wide enough for the princesses to come sacheting through into the evening. But to those who thought they had appeared, and to those who knew they had walked, the amazement was equal, and all the soldiers stood awestruck as the princesses began to circle the dragon. Each princess with a tool in hand, intent on cutting free the dragon of the awful dragon’s bane net that was ending Tobias’s life, slowly, but surely.

            Patrick approached the dumbfounded guards. Greta was still on his shoulder.

            “You know, we really shouldna be letting ya do that.” pointed out one of the guards to Captain Patrick.

            “Well, I imagine one person won’t like it.” nodded Patrick to the guard. “But I think I know a lot more people that would be very happy about it.”

            “I think I’d be happy bout it.” chimed a younger guard.

            “I think I would be too.” said Patrick. “I guess if you’re in so far as to be letting us do it, then there couldn’t really be much worse harm in helping us now, could there?”

            “I s'pose it weren’t ta make things werse if’n we did.” nodded the guard.

            “Perhaps if you helped us break down this fence and burn this net, it may even make all of you feel much better.” suggested the captain.

            “I think it might.” said a guard to the right, scratching his chin as he said it.

            “Then perhaps we should…” said Patrick, motioning towards the dragon.

            “Oh, umh, of course!” said the guard, awaking from his amazement. “Men! Breakdown that fence and free that dragon!”

            And a great commotion began as all of the soldiers, suddenly freed from having to ignore what they knew was right, grabbed pick axes and shovels and destroyed the wall that they themselves had made. Other men ran to get water to revive the dragon, and some to get wood to burn the wicked net. A great whirlwind of activities had begun around the dragon. Everyone wanted to help.

            People from nearby farms noticed the commotion and ran out too see what the matter was. When they found the soldiers digging and cutting free the dragon, with the help of dozens of strange princesses, they too felt the loss of a great burden and joined in the freeing of the dragon.

            More and more people had gathered and the work went even faster, but there was no sign of change in Tobias. He lay still as a slug in the sun. Marlene and Patrick worked harder than ever, while Greta and Liz organized the operation from the hill. Stephen was gathering herbs with some soldiers and princesses, and starting up a large pot of healing tea for the dragon. The little boy, who had first challenged Tobias, was now lovingly pouring water into the great dragon’s mouth.

            Sometimes I believe, that if hundreds of people all dream the same dream or all wish the same wish all at the same moment, and for a very good reason, even if it seems absolutely impossible, if these people all really believe and wish hard, I think they can make anything they want come true. And that is what is commonly believed to have occurred in the valley of the dragon, as it was soon called forever after, on that day.

            Hours had passed from the burning of the net, and still Tobias had not changed. He lay still as a stone, while all of his friends watched through the ever deepening dark. Morning came and it seemed to all that maybe it was too late. It seemed maybe they had not reacted soon enough, and the world had lost a beautiful friend. The air hung thick as moldy curtains about the vale. The people waited in silence for any sign of change.

            “Nothing’s working, Liz.” whispered Greta as they prepared another batch of herbs together. “What do we do if he doesn’t…? What do we do?” The tiny faerie made a hiccoughing sound and averted her face for a moment.

            “We do the only thing we can do, Greta.” She stated. “We wait for a sign. But we mustn’t give up. If we give up now, all this work will have been for nothing.”

            “What kind of sign are we looking for?” quizzed Greta quietly.

            ‘I’m not sure, really but…”

            Before Liz could finish, there was a tremendous clatter of a royal coach being driven by 4 magnificent steeds traveling at full strength towards the gathering.

            “What in my name is going on here!” demanded a shrill voice from inside the coach. A dark figure in a gigantic robe shadowed in the doorway of the coach for a moment. An army of mail clad men had followed close behind and was now forming a tunnel of spears from the entrance of the coach to the center of the crowd. The figure moved quickly through the archway of the guards while the crowd looked on amazed.

            “I am your King and you are all fools!” announced the furious figure. “This is my dragon and I forbid whatever it is that you are doing right now! And just because my sign has been removed does not mean you do not all owe me $5 each!” he stared down the crowd imperiously. No one dared move.

~21~

            “Well!?” demanded the king impatiently. “What have you flea-bitten morons have to say for yourselves?”

            “Flea-bitten morons?!” echoed Liz, as she broke her way to the front of the crowd. Her eyes were a strange fire that might have melted even Tobias’s super dragon skin if he wasn’t careful with it. “What an idiotic King to demean his entire kingdom. The one he is supposed to be representing! You look like the king of flea-bitten morons, if even they would take you!” The Princess Liz grabbed for the tiny king’s ear.

