Once Upon a Time in a land far, far away, there lived a big, lonely Dragon, called Marvin. All day, he sat in his cave and made carvings on his wall with his claws, as he had no friends or companions to play with. It wasn’t that Marvin didn’t try to make friends, it was just his problem of his terrible allergies. He was allergic to metal, gold, and that horrible human stink that seemed to be the only thing that ever entered his cave nowadays.

“I wish those silly tin cans would go away,” he said whimpering, “I don’t mean to hurt them, but if I get a whiff of their horrible shiny suits I can’t help but sneeze!” And, being a Dragon, he certainly did have a terrifying sneeze.

Day in and day out, more of the ‘fearless knights’ would enter his cave. Drawn by their own hunger and greed, because many of them had heard that all Dragons must have a great love of treasure, but in Marvin’s case, any treasure could kill him. Early in the morning on a bright and sunny saturday, as Marvin was just about to have his breakfast, a troupe of no less than eight menacing knights stormed through the front of his cave.

“We are here on official orders of the Princess of Comble!” shouted the First and most noble knight.

“W-w-why would the Pwincess want m-me?” Stammered Marvin, a little startled by this rude interruption of his cornflakes.

“The Princess doesn’t want you, Marvin the Milksop,” Laughed the Second knight harshly, as the other knights followed suit, “The Princess wants your head!”

Now this to poor Marvin was more than alarming, why would anyone want his head?

“Now,” yelled the First knight, “The first man to slay this beast will have the Princess’s hand!”

All at once, the knights started charging into Marvins cave, and duly knocked over Marvin’s cornflakes. Now if this wasn’t enough to put Marvin on edge, he started to feel that horrible tickle in his nostrils... a sniffle. Now as to most of us, this wouldn’t be such a bad thing, but for poor Marvin, a simple, “bless-you” could be the cause of half a city burning to the ground.

“N-no, please! Stay back! (sniff) I don’t want to h-hurt you..!” Marvin pleaded, as his eyes started to tear up.

“Don’t think we will fall for that, silly Dragon, our mighty metal armor will protect us!” yelled the Third knight, drawing his sword at the ready,

“Oh gosh no! You’re mighty metal armor will kill you!” Yelled Marvin.

He could feel that his whole head felt like it was about to burst, and the knights were closing in for the kill, hungry like animals. He thought this would be it for sure, when suddenly...

BAM!

The sound startled both the knights and Marvin, and they all quickly turned around to see what was happening!

BAM!


There was another horrible crack like thunder, and then they saw what it was. As the knights looked on in horror, they realised that their fellow comrades Seven and Eight had been turned into stone!

“Look out!” Said the terrified Fourth knight, “There’s a Witch at the door!”

And so there was. As Marvin looked to the front of the cave, he saw a magnificently terrifying sight. There, standing in a rather heroic pose in the mouth of the cave, was a tall, long haired half-woman with hair like roaring flames. She was holding a large silver cane with what appeared to be a shining ruby at the top, and her large cloak was a shimmering midnight blue.

“Do not harm this Dragon!” She screamed at the knights, “Or I shall turn you all into statuettes!”

Knowing that this Witch was certainly not bluffing, the knights quickly heeded her warning.

“Run! Run for your lives!” Shouted the now cowardly knights as they hurriedly retreated out of the cave.

Marvin let out a large sigh of relief, the tickle in his nose had been narrowly avoided, as well as narrowly avoiding the loss of his life.

“T-thank you M’lady Witch!” Marvin said very gratified, as she entered through the cave, “But may I ask, w-why did you come to my rescue?”

“Oh, Dear Dragon, I was passing by your cave and heard the commotion,” she said, “And once I saw those terrible knights, I knew it was my duty to help! Those silly knights burnt down my castle and have been chasing me all around the kingdom!” She said with a light steely tone in her voice.

“Do the kn-knights want your head to?” Marvin said sheepishly.

“Yes, they do,” explained the Witch, “Apparently, the ‘Dear Princess’ is afraid of anything magical that could threaten her rule, like us”

Marvin was puzzled by this. This Princess did not sound at all nice. Why on earth would those knights want her hand? They already had two of their own?

“Oh dear,” said Marvin astonished, “Well, if you would like, M-M’Lady Witch, you could stay here, my cave is so very big, and as your castle is burnt you will be needing a place to rest”

The Witch furrowed her brow and looked around, contemplating the idea thoroughly. After a few minutes, she reached her decision.

“I see that your cave is rather large, and my need is great, so I will stay, and I promise to help out with those darn knights” said the Witch, rather pleased with the new arrangment.

“Excellent!” Beamed Marvin happily, excited with the prospect of his first friend.

“M-M’Lady Witch?” Asked Marvin shyly,

“Yes?” said the Witch, as she sat down in a rather gigantic armchair.

“D-do you like c-cornflakes?”

“Yes Marvin,” Smiled the Witch warm heartedly, “I do.”