Near the North Carolinian shore, there lived an 18 year-old girl called Rosalie. Rosalie was just an ordinary girl at her college, and nobody wanted to be her friend. Every day, she would go home and take a small walk near the beach, hoping that it would fill her loneliness, but it was no use. When her grandmother passed away, it had Rosalie locked in a sea of sadness. She clinched to the necklace that she once gave her. She told Rosalie to always keep it around her neck, but she did not know why. It had a topaz in the shape of a teardrop.











On a warm September evening, Rosalie decided to take a swim on the beach. As usual, nobody but the seagulls inhabited the place. This time, she decided to take a small swim for the day. For it not to get wet, Rosalie took off her teardrop necklace and placed it on a small oval-shaped boulder. Once Rosalie got into slightly deeper water, there was an unusual sway of water moving around her. The clouds around went dark and a shock of thunder struck not too far away. Once the sways intensified, Rosalie started to go into panic. The intense sways got stronger and turned into a whirlpool! She desperately cried for help, but only the seagulls could hear her. The whirlpool was dragging Rosalie deeper and deeper into the water. She started breathing in water, and she suddenly blacked out.
She woke up. Rosalie started feeling a bit nauseous…then she saw that she was on a boat. There was a strange, peculiar man rowing the boat. She looked up. In the distance, there was a large, mountainous land with miniature sized houses and shops. On one of the highest mountains, there was a castle. It all seemed so medieval, kind of like she was having a dream…
“Where am I?” asked Rosalie in great confusion. The man did not turn around, but answered, “You are in Becilia”. “Where’s that?!” Rosalie said. “This is the land that is under your world. You probably went into the ocean and swam over the portal leading to here, Becilia.”
“Great, that makes perfect sense…” Rosalie sighed, being sarcastic. “By the way, I never got your name,” the man said. “I am Rosalie”…..“Wait, you must be the lady from the prophecy! It said that when Rosalie would arrive, you would save our people from the dreaded dragons! Yes! I must get you to Prince Aaron at once!” the man said. Rosalie gave him a strange look as he navigated his small boat straight for this mythical land.
The man brought Rosalie to his hay wagon and led his horse up the long road to the medieval castle Rosalie saw when she woke up. There were two guards standing at the gates of the castle. “What is it that you want?” one of the guards said. “I believe that this girl I brought with me is Rosalie, the girl from the prophecy,” the man said. The guard thought for a second and said, “Oh, alright. We will let Prince Aaron be the judge of that,” as he pulled the lever making the immense gate open. The other guard led the man and Rosalie to Prince Aaron’s room.
“Prince Aaron, excuse me, but I have brought you Rosalie, from the great prophecy! I was fishing, and found her floating in the water, so I picked her up to my boat. I believe that she found the portal to our land in the waters from her world.” Prince Aaron was surprised and said, “Fine, I believe you, but what makes you think that this feeble girl can defeat Arterius and the other dragons?” He investigated Rosalie for a minute, sighed, and said, “Oh, fine. I will give her a chance to prove herself by defeating them.”
Still in confusion, Rosalie confidently accepted her mission. First, the prince handed her an ancient looking scroll with a map painted onto it. “This is the map you will need to get to Infernia, the land where you will find the cave of Arterius. He is the largest and grandest of all the other dragons, so it will be easy to tell who he is. It is critical that you do not lose this map,” he said. “Tomorrow, you shall start your journey to Infernia. Be careful, the land is completely inhabited by dragons. Keep a keen eye for them! It is a long route to the place, so my men and villagers will stock a wagon with adequate supplies for the quest. I will bring ten of my best guards and horses with you. Tonight, you may rest at my castle and get enough sleep for tomorrow.” Prince Aaron called one of his maids to set up one of the rooms for Rosalie to sleep in. Immediately, Rosalie fell on the soft bed and went to sleep.
