CHAPTER 1

A long time ago, before cars, planes, and trains, a group of heroes gathered in the throne room of the Wolfstone Kingdom castle in front of King Maximus. They bowed before him; then he spoke.

“Stand up, heroes! Sir Lancer, the highest-ranking swordsman in the land. Lady Artemis, the most accurate bow fighter in the land. Miss Marion, the best musician in the land, and Shay, the wizard who is always practicing to become stronger.”

The group stood up as the king requested.

“Thank you all for coming on such short notice. There is a matter of great importance to the kingdom that I need to discuss with you.”

“Whatever is needed,” Lancer said. “We are more than happy to help, King Maximus.”

“Thank you, Sir Lancer. Unfortunately, there is a dragon eating all the kingdom’s crops and stealing our treasures. It lives in a cave within the mountains surrounding the fields. I need you four to travel there and slay the dragon.”

Shay glanced around nervously at the others; however, all of his party members kept their eyes on the king.

“We will do it, my king. Anything to serve the kingdom,” Lancer said.

“Thank you so much, all of you. There will be a handsome reward for you upon your return. Take this map. It will lead you directly to the dragon.”

Artemis took the map and said, “Don’t worry. I’m great with directions, so I’ll lead.”

Once they had left the throne room, Shay was the first to speak up as they started walking towards the woods.

“A dragon? Seriously, you guys?? I’m not sure that we can defeat a dragon, especially me!”

“Nonsense, Shay,” Marion said. “The four of us together have enough power to defeat any foe, even a dragon.”

“Yes, Marion is right,” Artemis said, looking up from the map. “I will shoot arrows that will hit their mark, even from great distances.”

“And,” Marion added, “I will make Lancer stronger using my music.”

“Right,” Lancer said. “Then I’ll slash at the dragon with my sword.”

“While we do that, Shay, you can slay the dragon with your magic,” Artemis said.

“But—” Shay interrupted.

“But nothing. We have been asked by the king to do this, so we cannot refuse,” Lancer said.

“Well, you have a point there,” Shay answered.

“Plus, Shay, you don’t give yourself enough credit,” Lancer added. “You are far more powerful than you think you are.”

Shay sighed. “I wish I believed you.”

He was by far the least experienced member of the party. The rest of them had fought many battles as a team before Shay had joined, so he often felt out of place within the group.

After they all walked through the forest for a while, Artemis spoke to the group.

“All right, this clearing looks good to set up camp,” she said. “The trees surround us for protection, but there’s enough space to spread out sleeping mats. Let's start cooking.”

Artemis gathered wood and had a bit of a struggle to get a fire lit. Then she had an idea. If she asked Shay to use a fire spell, it might give him a little confidence.

Shay tried as hard as he could, but he could not get the wood to light. Artemis had to step back in to do the job.

“See,” said Shay, discouraged. “I can’t even light a fire. Like I told you, I can’t use my magic, especially to slay a dragon.”

Artemis sighed and then cooked the food, while Lancer stood watch, and Marion played some music for the group.

After dinner, Shay tried to put out the fire with a water spell, but again, it didn’t work.

“My spells are useless!” shouted Shay in frustration. “I don’t even have enough energy to put out a fire! I’m just so exhausted from all my training!”

“Don’t worry, Shay,” Artemis said. “It’s been a long day. I’ll put it out with some dirt.”

Once Artemis was done, she and Lancer went to sleep.

Marion walked over to Shay, who was sitting on a log. He was reading from the cherished spellbook that he got from his grandfather, who was a powerful wizard.

“Hey, Shay, are you okay?” asked Marion.

“No, I’m scared—terrified even. What if I can’t do it? What if the next fire comes out of the mouth of the dragon?”

“Shay, I understand why you’re nervous, but Lancer was right. You’re far more powerful than you give yourself credit for. You just need to keep training to use that power. When the moment comes, I know you’ll be great.”

“I hope you’re right, Marion. Because at THIS moment, I don’t feel like I could put a spell on a mosquito!”

“Try not to worry,” she said. “Let's get some rest. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

The group got ready for sleep, but Shay stayed up a little longer to read his spellbook, hoping it would give him more confidence. As he flipped through the pages, he found a bookmark. It was a folded note from Shay’s grandfather.

He opened it up to read: You are a great and powerful wizard, Shay. Always believe in yourself—no matter what.

The note made him smile at the thought of his grandfather, who always encouraged him, even if Shay felt small and weak. He closed the book and held it tightly to his chest as he went to bed.

CHAPTER 2

“Huh! What’s going on?”

Shay jolted awake when he heard rustling noises.

“Hey!” he cried out as he saw a group of goblins trying to steal their food and weapons.

