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“Catch that winged rogue who almost burned down the castle the other day!”
“How come you haven’t skinned him and melted him down for jewelry? I’m sure his scales are silver. They could be gold too. And eyes like sapphires. Pluck them out and have the Zwergs make us earrings out of them.
“How could you not catch him yet! Aren’t you the most powerful dragon around?”
“You have to catch him!”
“I know!” I thumped my fist lightly on the table, sending sparks flying, silencing all the peri for a moment. But it was only for a moment. They quickly came to their senses and continued.
“Bring us the jewels that your claws have torn from the necks of mortal women!”
“Amuse us with magic!”
“Show us various magic mysteries!”
“Give us rubies and diamonds to adorn our outfits!”
“Bring us magic spinners! We’ll need veils and robes made of their golden yarn, since we are now concubines of the Emperor himself!”
“And invite the musician spirits to tune our tambourines and tighten the skin on our drums!”
“Roast some dwarves on your dragon fire! We want to see how you deal with lazy people!”
“Rip the earrings out of the ladies’ ears!”
“Ride us on the back of a dragon in flight!”
I indulged Rose in these little things, but they all tired me out at once. So I decided to lock them up again. But it’s okay to let them out once in a while. After all, they’re good at pleasing their masters.
Unlike Vincent, who, I realized, had unleashed them too much, I instantly put the peri in order by locking them back in the candelabrum. It was just after dinner, where they were noisily musing and humming to me about what I would have to do for them in the next century. I snapped my fingers, and the bewildered faces of the beauties turned into silvery smoke, which flew back into the holes of the candelabrum that had miraculously appeared on the table in front of me. I took it in my hand and carried it up to the attic myself. Concerned whispers came from the wells.
“What had we done to anger him?”
“Everything seemed to be going so well!”
“We were friends with him! And suddenly it was a betrayal!”
“He was fed up with us!”
“We sang too much!”
“We loved him too much!”
“It’s your fault!”
“No, it’s your fault!”
“Shut up, everyone! He’s a dragon! He could burn us all!” said the most judicious voice at the end. Peri whispered, hoping I wouldn’t hear, but I did, and, frankly, I felt an increasing urge to throw the candelabrum into the fire. Only it probably wouldn’t burn. Let it grow cobwebs in the attic. I’ll have to lock the door like before. It’s a good thing it’s protected by magic. The company of the peri is proving tiresome.
“I have matters of state to think about,” I whispered politely, locking the candelabrum in the attic. “You have distracted me too long. And the problems of the empire do not wait.”
I’d forgotten that there was another dragon flying around, and we were lucky it didn’t swoop down on us while we were enjoying ourselves and burn the castle down.
Beneath the dragon’s mask
I walked, not flew. Fallen leaves rustled beneath my feet. It’s amazing that there are so many fallen leaves in a forest that isn’t fall. They were all green, not even starting to turn yellow yet, and every leaf had scratched marks on it, as if someone had clawed them.
Who dares to be such a freak in my woods? And who dares pretend to be me, a dragon that flies freely through my domain and even burns whatever it pleases? Nothing like this had happened since Simon had appeared. I remembered finding him in the cellars of Prince Rothbert. My pale copy had dwarfed even me. Thankfully, with the destruction of the sorcerer-prince, all it had come to an end as well. We could live in peace.
The fact that I was walking like a commoner was already a bad sign. It meant that my thoughts had led me to a dead end. The last time I had wandered so much was when I was looking for a way to Rose’s forest hideout. There was nothing left to look for now. I knew perfectly well where she was staying, and I was well aware that she wasn’t expecting me to visit, unless I brought her another load of gold and jewelry. Beautiful women are surprisingly sneaky creatures. The only thing they want from dragons is their wealth. Well, protection, too. And when protection is no longer needed, the dragon is left without a lady.
Rose has been my lady of the heart for a long time. Modest and gentle, she stayed by my side until she discovered she had a strong talent for sorcery. I, like a fool, began to help her develop them, even began to teach her the laws of magic myself. And what happened in the end? Rose broke all the laws to become the strongest sorceress who would corner even her teacher. And all just to gain independence from the dragon, who, by the way, faithfully guarded her. I never once hurt her, never once ran my claws into her, on the contrary, I served her faithfully. And what was in return? Not even a thank you. The only pleasant things I heard from Rose were flattering compliments about my radiant appearance and dragon strength. She never once mentioned my treasures, but when she gained her independence, it was clear that she couldn’t live without them.
