Spell and the Behemoth

The Shadow Vale was a place whose legends outnumbered its maps. Very few that entered, ever returned, and those that did only stammered incomprehensible fragments of nightmares. 

But Spell knew she was out of options. Her small town, Three Oaks, sat at the very edge of the Shadow Vale. A long time ago, before the Shadow Vale or the kingdoms of Ash and Bone, Three Oaks had been the resting place of three great kings and queens.

It belonged to neither of the two kingdoms around it, but that didn't stop them from demanding taxes, soldiers, and property rights.

So now Three Oaks flew two flags, never fully managing to appease either Kingdom.

Spell knew things were bad when her parents shut her out of conversations shared with the village fairies about the fate of Three Oaks. Her mother had never kept a secret from her in her life, and Spell couldn't bear the grimness and hushed arguments after a few weeks.

So she went to the most powerful wizard she knew. It was said that Hellion had lived for two thousand years. And in a village like Three Oaks, where anything of value had happened too long to properly remember, rumours mattered.

"You want to save the village?" Hellion repeated, a slightly mocking smile playing at the edge of his painted lips. 

"Yes." Spell pulled herself onto his wooden table, dangling her legs off the side and watching the wizard fuss over a cauldron. "What should I do?"

"Assassinate the prince of one kingdom, blame the other, and let the two destroy each other." Hellion dropped some leaves into the cauldron and grinned at Spell. "What?"

Spell sighed, unimpressed. "I'm only eleven, I need a real solution," She threw a unicorn horn lying nearby into the cauldron.

"Spell!" The wizard complained, and Spell giggled. He sounded just like her cousin and Spell knew he couldn't really be two thousand years old.

"Everyone's worried all the time. Can't you do something?" She asked, watching the potion change colours.

"Me? Oh absolutely not, Spell. My powers would destroy both kingdoms, all of Three Oaks, and probably blow the Shadow Vale into the sky too. No, power like mine needs to be contained." Hellion grabbed Spell's hand before she could throw another random ingredient in. "What's it going to take for you to leave?"

"Make me a potion that gets those stupid rulers to leave Three Oaks alone." Spell insisted, jumping off the table.

"My powers would probably poison all of us. Trigger an apocalypse, or make us all forget who we were. It's not worth the risk." The wizard hummed then, contemplating. "You know, there's an old legend about a monster that protects Three Oaks. It lives in the Shadow Vale and only those with pure intention can summon it. I'm sure it will take care of everything."

"Where in the Shadow Vale?" Spell asked, breathless with excitement. "What is it?"

"Where?" The wizard frowned. "Do I look crazy enough to have been in the Shadow Vale? No, and don't you dare go in there Spell. Wizards like us have only one advantage, okay? But that's not the point." Hellion rubbed his eyes. "Wars come and go, and these things often-" 

It was suspiciously quiet. Hellion looked up and noticed that the door to his hut was open and the little girl was gone. "You obnoxious, little brat." He muttered, stirring his cauldron. 

Spell was racing down the path that disappeared into the fogs and inky depths of the Shadow Vale. 

She hummed as she went, skipping over fallen branches and warning signs. 

Then at last she stood near the clawing hands of the swirling, night-black fog. And she let it consume her.

The Shadow Vale was eerily quiet and cold, and light danced in swimming, playful arcs.

She heard some inhuman screaming coming from the depths and caught glimpses of things rushing past her, cutting through the fog. 

No monsters yet. Spell decided to venture deeper, until she really had to squint to see anything.

She heard noises, small ones at first, but they grew louder as she got closer, and finally, she spotted them.

It was a giant mousetrap and a small, ghostly-looking creature had its tail caught in it.

Its legs flailed in the thick air of the Vale, and its gills flared when it saw her.

"Child! Yes, you, I don't know if you're real or not, but please, please help me." The creature begged, putting its small hands together. "There's a monster in here and it'll kill me if it catches me. Please free me!"

Spell's heart ached to see the creature so scared. "I'll help you, I promise." She said, approaching the mousetrap cautiously. Frowning, she tried to remember what dad did when one of the pixies accidentally caught themselves in the mousetraps. 

"How do I open this?" She asked after a few minutes of struggling with the large metal.

"If I knew that, would I be trapped?!" The creature shrieked, whipping its long tail.

Spell sighed. She wasn't allowed to do this, but it's not like the creature could tell on her. She placed her hands on the metal of the trap and focused.

Slowly, the metal began melting, and the creature watched impatiently as Spell moved her hands.

"Ouch!" The creature hissed when metal fell on him. "Watch it!"

"You could just say thank you," Spell grumbled, and at last the metal broke off, allowing the creature to slip through.

"I didn't know you had magic." The creature said, narrowing its slitted eyes.

"Only a little bit. But I'm not allowed to use it." Spell told him, dusting off her hands.

"Why?"

"Magic is outlawed. I only know one wizard, Hellion, and he only gets to have powers because he's too powerful. He'd blow up anyone who came near him." Spell explained, peering into the murky depths of the Vale.

The creature looked like it would say more, but then a ghastly roar split the Vale and it fled.

Spell stared as a dragon's head broke through the fog.

"You." The Dragon growled, eyes fixing on the girl. "Where is my meal?"

"Oh. I let him go, sorry." Spell replied, looking back at the Dragon. "Usually mousetraps are for pests, and I hate them, so I let the mice go-"

"You idiot, do you have any idea how hard it is to eat in here?" The Dragon rolled its large eyes. "I have to set traps everywhere! And half of them don't even work!"