“Everyone, wake up! Goblins!” he yelled, leaning over and shaking Marion, who was next to him.

“What? What did you say?” Marion startled, opening her eyes.

As the rest of the group awoke, the goblins drew their weapons, laughed, and then charged at the party.

Marion thought quickly. “Cover your ears, everyone!” she yelled at the group before jumping out of her sleeping mat and grabbing her flute.

“She’s gonna use a lullaby!” Artemis warned.

She, Shay, and Lancer jumped up and covered their ears.

Once Marion started playing her soothing song, the goblins who were charging at them began to grow drowsy.

“Now! Let's get out our weapons,” Artemis shouted. “Boost me and Lancer, Marion!”

Marion started playing another magic tune on her flute. This one made Lancer glow a bright yellow and strengthened his powers. He was able to see the goblins from all across the field. He ran at them and struck them with his sword, causing them to magically disappear, as all monsters do when they are slain.

Meanwhile, Artemis was firing arrows at the rest of the goblins. Her arrows hit their mark no matter how far away the goblins were because of Marion’s help.

Shay then noticed a goblin to their right taking their sack of food.

“Guys!” he yelled, but nobody heard him. He took a deep breath and started to run after the goblin.

With the speedy goblin running well ahead of him, Shay decided to try and use his magic.

“Magic Beam!” he shouted and held out his wand. It glowed bright blue. But the strong light that was supposed to come out of its tip never appeared.

“No! I’m failing again and we’re gonna lose our food,” moaned Shay.

He stopped running and fell to his knees, out of breath.

“I just can’t do it,” Shay groaned. “I can’t even catch a goblin.”

Just then, Marion, Artemis, and Lancer caught up to Shay. Lancer ran after the goblin, used his sword to make it disappear, and then returned to the group.

“Don’t worry,” Lancer said. “I got our food back after I got rid of the goblin.”

“I’m sorry guys, I’m just hopeless. You can’t count on me for anything!” Shay said, sitting on the ground, near tears.

“That’s okay, Shay,” Artemis said, patting him on the shoulder.

“Yes, Shay,” Marion added. “Never give up.”

Shay thought about the note from his grandfather telling him to always believe in himself. He found some strength in that and slowly got to his feet.

“You’re right. I’ll keep practicing,” Shay said.

“That’s the spirit,” Marion said, handing him his hat.

The group then returned to their camp, and Artemis, Lancer, and Marion quickly went back to sleep. Shay stayed up, though. He continued to study his spellbook, hoping to soak up the magic inside.

CHAPTER 3

“All right!” Artemis said the next morning. “Let's continue forward.”

“Can we sit for a little more? I’m so tired,” Shay complained.

“You shouldn’t have stayed up so late studying that spellbook, Shay,” Marion scolded. She had caught Shay reading when she woke up.

“She’s right,” Artemis added. “Sorry, Shay. It’s time to go.”

The group continued forward. After a few hours of walking, with Shay trailing behind the rest of the group, they made it to a river.

“Oh no!” Marion exclaimed. “How are we going to cross this river?”

“Shay, you know an ice spell, correct?” Lancer asked.

Shay yawned, still feeling sleepy. “Yeah, I do, but I don’t know if—”

Lancer cut Shay off.

“Don’t worry about ‘IF’; just try it.”

“Oh, okay,” Shay said, without much confidence.

He yawned again before holding his wand out towards the river.

“Ice Bridge!” he called out.

Sparkles flew from Shay’s wand but quickly disappeared. Nothing happened, and Shay fell to his knees.

“I give up,” he said, feeling defeated. “I just can’t do it. I keep letting everyone down, and you’re counting on me.”

“You did fine,” Lancer said. “You got a little action from your wand. You’re getting there.”

“Thank you, Lancer,” Shay replied. He remembered his grandfather’s note again. “I guess I shouldn’t give up. But it’s so hard.”

“I know,” said Lancer, “but do it anyway, ok?”

“And you can’t sit down yet, Shay. We’ve gotta find another way to get across the river,” Artemis said. “We need to be there by the evening,” she added, pointing to a large, dark, and gloomy-looking mountain in the distance.

“Here’s an idea!” Marion exclaimed. “Lancer can use his sword to cut down that big tree and we can climb across it.”

Lancer did his job, and the tree fell across the river and made a bridge. The group crossed it carefully, and after a bit more walking, they got to the base of the mountain. Lancer thought he heard a sound in the air that sounded like “CAW” and looked up, but saw nothing.

“All right guys, let's stop here for the night,” Artemis said as she set her pack down. “I’ll grab the cooking supplies and start the fire. Marion, please grab the food.”

“Will do,” Marion said.

