Dragon's Wish

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Now all we hear is roars echoing, and the ground trembling every time they move around. Everyone’s on edge, exhausted and worried that the dragons will attack again. They seem to be louder and more restless lately. If we could just figure out which one granted wishes, we could just WISH them away and save Queen Elvira! Alwyn says, frustratedly, walking alongside Izor as his royally-appointed guardian.

“Keep your voice down no one knows about the Queen’s condition, tell me more about this wish dragon?” Izor says curiously.

“Yeah! Haven’t you heard? Of all the dragons, there is one that will grant you wishes!” Alwyn says excitedly.

“Is that so…?” Izor pauses, unconvinced, then continues, “And where did you hear this bit of new information? From that tacky little tavern of gossiping drunks you like to hang out at?” Izor says, casting a judgemental glance at Alwyn.

“Hey! It’s a great place to kick back! The Broken Sword has great entertainment whether it's the beautiful women or the stories being told; plus the drinks are cheap and taste amazing! The food not so much….” Alwyn says, muttering the last part under his breath.

“Uuuh.. no thanks…” Izor says with a hint of disdain in his voice, “we get the best choice of the finest drinks and savoriest food here, at the palace. I don’t understand why you go there, the company there is quite… uncivilized. You, Alwyn, being a guard of the royal palace, should be embarrassed to be seen there.” Izor continues to chide Alwyn, “If you insist on going there then find out more about this rumored wish dragon. I want to know more. Meanwhile, I’m heading to meet the king now, to take a look at his latest treasure to add to his magic collection: a wizard's staff.” Izor says, uncharacteristically giddy as they turn down another long hallway of the castle.

“Are there even any wizards alive anymore?” Alwyn asks in astonishment. “I thought the dragons wiped them all out on ‘the day no one will ever forget’.” Whispering to Izor he says “You know; The First Dragon Attack.”

“Just because no one has seen a wizard doesn’t mean they no longer exist. I doubt it’s a real wizard's staff, anyway,” Izor says dismissively, “And I’m even more curious whose it was to begin with.”

Izor nods to the standing guards on either side of the entrance to the great hall and pushes the massive, ornate doors open. The heavy wooden doors are a wonder to behold; with intricate details carved out, displaying scenes of their kingdom's progress and accomplishments. Another set of guards stand on either side of the doors on the other side. The royal crier bellows, “Your majesties, your advisor Izor is here with his personal guard Alwyn.”

They both bow and the king nods and gestures for them to enter. Alwyn and Izor kneel before king Andrew, who, in turn, gestures for them to stand. Alwyn whispers to the guards and the royal crier, “Hey, meet me at the Broken Sword tavern later.”

Izor rolls his eyes as they rise from kneeling. “Ah your Majesties! Thank you for waiting. I am anxious to see what it is you wish to show me.” Izor walks quickly across the large room to where King Andrew, Queen Elvira, and Princess Livia are all sitting on their thrones. Before them, stands a scraggly, weather-worn ruffian clothed in a tattered cloak, and dusty pants. He reeks of booze and… desperation.

“Indeed. This merchant says he sells, and specializes in, magical items.” King Andrew says. “He claims this is the last wizard staff known to exist.” Andrew gestures to Bogey.

“My apologies, your majesty. It’s not the last wizard staff but the only one of its kind.” Bogey says timidly as he unwraps a cloth from around the staff. He holds up a long white wooden staff with large hand size jewels at the top. The different rainbow colored jewels, and large stones light up the room with color as the sunlight filtered through the stained-glass windows. Everyone in the throne hall is mesmerized by the flashes of light dancing around the room as Bogey spun the staff around slowly to show off its beauty. Gasps and whispers filled the room as everyone was entranced by the light show they were beholding.

“Is that so?” Izor asks inquisitively, “And just where did you find such a rare item?”

“I found it on the outskirts of the forbidden lands,” Bogey says matter-of-factly. “Which of course I didn’t actually go into the forbidden lands.” Bogey says quickly, nervously realizing his slip-up. He looks over at the King, hoping Andrew believed his obvious lie.