Rose is the true daughter of Princess Odile. What else did I expect from her? A snake family! Her grandfather is a sorcerer, her mother is a sorceress, and Rose herself wants to be a great sorceress. All her magic comes out to the detriment of others, but she is not the least bit ashamed of it. Rose’s name itself seems to indicate her descent from a family of thorn-like thorns. Rose had gone from being the lady of my heart to the enemy.
Maybe she had created the dragon with her magic that was tormenting me. She could be expected to do such a trick in gratitude for all the treasures I’d sent her.
There were more and more fallen leaves. It was like a green carpet by the path. Some creature with claws was walking through the forest and ripping off leaves in large quantities and then just tossing them on the ground? Why?
Well, it’s not that important. The leaves in this forest resemble emerald plates, and among them, if you discover the secret, sometimes you can actually find pure emeralds. So much so that someone might have searched unsuccessfully for the gems. This is, of course, stealing, considering the forest belongs to me. But I’m not petty. One or two gems won’t take away from my wealth. Besides, only one of my own subjects would enter this forest. My empire in general is populated only by creatures loyal to me, whom I am obliged to care for and, therefore, to make sure that they do not fall into poverty, leading them to steal. So if someone is desperate enough to search the woods for anything of value, it’s my fault. I didn’t follow him. I should have spent less time with the ladies and more time on the affairs of state. Is that someone my subject? Did this creature accidentally wander into my territory?
I wondered. It’s unlikely. The borders of the Empire are delineated by magic, not letting anyone through except those who do not please me or are not invited by some of the locals. Nevertheless, a dragon, unknown to anyone, has somehow penetrated the magical defenses.
So! What I have, according to the complainers who have come to my court: some dragon has started raiding small villages, including magical ones. No one knows where it came from. Not even myself.
So how do we make sense of the situation? It is only to hunt down the dragon. For some reason, I kept putting off that moment, even though I knew I’d find him in the mountains beyond the forest. Instead of flying, I was walking through thickets and brushwood, through a labyrinth of forest paths that diverged in many different directions and led to a variety of magical dwellings of all sorts of creatures.
Why did I suddenly become so modest? What prevents me from turning into a dragon right now, catching a winged rival in the mountains and tearing him apart?
Well, you don’t have to kill him right away. First we should try to find out what he wants and who sent him. Somehow I was sure he didn’t come to the Empire on a whim. Someone had conspired or captured him with magic to control him like a puppet. How many malefactors there were who tried to cause me trouble with magical tricks? I exposed their intrigues, solved the problems they created one by one, and every time came out victorious even from an unequal battle. But now I had a feeling that my luck had changed, and that a new problem might be so difficult that I couldn’t handle it just like that. Probably, nostalgia, melancholy and apathy, which began in me after the broken relationship with Rose, were put on either by herself or Princess Odile and her six magical spinsters. The latter, it must be admitted, were very vindictive.
The torn leaves formed fanciful patterns on the ground. Sometimes they resembled festoons of green lace, sometimes some signs. By the way, a few witch symbols scorched on the path completely discouraged me. I didn’t even know such things. Who dared to conjure in my forest? And why were the symbols scorched with fire and not drawn with charcoal or blood? I’ve never seen anything like this before. The symbols could be seen not only on the ground, but also on the trunks of trees. Even the local squirrels and woodpeckers avoided these trees for some reason. What’s wrong here?
If one followed the patterns of claw scratches on the fallen foliage, symbols were also noticeable. Even a pair of pure emeralds glinting beneath the leaves didn’t distract me from the intricate lines. It seemed like a second more and blood would run down them.
I didn’t cover my eyelids for a moment, nor did I dream of anything, but it seemed to me that the leaves had turned red with blood.
That’s a bad sign! I probably shouldn’t get into a fight with an unfamiliar dragon right away. If I hurt him, would his blood be so poisonous that a single drop of it on the ground would poison the whole neighborhood? Or maybe I’d regret attacking it when it turned into something that was unexpected.
I stare at the patterned leaves and see myself bullying another man’s dragon to death, and as it falls to the ground, it turns into a bloody girl – a Rose! And it hurts me, even though it’s just a fantasy.
I shook my head stubbornly, trying to shake off the obsession like dew from my locks. It turned out that while I’d been walking, my hair strands had gotten as wet as raindrops. It was all about the magic of this forest. It wasn’t raining, but the dew protruded abundantly on the lush crowns of the trees, sometimes turning into small crystals.
It was beautiful and lonely, like a desert. For some reason, all the magical creatures rarely come here. There were disembodied whispers in the foliage. It was some kind of love declarations and requests to stay here forever, away from everyone. I was beginning to like being all alone. Suddenly a claw reached for a pile of maple leaves, but instead of picking them off, it began to draw patterns.