“I’m gonna read my spellbook some more,” Shay said, sitting down.

“Hey, Artemis,” Lancer said as he walked towards her. “Do you hear that sound?”

“I do,” Artemis replied. “Let's eat fast, and try not to make too much smoke.”

“What’s up?” Marion asked.

“It’s not a huge deal,” Artemis said, “but this mountain is home to man-eating bird monsters. Like I said, if we’re fast about eating, we’ll be fine.”

“Not a huge deal???” Shay said, panicking.

“Stay calm,” Lancer said. “They can sense fear.”

“Here, this should be soothing enough to quiet us down,” said Marion as she pulled out her flute.

While Shay’s heart was beating fast, Marion started playing a peaceful melody.

“Thanks, Marion,” Artemis said.

“Yeah, this is nice,” Shay said, relaxing a bit.

“Okay, I’ll start cooking,” Artemis said.

“And I’ll stand watch,” Lancer said.

While the group cooked their dinner, they heard a loud screech, then a sudden thud.

“What is that???” Shay asked, alarmed again.

“I thought we wouldn’t disturb them,” Marion said.

The birds started landing all around them, gathering near their campfire.

“Look at them! They’re so thin!” said Artemis. “They’re starving and desperate for food.”

“Should we feed them?” Shay asked.

“No!!! They’ll only attack us for more,” Lancer warned, grabbing his sword as he charged at one. “It’s either them or us!”

Lancer hit one of the bird-monsters with his sword, quickly making it disappear.

“All right, let’s get them!” Artemis yelled before firing an arrow at a second monster.

“I’ll boost you, Lancer,” Marion said.

She again played a melody that made Lancer glow yellow and grow stronger.

“Wait, let me try my Double Magic Missile spell,” Shay said.

Two blue beams of magic came out of his wand, but both of them missed their target. He tried again, but none of the beams hit even one bird.

“That’s okay, Shay,” Lancer said, “I’ve got this.”

Lancer then walked over to the last two bird monsters and slashed them with his sword, making them disappear.

The whole group was breathing heavily as Lancer cleaned off his sword and sat down.

“Great job, you guys. Let's eat, sleep, then get up the mountain,” Artemis said.

“Shay,” Lancer said, “even though you missed, you were able to make beams come out of your wand. Great job!”

“Oh.” Shay was caught off guard by Lancer’s compliment. “I guess I didn’t realize that. Thank you, Lancer. I’m gonna study my spellbook a little bit more before I go to bed.”

Shay smiled while thinking about his note from his grandfather and wondering if it was helping him.

CHAPTER 4

“All right guys,” Lancer said the following morning. “We’re gonna start climbing the mountain.”

“Cool. Let's go,” Artemis replied.

“Got it,” Marion said.

“O-okay,” Shay said, nervously.

The party began to climb the mountain, and without too much trouble, made it to the top.

“Whoa! The view from up here is amazing!” Marion exclaimed.

“Yeah, but don’t you think we’re a little too high?” asked Shay.

“Not at all. This is great!” Marion replied.

“Guys, maybe look behind us instead,” Artemis interrupted.

The whole group then turned around to see a giant cave.

“The dragon’s lair,” Lancer whispered.

Shay gulped.

“All right, let's go in,” Artemis said as she started walking.

The group followed her, with Shay bringing up the rear.

“Whoa,” Marion said as the group entered the cave. “It’s so hot in here.”

“That makes sense,” Artemis replied. “Dragons are cold-blooded. They need a lot of heat.”

“Quiet,” Lancer warned.

Everyone stopped talking and walked around the cave. It wasn’t long until the group found a huge cavern full of gold and jewels, with a giant red dragon sleeping on top of them. It had obviously eaten the kingdom’s crops with gusto, given its huge size.

Marion and Shay gasped.

“That’s a lot of gold,” Marion whispered.

“There must be enough treasure here to make everyone in the kingdom rich.”

“Yeah, but look who’s guarding it all,” Artemis said as she pointed to the sleeping dragon.

“Don’t be scared, guys. We need to stay brave,” Lancer said.

“Right,” the rest of the group replied.

“Now, let’s look for more weapons while the dragon is asleep. We need whatever we can find,” Lancer said.

The group started to search around, except for Shay.

“I’m gonna sit here and keep reading,” Shay said.

After searching, the group found some extra weapons, and they returned to where Shay was sitting.

“I found a shiny new sword. What about you?” Lancer asked the others.

“I found a new bow with a silk bowstring. Pretty cool,” Artemis added.

“Look at this new golden flute I found,” Marion said excitedly. “Let me try it out.”

“Wait! No!!!” Lancer yelled.

But Marion had already started to play her new instrument. The sound of her music echoed throughout the cavern.