“Get up, lazy head! It is your big day,” a maid softly told Rosalie. “Oh…oh! That’s right…my big day.” Rosalie quickly got out of bed, dressed up, and went outside. There were a lot of people scrambling around carrying food, armor, and other supplies to three wagons. Finally, Prince Aaron spotted Rosalie and brought her to where the guards and horses were. “Here, put this armor on. You will need it,” already putting it on for her. The guards and horses all had armor too. Then, Prince Aaron led a unicorn that was as white as snow straight for Rosalie. “I am lending you my unicorn for you to ride on your journey. Please, be safe,” he said. The wagons were full. The guards and horses were ready, and so was Rosalie. Their long and tiring journey had just begun.
First, Rosalie traveled the whole day getting through Purity Forest, which was as tricky to get through as a labyrinth. There was a huge fissure blocking the path, so they had to find a way around it. Once they got out of Purity Forest, there was a vast land of plains, filled with a mixture of grass and sand. It was easy getting through, but then they had to hike up the Terrias Mountain Range. These were the mountains that separated Becilia and Infernia from each other. On the Becilia side of the mountain range, it was peaceful and a little snowy. Once they got to the Infernia side of the mountain, there was a treacherous blizzard that left two of the guards nowhere to be found.
At last, the blizzard ended and Rosalie was able to get out of the Terrias Mountains!





So after about eleven days of traveling their journey, Rosalie and the guards were finally at Infernia. It was a dark, temperate place. The sky was as red as fire, and there were large craters on this rocky land. Every now and then, one of the holes on the ground would spit out a large cloud of black smoke that would spook the horses. The small group tried to move quickly out of the cratered land, until they heard loud, shrilling roars of anger.
Rosalie had forgotten that this land was totally inhabited by fire-breathing dragons. Everyone looked to the sky and saw just what was expected – a dragon. This one was bright red with darker skin on the belly and wings. “Trespassers, halt or be burned!” the dragon shouted to us. “We are warriors from the land of Becilia across the Terrias Mountains and we come to see Arterius!” one of the guards shouted back. “Ha! All warriors from Becilia have been burned down to cinders in attempting to see Arterius! If you want to see our leader, you will have to pass through me!” the now raging dragon shouted.
He let out a piercing roar and let out a huge fireball straight for Rosalie! One of the guards quickly put his shield in front of her, blocking the attack. All the guards threw their spears at the dragon, but it was no use. Rosalie thought that if her guards were beaten now, she would never be able to defeat Arterius! She took a quick thought and took a bow and arrow from one of her guards. She took her aim and fired. It was a direct hit at the dragon’s wing. The arrow kept flying with the dragon still stuck to it. Then, the arrow hit a wall of rocks and stayed there. Now, the furious dragon was stuck to the rocks by the arrow. While they still had the chance, Rosalie and the guards ran across the ravaged field into a safer area.
Completely exhausted, the guards and Rosalie moved on toward a mountainous land. On the tallest mountain, Rosalie spotted a small cave. This must have been the cave where Arterius lives. She was going to get there in no time, but then she looked around the mountain. There were hundreds of dragons that filled the sky, but none that had spotted Rosalie, yet.
The guards and Rosalie sprinted away from sight and started to think of a plan. “How do you expect us to go straight to that mountain with all those dragons surrounding us? In less than a minute, we would all be burned to ashes,” the guards said to each other. “Wait. I think I have a plan,” Rosalie spoke up. “See that small hole in the ground over there? We can get in one by one and dig a trench leading us straight to the mountain. Then when we climb the hill, we hide ourselves with our shields, so that the dragons would not be able to get us.” All the guards agreed with Rosalie’s plan and unloaded the shovels from the wagon.
First, they tied the horses and the unicorn to the wagon that they would need to leave behind. All they took were their weapons and defense. They made a quick dash to the hole and started digging. Slowly, the guards scooped the dirt up in the shovel and emptied the dirt in back of them. This long process took them about thirteen hours. Luckily, the guards had brought some food and water for them to keep from fainting. Afterwards, they reached the soaring mountain. Fortunately, none of the dragons had seen them, yet. Once they started climbing, the dragons started spotting them. They spit fireballs at them, but the shields blocked them off.