“Yes, of course…” Izor says dismissively. “And how do you know it’s a wizard's staff? It looks like a walking stick with jewelry stuck onto it.” Izor says, looking over the staff; unimpressed.

“Well.. uh… you see,” Bogey stammered, ”.. I uhh… saw some engraving marks on it! … Which I couldn’t read..” he mumbled to himself, “ A-and with those kinds of stones, I figured it must have some magical abilities, or at the very least, be worth something. I thought, either way, Their Majesties would like it. Seeing how there is only one of its kind.” Bogey gesturing to the king, queen & princess.

“Yes you’ve said that already.” Igor snaps, becoming increasingly annoyed.

“Well, you must be aware that those aren’t just any random stones all around the top. They’re ones that shall we say… grant you wishes?” Bogey says with a hint of desperation in his voice.

“There seems to be a lot of talk about wishes today.” Izor says, glancing over to Alwyn before turning his back on the merchant to face the King, Queen, and Princess. “Your Majesties, no one has seen a wizard since that terrible day of the First Dragon Attack, however I wish to learn more about what the engraving says. It may hold clues to defeating our enemies or getting rid of those pesky dragons and… more.” Izor glances at the queen. “If it does indeed have magical properties, it may be of use. If nothing else,I’m sure that you can remove the stones, to use them, shall I say, as you ‘wish’.”

“Very well, I will pay the merchant. What is your asking price?” King Andrew asks turning from Izor to Bogey.

“Well how do you put a price on something that is one of a kind and grants wishes?” Bogey says maladroitly.

“If you are unsure of the value, then, please, let me help you appraise your trinket.” Igor interrupts. “May I, sire?” Izor asks.

Andrew nods, and Izor takes the staff from Bogey’s hands, turning it over, inspecting the gems carefully. “The staff is made of wood… The stones are like many other stones in the kingdom, they have just been placed together to supposedly grant magical abilities, like granting wishes.” Izor says, glancing condescending at Bogey, who is wringing his hands nervously. “My Lord, I would suggest you pay for the price of the stones. Nothing else is of true value. Say 100 gold coins.” Izor stares at Bogey, trying to read his body language as he hands him the staff back.

“That seems like a reasonable price, Izor. What say you, merchant?” King Andrew asks.

“What can I say,…” Bogey pauses, rubbing his stubbled chin to add a dramatic effect. Just as Izor begins to lose his patience, Bogey grabs Izor’s hand to shake it, exclaiming “...except, happy to do business with you fine people!” Bogey all but shoves the staff back into Izor’s hands, and a guard steps forward to give Bogey a small bag of gold coins.

“Thank you, your majesties.” Bogey says, happily accepting the small bag coins he was given, bowing in an exaggeratedly deep bow. He is escorted out of the great hall.

“Father, I would like to take a closer look at this staff, as well, if I may.” Princess Livia asks sweetly.

“Yes, of course, my dear. Izor, would you know when you’ll be done with the staff?” King Andrew asks.

“My Lord, I am not sure at this time. I would add that: if it does contain any unknown magic, it could be harmful to the princess. I don’t think it’s wise for her to tinker with such a potential danger. I can, however, report back quickly with my findings.” Izor says as he bows ceremoniously, waiting to be dismissed.

“Then to ensure my safety I will accompany you as you work. I won’t be in your way. I just want to know about this wishing staff and its stones.” Princess Livia says with a firm, but pleading voice.

“It’s settled then Princess Livia will accompany you to your workshop. You're both dismissed.” King Andrew says with a wave of his hand.

All bow to the king Andrew and queen Elvira and leave the great hall together. Princess Livia follows Izor with her maiden Susuy and Alwyn following behind.

Walking towards the east wing of the castle in an awkward silence, Izor clears his throat and asks Livia “What is it about this staff that interests you, Princess?”

“I want to learn more about these magical items so I may be more of a help to my Mother and Father. What sorts of magic can any item carry? I don’t believe in such things, so, ‘seeing is believing’ as they say.” Livia says with a rueful sigh.