“You guys!” Artemis yelled. “Look, you woke up the dragon!”

Artemis was right. The dragon was now alert and looking down at them angrily. It breathed in.

“Run! Fire breath!” Artemis yelled.

The group all raced in different directions to avoid the flame coming from the dragon’s mouth.

“We barely escaped that,” Shay said, shaking.

“We need to fight! Marion, you make me stronger so I can use my sword against the dragon. Artemis, you provide cover fire with your bow,” Lancer commanded.

“Right!” Marion and Artemis replied.

“What should I do, Lancer?” Shay asked.

But Lancer was already running towards the dragon.

“I’ll fire,” Artemis said as she fired two arrows from her new bow right at her target.

“I got you, Lancer!” Marion yelled.

She started playing her flute, which made Lancer start to glow with extra strength. Lancer then ran farther, getting closer to the dragon.

“Take this!” Lancer shouted as he started to slash at the dragon with his new sword.

The dragon took some damage from the party’s attacks, but let out a big roar and swatted Lancer away with his wing. Lancer fell into the pile of gold, and the party cried out as Marion ran towards him.

“Lancer! Are you okay? I’m coming to heal you,” she said.

The dragon looked at Marion and got ready to use another fire breath attack, but it was shot in the face with an arrow.

“Look at me, dragon, look at me!” Artemis yelled.

The dragon turned to Artemis and then charged, ready to attack her with its fire breath. Artemis began to panic.

“Help!” she yelled.

CHAPTER 5

“Oh no,” Shay said. “I have to do something, but what can I do? I can’t even use my spells.”

Suddenly, Shay remembered the note and how his grandfather always believed in him. He knew the magic was not going to come from his wand, but from inside himself.

He looked up at the sky and realized what he had to do next.

Shay called off the others. “Stay back! I know what to do!”

“Shield!” Shay yelled before jumping in front of Artemis.

A big, golden shield then appeared in front of Shay and Artemis, protecting them both from the dragon’s flames.

“Shay, you saved me! That’s amazing!” said Artemis.

“I did it, Grandpa,” Shay said as he looked up. “I believed in myself, and I used a powerful shield spell.”

“If you can do that, then I’ll bet we can all slay the dragon,” Lancer said. “Shay, fire at the dragon.”

“Okay, I can do that,” Shay said with confidence. “Magic Missile!”

Shay’s wand started to glow blue, then a shining beam of energy came out of it and hit the dragon. The dragon became furious and stared at Shay.

“Take this!” Lancer said. He slashed the dragon on its side, and it turned its head towards Lancer.

“My turn,” Artemis said, and she quickly fired five arrows at the dragon. The dragon turned again, this time to its other side.

“It looks hurt,” Artemis said. “Shay, can you use a powerful spell to finish it off?”

“I have an idea,” Shay said. “I can use my grandpa’s favorite spell.”

He held up his staff at the dragon and took a deep breath. “Magic Explosion!”

With a burst of sound, Shay’s wand again glowed a bright blue. He pointed it at the dragon, and this time a shining beam surrounded the large lizard. The light then started to grow and turned a blinding white. As everyone watched and waited, a giant explosion shook the whole cave.

The dragon disappeared.

“Whoa!” Artemis said as she ran over to Shay. “That was incredible, Shay. Great job!”

“Yeah,” Lancer said as he and Marion rushed over to Shay and put their arms around his shoulders. “That was amazing!”

Shay was breathing heavily. “Thank you guys,” he said. “All of a sudden, I found my power.”

“It’s like I said before,” Lancer replied with a smile. “You’ve always had it in you. When your friends needed help, you found your confidence.”

“That’s true,” Shay said. “But right now, I think I need a rest.”

“Agreed,” Artemis said. “Let's take a breather before we head home.”

The journey down the mountain was not too hard for the group, and neither was the walk back to the river.

“Shay,” Marion asked. “Do you wanna try making an ice bridge?”

“Sure,” Shay said excitedly. “I’ll bet I can do it this time. Ice Bridge!”

Shay was right, and a section of the river quickly froze for the group to walk over.

“Great job,” Artemis said.

The group crossed the ice bridge and finished their journey back to the kingdom. They went straight to the throne room to see the king.

“Heroes,” King Maximus said. “The fact that you are all back in one piece must mean that your quest went well.”

“It did, Your Majesty,” Lancer said. “Shay was able to slay the dragon with a powerful spell.”

“Excellent job, Shay,” the king replied. “You are becoming a true wizard like your honored grandfather. I'm sure he would've been very proud of you."

Shay thought about this. He knew that his grandfather would be proud, but mostly because he found his magic within himself.

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Shay said. Then he looked up. “And Grandpa.”