“Well” said Holly slowly. You know my Uncle, Stan Marley? asked Holly. ”Yeah” replied Ashley with a confused expression. “Uncle Marley is the McGester County Assessor and he takes pictures of all the houses in the county”. “Where are you going with this?” said Nick. “I kind of got Uncle Stan to teach me about the designs of houses on the McGester County website, and he showed me a map-like picture of the house. So, I thought that we could use the map to help us on Halloween Night when we go there. “Why would we need a map of the mansion?” I thought we were only going to say her name in the house, test the rumor, and get the heck out!” said Ashley now kicking at the dirt on the ground.  “Oh come on, what’s the fun in that? Besides, I googled Saint Lilly Scout and found out that there is said to be a mysterious treasure in Lilly Scout’s bedroom, leading me to why I need the map”. “That’s ridiculous!” said Nick infuriated. “You were the one scared to death of going to the mansion in the first place and now you want to steal Lilly Scout’s so called “Treasure”!” Holly looked down, for she did not have strong enough words to reply.  “Nick, please, I just want to try and find the treasure and I can’t do that alone”. Nick sighed and sat down on top of the picnic table. I’ll try to help you but have you ever considered that our parents might not let us go?” said Nick breathing heavily with his eyes looking at the old brick school building. “Of course they’ll let us go because they trust us”, said Holly.  “I sure hope so” said Ashley sarcastically under her breathe. “We can do this,”said Holly in a confident tone. “Okay” Nick agrred . Well if we’re going to do this we’ll need a some  spy gear” said Ashley smiling. With the three minutes left until recess was over they got out their walkie talkies, their small web- cam computers imported from Japan and last but not least, their favorite tool, the bungee cords. They tested their gadgets and put them back into their back- packs. The school bell rang and the three friends joyfully ran back to class.

                                                                          One

     17 year old, Sanaa sat as still as a pebble. Her long black hair did not sway as usual. Her honey colored eyes fixed ahead on a doe that moved silently, a little farther away from the herd. Its ears were up to hear the slightest noise. Its muscles were tense and ready to sprint away if necessary. The forest was silent as the herd grazed. Today was the day that her best friend, Alastair, taught her how to hunt. He sat next to her, unmoving. Slowly he nodded and motioned for Sanaa to follow him. He got up and as soon as Sanaa tried to follow, a loud Crack resounded from Sanaa and Alastair’s hiding place. A searing bolt of pain shot through her ankle. The deer including the doe bounded away. Alastair turned accusingly at Sanaa and demanded,” Why did you do that!” Sanaa looked up and said in a pained voice,” I twisted my ankle.”  She slowly held onto a tree branch and pulled herself up. Limping, she went over to a good seized bolder and sat down. Alastair walked over to see what had caused Sanaa’s injury. She took off her boots and examined her ankle. It was red and swollen. She sighed and took off her pack from her back and removed a piece of cloth that her mother had given her in case of an emergency. Wrapping her ankle in the cloth she looked up at Alastair and said,” Help me go and see what made me twist me ankle.” Alastair hesitated and then grabbed her arm and pulled her up. With his help, she limped to the place where they had hidden. There Sanaa saw that her foot had been stuck in a hallow section in a tree. Out of curiosity, she peered into the hole. There half submerged in a pile of leaves, was a golden stone. Sanaa cautiously, reached for the stone. A blinding light flashed as she touched the stone. She yanked her hand back. Then grabbed the stone and pulled it out. Alastair looked at the stone with interest and then at Sanaa with questioning eyes,” What is it?” “It’s a rock,” she said,” I want to keep it,” she added, She did not know how, but it seemed important and something that should not be lost. She shrugged off her pack and shoved the stones between a small portion of fried fish wrapped in a handkerchief and a water skin. She put the pack on again and Alastair helped Sanaa walk by letting her wrap one of her arms around his neck for support. Together they walked out of the forest and found themselves in front of a valley. Ahead of them was Fridley Village. The houses were a welcome site. On the outskirts of the village, Out of one of the houses rushed a woman who had hair just like Saraa’s and was {unlike Saraa who was wearing a knee-length dress and tights}”wearing a long calico dress. The woman rushed to Saraa’s side and helped Alastair carry her to the house. “What trouble did you two get into this time?” she scolded. Sanaa told her the events that had taken place,” The doe got away though,” she concluded sadly. Her mother remained silent as they opened the door and guided her to a chair. Alastair smiled and said, “Well, I suppose I’ll go to home now.” He turned and called over his shoulder as he walked out the door, “See you at the stable’s tonight, Sanaa!” As soon as Alastair left, Sanna’s mother asked,” Can I see the stone, the one you found in the forest?”  With pained effort, for her ankle was slowly sapping away her energy, she took her pack off her shoulder and took out the stone. Its golden surface shone brightly in the room. “It is very heavy. Like there is something in it,” Sanaa said.   Sanaa’s mother‘s face contorted with growing horror, bur at what Sanaa could see not. “Throw that, that thing away!” she demanded. The venom in her mother’s voice surprised Sanaa. She nodded and when her mother was not looking, she stuffed it back into her pack. She told herself that she would throw it away in a while.