It also took the guards and Rosalie a long time to reach Arterius’ cave. Daringly, Rosalie shouted, “Arterius! We the warriors from Becilia have come to stop you from destroying our land! Show yourself, now!” A loud roar came from the end of the cave. He came from the shadows, exposing his dark red color and eyes that seemed to have a fire burning inside. Slowly, he glanced at each one of the soldiers. “Do you really think that you weaklings can beat me? I object battling with your weak little team. Instead, I will go to Becilia and destroy it myself!” Rosalie and the others all stood in shock. This was not supposed to happen. “Sajin! Ruffen! Finish them off! Do not let the other dragons get to them! These weaklings are all yours,” Arterius shouted to two dragons in the sky. “Yes sir!” the two dragons said to their leader. Arterius flew off the mountain and straight to Becilia! Rosalie remembered what she did to the other dragon earlier on her journey over here. Before the dragons could attack, Rosalie took the bow and arrow and quickly hit both of them. Now, it was Arterius’ turn.
Without the danger of the dragons that were flying in the sky, Rosalie and the guards ran as fast as they could back to their horses. Rosalie was struck by the fact that it would take way too long going through the ravaged field, the Terrias Mountain Range, the large plains, and Purity Forest. Rosalie looked around and stared at the unicorn Prince Aaron lent her. “Do not worry! I will fly on my unicorn all the way back to Becilia. I urge you to take this map and get safely back to your home. I wish us all good luck,” Rosalie said to the guards.
She mounted the unicorn and commanded it to fly. Rosalie had never ridden a horse before, but she stunned herself when she saw that she was riding like a professional. In a matter of minutes, Rosalie could see Prince Aaron’s castle way up in the mountain. She felt like she had come home, but that second of happiness soon disappeared when she saw Arterius getting ready to hurl a massive fireball at the town. In the distance, she could see Prince Aaron standing and glaring sadly at the dragon, knowing that Rosalie had failed. Looking at his sad face, Rosalie tried to get out of the clouds to show him that she was still alive and that she was going to save Becilia.
Once she got close enough, she screamed as loud as she could at the dragon, “Arterius! I command you to stop, now!” Slowly, the fireball in Arterius’ mouth shrank and disappeared to nothing. He gradually turned his head, looking at Rosalie straight in the eye. She saw that the fire burning in his eyes was more intense than before and now were filled with rage. “Rosalie, Rosalie, Rosalie. Why won’t you just give it up already? You do not have any guards that can save you now. All you have is that pathetic unicorn that cannot serve as any use other than fly? Face it. It ends now!”
Again, Arterius formed a massive fireball in his mouth with a light that could almost blind you. Rosalie took out her trusty bow and arrow and took her aim. She knew that the arrow itself was too weak to beat Arterius, but she was willing to take the chance. In the distance, Prince Aaron shouted, “Rosalie! Use the unicorn! Rub the arrow with my unicorn’s horn! It will give it dragon dust! Hurry!” Rosalie had no idea what he meant by that, but she trusted him. It was her only hope, so she did as the prince told her. In a flash, Rosalie took her aim again and shot straight at the dragon’s chest.
Suddenly, the dragon’s fireball weakened and fell to the ground, having no effect to the town. He started coughing harshly, and tried to fly away. Before he could even reach the plains, he plunged head first to Purity Forest. There was a thunderous crash, and the sound of tree branches splitting. Rosalie had taken down Arterius.
Once Rosalie saw the dragon fall into the forest, she commanded the unicorn to go back home. Before she could even see the crowd of cheering villagers, Rosalie blacked out. She heard a familiar voice somewhere near her, but she could not tell where or who the person was. “Good job, Rosalie. Do not worry, everything is going to be alright…….”
“Ughhh…where am I?” Rosalie said. There were some people surrounding her, but her vision still was a little blurry. “You fainted, dear. While your unicorn landed, you fainted, so we brought you back to your bed,” one of the prince’s maids told Rosalie. “That was awfully courageous of you to shoot that arrow directly at Arterius like that. He was one second away from blasting you with that fireball,” another maid said. After a little while, Rosalie’s vision turned back to normal. She was in her bed, surrounded by seven of the maids. “Prince Aaron wanted to see you, Rosalie. He is out in the garden. Would you like me to bring you there?” another maid said. “Oh, sure.”
