A Broken Quest

In a far-off land, high on the mountains and deep in the caves, there lived mythical creatures. Spark, a young dragon with a massive hoard of treasures and gems, lived among them. With years of collecting and adding to his hoard, Spark had amassed a collection that was the envy of many creatures. One day, Lenny, Spark’s best friend, who was a young unicorn, came to him in a frantic state, seeking his help in protecting his family’s hoard. Lenny’s aunt, Dontreust, also requested Spark's aid in the matter. She explained that trolls were planning to raid their family's hoard at any moment, and Spark immediately agreed to help in whatever way he could. Lenny also mentioned rumors about their family hoard shrinking without explanation, so it was imperative for everyone to pitch in and help save it.

Spark agrees and warns Lenny that they must leave before sundown to avoid falling victim to the trance of the fairy forest, which has the power to mentally ensnare anyone who sets foot there. Dontreust says she won’t be joining but provides them with a map that shows the quickest way to get to the hoard, avoiding dangerous forests and paths. Lenny questioned why Dontreust wasn't coming, she scratches her head, looks around then expresses that she should stay behind in case the thieves decide to make a stop on this side of the forest.

Now on their quest, they headed into a dense forest. While walking along the path shown on the map, Lenny noticed that they were walking around in circles. He mentioned this to Spark, but he retorted that Lenny had always been bad with directions. They ended up tussling over the map, and it eventually ripped, forcing them to rely on their memory to find the hoard.

They end up finding themselves in the fairy forest, a beautiful place filled with glittering gems and enchanting potions. Spark expresses regret for the previous criticism of the direction that Lenny provided and they made up. While they both gazed at the fairy forest, they were entranced by the beauty and found it hard to look away. Spark suddenly snapped out of it but Lenny couldn't take his eyes off it. He reached for one of the potions, and as he did, a jolt of electricity shot through his arm. They soon realized that the forest had a spell on it, preventing them from taking any of its potions, making it impossible for them to use anything to save the hoard. Spark urges them to leave, but Lenny was still in a daze and reached for another potion. Spark yelled at Lenny and warned him that his actions could attract unwanted attention or even lead to him being tainted. Lenny quickly came back to his senses and they left the forest to continue on their path. Deep into the forest, Lenny recognizes the area from the map. They entered through bushes and saw a cave that they believed held the hoard. Although Lenny didn't remember the family hoard being here, he couldn't recall the last time he saw it. When they moved the rock covering the cave, they saw treasures and gems, and they planned on how to guard them once the thieves arrived.

However, Lenny accidentally dropped a gem he was holding, and it shattered into pieces. Spark took a gem and threw it on the ground, and it cracked. They realized that the gems were fake and couldn't figure out why Dontreust would send them to a hoard with counterfeit treasures.

Suddenly, they heard voices outside the cave, and they feared it was the thieves. As they strained their ears to hear the voices outside the cave, they realized that it was trolls and that they were looking for Dontreust. They mentioned that they traced her to the cave after discovering that she had been providing them with fake treasures. It was clear that they had come to the cave for revenge. Lenny was puzzled as to why his aunt would be involved with such dirty trolls. The leader of the trolls told the others that she purchased potions that gave her superpowers, but they diluted them to make them addictive, so she would keep coming back for more. All of a sudden the trolls started walking into the cave, and Spark and Lenny quickly hid behind some rocks. As the trolls walked past them, they noticed something moving by the rocks and it was Spark’s tail. Spark and Lenny realized they had to act fast to protect themselves. Spark took a deep breath and let out a massive burst of fire, causing the trolls to panic and scatter. Lenny, using his horn, created a shield around them, protecting them from the trolls' weapons. The trolls eventually fled, realizing they were no match for the dragon and unicorn duo.

 When they arrived home, Lenny's aunt was going through Spark's hoard and ignoring them as they told her to stop. She wasn’t acting like herself because she was in need of the potions. As Lenny tries to explain to her that her shenanigans almost got them killed by dirty trolls, Spark tries to stop her from stealing his treasure, but she attacks him with her unicorn spear, and he falls to the ground. Lenny is so confused by his aunt's behavior, and he doesn't understand why she would lie about their family hoard being under attack, and on top of that, that she would send them to a decoy hoard. She laughs maniacally and says it was all part of her plan to get Spark as far away from his hoard as possible so that she could use his treasures to buy more potions, as the trolls were catching on to her using fake treasure. Lenny asks what she was using before, and she just laughs and says, "What do you think?" Lenny is shocked to find out that for years his aunt had been taking treasures out of the family hoard for her sick potion addiction. He questions how she even found Spark’s hoard, and she hesitantly admits that she had been keeping tabs on Spark’s movements for a while, hoping to catch him when he was vulnerable. She knew about his reputation for being a fierce fighter and didn't want to risk an encounter in battle, so she planned to catch him off guard while he was away from his hoard.

 As Spark recovers and gets on his feet, he lunges at Dontreust, but she knocks him down again  as it seems she has super strength and is still still under the lasting effects of the potions. Lenny tries to stop her from leaving with the stuff she stole from Spark, but she takes a sip of the little bit of potion she has left and starts to fly. However, she goes down as she doesn't have enough potion to fly, and she falls hard, dropping all of Spark's treasures. Spark rushes to pick them up, but she doesn't move, and Lenny rushes to her and sees that she is unconscious. 

All the commotion causes other fellow unicorns and creatures to surround them, including the rest of Lenny's family. The family tries to help the aunt, and Spark soon comes over to help too. Even though they won't get their family treasure back, they all hope that Lenny's aunt will be okay and get the help she needs to overcome her addiction. In the end, Lenny and Spark learned valuable lessons about trust, addiction, and the true value of treasures. They had gone on a dangerous adventure, but had come out of it stronger and wiser.