Dart, the Dwarf Dragon
Purolet 
azurene 
fernfoam
amberlight 
tangora 
rubytea
—all the colors of Imaginaria's rainbow glistened on the damp floor of the tiny cave. Dart giggled, and his tail twitched as he moved the glitterglims 'round and 'round with his pointy claws. "Mine! Mine! Pretty pretties! Rainbow rocks! Shiny, shiny!" Dart picked up the sparkly gems and let them trickle down his fernfoam-colored wings and tickle his tangora and amberlight spotted belly. He kicked his legs in the air and counted his gems one by one.
Dart hid the beautiful gems all around his cave. "Hide, hide! Nobody find pretty pretties!" He sat in the center of his cave and looked carefully in every corner ... not even the tiniest glimmer from the shiny stones could now be seen. Satisfied that his treasures were safe, Dart flew off in search of new glitterglims to add to his collection.
No matter how many rainbow rocks he had, Dart always wanted MORE... not that he needed them, since no one in Imaginaria needed money or anything like it. Dart just wanted MORE of whatever he liked, and he especially liked the brightly colored glitterglims. Unfortunately, Dart wasn't too particular about how he acquired his treasures. Not that he ever took anything directly from anyone, but if Dart spied a sparkly crystal all by its little lonesome self, he would take it home. "After all," he thought, "pretty pretties need lots of other sparkly friends—yes, yes!" Sometimes, though, the beautiful rainbow rocks were in SPECIAL places for SPECIAL reasons, and needed to be just where they were... Like the many colored crystal in the middle of Healing Waters. Dart spied the shimmering crystal as he flew above the waterfall that spilled into the Ladies of the Lake's mysterious hideaway.
Poor, greedy little Dart ... it looked as if he was about to get himself into trouble again...
Leonora of the Lake closed her eyes, raised her arms above her head and pushed her palms upward. The water rippled lightly through her fingers, and her hair floated softly around her. Her legs whispered in the gentle waves of the waterfall, and the crystal glowed and hummed with each rolling movement.
All of a sudden, Leonora felt a shiver throughout her whole soul. She broke through the water and looked up, only to see Dart wrenching the crystal away from its home atop the waterfall. It was a comical sight, for the Dwarf Dragon wasn't much bigger than the huge rainbow rock he was clutching. Leonora was not laughing, however, for she knew that if the crystal left the Healing Waters, many unwelcome things could happen.
The Lady of the Lake glided across the surface of the water and lightly ran up the waterfall, but she was too late. Greedy little Dart had succeeded in grabbing the crystal, and was flying away. He dipped and swooped, and looked like an awkward twiffletub bouncing its was through the sky.
Leonora sadly watched Dart in his clumsy flight, and looked around her. Already, the effects of Dart's theft were becoming evident... the waters of the lake that had been so clear and calm were now becoming murky and restless. The branches of the treetlebalm tree that had whistled softly in the breeze were now whipping at the air around them like angry arms.
Leonora knew that she had to find Dart before anything else had a chance to happen. The Crystal of the Healing Waters needed to be in its rightful place, and Leonora knew it was her responsibility to make sure it was put back... After all, she was the Lady of the Lake, and the Crystal was entrusted to her for all of Imaginaria.
Dart didn't get very far before he had to land. The crystal was so BIG and he was sooooo small, that his tiny wings got tuckered out, and he was gasping for breath. His exhaustion made his desire for the beautiful rainbow rock grow in leaps and bounds. After all, anything worth having took some effort. At least that's what Dart's mother said... Not that he had ever believed it before. Dart like to get his pretty treasures without working for them. This crystal had just been there waiting for someone to add it to their collection, and that someone was Dart.
The beautiful crystal changed colour with every blink of Dart's little dragon eyes. So entranced by the twinkling lights swirling around the crystal, Dart didn't even notice the dark clouds forming above him. The beautiful azurene sky with its touches of purolet and rubytea was now becoming a dismal gloomgrey, but all Dart could see was the sparkling glitterglim.
All of a sudden, a streak of lightening exploded in the sky above Dart, and a huge booming sound filled the air, causing Dart to drop the precious crystal onto the ground. Before Dart could scoop it up into his little claws, it had rolled to the edge of a narrow ravine and down the rocky cliff toward the rumbling river. Dart was in a panic. As small as he was, he wasn't tiny enough to fly in the small space between the edges of the cliff—his wings couldn't open up all the way so he could fly.
