(Part 2)

(fairy tale)

As the years went by, Meryl grew older and became just like part of her small town. She believed in miracles less and less, and forgot about her recent dreams of the dragon. Maybe it was a dream and no magical creatures existed.

Back from school, the girl went to her room, sighing languidly. Gray wallpaper, gray school uniform, and the town itself seemed gray from the overhanging gray clouds. It was time to start homework, and it wasn’t very varied either. They practically never studied literature, and if they did, the essays were as realistic and instructive as a physics textbook.

Having finished with work, Meryl helped her mother to prepare porridge for dinner, which they had been eating for as long as the girl could remember. She went to bed. Dreams hadn’t come to her in a long time, perhaps that was the source of her so gray ordinariness.

In the depths of the dark night, in the bushes nestled outside the girl’s house, someone, like a mouse, was quietly creeping towards the window. This inhabitant was not like the others. Huge, dark, with skin in scales. There were no such beasts around here. There was a knock on the window. Then another one.

Meryl woke up and when she saw the unexpected guest, she ran away from the window in horror, wanting to scream, but the stranger asked her not to.

“Meryl, you didn’t recognize an old friend, it’s me. Fire” joyfully spoke the dragon, opening his warm embrace.

“Is this a dream? What’s going on… ”

“No, it’s all real,” Firefly interrupted her. “Have you forgotten how we used to fly with you?”

“Flying? But that was just my childhood fantasy,” the girl said in bewilderment.

“Let’s deal with it a little later. Meryl, I came here for a reason. I need your help. Our clan is in danger and the magic fire said that only you can help us.”

He was clearly worried trying to come closer and to hug his friendly girlie.

“Oh, I see, it’s definitely a dream,” Meryl headed towards her bed, lied down and curled up like a child.

Suddenly, a huge paw grabbed her.

“Excuse me, lassie, but we otta lift off with me right now!!! We don’t have any time, it’s high time to fly.”

And at those words, the dragon grabbed the girl and flew up into the sky, getting further and further away from the small house.

“I don’t know why the fire pointed at you, but my brothers… They are in danger. The evil dragon Avganthus attacked our village recently. He wants to take it for himself and subdue all dragons.”

“But I’m just an ordinary girl, how can I help?”

“I don’t know Meryl, but you are our last chance.”

They flew for a long time and soon the gray clouds ended, and the sun came out. For the first time, the girl saw the colors of this world: green trees, multicolored and diverse flowers, cheery birds singing, fragile butterflies circling in the summer warmth. Meryl looked so enchanted, as if magic was really happening in front of her. However, the exciting emotions quickly ended, as they approached the settlement, which was half in flames with many destroyed buildings.

“Lightning, I’ve brought her,” said Fire happily.

A huge blue dragon stood in front of them, covered  with shiny scales, shimmering with every move it made. He was twice as tall as Fire.

“Greetings Meryl,” the dragon began, “I realize that it is not clear to you what is going on, but we can’t do without your help. Auganthus is too close, he will be here with his army now, and I don’t know if we can stand this fight,” his voice was sad, but he looked brave trying to keep his morale up.

“Well, since I’m already here, I’m ready to help you!” said the girl.

“We have prepared armor for you. Fire will guide you and help you put it on,” Lightning finished and flew upwards. By the speed of his flight it was clear why he had such a nickname.

The armor was made of the strongest iron. No fire, sword or cold could penetrate it. Next to it sat a sword that shimmered with the different colours in the room.

“They are already here!!!” shouted one of the dragons, and they all moved into battle.

“We should get going, go-go Meryl!”

She nodded, putting on her helmet, picking up her sword, and getting on Firelight’s back to fly upwards. Everything around them was on fire and many dragons were falling down, collapsing houses under their weight. Lightning’s army was indeed weaker, and soon Meryl saw Avganthus, the huge black dragon. Its fire burned several houses at a time and seriously injured the friendly dragons.

“Let’s fly to him!” The girl said confidently.

When he saw the little red-haired girl, Avganthus laughed.

“And this is your chief warrior! I’ll eat her as a snack,” he said laughing loudly.

The battle began. Lightning’s troops tried to attack the enemies, while Meryl and Flame were left alone with the black dragon. He was strong, and the girl was only trying to learn how to control her sword, but so far her swings were in vain. Auganthus attacked with fire, but thanks to the strong armor it was repelled, though her dragon’s skin burned slightly. They flew closer and closer to the enemy and finally, making the strongest swing, Meryl hit the dragon, aiming her sword right in his black eye, killing it in a sec. Auganthus’ body fell down, marking the end of the battle. To the surprise of Meryl, they had won this heavy battle and the enemy army was fleeing in fear.

“Yes! We have done it!” Meryl shouted at the top of her lungs.

All the dragons began to applaud and thank her. The only sad thing was that it was worth going back. Noticing her mood, Lightning spoke up,

“Don’t you want to leave us?”

“I don’t know, it’s just a dream, I’ll wake up sooner or later…” Meryl replied.

“Maybe you’re right, but you can stay here as long as you want… Be our guest and sister… ”

And so Meryl stayed, helping others to rebuild the village. She made a lot of friends, who worked with her day in and day out, gave the girl various old and new magic books, entertained her from time to time. Fire read her stories at night, it became their tradition, and they always found a lot of splendid stories or even made up their own. At last, Meryl was able to escape from that gray life and fill it with bright colors, real magic and new sense of life…