The Soft-Hearted Prince and His Dragon

1 - Galen

Once upon a time, there lived a prince named Galen, who caused a lot of worry to his parents. He was to become a king one day, but he had no interest in fighting, cut-throat politics, princesses, or drinking. Everyone knows you need to drink like a hound to earn the respect of your subjects and your royal neighbors.

"What will become of him?" his parents lamented.

"If things continue this way, he might end up being sober most of his career. Can you imagine what he could do to our lovely kingdom in such a state?" the king was telling the queen one day.

"What a sobering thought!" the queen wailed, wringing her hands.

Instead, Galen liked to read. He was particularly interested in magic. When he was ten, he cast a locating spell entirely on his own and helped a little cygnet find its rightful family. The poor fluffball got lost, and by the time Galen met it, a duck mother was raising it along with her own ducklings. The cygnet was teased for its different looks, always pushed aside and looked down on. Galen could relate to the cygnet's loneliness.

When he was thirteen, he helped a tax collector lift a curse cast by a magician who wouldn't pay her taxes. Due to the curse, the man became a wolf every full moon. He had a persistent urge to eat pigs, grandmothers, and other forest inhabitants. But Galen could recognize a shape-shifter—even an unwilling one—when he saw one. After he helped the clerk, his mother cried for seven days and seven nights. His father attempted to explain to him that big bad wolves are to be killed, not helped.

"Every little child knows that," the king shook his head. "Why is it so hard for our Galen to understand?"

And the trouble with Galen's magic only continued in the years to come.

"We need to do something about him, or he'll never succeed in life," the king decided one day after Galen turned twenty.

"Oh, the shame!" the queen wailed.

So they came up with a plan.

"Galen, come here, boy." The king lead Galen to a private chamber.

"Yes, father?"

"I have a story to tell you, so listen well," the king started. "Behind nine mountains and nine rivers, there lives a ferocious dragon—"

"I know, dad. My cousins, Tom and Chris, have paid a visit to the dragon."

"You don't pay a—" the queen started, but the king raised his hand.

"Stop interrupting me, both of you. I'm telling a story."

Galen and his mother exchanged looks. The king loved to tell stories and took them very seriously. He wasn't as good at it as he thought, though.

"So, where was I... Yes. There lives a ferocious dragon there, in the far, far away land."

"It's actually not that f—" Galen started but restrained himself under his father's look. The king's furrowed eyebrows could serve as an escape bridge for the whole town in case of a fire.

"Everyone knows that if you kill a dragon, part of his power shifts to you. That's the only kind of magic worth a man. Many brave men have tried their luck with the dragon, not knowing any fear," the king continued. "Many have been mutilated, scarred for life, or even died."

"Sounds fun," Galen mumbled.

"Tell me, my only son, will you become the next hero daring to laugh the mortal danger in the face? Will you risk your life to save the country from the dark spell of the dragon and earn your right to bear its power?" The king's voice boomed and echoed through the room. The queen wiped a tear away, and the king himself looked touched by his speech.