Once upon a time, in a land, far, far away, there lived a small island of fairies. Among those fairies, lived the princess fairy, the heir to the throne and the daughter of the king and queen fairy. Her hair was a shade of light purple, and her eyes was brightest blue you would have ever seen. She was short, and definitely dainty in size. Her wings were a very light, almost see through shade of yellow. The princess fairy was usually a very cheery girl.  But sadly, her father had fallen ill with a serious illness known as pixie pocks. The only thing that would be able to save her father, was on another island, known as the dragon’s land. On that island, was a magical amulet that holds great power, including healing. That was, the dragon’s heart.

 

 The princess fairy flew as fast as her little wings could go. It looked almost like she had passed the same violet trees over and over again. Eventually, after what seemed to be eons of traveling, the princess fairy arrived to the cave of the dragon lord. She knocked of the door, made of stone as cold as winter’s night.

 

  A tough, but handsome looking dragon answered the door. He was a beautiful aqua color, his back scales being a tint of green. His eyes were blood red, and his two front fangs stuck out,  like a tree branch. “Hello, who dares step on the ground of the lord?” His voice boomed, and his blood red eyes met those of the princess fairy’s bright blue ones.

 

 “Hello sir, I am the princess fairy, I am the daughter of the fairy prince and the fairy queen. I have a simple favor to ask if you don’t mind.”

 

  “I do not want to associate with fairies. We dragons look after our own.”

 

  The dragon lord was about to step away, but the fairy got down her knees and pleaded.  “Oh please mister dragon lord, please! Father has fallen ill with a horrible sickness, and I have come to request borrowing the dragon’s heart to fix him. Please, my whole island is counting on me.”

 

  The dragon sighed, and scratched his ear, as if in deep thought. “Well, I don’t want the fairy king to die, as it would most certainly cause disruptions to other places, including ours. Very well fairy, you may use the heart, on one condition.”

 “What would that be, sir dragon lord?” The princess fairy asked, in an almost sickeningly sweet tone.

 

 “Have you ever heard of the dragon’s challenge?”

 

 The princess fairy looked puzzled “Why no sir, I have not. What is this dragon’s challenge we speak of?”

 

 “The dragon’s challenge is used here in the dragon lands, to prove if a dragon is worthy of such power, as from something such as the amulet you have requested.”

 

 The fairy princess took a deep breath in “Dragon lord, I have decided to accept your request to perform this dragon’s challenge.”

 

He smiled, almost wickedly, like he didn’t expect this fairy to pass “Excellent, and oh, one other thing to mention.”

 

“What is it dragon lord?”

 

 “You are banned from using any kind of magic or flight during this test. That means no use of that magic wand or your silky wings.”

 

 She frowned at the thought of not being able to use her magic, but she bravely went ahead with this challenge. “Okay then, where will we begin?”

 

 The dragon lord flew her to a small cave, tucked in the middle of the dragon forest.

 

 “What is this place dragon lord?”

 

 “This is where your first challenge will start. You will have exactly one hour to find the clues and escape this room.” Then he pushed her inside, and locked the door before she could leave. He also added “First clue can be found on the small table made of cold stone.”

 

The princess fairy was a bit nervous to be trapped inside. She paced for a bit, until she came up with a chant to calm her nerves. “I can’t give up. Giving up shall not be enough. For my father has fallen ill. I can save him using my intellect and will.”

 

 The princess fairy picked up the first clue, which was a small piece of paper, with the colors red, green and blue. She knew it must of been some sort of code. She looked around the room, inspecting it to find what she had been looking for. Then she saw it; the dragon lands flag, of course! The princess fairy went up to the flag, and saw a small silver key hanging from it.

 

She attempted to open the big door to leave, but to no avail. She then caught eye of a small vault, with a silver lock guarding the door. So she put the key in, and opened it up. The paper read a riddle “If three dragons crash on the border of the unicorn island and the elf lands, where would they bury the survivors?” She thought for a moment, then it came to her; you never bury the survivors.

 

She turned to the dragon lord “The answer is that you never bury survivors!”  