      That night when her mother was sitting in her favorite chair, knitting, in front of the fire ,she limped as silently as a snake to the door but her mother’s head snapped up and her face showed her disapproval,” Off to the Dragon Stables, are you?” Sanaa nodded, but said nothing.

        Rendairia was a large country; the humans were not the only creatures sharing the land. There were pixies, elves, mermaids, fairies, and werewolves, but most important, the dragons. The dragons had long ago been great enemies of Rendairia, having attack villages and cities, but that all ended about 100 years ago. Since then dragons and humans were close allies. Some dragons even gave their eggs to humans and the dragon inside the egg hatched for a person who it wanted to collaborate with. Then the human would care for the dragon until it was big enough to catch meals and fend for its self. After it grew to a maximum height, the human was taught how to ride it.

         For some unknown reason Sanaa’s mother disliked dragons. All she had said about it was that she did not like them because dragons were like wild animals.

          Sanaa’s mother sighed and looked at the half finished scarf in her hands and said in a low whisper,” I wish you would stop going there.” Sanaa turned and opened the door and stepped out into the dark and chilly night air. She had closed the door behind her and took a step away from her house  when a gruff voice cut into the still air,” Where do you think you’re goin?” Sanaa spun around and saw that a man was standing in front of a house next to hers. She smiled with relief when she saw that it was Mores. The man was a good friend of her mother’s. “To the Dragon stables, Mores!” Sanaa called. “Ah! I see your interest in those beasts hasn’t gone down any less,” Mores said with a chuckle. Sanaa smiled and turned toward the stables.

            When Sanaa got to the stables, she saw with growing excitement that Alastair was already there. She could see a soft glow of a lantern emanated from a stall. She rushed to the door, ankle forgotten, to see what was going on. Alastair was in the stall and there curled up on the straw strewn ground was a large purple dragon. Its scales were shiny and bright.

                               

          At the sight of the creature, Sanaa smiled. Alastair looked up and saw Sanaa,” Well are you going to come in or what?” Sanaa grinned even bigger. Not being able to have her own dragon because of her mother, she cherished every moment with the fascinating beasts. She opened the door and sat next to the dragon. Suddenly one large violet eye opened. The dragon lifted its head and gazed down at Sanaa. “Hello, Sanaa,” a silky voice said. Sanaa smiled at the dragon and replied,” Hello, Vasari.” The purple dragon looked at Alastair and asked,” Are we going to show her?”  “Of course we are!” Alastair insisted. “Are you sure?” Vasari asked. “Tell me what?” Sanaa asked impatiently. “Well,” Alastair said,” Vasari can breathe fire now.” “Wow! That is great!” Sanaa cried excitedly,” Why didn’t you want to tell me, Vasari?” Vasari seemed embarrassed,” Well, I thought maybe Alastair would not want you to know just yet. That is until I have learned how to control my flame.” Sanaa smiled knowingly. Dragons took some time before they learned how to stop their flames from coming out of their nostrils.