It’s like I woke up from a dream. The troublemaker is here. I have to be vigilant. Too bad the claws disappeared as fast as they came. The trees here have such lush crowns. They’re so easy to hide behind.
There was something alluring, otherworldly about the natural atmosphere. I’d heard of the ladies of the forests and groves. They were fairies who considered themselves mistresses of the forest in which they settled. Or it could be a glade, or a lake, or a pond. Any place in the open countryside. Ssometimes it could be a ruin partially overgrown with moss. I met such a Lady of Ruins once, and even got to talking to her. I bought her some magical wine, and we became friends. But should I be friends with a fairy who considers herself the mistress of my forest or should I just let her know that I am the master here?
By the way, I couldn’t see the fairy or even feel her presence nearby, but I felt the heat of smoldering coals in a furnace. Another dragon seemed to be nearby. I looked around. Was it flying over the forest now? There’s no one visible between the treetops, not even songbirds. I felt like I was stepping into the dragon’s mouth, like a magic furnace.
I’ve never felt like this before. I felt dizzy. It was suddenly unbearably hot. I’ve never been uncomfortable around fire. I could climb into a burning fireplace and it wouldn’t do me any good. He who’s all fire inside doesn’t burn. I am a dragon, after all. No other dragon can intimidate me, even if he’s a powerful wizard. And this place smelled like magic. I could feel someone else’s power and authority. The forest was green and fragrant, and the feeling that I was walking into a fire grew stronger. The alien fire was close. I couldn’t see it, but it seemed as if I could just stretch out my hand and touch it.
The obsession vanished as soon as I heard the squeak of a tit. Someone’s slender fingers had caught it firmly, but why? It was hard to distinguish the hem of a green dress with a golden border from the spring greenery. It was only because of the fringe that I could see the lush skirt, which looked something like an outfit made of leaves. The cape over it was also green and also trimmed with a golden border.
Was I imagining things, or was there a slender, graceful lady walking through the forest? I called out to her. No one answered me. But I saw her at the pine tree. And now I could see only a sign on the trunk, drawn with something red-hot. The ash had crumbled on the bark where it had been burned. I could clearly visualize a red-hot claw drawing that symbol, and the tree groaned. But what does that have to do with the girl? She’s hardly clawed. At any rate, I saw a very graceful figure. It was definitely a lady, and most definitely not a fairy. Could some noblewoman have wandered into magical territory by accident or in search of adventure? Yes, she could, if some mischievous supernatural being had deliberately pointed her way here, into the claws of the dragon. My fairies often liked to have fun that way, luring their earthly rivals into dangerous places and setting magical traps for them. We need to find the girl before something happens to her here. She flickered here and there as if dancing behind the trees. That’s the way people behave when they’re spellbound by fairies.
Her dance seemed to repeat a chain of magical signs. Who was she? For a minute or two, I actually had the urge to attack her. I didn’t know why. But I remembered how cleverly flocks of fairies on the streets at night begin to call to themselves the dressed-up daughters of merchants or burgomasters. Those naively come to dance in their circle, succumb to sweet entreaties, taste magic fruits, and then voluntarily go to the edge of the cliff or to the abyss, where the monster lives. It’s a shame to admit it, but my subjects often behave with extreme cruelty. And I am no better. But occasionally, a gentleman awakens in me. This was one of those rare occasions, and I followed a stranger with the intention of saving her.
She hid in the thicket for a short time and suddenly ran out onto the path ahead of me. Her green outfit with gold trim was indeed luxurious, like a queen’s. And her gait was so light that she seemed to be floating above the ground rather than walking. However, there were some burnt symbols on the path under her feet. I paid no attention to them.
She reeked of heat, as if she had jumped from the ashes of a village that had recently burned down near my borders. But she didn’t show any burns.
I wished she would stop so I could see her face. Her graceful head, with its golden curls arranged in an intricate hairdo, hinted that I was looking at a rare beauty.
“Wait!” I called her again, but she went forward faster, almost running. Well, it’s not hard for me to catch up with her. I didn’t want to change into a winged serpent right now and scare her, but what you can’t do in the excitement of the chase. So I did it. In flight, I managed to catch up to her and pin her against the trunk with my entire slippery golden body. And that was it. The lady is caught. Now I could change back into handsome Edwin and ravish her with my appearance. I became a beau before I realized that the lady was quite unusual.