“Well, then… Let us hope we can both discover something of immense worth for our Queen and King.” Izor says with a slight smile.

After a long walk down the hallways they arrive at Izor's work study, in the far east wing: A small room in comparison to all the other rooms in the large castle. There are tall shelves on every wall; filled with books, and various items. A large oversized desk sits in the middle of the room.

Izor clears off the desk and sets the staff down and begins to look for a notebook and magnifier stone.

“I have to apologize for the state this room is in. I don't ever allow visitors in here. You can have your maiden clear you off a seat, but don’t touch anything other than that chair.” Izor says with a firm voice.

Izor begins to look at the staff. He picks off a small piece of the white wood from the staff and holds it under the magnifying stone.

Princess Livia leans in from across the table and asks “what are you testing it for?”

Izor says “If I can figure out what kinda tree this is made out of it could tell me it’s fake or real, or at least where it came from.”

Livia nods her head in understanding, then tilts it slightly to the side. “What do you mean by fake or real, it’s real wood is it not?”

Izor “Fake meaning it’s made of wood the pieces will float, anything else would sink to the bottom revealing clues to the nature of the staff's magic and whose staff it was.” He takes the broken pieces and puts them in a clear glass tube.

“I see… and about how long will that take.” Princess Livia asks anxiously

“Princess I must concentrate on my mixture to reveal its identity. The fewer questions, the bett- hmmm…” Izor stops mid sentence. “You know what? I’ve thought of something you can help me with. Maybe focus on learning what each stone is, you'll find my books on trees and stones over there.” Izor points to a tall pile of books stacked on top of each other across the room.

Livia and her maiden Susy head over to sort through the books.

Izor looks over to Alwyn and gestures his head and pleads with is eyes to ‘get the women out of here.’

Alwyn clears his throat, removes his guard helmet, walks over to the women, and says, ”You know princess, this part of the castle is the least protected from any intruder and closest to the direction the dragon valley it’s facing. It’s really not safe for either of you to be here. Are you sure you don’t want me to report back to you as soon as we find out anything?”

“Thank you for your concern but I won’t be here that long. I’m sure nothing will happen.” Princess Livia says looking up at Alwyn and then back down at the books. Alwyn looks at Izor and shrugs as if to say, ‘well, I tried.’

“Well you don’t have to wait any longer I can tell you this unfortunately is a fake.” Izor stands up quickly, and walks around to the table, to the women. “I will report back to the King and see what he wishes to do with stones. Thank you ladies, but I’m afraid our work here is already done.” Izor opens the door and gestures for them to leave.

As the ladies were heading to the door Princess Livia looked over at the clear glass test tube and not only were all the pieces sinking to the bottom, but the whole tube was glowing. She nodded, thanked him for his time, and the two women left.

Once out of earshot, and around the corner, out of sight, the princess pulls Susy aside. “I need you to go back, take my shawl and get that staff! Izor is lying!” She whispers with disbelief. “Ask for his book specifically about the stones on that staff. I wish to read more about them. Wait till they are about to leave. I want to know what Izor is hiding from my father. I’ll wait for you here, out of sight.”

Nodding in agreement, Susy says, “Ok princess.” and she heads back and listens in at the door of Izor’s study, waiting for the right moment to knock.

Inside the room Izor almost can’t contain his excitement explaining his plan to Alwyn. “Not only is this a real wizard's staff, it still has magic, look!” Showing Alwyn the test tube glowing slightly.

“Ok then why lie about it?” Alwyn asks apprehensively.

“Don’t you see? This could make me a real wizard, and if King Andrew takes it he would just keep it locked up in his collection; possibly even sell off later… But, if I can figure out how to use its magic, I can become a wizard! I could be our very own wish dragon we’ve been looking for! Since the dragons won’t leave on their own we can use that to our advantage. That gives me the perfect opportunity to show my power and get rid of them! What do you say, my new leader of the knights?” Izor claps his hand on Alwyn’s shoulder.

“But how? They will just attack us and destroy everything. What we need is to get those dragons out of here, relocate them far away. Or we would have to completely destroy them… unless you think you could sit down for dinner with them, and talk them into moving…” Alwyn says air-headedly.

