prepared for the worst, but then one of the locked doors burst open. All the fairies panicked. They immediately fell behind Flora and began to fancy themselves. Could it be that magical emperor they were all waiting for?
Flora was curious to see him too, but the wings of the fairies blocked her view. And from the direction of the open door came the sound of rumbling footsteps.
In the dragon’s arms
«It sounds like the emperor has claws on his feet,» Flora said by ear.
«Just be glad you weren’t mauled before he got here,» the mask in her hands snickered. She loved to sneer.
«I should throw you out!»
«Just try it!» The mask’s twisted holder instantly stuck to her hands.
«You’re so clingy!»
«I want to be the mask of the Empress herself.»
«You’ll be disappointed! I’m definitely not going to be an empress.»
«I still have the right to fight for my place in the sun,» said the mask insolently. «Maybe one day my luck will shine.»
Instead of luck, something like dawn shone through the door. Had the sun really fallen into the fairies’ residence? The glow was so bright that Flora squeezed her eyes shut, and when she opened them, she noticed that the hodgepodge of fairy wings that had obscured her view of the hall had disappeared. The fairies had scattered in different directions.
That’s good! Otherwise we had to stare at winged backs instead of a fascinating sight. Flora expected to see a fairy handsome man and was disappointed. Instead, a glittering beast strode into the hall.
It was a dragon!
But what kind of dragon was it? Its skin shines like the sun! Is it golden? Where is the emperor? Is it behind the dragon’s back? Or is he not here yet and the dragon came here by mistake? Either way, he saved Flora. A mob of angry fairies could have torn her apart, and an elf wouldn’t have helped.
The dragon roared, and the fairies suddenly became frightened. They all scattered hastily to the wall niches and corners. A few fairies even flew into the chandelier.
The dragon stepped on the marble floor, leaving scratches on the tiles. The scratches were immediately smoothed out, but the fairies’ fear of the dragon did not go away. They had done something that he could not forgive.
Flora belatedly realized she was alone in the center of the hall. Again her inability to fly had failed her. Too bad fairies had wings and she didn’t. Otherwise she would have flown away frightened now too.
Apparently, the dragon had mistaken her for prey, because it reached out a paw toward her. For a moment, Flora felt like a toy. The elf thoughtfully fluttered away.
The dragon’s touch was like some kind of ritual before a sacrifice. The huge paw could have crushed Flora, but hesitated. It was as if the dragon recognized her.
What eyes it had! Real aquamarines! No, they’re sapphires! How quickly they change color! Flora stared into them like a kaleidoscope.
«You’re the first dragon I’ve ever seen in my life,» she whispered.
It was naive to think that a dragon could understand her. It could hardly speak human language, but fairies, judging by their behavior, understood dragon language perfectly.
The dragon picked Flora up, spun her around a bit, and then set her back down. It resembled a strange dance. It made her dizzy, but Flora liked the sensation of flying.
The fairies were jealous at the height, but did not dare to approach. It would only take a dragon protector to scare off a whole pack of fairies. Flora was content to meet a dragon, if he didn’t eat her at the end, of course. You could expect anything from dragons, after all. Flora had heard somewhere that innocent girls were sacrificed to them. Dragons are notorious lovers of earthly beauties. But what was a dragon doing at a fairy masquerade?
«Did you come here by mistake?»
The dragon understood her and shook its horned head negatively.
The mask in Flora’s hand suddenly laughed. What did she find so funny?
The fairies weren’t laughing, but were whispering excitedly. They clearly didn’t like what was happening. Flora thought for a moment that she was dancing around the hall with a beau in a golden dragon mask. It must have been the magical mirrors set up in a circle that sent her such visions. The feeling of the dance was very real. Flora covered her eyes for a moment and almost touched the face in the scaly golden mask. Too bad there wasn’t really any cavalier nearby, there was only the monster. The dragon delicately placed a paw on Flora’s arm, as if asking her to sit in a flying palanquin.
«Do you want to carry me away from here?» Flora was frightened at first. Dragons were known to kidnap innocent girls and carry them away to their lair. It wasn’t hard to imagine a dragon cave full of human bones and gold coins.
Becoming a dragon’s victim is scary, but falling into the claws of evil fairies is no better. Flora chose the dragon. She stepped into its paw and immediately found herself clutched in its golden claws.
The dragon flew out of the fairy palace and carried her high above the kraken’s tentacles stretching out of the water. Now they would grab the flying dragon. Flora squawked, but the dragon roared again, and the kraken pointed its tentacles at the palace, scaled its walls, and crawled limbs through the windows. The fairies shrieked in outrage, as if a beehive had broken out.
«He’s going to crush them along with the palace!» Flora turned around in the dragon’s claws and noticed that the kraken’s tentacles were blocking all the fairies’ exits.
«It serves them right!» The mask said. «Boorish! Too bad they’re immortal and will still survive.»
The dragon flew over the bridges spanning the sea.
«Ah, it is the rainbow of the sea!» The mask enthusiastically named the bridges. «How wonderful it is to travel on a sea rainbow!»
Flora did not interrupt her. They were not traveling over the bridges, but flying over the bridges in the claws of a dragon. The mask was enjoying the walk. Flora liked flying in the sky herself. The stars were so close! The night wind blew in her face. Or maybe it wasn’t the wind, but the oscillation of the air masses under the dragon’s wings.
It was a pity she couldn’t see the emperor the fairies had been waiting for. But the situation was tense. If the dragon didn’t carry her away, the fairies would just tear her apart.
Instead of dragging her to a lair full of coins and bones, the dragon gently placed her on the tower of her father’s castle.
«Thank you!» Flora said.
Did the dragon understand her? He hovered above the castle for another minute.
«Oh, how beautiful it is!» Flora said with a gasp as the dragon flew away. The glow faded in the distance over the sea bridges.
«He saved me! Can you imagine? Everyone is afraid of dragons and warns against dealing with them. But the dragon saved me!»
«From what was it?» The mask in her hands squinted hypocritically. «Was it from a wonderful night’s ball? We could have danced till morning. I would have flirted with your suitors for you.»
«What do you mean? They were all evil fairies! They didn’t have enough suitors of their own. They nearly tore me apart! Didn’t you see?»
«You should have asked me to turn you into a fairy, or one of them, or a fairy queen. That would have scared them. I can make you look like anything for a while.»
«Do I have to ask you to do that? You wouldn’t drink the life out of me for giving me a disguise for an hour, would you?»
«It is not your whole