Ruby sat in front of the barn where she and her brothers used to train. She looked at the wooden toy sword they used to use on their great battle between good and bad and smiled some. She had trained with her brothers since the day they all had seen the knight of the king for the first time, with wooden toy swords made by the woodcutter, who later when they all turned sixteen one by one gave them their own wooden sword with the sign of the king in it and their name on the 'blade'. With that sword Ruby had trained for that one special day, the day she would join the knight school at the royal castle where all the knights from the kingdom were trained and got their study. But when she arrived, the headmaster had laughed at her. ''A young, beautiful women like you should get herself ready for marriage, not for a school like this'' he spoke, and he spoke it out with so much sarcasm that Ruby had lost her temper, saying that she could defeat everybody. He had given her a change and gave her a real sword, of course it had not been shard but she didn't know when he let it fall in front of her and had pointed out a second year. ''If you can defeat him and get your sword on his heart, then you can join in.. If not, I don't ever wanna see you here again unless it is to help at the medical care'' he said and she had not been prepared for this. The boy easily won from her and everybody, except her brothers had laughed. And now she sat here, on her old training place and all her brothers where at the school. The only thing she could do now, was becoming a nurse and that was something she was not going to. Standing up with a new kind of fire in her eyes she grabbed her sword and started to practice again. She would find a way to become a knight, wasn't it by joining the school, then it was because she had done something extraordinary! Something like, rescuing a princess or prince of course... Or Something like, catching the most wanted bandit! Or.. Something like killing the dragon! She stopped with her sword in the scarecrow and looked at it. Killing the dragon.. She had heard of the woodcutter and his family how hard it was the get the best wood because those tree's grew around the dragon cave. And the hunters couldn't fish in the lake where the rivers came together because the dragon would protect the lake by scaring them away... Killing the dragon would solve so much, she would become a royal knight and personal guard of the princess! Ruby took out her wooden sword and knew what she was gonna do! She would train, get a real sword and kill the dragon!

The Dragon sat, nestled in the bowels of the caverns which extended below the crystalline surface of the waters where all the rivers conjoined. The great beast shifted, rumbling the rocks in the process of her movements and droned a sour note. There was nothing, it seemed to this reptile, nothing to preoccupy her time on this forsaken place riddled with putrid humans. She released another great drone, a gutteral noise of mighty displeasure at her situation. Suddenly she wished, if only for a moment, she was not one of the last Dragons in this land. Unless, be-damned I am, I'm already alone here. The beast thought to herself. The golden one rose to her paws, and made her way to the entrance of the cave. Blinking against the light for a moment, the Dragon stepped into the water. Swiveling her head left and then right, she concluded that the humans were not coming this day and took the time to curl her scaled lips back from her teeth in a meager grin of approval. Amidst her smiling, she began to lay herself down along the lip of the cave where it met the water. It appeared the Dragon was going to be sleeping outside for the day.

Ruby looked outside, the day was filled with training and getting a plan to leave and get her own sword. She thought about stealing one but then she thought of something better, her oldest brother Aaron was twenty-two and was allowed to use real sword, what if she could buy a sword and say it was for him. He wasn't much bigger than her and she could say he liked to have a sword a little shorter than her. She had totally planned it and even made herself a note with the message from her brother for the swordsman. ''Ruby, could you go ask the backer if he has some leftovers?'' her mother asked. Ruby stood up and nodded. ''I will do that'' she said with a little smile. ''Thank you my dear, don't worry, your time will come'' her mother said just to make her feel better. Of course her mother didn't know about Ruby's plan. She grabbed the money for the bread and her own spared money for the sword and then walked off, she would go to the swordsman first and then to the backer. A few minutes later she walked into the swordsman's shop and laid down the note for him with a little smile. ''Ah, Ruby. Oh, a note from Aaron?'' he asked and looked at the note for just a few second. ''Funny, your brother stopped by this afternoon to say I had to give you this sword and this note when you would come today'' he said and handed her a note and a sword inside a piece of leather. Ruby took the note and started to read it; dear sister, I got ya! hahaha, This sword is a gift from me to you. Be wise and train with it before you go on some adventure saving a prince or princess and become a knight without a arm in a shining armor. I believe in you and always did. Be careful little sister and hide the sword from Mother and Father great regards, Your brother in shining armor, Aaron Ruby took the sword and looked at the man. ''I'll lay it in my garden, just outside the fence behind the three barrels... come pick it up when you need it and lay it there again when not'' he said. Ruby nodded again and then ran off to the backer for the leftovers, even though they had a good farm and the royals did take most of their lands, they always used the leftovers for when they where gonna eat soup. After getting the bread, she went back home and helped her mother in the kitchen for that evening. She was planning to leave that night and train in the woods but also she would not come back without the dragon's head.