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The Dragon’s Enchantment

PART 1

Chapter 1:Raising a Helper

“It is good,” King Omni said as he smiled and observed all around him, “My Castle, My beautiful grounds, my wonderful servants and, best of all, my soon to hatch helper.”                           

   “Why an egg, your highness? Why not just create an adult creature?” asked Tarnen, the guide in charge of watching the egg. Tarnen and his fellow servants all had blues eyes and pointy ears and were created before the egg, fully grown.

“This is a special creature,” said the King, “It needs to be nurtured and grown slowly. It must be raised with love, care, and patience. It needs to have time to mature.”

Ninety days later, Tarnen rushed to the kitchen

. King Omni was giving instructions to the kitchen servants: “Make sure the meal is soft, wet, and well ground for our new arrival. We would not wish him to choke.”

Tarnen made his way to King Omni’s side, gave a quick bow, and said excitedly, “Your Lordship, it’s happening! The egg is starting to crack.”                                           

 “Go Keep watch on it. I will be there shortly,” said King Omni.                                                 

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Tarnen said with another bow and rushed back to the Celebration

Hall where the egg lay. He looked at the cracks forming in the egg. “Too bad it has to hatch. It is so beautiful.”                                                                                                                                      

The egg had a golden hue with undertones of rainbows like reflections and it was as big

as a watermelon. It rested on a purple velvet warming pillow on a knee-high wide pillar in the middle of the Celebration Hall.

“I wonder what is in that egg,” said a guard who had been left to watch it while Tarnen went to find King Omni, “The King has never told us what was in the egg.”

“Anything in there will be new to us. We have never seen an egg this size before,” Tarnen replied, “We have only seen the plain white chicken eggs in the royal kitchen coop.”

The cracks kept increasing. King Omni entered the room just as a small hole appeared. 

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“Ah yes, right on time,” King Omni said.  His handsome bearded face was smiling widely.

King Omni was followed by an assortment of castle servants who wished to see what was in the egg. King Omni stood a small distance from the egg, arms folded, watching as the egg put on a show. More cracks continued to form around the hole while the sound of scratching was heard from within. Next, a claw could be seen widening the hole.

The guard leaned close to Tarnen and whispered, “Kinda’ has a chicken claw.”

Tarnen said nothing. He just continued to watch the spectacle. The claw continued to break away pieces of the egg, and shell fell like colorful glitter to the floor. Finally, a little red eye looked out through the hole and blinked at the bright light.

 King Omni laughed at the sight of it. The servants standing around moved in closer to see.   More clawing and scratching caused the hole to become bigger. Everyone except the King jumped when a little head popped out of the hole. The animal turned its colorful scaled head backwards to bite off pieces of the shell. Then it started to squirm, moving its body back and forward until a large black wing popped out.  More shell gave way when another wing was wiggled out of the opposite side. It shook its body, which was totally covered with colorful scales, to get the rest of the way out of its shell. It had two small arms with claws and two large clawed feet. It kicked several times to the left with one foot then to the right with the other foot, working to remove the sticky shell. When none of the shell prohibited its movement, it spread its wings and flapped them a few times, drying all the stickiness that had been clinging to them. Amazed, the servants stood around watching the creature.

Tarnen asked the question that was on all their minds, “What is that?”

“This magnificent creature is called a dragon. I will call him Luca,” said the King with admiration in his eyes.

“Luca,” said the little dragon.

The servants gasped at the creature.

“It came out of an egg like a chick, yet it speaks!” said the guard.

The King said, “Orfa, my dear scribe, make sure you write down all the information about our dragon.”

“Of course, you’re Highness. You know I write all the information of the Kingdom. I am writing all right now,” Orfa told the King scribbling away on parchment.

King Omni went to the baby dragon and rubbed under his chin. The dragon lifted his head like a kitten. Then he petted the dragon’s head. The dragon flapped his wings that had dried

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to a glorious black color that reflected rainbows in the light. Finally, he lifted his feet, flying around the room. The servants ducked as he rose to the ceiling.

As he flew, the King said, “Blow hard out of your nostrils.” The dragon blew, and a small stream of fire came out of his nose.  

