“It took three more villagers this morning, your majesty. The people rarely leave their homes anymore.” 

“Try the catapults again, there must be something you can do!”

“I’m afraid not, my lady, we’ve tried everything. It’s indestructible.”

The dragon had been attacking the kingdom for about a month now. It would come everyday and still nothing we tried could hurt it, no matter how strong our weapons were. The people were running out of hope. Queen Vivienne had called a meeting with all of the royal staff to figure out a plan. You knew it was serious when she even asked the knight’s stable boy to be there. The Queen sank into her chair, looking defeated. Behind her, the court scholar took a deep breath, preparing to say something. 

“Your majesty, I think I may have found something,” She said slowly, “but it’s risky.”

“What is it Adelaide, we’ll take anything.” The Queen replied.  

“I’ve read about a sword made by magic, it’s said to be the most powerful weapon in existence,” Adelaide hesitated, “there’s just one problem.”

“What is it?”

“The sword is guarded by the fairies in the silver woods outside Aduvia.” 

The room filled with anxious whispers and mumbles. I grew up in Aduvia. I knew more about the silver woods than anyone. Since I was little, I was warned of the dangers that were within. Nobody dared enter anymore. The fairies weren’t known for their benevolence. I pitied the poor person Vivienne would send there. I zoned back into the conversation and the room was staring at me. That couldn’t be good. 

“Well?” Sir Richard, head of the knights, eyed me with anticipation. 

“Well…” I racked my brain trying to remember what they could’ve asked me. 

“Thomas, you are from Aduvia, are you not?” Adelaide repeated the question. 

Uh oh.

“Yes.”

“So you’re familiar with the silver woods?”

Uh oh. 

“Yes.” 

“Excellent. Then it’s decided. You will accompany Adelaide to the silver woods to retrieve the sword from the fairies!” Vivienne said. 

I really should’ve seen this coming. How was I supposed to lead a mission? I could barely pick up a sword, let alone steal one from the most powerful creatures in the kingdom. 

“Your majesty, I am not a knight, wouldn’t it be better if one of them were to help her?” I pleaded.

“No, it’s perfect. You know the area more than anyone here. And, after all, knights are too obvious. Who would suspect the stable boy?” Vivienne responded.

She stood, indicating the end of the conversation. The knights followed her out of the room and Adelaide walked over to me. She looked me up and down, thoroughly unimpressed. 

“Get some rest,” she said finally, “we leave at sunrise.”

Adelaide wasn’t kidding. She was knocking on my door to wake me up as soon as the sun began to peek over the mountains. I grabbed the small bag I packed and started towards the stables.

“No,” Adelaide stopped me, “we have to leave the horses here, Thomas. You can’t be stealthy on a horse.” 

I rolled my eyes. We set out for Aduvia. I had forgotten how far it was. I shivered at the thought of going back to the silver woods. After leaving, I never thought I’d have to think about them again. I still didn’t understand why Vivienne had asked me to guide Adelaide. Aside from knowing the directions, I wasn’t really much help. After walking for a while Adelaide turned to me. 

“We should go over the plan.” she said. 

“Plan?”

“The fairies keep the sword in the west wing of the castle. We’ll arrive at night. When all the fairies are asleep, we’ll sneak in and take the sword and leave before they notice.” 

“Don’t you think there will be guards? Or enchantments of some kind?”

“No, the fairies are powerful, but they’re also cocky. They wouldn’t think anyone would dare steal from them.”

In my opinion the fairies were right. I couldn’t imagine what would happen if we got caught. We walked for hours, making it to the edge of the woods just as the night set in. Taking a deep breath, I led Adelaide into the woods and to the center, where the castle lay at the bottom of a hill. We hid behind a wide tree and peered down at the castle. The lanterns in front of the castle were still lit and fairies dressed in fancy clothing flew in in large groups. 

“I thought you said the fairies would be asleep!” I said. 

Adelaide groaned, “How could I be so stupid? It’s the first full moon of the month. The fairies are throwing a ball! Luckily, I’m always prepared.”

Adelaide began digging around in her bag. She pulled out two outfits, complete with wings. 

“We will disguise ourselves as servants to get into the castle. We’ll have to be more careful, but we can make it,” she explained. 

