Fairy Godmother Day Gift!
"Draggy!" I exclaimed, approaching the little Draggy critter. "I have a present for you!" I pulled out the wrapped box, and inside was... nothing.
"Ahahaha..." I said. "I um... well, it's a story. So sit your little butt down, and I'm gonna tell it to you!"
Once upon a time, in a lande called... um... Ol'... Nodi? Yeah. Ol' Nodi. In Ol' Nodi, dragons lived and scampered around and danced and stuff. And every winter, the people of Ol' Nodi had a celebration with gifts and burning large, wooden goats. ... Don't ask why.
One year, the goat wasn't there. The big wooden goat that they always burnt and danced around, it wasn't there! Someone had come in and stolen it!
The people and the dragons wept. How could they do happy merry winter celebration times with no goat to burn?
But there was one dragon, the youngest of them all, named... hmm... Ygarrd! Yeah. His name was Ygarrd. Ygarrd was like two months old, but because he was a dragon he could already walk and talk and spit fire. Ygarrd didn't give up hope when the goat was gone.
Ygarrd packed a measely little pack, filled with goat leg and cheese and a bottle of milk, and set out on a journey. It was well known to the people in Ol' Nodi that there was a fearsome, terrible mountain far to the north. They said that it was so cold, even the stone had turned to ice. And at the top of the mountain lived the most fearsome snow witch, umm...
... gimme a minute...
Her name... was... Kilsa? No, that's stupid. Um. Her name was... Elski? No, no. Her name was... uhh... Anelsa! Yes. Her name was Anelsa.
Anelsa was the Queen of Snow. It was told down in the heart of Ol' Nodi that Anelsa's own heart had frozen, and she herself was entirely made of ice. She was known to break into musical numbers. Her voice chilled the hearts of many.
Nevertheless, Ygarrd made his way up the frozen peak, his little dragony claws digging into the snow. If not for his thick scales and the little fire in his heart, Ygarrd surely would have frozen on his way there.
At the peak of the mountain stood Anelsa's frozen castle of ice. From within, Ygarrd could hear alarming organ music, and the frozen chilling voice of a woman with a heart of ice. He politely knocked on the door with his little dragony claws.
Anelsa opened the door. As Ygarrd had heard, she was a woman with icy blue skin, her hair frozen in tight braids along her scalp and trailing down her back. Her dress was white, like snow, sparkling as such.
"May I help you?" she asked. Her voice echoed through the castle like the howling winds of winter.
Ygarrd summoned up all his little dragony courage and replied, "I'm looking for our goat. Have you seen it?"
Anelsa's frozen face would have twisted in confusion at the word 'goat', if it were not made of ice. She said, "Goat?"
Ygarrd said, "Yes, our goat. It's a big goat made of wood and hay, and we burn it every year. Have you seen it?"
Anelsa cackled, her laugh like the sound of ice tinkling on ice. "A goat you burn every year?" she asked. "What use would I have for it?" Before Ygarrd could say anything, she said, "Were I to take your goat, and burn it, I would melt, and so would my castle and my mountain. Were I even to go down into southern Ol' Nodi, I would melt. Surely, you jest, little dragon child."
Ygarrd felt foolish for even considering it, when she put it like that. Even in the winter, Ol' Nodi was a rather warm place. A woman made of ice with a dress of snow would melt into a puddle. He asked, "Do you know who could have done this?"
Anelsa's frozen braids jangled as a gust of wind howled through her castle. She said, "There's a man to the south. You may have heard of him. His name is..." ... Shit. What's his name. His... his name...
Anelsa said, "His name is Max. He lives in a volcano to the south of here. He would have use of something to burn." So Ygarrd thanked her, and Anelsa invited the dragon to hear her sing. He obliged. Her songs were haunting and beautiful, with icy undertones.
Ygarrd travelled back down the mountain, and back across the vast plain that his dragonkin and human friends lived in, and made his way south. He had, in fact, heard of Max, as Anelsa had said. He was said to be made of brimstone and fire, and wouldn't hesitate to snap up a dragon for their inner flame. It was a delicacy in terms of fire. Like, candle fire is peasant fire, but dragon fire is like caviar in the world of fire.
Nevertheless, the goat was what made winter amazing. Ygarrd made his way up the volcano. This journey was less harsh than the journey up Anelsa's frozen mountain. His scales protected him from the heat of the volcano.
Once he reached the center, he attracted Max's attention. The man was not quite made of fire and brimstone, per se, but his armor was. He had fashioned armor of the same things that made his volcano.
"Excuse me," Ygarrd said. "Have you seen our goat?"
Max laughed at the notion. "Goat?!" he asked. "The same goat you drags set on fire every year?"
"Yes, that goat."
"Well, if it were here, the magma would've burnt it up already. Why would I even take your goat?" Ygarrd couldn't think of an appropriate answer. Anything that came to his mind would get him a stern tail smack from his den mother. Max said, "You'd have seen scorch marks from my armor if I had taken it, anyway."
"Do you know who could have taken it?"
"I would guess Anelsa."
"I already asked."
"... Did you?" Ygarrd nodded. Max furrowed his brow. "Huh. This seems like something she would do."
Ygarrd asked, "Is there anyone else?"
Max considered his options. He said, "Well, the wicked witch of the east got hit by a house, and the wicked witch of the west got a bucket of water thrown on her. And no one lives in any sub-cardinal direction. So your only options would be someone from the plains."
Someone from the plains?, Ygarrd thought. Who could do something like that? Regardless, Ygarrd thanked Max and made his way home. Max invited Ygarrd for cookies and milk. The milk was boiled, and the cookies were black as night. Ygarrd politely declined.
Ygarrd made his way home, and told the humans and the dragons what he had learned. He had learned that neither Anelsa nor Brand would take their goat, and that it had to be someone from here.
Just as people were about to begin hurling accusations, ... heck. Heck, umm... what's his name. Uhh... His name is...
Just as they were to start hurling accusations, umm... Goldoa, the chief dragon carpenter, arrived, towing the goat with him. He had explained that the goat just didn't look right, so he kept burning the prototypes before he completed the real one. There was no worry to be had.
But for his courage, and his wisdom, Ygarrd was named a dragon hero. And Anelsa and Max were invited to the burning of the goat. Both declined the offer, but sent theri thanks. Max sent a piece of the volcano, a stone that never stopped burning. Anelsa sent a sheet of ice that would never melt. When put into a record player, the most beautiful music drifted from within.
All in all, Ygarrd learned something important. Winter happiness isn't reliant on any goat being burnt. Winter happiness is about taking time with your friends and family, whether they be found or not.
