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Kai was seated in a chair by the kitchen corner, close to the window. Outside, the night was dark and silent. His parents hadn’t come back home yet.
Something must have happened that delayed their trip to the market. They were always telling him that traveling at night was dangerous, so they probably were staying the night at an inn in the village. That was okay. His parents knew Kai was old enough to take care of the house by himself while they were away.
When he realized his parents were going to be late he took upon himself to prepare dinner, put the dishes in the sink and make sure that Nya had brushed her teeth.
He probably should’ve gone to bed a long time ago, but Kai couldn’t bring himself to move from his spot. He stubbornly remained awake, despite how heavy his eyelids felt or how many times he yawned. He wanted to be ready when his parents came back, even if he had to stay awake until dawn.
His head was starting to drop when he was startled awake by the sound of tiny steps. He turned from the window to find his little sister hovering at the kitchen door. She was clutching her favorite blanket in her arms, the blue fabric trailing behind her.
“Nya? What are you doing up? It’s late.” Kai said, standing from the chair and walking to his sister.
“Mom and dad came back yet?” Nya said with a sleepy voice, rubbing one of her eyes.
“No.” Kai said. At Nya disappointed expression he quickly added, “But hey, they should be back by morning. So why don’t we go back to bed?”
Nya shoulders dropped and she clutched the blanket tighter. “Okay.” She mumbled.
Kai frowned, thinking. This wasn’t like Nya. Generally, she fought tooth and nail against going to sleep, no matter how tired she actually was. Unless…
“Nya. Did you have a bad dream?” Kai guessed.
Nya looked up, giving him a glare with all of the indignation of a four-year-old could muster. “No!”
Kai raised his hands, fighting back a smile. “Okay, okay. Sorry.”
Nya did not look convinced by his apology, but she allowed him to guide her back to her room, her expression grumpy. She got into bed and Kai tucked her in. He was just about to leave when she spoke up.
“Kai?” Nya said, her voice small. “Can you tell me a story?”
Kai blinked, surprised. “Uh. Sure. What story do you want to hear?”
Nya gave him a flat stare, and he sighed. “Alright, alright. Let me think of something.”
Kai sat on the side of the bed, searching his memory. Their mom always told them only the best of stories, tales full of legendary heroes, dangerous monsters and ancient treasures. And dad always did the funny voices.
But his parents weren’t here right now, so it fell upon him to be the storyteller for the night.
“…Okay.” Kai eventually said. “This is the story of the girl and the serpent.”
He glanced at Nya, expecting some kind of objection. But she only watched him intently, so he continued with the story.
“One day, a long time ago…”
One day, a long time ago, there was a small village in the mountains. The people there lived happily, until the day a giant serpent attacked.
The serpent was as big as a house, it’s scales thick like stone, and one drop of its poison could kill ten adult men. The peaceful villagers couldn’t do anything to stop it’s rampage, so they surrendered, and the serpent became the ruler of the entire mountain.
From that day on, the people of the village lived in fear. To appease their dreadful tyrant, they had to send one person to the serpent’s cave every month to be eaten.
Time passed, and the villagers were eaten one by one, until only two people remained from the entire village. An old man and his daughter.
The full moon was fast approaching, and the old man had already made peace with his death. But his daughter refused to accept that, and she prayed to the gods for them to save her father. And the very next day, a traveler rode into town.
The weary traveler wore only ragged clothes, and he was deathly thin, only skin and bones. But the old man greeted the traveler as warmly as if he was family, for there had been no visitors to the village in many a year, scared away by the rumors of the monster that lived in the mountain. The girl prepared a big dinner that night and the three of them feasted.
Soon, the old man and the traveler had their bellies full, and both fell asleep… Because the girl had put a sleeping potion on both of their drinks.
Making sure both were in deep slumber, the girl carefully put her father to bed. Then she dragged the sleeping traveler away from the house.
Her plan was simple, she would give the stranger to the serpent, and her father would get to live another month.
Despite the traveler’s skeletal frame, he was as heavy as an ox, his bones weighted of iron. But the girl pushed past her weariness, and she managed to climb the entire mountain carrying him, until she came across the cavern where the serpent had set it’s lair.
Exhausted, the girl called out to the serpent, her voice steady despite her fear. The darkness rippled, and a huge shape slithered out of the cave. It was the serpent. It’s purple eyes shone with cold intelligence, and it’s scales glittered a silvery green under the moonlight. The serpent tilted it’s head as it analyzed the daughter, who tried not to get lost in the serpent’s hypnotic gaze.
