Nicola was never more highly strung in all of her short life than over the next month, she was going to Dragon Valley to actually live with real dragons! Having always been fascinated by them she had memorised their names when she was little and now she was going to see them all!

She could not have been more excited about anything else and thought about it every waking moment of every day, if that wasn’t enough she dreamed about it at night. This one thought consumed her entire mind. It was the scariest thing that had ever happened to her.

The days passed in a blur for Nicola, time had never gone by so fast for her. One morning her father called her outside after breakfast, she walked out into the fresh air and looked around at the mountains and the clear sky. She loved morning in the mountains.

As she turned to her father she saw that he was standing next to a tall, thin man dressed in a long, thick grey coat. Her father had her travelling pack at his feet.

Realising what was going on immediately, Nicola’s eyes filled with tears. She ran to her father who bent down and gave her the longest of hugs. When they eventually let go of each other Nicola was astonished to see tears on her father’s face, she had never seen him cry before.

“Nicola, this is Ethan, he’s here to take you to Dragon Valley. Ethan, this is my daughter, Nicola.”

“Hello Nicola,” Ethan said, squatting down so his eyes were at her level. “I’ve heard a lot about you and you sound like a very brave little girl. I’d like to be your friend, would you like that?” he asked, holding out a hand.

Nicola looked at the man’s face, like the rest of him it was very thin. He smiled at her in a way that she couldn’t help but like, she reached forward and solemnly shook his hand in the way of all children when they are making a real effort to be very serious about something. Ethan’s smile widened and he returned the handshake before standing up and facing her father.

“Has she any warm travelling clothes?” Ethan asked.

“Ooh!” squealed Nicola in a small voice before running away and up to her room to change. She saw that her father had packed almost all of her belongings; there weren’t many of them. He had also laid out the warmest clothes she had on her bed, along with a brand new little travelling cloak for her, made from a thick, coarse material that she knew was very warm. The village tailor must have charged him a fortune and once again Nicola’s eyes filled with tears.

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‘No,’ she thought to herself, ‘No more crying, I don’t have time!’

Nicola changed quickly and ran back down stairs, she was intercepted at the bottom by Kara, the maid handed her a little package.

“Something for the journey, I know you like this,” Kara said with a smile.

Unable to fend off her own curiosity, Nicola opened a corner to see what was inside.

Ginger cake.

“Oh! Thank you!” she squealed and threw her arms around Kara for a quick hug before releasing the maid. “Goodbye!” she shouted and as she ran for the door she waved and glanced over her shoulder to see Kara waving back.

When Nicola rejoined her father she was carefully tucking the wrapping back into place around her prized ginger cake. As she walked up her father took the package from her fingers and fitted it gently into her pack. Then he helped her get the pack into place on her back and squatting down in front of her, pulled her cloak tightly around her.

“I’ve never been more proud of you in my life little angel,” he said.

Nicola threw her arms around his neck for one last hug, they both whispered “goodbye” into each other’s ears before letting go.

As her father stood up, Ethan stepped forward to speak to him.

“Mr. Zek,” he said to the tavern keeper, shaking his hand. Nicola saw that her father had a happy smile on his face as he shook Ethan’s hand.

“Oh no, that’s just too strange. Just Zek,” said her smiling father, making Ethan chuckle.

“Ok then, Zek.”

They loosed each other’s hands, then Ethan turned with a smile and gestured for Nicola to lead on down the road out of the village, and so the journey started.

The road was flat and as smooth as a gravel track could be. They were travelling constantly downhill and it only took an hour before they passed the foot of a mountain that would put them completely out of sight of the village where, up to this point, Nicola had spent her entire life.

She turned just before they lost sight of the village and could still clearly see her father standing next to the huge dragon house, watching her. She gave him a wave and saw him raise a hand in a long slow answering wave.

A moment later she took a few more steps and her village was out of sight.