            “Guards! Guards!” screeched the king. “Behead her! Arrest her! Make her go away!” the king kicked and squealed in such a way that the princess was forced to let go and was quickly apprehended by the king’s guards.

            “Don’t you dare touch a hair on her head!” Patrick had snuck behind the king in all the confusion. Quick as a flash, he had wrapped the King into a bundle of his own royal robe. He slung the king in the awkward little bundle over his sword and rested the whole of it on his shoulder. So that the tiny furious King looked something like a kicking hobo bundle on the captain’s back.

            “Put me down you… you… Picayune Capuchin!” shrieked the tiny king. “Let me go this instant or I’ll…”

            “I don’t believe you’re currently in much of a position to be making threats.” reminded Patrick. “Order the Princess Liz released, and I may consider putting you back down.”

            “Release her! Let her go right now!” whimpered the king. “And put me down!” Liz was released and immediately kicked the guard in the shin.

            “Don’t like being held prisoner, eh? Maybe I’ll let you go...” said Patrick. “Maybe... Right now, I think I trust you more when you’re wrapped on the end of my sword. I’m sure you’d feel the same were our positions reversed…”

            “I am the king of this country and I will not be tormented and waylaid for your amusement, fool!” the bundle of king wriggled back and forth furiously, but with all the effort, was still only a wiggling bundle on a stick.

            “I think you will be tormented and waylaid for my amusement.” parroted the captain. “I think you have just sentenced yourself perfectly. You have committed this same crime against my friend, and many others. All for your own amusement.”

            “I’ve done nothing! Let me go or I’ll feed you all to my dragon! I didn’t do anything!”

            “Didn’t do anything!?!” flared Princess Liz. “You have destroyed my home!”

            “You killed my friend!” squeaked Greta.

            “You sent my family away!” yelled Stephen

            “You told me dragons were evil!” yelled the young boy.

            “You condemned my husband for speaking of elves!” hollered an old woman.

            “You outlawed faeries!” shouted an Old man in the far back and at that, a swarm of valid complaints arose from the crowd. Even the king’s own army, who were still just people, chimed in with complaints. It seemed the stream of unhappiness towards the king would never end, when of a sudden a voice rose above the rest. It was a voice which stopped all other voices cold.

            “Enough!” demanded the voice.

            The dragon was awake.

~22~

            Tobias had opened his eyes slowly, unsure as to what they would be opening to. His body felt heavy as lead, and all around him seemed to be clouds of whirring noises and images, moving too fast for him to see just yet.

            His eyes slowly began to focus, and he felt a little strength return to his body. He decided to save that strength for later. He held still and let his eyes adjust. He recognized the princesses, all of them flurrying to somewhere just beyond his site. He closed his eyes and focused on listening instead.

            He could hear the conversations of the people around him. He could hear their thoughts. Everyone seemed to be concerned about… well, him. He could hear Greta and Patrick and Marlene and Liz, and all the other princesses, and even people he’d never met,  all discussing how to help him, and what to do next. Tobias decided to wait until more of his strength had gathered before he announced he was awake. He listened intently to the surrounding conversations.

            He tried to remember what was going on around him. But the only thing he could think of was a giant black cat. Something about fleas? No, that wasn’t it… that was the Otherside… He was a flea… no, he wasn’t a flea… He was a little boy… no, he was a dragon… A big dragon… then why did he feel so weak?

            Marlene and Liz sat close by talking.

            “What in Hades does this King hope to accomplish by killing off our dragon? Really though? What an evil man to concoct such a cruel scheme. I could not have thought of it in a million years.” said Liz, as she finished washing her hands and feet in the little creek.

            “I don’t think I could have thought of it either.” agreed Marlene. “But I have not done or seen what this king has done in his life, or how he came to do all this, even. Who knows what I would do if that were my life.”

            “Well I would hope he has a better excuse than that.” replied Liz. “I can’t think of much which would justify hurting another creature in such a way. For all we know. Your brother is dead, our homes are gone, and all that we have left is a sad village and an angry little king. There’s no rhyme or reason for it.”

            Tobias let his hearing wander. He picked up the familiar voice of Greta and Captain Patrick.

            “I suppose they’ll have to live here…” said the captain. “Or try to find another dragon. Neither sounds too easy though.”

            The faerie nodded in agreement. “I just wish, well, I just wish everything will be okay, I guess. I think it’s all I really can wish for here and now. I miss Tobias. I wish we’d never left the glen!”