She was certainly beautiful. She was very beautiful, even. She had a slim waist, shapely high breasts, and a swan’s neck, but one look at her face and I felt a little uncomfortable. Everything seemed to be perfect: long eyelashes like two fans, elegant eyebrows, expressive eyes, skin so snow-white that it was as if it was frosty. If you touch it, you can feel the snowflakes. I had never seen such a graceful face before, but the precious jewelry on it, even I was confused. It was something like a half-mask, going vertically instead of horizontally. Thin gold plates grew straight into the flesh. They stretched halfway down her face from her forehead to her chin. And it didn’t hurt her to wear it? If I’m not mistaken, the unusual jewelry is implanted directly into the skin, but the scar is not visible, as if the girl was born with it. The gold seems to grow out of her skin, enveloping half her face in a lacy pattern. Is it magic?
“Who are you?” my whisper wasn’t fiery, but she recoiled as if she’d been burned. I’d never made such a repulsive impression on a lady before. Did she see right through me? Did she realize I was a dragon? Even my handsome appearance didn’t mislead her. What insight! She’s to be applauded.
A tiny squirrel at the top of a pine tree gestured desperately at me, warning me to approach the beauty. I paid no attention to the warning. Since when do I listen to squirrels? Even if they burned their paws somewhere, like this one, it’s still too early to ring the alarm bells throughout the forest.
The captured lady managed to dodge and run away. She was fast. I barely managed to catch up to her and touch the mask. It mirrored the shape of a dragon’s head and actually grew into her face, right into her skin and flesh. The sensation when I touched it, too, was as if golden rods were growing right out of her skin, weaving into an intricate pattern on her face, which should have been inflamed from having plates of gold implanted into it, but looked delicious. The mask grew right into it and still the stranger was beautiful. The mask only made her look more unusual.
I waited for the girl to say something to me, to ask me something, to express some wish, or at least to apologize for invading someone else’s territory without asking. But she only sought to get away from me as soon as possible. This is the first time a lady has ever run away from me. And I try in vain to meet her. I’m curious, what’s her name? Where did she come from? What kind of family is she from? At least one of her parents must be a magical being. She probably came here looking for him.
“Wait! Don’t run!”
I tried to stop her, and suddenly she breathed fire on me. Just opened her lips and blew a stream of fire in my face. It was a trick of my own. Wow! Of course, it didn’t burn me, but I was shocked. No one had ever done that to me before. What kind of liberties? She’s a beauty, but no one allowed her to deviate from the etiquette of my Empire. All magical creatures here are aware of the basic rules of behavior, both within the borders of the state and at court. The forest is here or the palace and manners must be observed as is customary. Only the girl’s gone. It was no one to apologize to. Only the hem of the luxurious green dress still rustles around the bend in the path. Yes, there are traces of fire.
I thought of angels who could breathe fire. She’s probably one of them. Then there are fire fairies. But she doesn’t look much like any of them. She’s a little out of the ordinary.
“Yeah, she got you,” the leprechaun squeaked. Tiny took off his hat in front of me. It was like he was supposed to. He was the size of a needle, and his hat was even smaller, but he was aware of the dragon’s eyesight. A human wouldn’t have seen him on an ivy leaf.
“Come on,” I brushed the strands away from my forehead. “It is just a girl. Just a pretty girl… And I’m single now.”
“Divorced,” the leprechaun corrected me. How these little things know so much!
“It is all right, divorced.”
“And you are very much in love. I can tell you’re all fire, and so is she.”
“She’s more like ice. No feelings,” I couldn’t even see her thoughts, but the leprechaun shook her tiny head negatively.
“She’s made of fire. And you hurt her.”
“But she almost burned my face off.”
“That’s self-defense. Feeling makes creatures like her hurt.”
I’ve never heard of such creatures. No one in my empire has ever been hurt by feelings, and this place is full of magical creatures. Who is she?
I wanted to ask the leprechaun more about her (he must have known something), but the crumb had already disappeared. The ivy leaf had gone blank. You couldn’t even tell that a second ago there was a tiny guardian of the untold treasures hidden under the ground of this forest. Maybe the girl was looking for it, even trying to dig it up, not by her, of course, but by bringing some helpers who gossiped about her while they were looking for the treasure, and that’s how the leprechaun heard about her.
I looked after her for a long time. The ladder path had already emptied. The greenery exuded a marvelous fragrance after the rain, and the beauty left only the smell of fire and ashes. How could I ever see her again? Fly over the forest and take a closer look? But what if she’s already gone underground? What if she’s from Henri’s underground kingdom? Even though I’ve forbidden his subjects to crawl to the surface, but bold ladies don’t care about prohibitions. This beauty was somewhat similar to Daniella, Henri’s current consort and subterranean ruler. Only unlike her, she wasn’t dead. She was all I could think about. Was it worth it to get rid of my headache in the form of Rose, only to find another woman and look for her everywhere? Asking everyone where she was, who she was and where she came from.