Izor’s eyes flicker with this new suggestion. “Alwyn! You’re a genius!”

“I know…” Alwyn says, bluntly. He puffs out his chest in pride, and pauses, before saying, “Wait… why?”

“I could use the magic to turn the dragons against our enemies to the North!” Izor rubs his hands together as he contrives, and schemes.

“Do you think you could help Queen Elvira, too!?” Alwyn asks, almost childlike in his enthusiasm.

“Oh yes, of course! …But I’ll need to become a wizard to do that.” Izor says pacifyingly. “Do you ever wonder why the dragons are still here and haven’t left? I now have the answer: their leader has fallen, and they await someone to lead them; someone to give them a sense of purpose again! Who better than myself?!” Izor says enthusiastically. “Quickly let’s tell the King it’s a fake and begin our real work. It’s going to be a long night.” Izor says as he grabs his coat and proceeds to the door. “Remember, Alwyn, we're in this together. We will both be promoted, and be rich, happy men. Tell no one of this!”

Izor flings the door open vigorously, only to find the maiden standing in front of them; her hand raised, about to knock on the door. All three parties were startled by each other.

With a flustered stutter the maiden stammers, “Uh, the P-princess requests your, um… books on… on the stones that are.. on the staff. She wants to read more about them.”

“I can have it delivered to her later this evening.” Izor says tersely. “I’m in a bit of a hurry and don't like to keep the King waiting. How long have you been standing here?” Izor asks, with growing suspicion.

“I understand.. It will only take a minute. I know which books she wanted. There, in the stack we were going through.” Susy pointed to the stack as she took a step closer, practically forcing her way into the room.

Both men turn their heads, glancing at each other and then the books. They quickly step away from the door and step aside “Very well.” Izor says, as he walks over to the table, hides the test tube and turns around; gesturing to the books.

The maiden begins to shuffle through the books, and sees the Princess slip into the room from the corner of her eye. Livia ducks, now hiding behind a stack of books. Izor and Alwyn notice her glance shift up from the books, and across the room, and begin to turn their heads in Livia’s direction.

Susy says loudly, trying not to panic “AH! YOU KNOW WHAT IT-” she nearly jumps as the two men snap their heads back to look at her; startled by the sudden surge in the volume of her voice. “-might take me a bit longer.. The book is not where I thought it was… but you two can go on ahead, over to the King. I don’t wish to keep you any longer. I'll close your door once I’m done here.” She waves her hand in a shooing motion.

Becoming irritated, Izor bends down and picks up a few books., “Here let me help you then, take these two books for now, and you can come back for the others later. I’ll be here for the rest of the evening once I’ve spoken to the King.” He hands her the books, lifts her up and hurries her out the door.

With Izor and Alwyn flanking her on either side, the three make their way down the long hallway. Once they reach the end, she excuses herself, thanks them, and walks away down another hallway. Both Izor and Arwyn proceed to the great hall.

Susy quickly turns back around to check to see if anyone is in the hallway. Once she sees it empty, she scurries back to Izor’s work study. She opens the door and whispers “Princess, it’s me! Are you still in here?”

Livia pops up from behind the table. She motions for her maiden to come in and whispers “Make sure you shut the door behind you.”

“Princess, we need to go. They’ll be back before you know it!” Susy says as she approaches the table where the princess is standing over the staff and parsing the various notes scrawled in the notebook.

“Yes, I know… But this is more important; our world now hangs in the balance. This staff is not only real, it’s the legendary staff, of the mother of dragons. Do you know what that means? Look at this book it has all kinds of descriptions of magical staffs. He tried to hide it from us! I found it covered up over here. It says only a wizard dragon can use it’s magic. Whoever can wield the staff will have the power to control any of the world's dragons! We need to get this staff out of here! It says only a dragon's magic force can break this staff. That means I need to go to the valley of the dragons. It's the only way!” Exclaims Princess Livia, her voice raising with her heart racing.