            “This isn’t where I’d like to be.” said the Captain. “But I’m glad I’ve got to meet you both. And I’m even gladder all my countrymen have come out to help the dragon.” The captain trailed off as he watched a princess gathering water. She looked vaguely familiar. He continued…“I think this meeting of worlds, the faeries and the humans, might repair things even larger than a dragon.”

            Tobias let his great dragon hearing drift even further away. Far out into the field he let it go. Down the road it went until it came to the sound of stomping steeds, and from there, wafting into the window of the golden carriage they pulled. There his hearing rested to listen to the contents of the carriage.

            “I will not be mocked this way!” fumed the king inside. “Freeing my Dragon indeed! Who would be so stupid? Peasants! that’s who. They never know what’s good for them. Silly groveling dragon-freeing ungrateful wretches! Like my father before me, I have protected this land from the forces of darkness and unhappiness! I will not be undermined like this! I’m right! Right! Right! Right!” shouted the small king to himself. He again stuck his head out the windows, yelling at the guards to go faster.

            “Free the Dragon...” The king had returned to his mumblings. “Don’t they know what happens when you let a dragon roam free across the country? Burning Villages! That’s what! Dead crops! O yes! I’ve seen it! Lost Sss…Princesses Even...!” trailed the king… He again ordered the guards to go faster.

            “Nobody listens to me…” the king grumbled.

~23~

            “Enough!” cried Tobias. The crowd froze to watch the giant dragon slowly lift his head. Many had never seen a dragon speak before. Some were frightened, but everyone stayed. Tobias shone in the moonlight like a million silver fireflies dancing with the stars.

            “We will have no more of this bickering!” he demanded of the crowd. Tobias struggled gently to his feet. Greta squeaked for joy and all the princesses cried. Even Captain Stephen… a little.

            “Let me down! Let me down!” squealed the tiny king. “I want to see!” Tobias nodded at the captain and the king was dropped in a bundle of his own royal robes. He tripped and harrumphed as he adjusted his cloak and crown, and then turned with a start to face the gigantic head of the freed dragon.

            “Eek! Eek!” shouted the King, and turned to flee. But he was blocked by his own guards. “You idiots! Let me pass! The dragon will eat you! Run for your lives you stupid stoopid peasants! Somebody help me please!”

            But no one moved or answered. The King eventually stopped yelling and kicking and stared terrified at the dragon and the crowd. The king didn’t have a friend in the universe. Nothing and no one moved for a long while. Until…

            “I would like to help you, Alex.” A Princess in a long shimmering blue dress made her way through the people. She came forward and kneeled next to the tiny frightened King. “That is you isn’t it?”

            “Ana?” murmured the king in amazement. “But you were eaten!” he gasped. “Are you a ghost?”

            “No more than you are.” said the Princess Ana. She suddenly looked very sad. “Why are you doing this? What happened here?”

            “They all went away.” stammered the king. “I didn’t know what else to do.” The King Alex started to cry, he was afterall, only a very young man, barely past the double digits, and human at that.

            “Where did Mom and Dad go?” questioned Ana. “What happened to Everafter Land? Where did all the magick go?”

            “It all changed in Everafter Land when you left. Everything went wrong. I was so scared.” explained the king.

            “Why did you banish all magick?” pressed Ana.

            “A little while after the dragon came to take you away, a wicked faerie cursed our parents. Apparently, they forgot they had promised you to her… Our parents began sleeping all the time. They began to sleep so much that even when they were awake it seemed like they were sleeping anyway. Soon after, they fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up and there they’ve been in their royal beds ever since. I’ve tried everything to wake them, but nothing worked. There was no one left to take care of everything, so I became king when I was 10. I’ve tried to do everything I thought dad would do.”

            “Dad wouldn’t be banishing magick and condemning friends of the throne.” said Ana. “Why would you do that?”

            “I was scared.” He said. “It seemed there was only ever bad magick coming here. It seemed like nothing good would ever come again. I thought if I banished it all maybe the bad things would go away and mom and dad would get better. But no one would help me so I had to punish them all.”

            “Sometimes you have to wait a really long time for things to get better.” Said the Princess Ana. “And you should spend that time learning how to make things better for yourself and others. Not by avoiding everything and giving into your fears.” She stopped in her own words. It sounded familiar… a lot like what she herself was doing inside the dragon… avoiding being scared.

            “Where have you been?” the boy king interrupted her thoughts. “All these years you’ve been gone! Why didn’t you come back sooner?”

