Sofia sighed. "This story begins years ago, in a place where dragons are common, but not all of them were scary, some were timid like our friend Dragon, and others were not so kind. There was once this kind dragon queen who ruled over all the others. Her eyes and fire was blue as lightning and her scales were black as night. She was peaceful and fought bad dragons alongside the dragon-slayers. She was powerful and held magic that was rare, the bad dragons knew if they kill and eat the heart of the queen that they'd acquire the queen's pure power.
Hundreds of years went by without any real conflict. The queen was wise, she knew who her allies were and who she knew to keep clear of. Soon the age of dragons was ending and the numbers were dwindling to nothing.
One day the queen met a young man, a dragon-slayer. For some reason, she fell in love with that man, and wished to be with him always. But the only way she could live with him, would be for her to somehow become a human.
So, the queen went to a sorcerer, who promised her humanity. In exchange, he asked for one flame from her mouth.
She agreed, not thinking that what would happen, would put her into a world of pain and despair." Sofia looked up to see both Gunther's and Lavinia's eyes locked on her.
"Go on, what happened to her?" Lavinia asked.
"The sorcerer did as he promised, he cast a spell upon the dragon, promising that she'll be transformed into an adolescent human, but warned her not to lose her temper, otherwise her dragon powers, such as fire, would show. He stored the flame in a box. Saying 'If you ever want to turn back, eat this flame.'
She was transformed into an eleven-year-old girl. When she awoke, she was nowhere near the sorcerer's cave, in fact she had no idea where she was, only that she felt weak as water. There were no dragons to be seen either. The sorcerer tricked her, taking that flame from her and casting the spell making her a human, but never told her that the catch to the ageing was a year for every hundred that she lived as a dragon."
"So, this man, the one she fell in love with?" Gunther asked.
"She had no memory at first of being a dragon, until her heart started hurting, she had a voice inside her head telling her to the eat fire. So, she tried it. It didn't burn her at all, and the feeling after she had consumed it was good. Her memories came flooding back and she sort out to find the man she fell for and the sorcerer who didn't tell her this catch. In the years that she lived as a human, she found the man she loved, but he was betrothed to another, and far older than her, given her human age. Her heart broke. She lost everything because of love and she swore never to love again, she stayed in the forest where she woke up. Searching every day for the sorcerer, with no avail. As the years went on, she got stronger and learned how to use her dragon magic to her advantage. She taught herself how to hunt as a human and fight, fuelled by rage and sadness, she almost lost control of the magic she had inside of her. But the memory of happier days, the days when she was loved and admired kept her going."
"So where is she now? Is she still alive?" Lavinia asked.
Sofia smiled. "They say that the immortality of her dragon self continues to live inside of her, so maybe. I think she's still searching for the other part of her. That flame that the sorcerer took from her. But if he ate her flame, he is granted immortality. At first, as a dragon, she didn't care if she gave the sorcerer the power of immortality, as long as she found her soul mate. But the sorcerer promised to keep it safe in case something goes wrong, in case she needed her dragon body back. He lied and took it to god knows where. I think that if anything, the queen wants revenge. Regardless if she can turn back or not."
Gunther listened to the obvious suppressed anger in the woman's voice.
"That was an excellent story, Sofia!" Lavinia exclaimed.
Gunther looked up to see Sofia's face. Her eyes were clouded. "Sofia?"
She blinked and looked to him. "Yes?"
He frowned but shook his head. "Nothing. Do you want to head for some food?" He asked.
Sofia looked to Lavinia. "If you don't mind, Princess?"
Lavinia smiled. "You may go. Thank you for the story, Sofia."
"You're welcome, Princess." She bowed her head and walked out of the room, feeling her eyes burn with tears.