To me this just sounded like a fine way to get ourselves cursed. We got dressed and headed to the castle entrance. Somehow Adelaide’s disguises worked, none of the fairies paid us any attention. We followed the crowd into the ball from. The room of silver was as dazzling as the rest of the palace. The queen sat upon a large throne, looking down at her subjects. I don’t think I’d ever been more terrified.

Adelaide led us to the outside of the room and slowly down a side hall. At the end of the hall was a large wooden door. The sword had to be inside. Weirdly, the door swung open easily. Inside was a large golden sword lay on a pedestal in the center. Adelaide picked it up gently. I flinched, waiting to be blasted into oblivion by a spell. But, as Adelaide expected, there were no traps. She handed me the sword. 

“Hide this under your cloak,” she said, “let’s get out of here.”

I tucked the sword under my robe. It was heavy, really heavy. We headed back out into the ballroom. The party was as lively as when it began. As we slowly made our way out, the sword seemed to grow heavier. It started to slip out of my hands slowly until-- CRASH. The sword hit the floor. The music stopped and the fairies turned to look at us. There were indistinguishable shouts, but we got the message, the fairies wanted us captured. We grabbed the sword and ran. The fairy knights followed closely behind. Just when it looked as though we were to get away, Adelaide was hit in the back by a puff of smoke. She fell as the fairy queen cackled.

“You will regret ever stepping foot in these woods!” she yelled. 

I helped Adelaide up and we ran out of the woods. It was weird, despite being hit by the queen’s spell, she looked fine. Somehow, we made it back to the kingdom and presented the sword to Vivienne. Outside, the dragon roared. We needed to act fast. Vivenne handed the sword to Adelaide. 

“The knights have been trapped in the dragon’s cave. You must act now!”

“Yes, your majesty!” 

Thank goodness, the queen hadn’t asked me. Adelaide began to head out the doors, but stumbled. She lay on the floor. Suddenly, smoke began to swirl around her. 

“Adelaide are you alright?” I asked.

The smoke grew thicker until it covered Adelaide completely. It swirled faster and faster until, as quickly as it started, it disappeared. In Adelaide’s place lay a small frog. This must’ve been the fairy queen’s curse. Who was to wield the sword now? I turned white as I realized there was only one option.

“Thomas,” Vivienne said, “you must take the sword. Go now.” 

I hesitated. I was a stable boy, how was I supposed to fight a dragon on my own? Outside, it roared again.

“Thomas please, it’s up to you now.” 

I hated that she was right. I grabbed the sword and ran outside the castle. The dragon flew above the town. It was even bigger than I feared. It noticed me a little too soon. It roared and blew a breath of fire in my direction, I ducked behind a nearby cart. I would need to distract it to defeat the dragon. I racked my brain for a distraction. What were dragons interested in? Breathing fire? Collecting gold? Eating people? Wait, eating! That was it! I spotted the market nearby and an idea dawned on me. I ran over to a fruit cart. I pushed it as hard as I could, sending the fruits tumbling. As I suspected, the dragon dove down towards the food. Now all I had to do was sneak up behind him. What could possibly go wrong? I slowly crept up to the dragon, shaking in fear. I took a deep breath and, with all my might, stabbed the dragon. It let out one last roar and fell to the ground. It was dead.

With all the kingdom working together, we were able to rebuild in just a few days. I braved the fairies again to return the sword and the queen begrudgingly reversed Adelaide’s curse. This morning, Vivienne had called another meeting of the royal staff. We filed in and sat around the table. 

“I’ve called you all here to witness this happy moment,” Vivienne began, “one amongst us has shown incredible initiative and bravery. I’d like to give them the credit they deserve.” 

She gestured towards me, “Thomas, when you first came here, you were a scared young man who worked in the stables. But due to recent events, I’ve seen you blossom. I’d like to give you the opportunity to become a knight.”

“Me?” I asked in disbelief. 

She laughed, “Yes of course you! It takes an incredible person to defeat a dragon on their own.” 

Everyone looked at me. I got encouraging looks from the rest of the knights. Adelaide nodded earnestly.

“Okay,” I agreed. 

The knighting ceremony followed shortly after. I was proud of myself, and I knew my new friends were too. Though I did hope there wouldn’t be any more dragons any time soon.