 

His toothy grin turned into a shocked expression “Um, yes, that is the answer. You have passed this test. But are you ready for what comes next? This was the test of intelligence, but this next one is the test of strength. I will be taking you to dragon’s breath mountain, the highest mountain to climb in the land. You will have a half hour to climb it all the way, without flying.”

 

 The dragon picked the princess fairy up in his claws, and brought her to the base of the mountain. “Now, start climbing fairy.”

 

Hesitantly, the princess fairy looked up. This mountain was so tall, you could barely see it’s peak. The princess fairy had never seen these kind of mountains in her home land. To the fairies back home, the small hills seemed huge due to their small stature. But this mountain made those hills, who usually seemed to be the size of a giraffe, now more of the size of a small rat or even a mouse. She knew that her wings could have easily carried her over within minutes, seconds even. However, the princess fairy knew that the option was off the table. So, she started climbing.

 

The princess fairy  was doing fine until she hit a steeper and more rocky terrain. She started getting weaker, her bony legs stinging from the pain. It felt like it was almost impossible. The princess fairy looked down, almost like she was going to quit. But then the image of her ill father plagued her mind. Not only was he counting on her, but the rest of the island as well. She started singing her chant “I can’t give up. Giving up shall never be enough. For my father has fallen weak. I will use my strength and reach the mountain’s peak.” And with that, she kept on climbing, huffing and puffing all the way up,

like she was about to blow a house down. With just seconds to spare, the princess fairy successfully climbed that mountain.

 

The dragon lord flew up to reach her “Good job fairy, you have passed this test. But, this final test will truly test you in unimaginable ways. Are you ready?”

 

“Oh, why yes, of course!”

 

The dragon lord brought her to a small room near the mountain peak. There, lied a baby dragon, helpless and scared. He was small, and seemingly weak. His eyes, unlike that of the dragon lord, was a soft shade of yellow. Not bright like the morning sun, but more like the pale yellow of a yellow rose. His scales were a fiery orange color. His fangs had yet to stick out, as he was just a baby. His claws were neither sharp or long. He was clearly helpless, and unable to defend himself.

 

“Aw, he’s so cute!”

 

He shined a toothy grin “Don’t get too attached to him. Your task is to simply kill him. You slaughter the baby, and you will be able to save your father. A life for a life. Seems fair to me!”

 

The princess fairy looked into the baby’s helpless eyes. It seemed like his gaze went right past her eyes, and deep into the depths of her soul. Her heart started to hurt for this poor thing. She couldn’t do it, she really couldn’t. It was a baby. It couldn’t even defend itself.  She sung to herself “I have to give up. Giving up just might be enough. Yes, father has fallen ill. But this baby has yet to live a life. He shall not be killed.”

 

The dragon lord tapped his foot impatiently “Tick-tock princess fairy. What is your final decision.”

 

“I--I can’t do it. I choose to spare this baby dragon. I can not take the life of one who is barely yet to live.”  Her bright blue eyes now pouring with rainbow tears.

 

“Really? Even though your father could die, you choose to spare this child?”

 

“Yes, I do. We can find another way to save him. Father would not want me to maim a baby, even if it is a dragon.” She looks up, a rainbow tear hits the ground “I am sorry father…”

 

The dragon lord took out a remote control and simply pressed a button. With that, the baby dragon slowly faded away. The princess fairy was stunned when he said “Come now princess fairy, you have passed this test.”

 

“What? He wasn’t real? How did I pass?”

 

“This was a secret test on kindness and judgement. Dragon’s are to put others before their own selfish desires. It is something decreed in the rule book. Your kindness made you pass in the end. You may now take the dragon’s heart.” He handed it over to the princess fairy, as she hugged him tight.

 

“Thank you so much dragon lord. I shall return within a few days!’ With that, the princess fairy flew off and sung her chant…

 

“I didn’t give up. Giving up is not the way. Especially when some kindness can save the day…”

 

And so, due to the princess fairies kind heart, she ended up being able to save her father in the end. And of course, they all lived happily(and healthily after being able to fix her father) ever after.

 

The End