managed to dodge and run away. She was fast. I barely managed to catch up to her and touch the mask. It mirrored the shape of a dragon’s head and actually grew into her face, right into her skin and flesh. The sensation when I touched it, too, was as if golden rods were growing right out of her skin, weaving into an intricate pattern on her face, which should have been inflamed from having plates of gold implanted into it, but looked delicious. The mask grew right into it and still the stranger was beautiful. The mask only made her look more unusual.
I waited for the girl to say something to me, to ask me something, to express some wish, or at least to apologize for invading someone else’s territory without asking. But she only sought to get away from me as soon as possible. This is the first time a lady has ever run away from me. And I try in vain to meet her. I’m curious, what’s her name? Where did she come from? What kind of family is she from? At least one of her parents must be a magical being. She probably came here looking for him.
“Wait! Don’t run!”
I tried to stop her, and suddenly she breathed fire on me. Just opened her lips and blew a stream of fire in my face. It was a trick of my own. Wow! Of course, it didn’t burn me, but I was shocked. No one had ever done that to me before. What kind of liberties? She’s a beauty, but no one allowed her to deviate from the etiquette of my Empire. All magical creatures here are aware of the basic rules of behavior, both within the borders of the state and at court. The forest is here or the palace and manners must be observed as is customary. Only the girl’s gone. It was no one to apologize to. Only the hem of the luxurious green dress still rustles around the bend in the path. Yes, there are traces of fire.
I thought of angels who could breathe fire. She’s probably one of them. Then there are fire fairies. But she doesn’t look much like any of them. She’s a little out of the ordinary.
“Yeah, she got you,” the leprechaun squeaked. Tiny took off his hat in front of me. It was like he was supposed to. He was the size of a needle, and his hat was even smaller, but he was aware of the dragon’s eyesight. A human wouldn’t have seen him on an ivy leaf.
“Come on,” I brushed the strands away from my forehead. “It is just a girl. Just a pretty girl… And I’m single now.”
“Divorced,” the leprechaun corrected me. How these little things know so much!
“It is all right, divorced.”
“And you are very much in love. I can tell you’re all fire, and so is she.”
“She’s more like ice. No feelings,” I couldn’t even see her thoughts, but the leprechaun shook her tiny head negatively.
“She’s made of fire. And you hurt her.”
“But she almost burned my face off.”
“That’s self-defense. Feeling makes creatures like her hurt.”
I’ve never heard of such creatures. No one in my empire has ever been hurt by feelings, and this place is full of magical creatures. Who is she?
I wanted to ask the leprechaun more about her (he must have known something), but the crumb had already disappeared. The ivy leaf had gone blank. You couldn’t even tell that a second ago there was a tiny guardian of the untold treasures hidden under the ground of this forest. Maybe the girl was looking for it, even trying to dig it up, not by her, of course, but by bringing some helpers who gossiped about her while they were looking for the treasure, and that’s how the leprechaun heard about her.
I looked after her for a long time. The ladder path had already emptied. The greenery exuded a marvelous fragrance after the rain, and the beauty left only the smell of fire and ashes. How could I ever see her again? Fly over the forest and take a closer look? But what if she’s already gone underground? What if she’s from Henri’s underground kingdom? Even though I’ve forbidden his subjects to crawl to the surface, but bold ladies don’t care about prohibitions. This beauty was somewhat similar to Daniella, Henri’s current consort and subterranean ruler. Only unlike her, she wasn’t dead. She was all I could think about. Was it worth it to get rid of my headache in the form of Rose, only to find another woman and look for her everywhere? Asking everyone where she was, who she was and where she came from.
That’s enough! I told myself. I had just been released. It was too early to be captured by another enchantress for a second time, but I kept looking after her, and her footsteps suddenly flashed with fire.
I must have ignited them. But the fire wasn’t mine. It wasn’t mine. It wasn’t even the same color. If her footprints had been gold coins instead of flames, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.
Tongues of fire blazed on the path, taking the shape of a woman’s graceful foot. I stared at it like a fool. It was like I’d never seen fire before. I should have run after the stranger instead of standing there. Or even fly after her, because she was moving so elusively fast. She could, of course, be tracked by the fiery footprints, but they were already beginning to fade. I followed them, turned a couple of times around the corner of the narrow forest path, reached the clearing, and then the chain of footprints was broken.
The clearing itself was burnt almost to the ground. Poisonous smoke was rising from the blackened remains of the grass. I could well identify the source of the fumes. A dragon had been here! And that dragon was not me!
Had the dragon eaten the beauty? Or did she fly away on its back? Perhaps that’s why I didn’t attract her attention. From my own experience, I already knew very well that a dragon could shed its monstrous appearance and become someone’s lover. Suddenly, I felt a little resentful. Where would I find this beauty now if she burned in the dragon’s arms the next night?
Something told me she wasn’t so easy to burn. There was something magical about her. But sitting and waiting in the forest for her to come back didn’t make sense either. It’s time to take strict action against the alien dragon burning out my forests. Only to do that, I’d first have to track him down. What a coincidence. Now I have a target to hunt down at once. It was the dragon and the mystery lady.
Trails of fire
If the faint lights were not still burning on the road, I would have thought I was dreaming of the lady.
“Forget her!” A voice whispered in my brain, as if an annoying spider had crawled into my head and was weaving a magic web around my brain. “She’s not for you. Not even for you! You’re the richest handsome man in the world. She’s just an illusion. She could just be your imagination. Don’t you agree?”
I even rubbed my shoulders with my hand. The feeling of someone sitting on them and whispering in my ear was too real.
But he was talking nonsense. How could she be an illusion? The footprints are real. They’re still burning on the road. Even the insects avoided crawling near them. But I wanted to bend down and touch them with my fingers. I’ve never been burned by fire. I’m a dragon myself. I can burn anyone I want with one breath. And it’s a shame to think that after a night with me, girls could burn like dry logs. It’s best to avoid contact with the ladies in the future. But it is not with this one. I wanted to find the stranger at all costs. I must see her again, talk to her. What did she dislike me so much that she ran away so quickly? They say there are women who don’t like dapper men and despise handsome men. But this way, I can change into anything she wants for her. And why did I suddenly fall in love with her? Haven’t I seen a pretty girl before? Why am I so anxious to catch up with this one? What’s so special about her?
It is except her fiery footprints. Ordinary ladies don’t leave footprints like that. The orange chain of footprints zigzagged, as if the lady was dancing as she ran away.
I wondered where she was now. Without her, the forest seemed dark and empty. But the woods had been my favorite place to walk since I considered myself a mere man and the youngest son of a mortal king. It