The maid brought her through two of the grandest doors that Rosalie had ever seen. Outside, there was another grand display of a variety of plants. There were butterflies and couples of birds flying everywhere. Then in the center was Prince Aaron. He gave her a small gesture to come to where he was. “Is there something you want from me?” asked Rosalie in a polite way. “Actually, I would like to congratulate you for saving my kingdom. I would have never thought that silly prophecy would come true,” said the prince. “Tonight, we are having a celebration dinner at the ballroom of my castle. It would be an honor if you would come.”
“Of course I would come! What would make you think that I would not want to go?” Rosalie said. Prince Aaron gave an innocent shrug to her. “Rosalie? I do not know how to say this, but I’m just going to come out with it.” He leaned down on one leg and took out a small box. “Rosalie, when we are older, would you marry me?” Rosalie smiled, as if to say yes. Then he smiled back as if accepting her yes. Then, they kissed. Now, it was Princess Rosalie. Now, she wanted to live peacefully in Becilia with her prince forever.

The next day, a thunderstorm started at Purity Forest. There, laid Arterius calmly at the ground getting drenched by the water. Slowly, and very slowly, his eyes started to open. Again, the fire inside his eyes were showing now with revenge. Step by step he picked himself up with all the remaining energy left inside of him.
Arterius gave out a weak roar as he tried to fly. He crash landed on the first and second attempt, but on the third, he was air born. Furiously, he flew back to his cave in Infernia. All of the remaining dragons gathered around him to know what had happened. “That girl…she shot me with an arrow. While I was trying to escape, I lost consciousness and landed in Purity Forest. This morning, I regained some of my health and was able to fly here safely.”
All the dragons stared at Arterius in disbelief that something as weak as an arrow could have any effect on their leader. “Someday, I still do not know how, we must defeat that girl. She is the only thing keeping us from demolishing Becilia. If we capture her, we might still have a chance,” Arterius said. “From this day on, we will build an army and put my words in action!” As soon as Arterius had said those words, all the dragons started training their attacks and defenses. This day that he was talking about was going to be very soon.
It was about one week after Arterius had come back to Infernia. In Becilia, everything was calm and quiet. Rosalie was having a cup of tea in tranquility until everyone heard the noise. There was a penetrating roar followed by other minor bellows of dragons. Rosalie dropped her teacup and looked outside in the distance. There were hundreds of dragons all positioned in attack being led by Arterius, who was in the center.
Before Rosalie could fall in shock, Prince Aaron caught her back. He too stared in the distance. “How could this be possible?” Rosalie whispered. “It does not matter now, all we have to do is figure out a way to stop them,” the prince whispered back to her. When he was just about to give the command, all of his guards had already taken their positions outside. Then he gave the command: “Attack!” The guards threw their spears and weapons at the incoming dragons. Some of the dragons were hit, but there were just too many of them.
Rosalie hid herself in her room away from all the commotion outdoors. Suddenly, a giant black dragon crashed through the windows of Rosalie’s bedroom. Glass shattered everywhere. She screamed for help, but everyone was too busy keeping themselves away from the dragons. The black dragon caught her with his claws and flew back out the windows.
Back outside, the dragons were spitting fireballs all over Becilia. Prince Aaron’s guards were useless now. Just then, he heard screams from above him. Up in the air, he saw Rosalie shut tight in the black dragon’s claws helplessly calling out for help. “Retreat! Save yourselves and reach safer grounds!” the prince called out to his guards. He knew that the dragons came only to kidnap Rosalie. Prince Aaron ran to his stables and mounted one of his winged horses. All he could bring with him was some weapons, but no food.
The prince ran swiftly with his horse through the burning walls of fire that used to be shops and homes. After dodging some of the dragons that tried to get him, the prince and his griffin made it to Purity Forest. Eventually, they made it to the Terrias Mountain Range. Thankfully, there was not a blizzard going on like the last time when Rosalie went. Finally, they all made it safely to Infernia.