That’s enough! I told myself. I had just been released. It was too early to be captured by another enchantress for a second time, but I kept looking after her, and her footsteps suddenly flashed with fire.
I must have ignited them. But the fire wasn’t mine. It wasn’t mine. It wasn’t even the same color. If her footprints had been gold coins instead of flames, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.
Tongues of fire blazed on the path, taking the shape of a woman’s graceful foot. I stared at it like a fool. It was like I’d never seen fire before. I should have run after the stranger instead of standing there. Or even fly after her, because she was moving so elusively fast. She could, of course, be tracked by the fiery footprints, but they were already beginning to fade. I followed them, turned a couple of times around the corner of the narrow forest path, reached the clearing, and then the chain of footprints was broken.
The clearing itself was burnt almost to the ground. Poisonous smoke was rising from the blackened remains of the grass. I could well identify the source of the fumes. A dragon had been here! And that dragon was not me!
Had the dragon eaten the beauty? Or did she fly away on its back? Perhaps that’s why I didn’t attract her attention. From my own experience, I already knew very well that a dragon could shed its monstrous appearance and become someone’s lover. Suddenly, I felt a little resentful. Where would I find this beauty now if she burned in the dragon’s arms the next night?
Something told me she wasn’t so easy to burn. There was something magical about her. But sitting and waiting in the forest for her to come back didn’t make sense either. It’s time to take strict action against the alien dragon burning out my forests. Only to do that, I’d first have to track him down. What a coincidence. Now I have a target to hunt down at once. It was the dragon and the mystery lady.
Trails of fire
If the faint lights were not still burning on the road, I would have thought I was dreaming of the lady.
“Forget her!” A voice whispered in my brain, as if an annoying spider had crawled into my head and was weaving a magic web around my brain. “She’s not for you. Not even for you! You’re the richest handsome man in the world. She’s just an illusion. She could just be your imagination. Don’t you agree?”
I even rubbed my shoulders with my hand. The feeling of someone sitting on them and whispering in my ear was too real.
But he was talking nonsense. How could she be an illusion? The footprints are real. They’re still burning on the road. Even the insects avoided crawling near them. But I wanted to bend down and touch them with my fingers. I’ve never been burned by fire. I’m a dragon myself. I can burn anyone I want with one breath. And it’s a shame to think that after a night with me, girls could burn like dry logs. It’s best to avoid contact with the ladies in the future. But it is not with this one. I wanted to find the stranger at all costs. I must see her again, talk to her. What did she dislike me so much that she ran away so quickly? They say there are women who don’t like dapper men and despise handsome men. But this way, I can change into anything she wants for her. And why did I suddenly fall in love with her? Haven’t I seen a pretty girl before? Why am I so anxious to catch up with this one? What’s so special about her?
It is except her fiery footprints. Ordinary ladies don’t leave footprints like that. The orange chain of footprints zigzagged, as if the lady was dancing as she ran away.
I wondered where she was now. Without her, the forest seemed dark and empty. But the woods had been my favorite place to walk since I considered myself a mere man and the youngest son of a mortal king. It was the creatures I met in the thicket that revealed to me that I myself was an unearthly creature.
Now all the magical creatures had gone into hiding. As if on purpose to avoid crossing paths with the beauty that leaves a trail of fire.
It’s a wonder how the fire in the forest didn’t start. The flames burned exactly where she stepped. That’s some kind of magic too.
Only a dwarf-sized leprechaun waits by the tree. He’s wearing a red cape! That’s the famous Forest Thief. Before you know it, your pockets will be empty and you will be tied to the trunk under the axe blade of the gloomy woodcutter. But he only stole hearts from the ladies. He could pretend to be a good-looking boy when he had the chance. Now he looked ugly and tapped the bark of the tree with elongated clawed fingers. He had ten of them on each hand. Probably it was to make it easier to steal. The fingers are so dexterous that they can strip the bark off the trunk in no time.
“You like the girl, Monsignor Dragon?”
I nodded, ignoring the fact that he’d used the old address instead of the newly adopted “Your Dragon Majesty.”
“I liked it, too,” he said happily, showing his sharp needle-like teeth in a smile. There were at least a hundred of them in his mouth. “But it stings badly. I wouldn’t risk picking her pockets. She does give off a romance of gold.”
“Is it a romance about gold?” I raised my eyebrows in surprise. What did he mean by that? The title is poetic, but somehow it seemed to me that it was actually a name for something.
Forest Thief chuckled understandingly.