"Oh, dear... Oh, dear... Sparkly, sparkly running away... Must get, must get..." and with that, Dart wrapped his wings around his small body and started scrambling down the treacherous mountainside. He didn't get very far before he realized he was stuck. He couldn't go up, and he couldn't go down. And worse than that, the sparkling crystal was so close to the river's edge that the least little movement would push it into the now raging waters.
Icy rain began pouring down onto Dart's head, and he was as surprised as he was annoyed. The rain in Imaginaria was always a perfect temperature—never too cold, and never too warm—and this was a new sensation for Dart. He wrapped a wing around his head, but then the rain pelted his body, making him shiver even more. "Nice it's not, no, no..." whimpered Dart. He looked down from the tiny ledge he had managed to wedge himself onto, and almost fell when he saw that the rain and wind had moved the crystal even closed to the water's edge. "Pretty, pretty, don't move! Stay, stay!. Mine, mine!"
So involved with the crystal's fate, Dart never noticed Leonora. The Lady of the Lake looked at Dart, startling him when she leaned over the ledge and said, "Where have you put the Healing Crystal of the Waters? It must be returned to the Lake. The thunder, lightning and this cold rain are all because you moved the Crystal, naughty little dragon."
Dart could only splutter, "Pretty, pretty is MINE. I found it, did I, yes, I did." Said the beautiful Lady of the Lake, "No, little one, it is NOT yours, it belongs to all of Imaginaria. If I don't put it back where it belongs, the sky will forever be dark, and the rain will pour down until all of the lands are covered in water. Now, WHERE IS IT?!?"
From underneath his wings, Dart's little claw appeared and pointed down toward the river where the crystal lay. Even with all the wind and rain, the gem was shimmering and the air around it was filled with light. Leonora knew, however, that she didn't have a lot of time before it would roll over and fall into the water.
Raising her arms above her, and closing her eyes, Leonora spoke in a voice filled with determination and devotion: "Oh, Imaginarian, I ask your help to retrieve the Crystal of the Healing Waters. Help me, please, to return it to its proper place."
Dart's mouth opened as wide as any Dwarf Dragon's mouth could open (which was pretty wide) as he watched the Lady of the Lake rise up in the air and then gently drift down the steep ravine until her toes touched the ground next to the river. Leonora opened her eyes and reach down to pick up the crystal, and was again lifted into the air, this time moving up and up, until she was back on the mountain top.
"Wait, wait!" shouted Dart, as he saw Leonora walking away. "Me, me! My sparkly, sparkly going away, and Dart all cold and wet." Leonora looked down at him and said, "Little dragon, I will return to help you, but first must put the Healing Crystal back in its rightful place. Hold on and be brave. I won't be long." And with that, Leonora left Dart on the teensy ledge.
"Oh, oh, oh, oh..." hiccuped Dart. "All by myself, all wet I am, and so cold, so cold!" Head tucked under his wings, he was having such a good time being miserable, he didn't notice when the cold rain stopped. Not until the warmth of Imaginaria's two suns tickled the scales on his head, did Dart peek out from under his wings. "Suns back in sky and nasty rain all gone, gone..." announced Dart. He had forgotten what kind of predicament he was in until he tried to spread his wings to fly, and they met the edges of the ravine. "Forgot, forgot, noooooooo!" wailed the miserable little Dwarf Dragon.
Leonora spoke as she placed the Crystal of the Healing Waters back into its proper spot, "Oh, Imaginarian... Please protect this Crystal from the greed and desires of all who wish to remove it ever again from its rightful place." The extra glow that surrounded the beautiful crystal told Leonora that The Imaginarian had listened to her and said, "Yes."
Dart's woeful cries reached Leonora's ears long before she saw him. "Stuuuuuck here! Oh, my! No! Don't like stuck! Want home, I do; yes—hooooooooooome!" Leonora resisted the urge to grin—after all, Dart had caused some SERIOUS trouble—but the sight & sounds of the poor little dragon stuck in the ravine WERE pretty funny. Instead of smiling though, Leonora put on her sternest of faces as she walked to the edge of the ledge.
"Are you ready to be good, naughty Dragon?" asked Leonora. Dart was willing to say ANYTHING to get out of his predicament, so cried, "YES! DART BE GOOD DRAGON FOREVER & EVER! Help good dragon you will, pretty Lake Lady?" Leonora couldn't hold back her smile this time, and reached down to help the forlorn dragon off the ledge and onto the cliff-side.