“It is not full moon yet, child. Are you that eager to join the rest of your village?” The serpent said, it’s voice deceptively gentle.
The girl told the serpent that it had brought a sacrifice, in exchange for her father’s life. But the serpent was vicious and greedy, and it laughed in mockery.
“Foolish girl!” It hissed with malevolent glee. “That bag of bones you have brought me wouldn’t sate my hunger for even a single night. No, I think I shall eat both of you, and then your father!”
Horrified, the daughter realized her mistake. She kneeled next to the traveler, who remained asleep, blissfully unaware of everything around him, and whispered, “I am sorry.”
Having said that, she rose, wiping the tears in her eyes, and stood between the sleeping form of the traveler and the serpent, staring defiantly at the it.
“You, beast who has killed my village. You shall not take any more souls this night, not while I’m standing.” The girl proclaimed.
The serpent chuckled with dark amusement, though it’s eyes burned with anger. “Bold words for a little rat.” It opened its enormous maw, venom dripping from it’s fangs. “Let’s see how they sound when I spit out your bones!”
The serpent lunged. The daughter closed her eyes but firmly stood her ground, accepting her fate. She expected to see nothing but darkness next, but then the whole world erupted into light, like if a small sun had suddenly appeared in the night. The daughter opened her eyes and saw the traveler standing in front of her, his body engulfed in flames. Smiling.
The serpent shrieked and jerked away at the last moment. The flames still stinged it’s face, and it reeled back, screaming in outrage. It tried to go around the traveler to try to attack the girl again, but the traveler merely waved a hand, almost dismissively, and a wall of crimson fire hit the serpent like a meteor. The serpent cried, it’s body engulfed in flames, and it twisted, giving up its quarry in favor of escaping.
The daughter watched in shock as the traveler stepped forward and changed. Hair became a mane of white fur, skin turned into shining scales of red and gold, and majestic wings sprouted from his back. The traveler grew into a dragon the size of the mountain.
He moved one of its paws with an effortless, lazy motion, and pinned down the end of the serpent’s tail to the ground. The serpent recoiled and rattled, but it was stuck to the place.
“What you said earlier? Little rat, was it?” The dragon rumbled, his voice deep as thunder.
The serpent hissed in anger and curses. The dragon retaliated with a triumphant beam of fire that illuminated the night again. The column of fire covered the serpent completely, and it had no choice but to shed its skin.
The sun was rising when the flames finally died out. The girl saw a small shape squiggle out of the charred remains of the once monstrous serpent. A pitiful, pinkish worm that was smaller than her hand. When it saw the girl, the worm let out a terrified squeak and it burrowed into the ground, quickly vanishing from sight.
The dragon grunted disdainfully, before turning to look at her. The girl, suddenly realizing the extent of the sacrilege of her actions, bowed her head deeply, almost touching the ground.
“My lord. Please. My father had no knowledge of my plans. I am the only one who deserves your wrath.” The girl said, managing to keep the tremor in her voice to a minimum.
The dragon made a growling noise that chilled her, until she realized that it was his laughter. “Rise, child. You are not to be punished.”
The daughter, surprised, straightened and looked up. The dragon studied her, his ancient eyes both warm and unreadable at the same time.
“Your actions were born of love and desperation.” The dragon proclaimed at last. “And when you realized your error, you stood in harm’s way to protect another, despite facing certain death. Yes. You have proved yourself worthy.”
The dragon closed his eyes and breathed softly, no more than a whisper. A tiny spark of fire flew to the girl, dancing in the air like a firefly, and she gasped when the fire touched her hand, for it did not burn her. Warmth traveled through her arm, spreading across her body, until her hands lit with small, golden flames. The girl, completely unharmed, stared at the fire in awe and disbelief.
Then she laughed, for the very first time in her life.
And so, the dragon gave the girl the gift of fire. With it, she learned how to melt and forge metal, knowledge she passed down to her children, and them to their children, and so on and on, allowing humanity to protect themselves from monsters like the giant serpent for the rest of time itself.
“…And that’s how the first blacksmith came to be.” Kai said. “The end.”
The bedroom was quiet. Nya's eyes were closed, her breathing even. Kai smiled. So the story had worked. That was good. It was one of their dad’s favorites, and he had been worried he wouldn’t have been able to do it enough justice.
Without disturbing his little sister, he stood up and quietly crossed the room.
“Good night, Nya.” Kai whispered before he closed the door.