Since all the dragons were still destroying Becilia, except for the black dragon that took Rosalie, Prince Aaron made it through safely. The only problem was that he did not have any idea where his princess was. “Rosalie!!” he screamed several times. Still, there was no response. He kept trying to find her, but it was no use.
Soon, his hope was running out. He looked everywhere, until he saw a small cave in the tallest mountain. Immediately, he climbed up the mountain and into the cave. As expected, Rosalie was there with the black dragon beside her. “Let her go,” Prince Aaron said in a solid voice. He slowly took out his sword, asking for a battle.
“It is not me who you need to fight with. To get your precious girl back, you would have to fight with Arterius,” the black dragon told the prince. Just then, Arterius entered the cave and gave a little smile when he saw Prince Aaron and his sword. The fire in his eyes were burning with rage seeing that the prince was still alive. “Let her go,” he said to Arterius. “With pleasure,” Arterius said. He jumped right in front of the prince and pushed him off the mountain with a swish of his tail.
Prince Aaron harshly fell from the mountain. Right when he was going to hit the ground, his winged horse caught him and flew back up to the cave. The prince took out his sword again, but Arterius just laughed and said, “Ha! Only a teardrop can truly defeat me you pathetic humans!” Just then, Rosalie remembered the teardrop necklace that her grandmother had given her! “Aaron! I need you to go back to the portal that brought me to Becilia and get the necklace with a teardrop! It is on a small oval-shaped boulder!” He stared at her with confusion. “Trust me on this! Now hurry!” Rosalie said.
Prince Aaron quickly mounted the winged horse and flew all the way back to Becilia, at least what remained of it. All the dragons that were there seemed to have retreated. He looked around for survivors, and found a small group of people full of dirt and ragged clothes. He recognized the man who had brought Rosalie from his boat. He asked him, “Excuse me, you are the man who brought the girl floating in the water to my castle, right?” “Yes, I guess I do remember doing that,” the man answered. “Good, now, do you have any recollection of exactly where you found her in the water? If so, can you bring me there?” the prince asked. “Yes I do, but my boat was burned down when the dragons came. I do recall her floating in the small area over there between the two rocks,” the man said. Prince Aaron looked at the area, took off his cape, and jumped in the water. When he went over the small area, small sways of water moved around him. They intensified and turned into a whirlpool! As soon as he knew it, Prince Aaron was floating in the same beach that Rosalie found the portal to Becilia.
It did not take long for the prince to find the small boulder with the teardrop necklace on it. So he took the necklace and went back into the water. Again, he was in the waters off the coast of Becilia. He swam to a nearby rock and called for his winged horse to go pick him up. Soon, he was back on his way to Infernia.
Prince Aaron went back up the mountain and into the cave. “Arterius! It ends now!” he said. He tossed Rosalie the teardrop necklace for her to make it work against the dragon. “This teardrop will wash away the burning fire in your eyes, bringing you to an end!” Rosalie said to Arterius. The necklace started lighting up when she pointed the teardrop to the dragon. Rosalie and the prince had to close their eyes to how bright the light was. The light shined on Arterius and made him slowly disappear to nothing but dust. “So it is finally over,” Prince Aaron said. “I feel weak, let us go back home, or at least what is left of it,” Rosalie said. They both climbed on the back of the winged horse and flew back to Becilia.
The town was a wreck. All the shops and homes were crumbled and there were hardly any trees left standing. The castle did not look so bad, except for the broken window of Rosalie’s bedroom. Survivors slowly moved out of their hiding places, looking around the sky to see if there were any dragons still there. They all gathered around the prince and princess in confusion of what to do next and how they would fix the wreckages.
There was a lot of discussing between the townspeople of how they should rebuild the shops and homes and refurbish the town with new plants. Day after day, stores came up again, homes were rebuilt, and plants were everywhere. It was starting to look as if nothing had ever happened to Becilia.
“So is this a happily ever after?” Rosalie asked. “I guess so,” Prince Aaron said. “No more dangers around?” she asked. “Not that I know of, there is still plenty of land that I have never explored,” he answered. “Good,” Rosalie said.

The End