"Thanks to Lady, yes, yes..." began Dart, but before he'd even gotten ONE sentence completed, he spotted a small shimmering pool of rainbow-coloured water that he thought was a rainbow glitterglim, and off he bounded to it, only to sigh in disappointment when he discovered it was merely a bit of water left from the rains.
"Well, I can see that we've got our work cut out for us," said Leonora. Dart looked confused—for he didn't understand just how greedy a creature he was. As he turned to fly away, Leonora put a hand on his wings, and as if by magic, Dart couldn't make them work so he could fly. "MY WINGS!" cried Dart. "Lady help—make wings fly again?!?"
"Oh, little dragon," sighed Leonora. "It will be a long time before you're given permission to fly again." And with that, she put her hand on Dart's tiny head and said, "Follow me... you will have to walk to where we're going."
Dragons are not accustomed to walking great distances—or even short ones—so by the time they had reached the shores of the Healing Waters, Dart's scaly claws and feet were all bruised, and Dart was complaining loudly about how horribly he was being mistreated. Leonora told the grumbling dragon to put his feet into the Healing Waters and they would feel better. Now, dragons don't like getting wet, and Dart resisted—but soon realised that if he wanted to feel any better, he was going to have to do as he had been told.
He dipped one tiny claw into the calm waters, and when he removed it, exclaimed, "Better! Dart feel better!" and without any further fanfare, jumped completely into the water. After splashing about for a bit, he bounded out of the water refreshed and happy again, and asked Leonora, "Dart go home now? Lady let him fly again?"
Leonora shook her head. "No, Dart... You're going to be staying here until you learn not to take things that don't belong to you. You will be able to go only to the edge of the meadows that surround the Healing Waters, and will not be given permission to fly again until you learn to control your desires." And with that, Leonora walked onto the Healing Waters, leaving Dart by the shore. She waved as she walked up the waterfall, saying to him, "I'll be here to watch over you, little dragon, and I will meet with you every day to see what you have learned. There are many good creatures here, and each will help you with your lessons. And remember... Ask for help in being good, and The Imaginarian will always answer you."
Day after day passed—and after what seemed like the longest time she'd ever had to take with any naughty dwarf dragon, The Imaginarian revealed to Leonora that it was time for Dart to go back out into the lands of Imaginaria to continue his lessons outside the protection of the Healing Waters. She touched Dart's wings, and as magically as his power to fly had been removed, it was back again. Dart was so happy, he did flip-flops & loop-de-loops in the sky above the Healing Waters. He landed next to Leonora and shyly extended a claw...
"Lake Lady spend days and days with Dart and never get angry when he stay naughty, but tell him to try again next day. Dart not naughty any more?" Leonora chose her words carefully before she replied, "Little Dragon, there will be many opportunities for you to choose between right and wrong once you leave the protection of the Healing Waters, but now you know how much being naughty can hurt creatures you don't even know. Whenever you feel tempted to return to your old ways, remember the cold rain and how bad it felt when you were stuck on that cliff. All that happened because you took something that didn't belong to you. THINK before you decide what to do. Choose to follow the Ways to Behave and you will be much happier."
Dart sat back on his little dragon haunches, and for the first time in his long dragon life, UNDERSTOOD something important. He thoughtfully cocked his head and said, "Dart really BE a good dragon now—not just pretend... Yes, yes... be GOOD dragon and make kind Lady proud of his dragon self." And without any further fanfare, Dart lifted himself up and was off to his Dragon Den high above the Forever Waters.
In time, Leonora heard tales from far and wide of a generous and helpful dwarf dragon known as Dart, and WAS proud of the little creature who had worked so hard to change himself. She thanked The Imaginarian for watching over Dart in his journey. One day she saw Dart flying above the waterfalls again, and smiled. He dropped a shiny object from his claws, and as she caught it, Leonora saw that it was a small crystal, very much like the large one atop the Healing Waters—one that had been missing for many suns and moons from the small pool behind the waterfalls. Dart circled and shouted, "Dart give back ALL pretty pretties—last one here—all done now!"
The Lady of the Lake put the small crystal back in its pool, and watched the rainbows reappear in the bubbling water. She smiled again, and waved to Dart as he continued his flight. As he soared in the air, she knew that Dart would one day be a teacher of dragons great and small...
The Whispering Wind
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