Susy practically yelling, “No! You’ll have to go through the forbidden lands to get to the dragon valley. That’s at least a day's journey; on horseback. You can send someone else, practically anyone else would do it for you princess!” Susy says, pleading with the princess; her hands reaching for Livia’s arm, her heart beating fast too.

“SHHHH!” Livia hushes Susy harshly. “Keep your voice down! Someone will hear us!”

Susy nods, putting her hands back down along her side, “Sorry.” she whispers.

“No! We can't trust anyone and no one can know about this! There is no one else. It has to be me, because no one will suspect me if I leave now to go for an outing on horseback. You can’t tell anyone, Susy! Quickly wrap the staff with my shawl, and grab any books you find useful.”

Glancing down at the book in thought, Livia decides it’s better to leave the hidden book about the wizard staffs, and take just the page. She tears off the page and puts the book back where she found it. “We’re going to wrap everything up in this rug, tie it up these curtain tiebacks, and throw everything out the window.” Livia opens the only window in the room. Suddenly, both women are stopped in their tracks as they hear a loud dragon’s roar echo in the distance. Everything in the room shakes and rattles. “Ok, ready? Let’s lift this rug out the window, on the count of Three. One, TWO, THREEE!” The women heave the rug with the staff, and books out the window and lean over the windowsill to look out. They are relieved to see the rug land safely in a bush below.

“That’s perfect!” Livia exclaims. “Nobody guards this side of the castle.” She turns to Susy and says, “Ok I’ll go through the back entrance. I’ll head to the castle library to study, then I’ll take a walk. I’ll come pick up everything as I’m heading out of the castle walls. Go pack some of my things you think I’ll need for this trip and meet me at The Broken Sword tavern, I hear the guards talking about that place a lot. Oh and uhhh.. bring me my horse, with just the saddle; leave everything else… I don’t want to be recognized as a royal.”

Closing the window, the women peek outside the door to check if anyone is around. They quietly close the study door behind them and Susy grabs the princess’s arm. “Princess. I don’t think you should do this, we don’t even know if there are any more wizards and a dragon could kill you!”

“There is no time for this, I have to try to save my kingdom, my people, my mother and possibly the dragons. If I go back inside the castle Izor won’t stop looking for me. I have to leave now. I’ll see you soon.” Princess Livia says sternly. They hug, and as they turn the corner to the hallway, they both head out in opposite directions.

Princess Livia heads to the library and Susy heads to Livia chambers. Livia enters the castle library it’s just as big as the great hall, with floor to ceiling shelves of books. She walks around checking to see if any of the staff is around. She doesn’t see anyone so she decides to leave a note. She forges the note, stating she needs Susy to bring her riding jacket, as she wants to go for a quick horse back ride to the flower gardens. She hopes this will make Susy less of a suspect. She leaves the note on one of the writing desks for the staff to find.

“Now it’s time to go pick up our new treasure and see what this mother of the dragons staff can do.” Livia says to herself. Quickly walking across the castle grounds, she turns out of sight around the castle’s wall. She rifles through the bushes, and after some searching, finds her precious cargo.

She freezes in her tracks when she hears a voice yelling from across the mote. A young man with wavy, white, short hair stands on the bridge, waving his arms. Livia’s blood runs cold, thinking her adventure has ended before it even began. Several moments pass when she is washed over with a wave of relief. The young man with short wavy white hair was yelling and flagging down the person he was meeting. She instantly recognizes the merchant, Bogey. They exchange handshakes and the young man throws a bandaged arm around Bogey’s shoulder, as the two saunter off into the morning.

Livia gathers her newly acquired effects. She hides the rug back behind the bushes. She ties the wizard staff behind her back, using the fancy golden curtain tieback strings and puts her shawl on to cover it. She bundles the 3 books up under her arm. Taking a deep breath, she turns towards the castle's eastern gates. She says to herself, “Let’s hope everything else is going according to plan... And now to get out of the castle.” She pauses, noticing some guards at the gate. “Why are there guards here? I thought Alwyn said they didn’t guard this side of the castle. Did I get caught already?”