by Pam Lynne
course. She told him about the dragon and all that happened so he understood why she did what she did and when she cried at her own foolishness he took her in his arms again and whispered “Don’t think that May! You aren’t a fool; you are the most kind-hearted person I know. Only you would have risked your life believing you were helping everyone else and that is why I have always loved you!” May’s heart soared at Dray’s admission of love for her. She had always liked him of course but believed he thought her only a friend. To hear him say he loved her and knowing he alone had come to rescue her was the most wonderful moment of her life. “I love you too.” was all she could bring herself to say, but it was enough.
As they continued on their way she showed him the bag of gold and told him what she must to do with it. For a moment Dray succumbed to the spell of the dragon’s gold and thought only to run away with it but love is more powerful than any dragon spell and the thought quickly passed. He would help May do what she must.
It was late afternoon when they arrived at the first farm and just as Maydon had promised the dragon, she stopped and planted a gold coin. Dray secretly thought it was foolish to waste such gold but Maydon was adamant and being in love, he obliged her and took her to every farm, orchard, and garden so she could plant her coins. The last stop was her own farm where she planted the very last of the coins.
In the end keeping the secret of May’s encounter with the dragon was quite easy. May’s parents weren’t surprised to see them together as they often were together anyhow. They assumed she had spent the night with her friend just as she said and her friend never suspected she was not at home caring for her ill parents. Dray was supposed to have been in Bluewater so his own parents would not have thought anything amiss. Now comes the happily-ever-after part of the tale, for at least some of the characters.
Happily Ever After (for almost everyone)
Maydon was very happy to be home and very happy with her new love. They courted all summer and were married in the autumn and what an autumn it was! Every tree, every field, every garden was bursting with fruits, grains, and vegetables the likes of which the village had never seen. The harvest was so bountiful that they had enough to sell far and wide. And it just so happened that some of their magnificent yield even made it as far as the King’s table. So impressed was he by the luscious foods, he ever after made a point of getting food from Woodedge and the village thrived. The wealth from the gardens lasted for Maydon’s lifetime and though she didn't know why, she did not doubt it had something to do with the dragon's gold.
As for what happened to the wizard, knight, and prince, well I suppose that is worth telling! After leaving Maydon and her hero that day, they fled as quickly as they could to North City and spent their gold recklessly living it up like rich men. However, as was mentioned earlier in this story, dragon’s gold has many properties and it may seem quite surprising to discover what this particular gold was made of. If Maydon had turned around when she left the dragon’s lair that day she would have seen what truly was there which the dragon prudently disguised with dragon spell. His real treasure was kept in the lower chambers and this front chamber was just a plain cavern with no piles of treasures; no gold and necklaces, and goblets and swords… just rock and…well, dragon droppings. Yes, that is what was in all four bags in the end and the charm to make it look like gold only lasted a short while. Therefore it did not take long for all the recipients of this dragon gold that was exchanged for goods and services to discover its true nature and they quickly went after the three spenders. Needless to say it was not pleasant for them and it was many a long year before they ever ventured anywhere again!
And as you probably also surmised by now, the dragon gold made wonderful fertilizer!
So the morals of this story - don’t always believe everything you are told; you are the most valuable of all treasures; things are not always as they first appear so beware of dragon's gold; and above all else – for goodness sake, let sleeping dragons lie!
The End