            “All these years I’ve been living happily in the belly of a dragon. Not the dragon over there. I’ve only lived there a few months. The other dragon I’d lived in was a little meaner, and actually collected princesses. This dragon” she said, waving towards Toby, “Used to be a prince, and is our friend. He is Prince Tobias the Dragon, of Neverwonderland. And I think you owe him an apology.”

            “I’m sorry Prince Tobias of… the...” the king struggled to remember the whole name.

            “You can call me Toby, if you like.” He said with a grin.

            “Mr. Toby… I apologize for trying to kill you.” Started the king. “It wasn’t personal really… I just thought all things like you were evil, and I was too afraid to meet anymore. I’d tried to be nice to faerie folk before, but all of them ended up hurting me. I thought if I didn’t let any of them in, they couldn’t hurt me anymore. I just wanted everyone to be happy…” the king cried and hugged Tobias’s little toe as best he could.

“I forgive you.” said Toby. “I think things are better now. For me and for you. I do hope you have learned your lesson this time, and won’t go around judging and condemning things you don’t know the way you have… and hopefully we can undo what we can with the what we know now.”

            “I think you will have help.” said princess Ana. She helped the king to his feet and looked around. “Together we can make Everafter Land a beautiful place for magickal and human beings. If only the people will allow us to try again... together.”

            And the people murmured a moment.

            “I would like to try with you.” Said Toby. And soon after everyone else found everyone else agreeing that they also wanted to try. And that they were happy to welcome the princess back to the land. And that everyone around generally desired a happy world where people are free to be dragons or faeries or kings or princesses. And that the only way they could have that was by wanting it and doing it.

            “I wonder what my brother is doing back in the Land of Previous Trademarks?” Liz found herself saying aloud. The princesses all found themselves thinking of their loved ones, and their own homes. And what it would be like to be the princesses of their own lands, spreading magick throughout the world with the ones they loved.  Ana approached Tobias and held out her hand on his great nose.

            “Thank you for helping me.” said the Princess Ana. “I have to go be a princess now, but I don’t love you any less. If you ever want anything, you are welcome to anything we can do for you. My kingdom is forever in your debt.” Tobias smiled and gently nudged Alex and Ana.

            “Tobias…” said Liz, tugging gently at his ear. “Do you think I might get a lift home? Just to look around a minute…”

            “Did you want in?” asked Tobias, pointing down his throat.

            “Umh… I mean my other home. In the land of Previous Copyrights.” said Liz. And she was suddenly lost to a crowd of a hundred other princesses all asking the same question.

            “I’d be happy to take all of you home.” Said Toby. “What would you like to do Greta?”

            “I think I’ll hang out here for a little while.” said the Faerie. “Just until things get a little better. But I’d like to see you again sometime.”

            “Soon, even.” Said the dragon. “Everyone who needs a ride home, hop in board!” and the line of princesses wandered into the dragon’s mouth down to their cabins and prepared for their journeys home.

            “Goodnight, Ana and Alex.” Said Toby. I’ll see you again soon.”

            “Goodnight and thank you for everything.” Said Princess Ana.

            “Thank you Tobias. And I apologize for trying to kill you again.” Said Prince Alex.

            “No worries.” Said the dragon. “I did the same thing myself once.”

            “Good Dancing to you, Toby.” Said Greta. “I’m going to miss you.”

            “Don’t worry Greta.” Said Toby. “I’m not far away…” and then he grinned mischievously. “There’s a cat inside us all.”

~24~

            Long years had passed in Everafter Land. It was again a beautiful place, where the magick beings and humans lived together in peace. Flowers had come back to grow in abundance, and new faeries were born by the minute. The creatures, magickal and not, came back to live in the forests. In the valley in which Tobias had been captured, there had been built a great school, for learning anything that anyone thought they knew enough to teach.  A school that would teach you no matter whether you were a Faerie or a human or neither entirely.

            It so turned out, that all the people the king thought he had executed, were really sent to live in the city by the sea, what’s real name was Oncesapona Beach. Much rejoicing spread throughout the lands as the ban from magick was lifted. All over Princesses thought to be eaten were returning to their homes. Tales of a magickal dragon, puffing fire for tea kettles, and saving princesses by the sea, spread throughout the land.

            Tobias had just dropped of the last Princess. He had traveled the world over many times, and had had many adventures. He was now returning to Everafter Land after his great journey. There again to visit with his friends Ana, Alex, and Greta.

            Tobias alighted outside the great castle. Vines of pink flowers had grown up the castle walls, and it was a magickal place indeed. Tobias noticed a great commotion inside and suddenly thousands of flowers were falling from the sky and covering him in softly scented colors of the valley.