"I'm sorry!" Spell insisted. "I thought you were just being mean!"

"That's so judgemental! You don't even know me!" The Dragon screeched, stamping a foot. The Dragon sighed resignedly then, covering his face with a wing.

"Okay wait! Wait! I know where you can get more food." Spell waved to get the Dragon's attention.

"It's noble of you to offer yourself up, but you wouldn't even qualify as a snack." The Dragon murmured sadly.

"No. Not me, but there are two armies heading here soon. They want to take over Three Oaks, and you could eat all of them." Spell grinned. "There are horses, and soldiers, and these two kings."

"Oh, I love kings. Princes taste better, but kings are good too." The Dragon nodded agreeably. "Okay, little girl. You win. I will help you save Three Oafs."

"Oaks." Spell corrected but beamed. "So how come you're stuck here?"

"A really mean magician trapped me in here. I can see in the dark, but there are all sorts of illusions and fog in here, so I can't leave."

"A really mean magician?" Spell inquired carefully.

"Yes, super pompous, thinks he has magical powers beyond measure." The Dragon rolled his eyes again. "Can you get us out of here?"

"Yes, but first you have to promise not to eat anyone but the bad people." Spell crossed her arms.

"Not even by accident?"

"Not even by accident." Spell insisted. "Or you can stay in here and have icky, slimy, creatures for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

"Fine, fine. You win." The Dragon raised a scaly hand upwards. "I solemnly swear on my life-magic not to eat anybody not specifically specified as edible by Spell. Satisfied, you gremlin?"

"Thank you." Spell ran up to the Dragon. "Okay now let me get on your back. I'll be your eyes." She couldn't see any of the monsters and illusions the Dragon spoke of. Just some fog. 

"I better not be attacked by ghouls." The Dragon warned as Spell made herself comfortable on his ridged head. "Or one of the other demons in here. Or get-"

"Just trust me. Okay, let's go straight. Then up when I say, okay?" Spell asked and laughed when she bobbed up and down with the Dragon's nod.

The dragon took off with a running start and Spell screamed and hung on as he flew. 

"Keep going-AH!" She screamed when the Dragon made a sharp left. "Why did you-"

"There was a pile of rocks!" 

"There's nothing! It's a trick. Okay, hmm. You need to close your eyes!" Spell shouted. "Trust me!" 

"If we die, girl-"

"-My village is doomed!" 

"-my ghost will haunt you forever!" The Dragon warned but closed its massive scaly eyes. 

" Yeah, yeah." Spell rolled her eyes. "Okay, slight right, and then keep going straight." She gently pushed on a horn to guide the Dragon. 

"Hmm."

"Straight now, until I say to go up." Spell mentally retraced her directions. 

"Keep going?" 

"Uh." Spell estimated the difference between her tiny steps and the Dragon's giant wingspan. "No, up, up!" 

"Okay, hold your damn horses." The Dragon pushed up and sunlight blinded Spell for a moment. 

"Open your eyes!" She whooped, and the Dragon rumbled happily, making a large circle in the air. 

They cheered and then Spell spotted the army shinily marching its way across gently sloping hills. She brushed her long, brown hair out of her eyes. "You hungry, Dragon?"

The Dragon flapped its wings hard, to stay in place. "I could eat." 

"Go for it." Spell held on as the Dragon swooped down, very sure they'd left her stomach back there. 

The Dragon snatched up a screaming soldier, biting down to shatter the armour and then cooking them with flames. 

Spell wrinkled her nose but said nothing.

They made quick work of the army, destroying the ranks and getting the frantic king to order a retreat. 

"Back! You fools, go back!" He shouted, and then Dragon scooped him up too. 

"Stop! Stop, I order you to stop!" The king yelled, but Dragon downed him too. 

After the army had scattered Dragon landed and Spell tumbled off his neck, watching as the Dragon hacked and coughed. 

"Are you okay?" Spell stepped back as the Dragon reared back and then finally retched and spat out some fancy-looking clothes and a spear. 

"Oh, gross!" Spell whined, recoiling. "Are you done?" 

The Dragon belched. "Yes. Now what?" 

"Now we head home, and if you're lucky, another army will show up." 

"If they don't?" The Dragon challenged and Spell rolled her eyes. 

"We'll figure that out later. Let's go, come on! I need to be home before sunset." Spell kicked as she would for a horse, tugging on the Dragon's horn. 

"Okay, okay, careful with the horns!" The Dragon shook his head and Spell laughed, doing her best to hold on. 

The Dragon jumped and flapped, pulling them up higher and higher. 

"This view is awesome!" Spell gushed. "I can see everything from here." 

The Dragon rumbled with a laugh. "You're an unusual human."

Spell stuck her tongue out, even if he couldn't see. "You're an unusual Dragon. Okay, wait, are you tired?" 

"No, why?" 

"I just really, really, really wanna see what's past the Vale." 

"Seriously? What about your curfew?" 

"Please, please?" Spell tugged at his horns again until the Dragon said yes. 

"Gods and demons, fine! Fine! Hold on tight." 

Spell cackled as she was forced back, the Dragon picking up speed as they shot past the Vale. 

Her eyes watered as they raced over the inky fog, and swept over a glorious landscape. 

"This is amazing!" 

"Wait 'till you see the rest of the world." Dragon replied. 

"Can we do that?" Spell gasped, precariously hanging to watch the glowing pools and lush forests. 

"Not before your curfew, you little tyrant."