One of the servants said, “Oh” with concern.

           

            The King laughed and said, “Come Luca. I want to show you some things.”

The baby dragon seemed to grow in flight. When he landed on the floor next to the King, Luca was the size of a four-year-old child. The King again patted the baby dragon on the head.

“Follow me, Luca. I will show you where you will be sleeping,” said King Omni.

The King headed for the walnut doors of the Celebration Hall, which were opened by two servants.

The little dragon followed along behind, looking at everything. He saw the large crystal chandelier filled with candles that he had flown around. He noticed that at the back of the large room was a purple curtain. In front of the curtain was a throne made entirely of gold.  Under one arm of the throne, was a lion and a lamb was under the other.  It had a large plush velvet cushion for the King’s comfort.  The east and west walls were gold. Four red banners hanging on each wall.  The banners were embroidered with an insignia of a golden shield with a golden scepter inside a gold crown.

King Omni led the dragon through two walnut doors into the foyer.  

Luca continued to look around as he followed the King. He saw two halls of doors with a stairway in the center. Past the Celebration Hall, to his left, was a room with many large tables. Luca could smell something coming from that way that made his tummy rumble. When Luca looked up, he saw a high ceiling containing another crystal chandelier.

The King continued straight ahead where there were two large white doors that had two golden rings on them. Two guards dressed in armor stood on either side of the doors. Each grasped a door ring and opened the doors inward. King Omni went out the doors with Luca following close behind, observing his surroundings. When they were out of the castle, the King pointed up at a tower in the North West corner.

“Look up there,” said King Omni, “See that window? That is the window of your room. Fly up and in. Look around, and I will meet you up there in a moment.”

Luca flapped his little wings and levitated above the ground. Then he flew up into the window. When he landed inside, he saw the room was round and tall with golden walls. It had another window, high up and facing south. That had a large golden perch. Sunlight was streaming in the south window and caused the opposite wall to glisten just as the other window’s light glistened on its opposite wall. On a slightly raised hearth was a large fireplace made of golden rock. It had a little grate and a place for wood. But right now, it was empty.  Luca peek

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out a doorway that led into the castle. Luca walked around the room then returned to look out the window. He cranked his head out and looked south where he saw a large meadow with a forest beyond. He looked up at the golden tower walls above him. Then he faced north and saw a great flower garden surrounding a fountain. Beyond that was the great Northern gate out of the Kingdom. He heard a noise behind him and saw the King standing in the doorway.

“This is your new home, Luca. While you are young, you will have plenty of room to fly in here. As you become bigger, you can fly outside,” said the King, “When you are a little older, I will take you on trips with me to see Golden World.”

Luca’s stomach made a funny sound. He put his claws on it then looked up at the King.

“You’re hungry,” said King Omni, “Let me show you the kitchen so you can eat. It will be easier for you to fly down to the front doors than to walk down the hall. The ceiling is too low for you to fly. I will meet you in a few moments back in the foyer. Knock on the door when you get to the ground, and the guards will open them for you.” The King turned and walked out of the room.

Luca took to the sky, flew down to the doors, and knocked as the King instructed. The doors opened and Luca walked in. Luca saw the King descending the stairs.

“Come with me, Luca. We will go into the dining hall,” said King Omni.

Luca followed, eagerly smelling something wonderful.  A bowl of cereal was set on table’s edge, and the little dragon didn’t bother to sit down. He just dug right in.

King Omni sat beside him. As the dragon ate, King Omni talked to him. “Luca, you are going to be my right hand around the castle. You will be my companion, friend, and protector of the palace. I hope you will enjoy your role.”

Luca listened as he ate his dinner.

“You are too young to know what this means right now. But know that you are special and that I delight in you.”

Luca finished his food and looked at the King licking his lips. He saw a serious look on the King’s face.

“Luca I have one more special gift for you that none of the servants have. I have given you the ability to make choices. The other servants work by command, but you may choose.”  The King drew a slow breath. “It is a wonderful gift, but let me warn you: you should know this great gift may bring you joy but it may be your greatest pain, so know that your choices have consequences. If you want to know what is best, just ask me.” The King softened and said, “Let’s take a walk around the gardens.”