            “Hooray for Toby!” shouted the people of the castle, appearing from behind walls and out of windows, cheering and throwing more flowers. ‘Welcome back!” they cried. And a great feast ensued and the people celebrated for three days and three nights. It was known as the festival of the dragon, but what it is called now I do not know.

            After things had quieted down considerably, Tobias took Alex, Ana, Captain Patrick, and Greta to the valley outside the cave where it all began. They had a fine picnic and reminisced their adventures into the afternoon.

            “What are you going to do now?” Greta asked Tobias, as they all lay and watched the clouds roll by. “You haven’t got anymore princesses to deliver.”

            “I don’t know what I want to do.” Admitted Tobias.

            “Have you thought about ruling your own country?” asked Prince Alex.

            “I don’t think that’s for me.” Said Toby. “Besides, my sister has it well under control. I’m happy how things are.”

            “You’re welcome to stay here.” Said Princess Ana. “You would want for nothing as long as you lived.”

            “It’s a kind offer, but it’s awfully hard to live in towns while you’re a dragon. You’re always breaking things, and almost crushing people, and… well… now that I don’t have to take care of any princesses, I kinda don’t want to be a dragon anymore.”

            They all stared silently at the clouds. A wind came from the west, warm and smelling strongly of honeysuckle. It carried the clouds away with it and the sky shone purple, grey, and silver as it faded into night. It was a clear sky, full of contemplation, and 4 stars arced bravely above three stars in a row, welcoming the evening.

            “I think I know how you could change back.” said the captain. “But it would be up to Greta.”

            “Whatever I have to do.” said the faerie.

            “It’s preposterous though.” said the Captain. “I’ve only just learned of it. I’m surprised I remembered it just now. It’s silly actually”

            “What do we need to do?” asked Tobias.

            “A faerie must will herself out of existence so that the transformed individual can come back to the existence it had before.” said Patrick. “But that requires losing a faerie.”

            “Is that all?” demanded Greta. “Goodbye then!” she said. And she promptly disappeared forever into nothingness.

            The four friends sat staring at the spot where Greta had just been standing. No one dared to move, waiting for Greta to reappear… some sort of faerie trickery. But she did not appear. Tobias was the first exhale.

            And as he did so, he felt himself shrink a little. He took another deep breath.

            He exhaled again.

            He shrunk a bit more.

            Breathe in.

            Breathe out.

            Shrink.

            Again.

            Tobias was now rapidly declining in girth. He was now only the size of a house, and each breath brought him smaller and smaller. His moss began to turn back to hair. His talons were surely becoming normal human digits. His scales were scattering into little emerald piles about his feet, showing moonlit human skin just underneath. He shrunk and shrunk and shrunk and in a matter of moments, he was the size of an ordinary human. Well almost ordinary, that is…

            He had become human again; He was a 16 year old boy now. However, from his back arched beautiful abalone wings, much smaller than the original, but still exquisite. His hair was the color of stars. He found he could still hear and see the faeries, and retained much of his magick mind. He was human again, but he would always be a dragon inside.

            “Poor Sweet Greta!” exclaimed Tobias when he realized what had happened.

            “What!?” said a voice nearby. The friends jumped up and swung around to see a young woman in a sweeping purple cloak. With long grey antennae and… dragons wings!

            “Is that you Greta?” asked Toby, astonished.

            “Is that you Toby?”  Asked Greta, coming towards him, smiling. “My how you’ve changed.

            “I could say the same to you.” said Toby.  “But I thought you’d died?”

            “The spell didn’t call for me to die, but only to leave that existence. Being a faerie was getting a bit old anyway. I think I’d be much happier as a dragon girl.” She flitted around in her new wings. “What do you think?” she asked. “Is it me?”

            “Wonderfully so.” said Tobias. “I’m glad you’re here.”

            Everyone cheered, making new friends with their old friends, and they danced late into the night. Such a happiness was within them all, that it spread throughout the ground, and traveled up into every heart for hundreds of miles around. People everywhere woke up happy, including the King and Queen of Everafter Land. Wicked spells everywhere had been lifted by the simple power of happiness and love. For a moment, everything in the world was celebrating.

            The friends returned to the castle. Together with the King and Queen, now freed from the terrible spell, they all ruled happily together for many ages yet to come. Their land became famous world wide as a place of laughter and joy.  For a long time, their kingdom became known as;

The Happy Everafter Land.

~Fin~