“Does anyone know where we're going?” asked Peter. He walked a little faster to catch up with his two traveling companions.
“If I've told you once, I've told you millions of times,” Master Isaiah told Peter, grabbing him by the collar, “do not try to talk to the wizard. He does not need your interference right now. The only reason we brought you along is to carry our food and supplies. My brother told me that you were a very reliable page, but now I think he only wanted to get you off his hands. And, in answer to your question, yes, we do know were we are going.”
“Yes, master.” Peter replied, but he was still itching with curiosity. 'The master only told me not to ask the wizard questions,' he thought, 'but he said nothing about asking himself questions.'
“Master Isaiah?” Peter asked.
“What now?” he snapped back, “wait- I forgot to tell you. Don't ask me questions either!”
“Oh.” Peter looked towards the ground and kicked a rock lying by the side of the dirt road they were traveling on. 'This is such a boring trip.' he said to himself (underneath his breath, of course), 'when Master Jonathan said I was to go on a trip with a wizard, I thought it would be exciting. But, there's






















































































nothing exciting about it! For the past two days all we've been doing is walking down this same road. I
have blisters on my feet. I wish I was back at Master Jonathan's estate, watching the knights train for their joust.'
He thought he heard the wizard say something up ahead, but he payed no attention. Why would the high and mighty wizard want to talk to a page boy like himself? He moped along some more, kicking up the dust in the road. All of a sudden, Master Isaiah bellowed something back to him. “Hurry up, child! We have to get off the road! Come along!” Peter rushed forwards, realizing he had fallen quite far behind. When he caught up with them, Master Isaiah grabbed him by the arm, and pulled him down off the road onto a small path leading down into the forest. It was overgrown and looked like it had not been used in many years. Peter dared to ask, “Why are we going down off the road? It looks like this will take us nowhere.”
“Ask me no questions!” Master Isaiah growled back, “at least not now. Can't you shut your mouth until we make camp?”
“Yes, Master.” Peter sighed. 'Nobody will ever answer my questions,' he thought, 'so why am I even here? To carry their things, of course. But why do they need such things? And where are we going?'
He sighed again, and hurried to catch up with the two men.
After walking some ways more, they entered a clearing. “Come, we'll set up camp here.” Master Isaiah told Peter. “Hurry and make a shelter for us to sleep in. Dark is coming fast.”
Peter set his load of bags down, and started to find some things to build a small hut, big enough for the three of them. He certainly wasn't going to sleep without a roof over his head! After finishing the shelter, he gathered the driest sticks and twigs he found, and managed to make a fire. By the time they had finished their supper, it was dark. Peter and Master Isaiah sat by the blazing fire, trying to soak in some more warmth. The wizard had wandered off some feet away, smoking his pipe and staring off into the black sky. “What is he doing?” Peter asked, forgetting everything Master Isaiah had said about not asking questions. “Thinking.” Master Isaiah replied, much to Peters surprise, “Be sure you don't bother him, boy. He has a lot on his mind.”
“Like what?” Peter asked, hoping he would be answered again.
“Like the things coming up in the future. Tomorrow's journey, and what will come after it.”
Peter decided that he might as well ask more questions. Master Isaiah seemed in a good enough mood. It must have been the supper that turned his mood. Being hungry can always make a man cross.
“Master, why are we here? Where are we going? Please will you tell me?”
“Well, I don't know.” Master Isaiah said thoughtfully, “the time does seem right, but... all right, you may know. After all, it can't hurt. We are in search of the fabled blue dragon.” Peter gasped. There were many tales of the blue dragon. When he was younger these tales had fascinated him. He could almost picture the dragon swooping down and snatching up things. But, when he had gone to work for Master Jonathan, he left that all behind. “The blue dragon? But, why? I thought those were only myths!”
“Yes, we all did. But now there is definite proof of the dragon. He has been raiding small towns and villages nearby here. The wizard has come to find him, and stop him before he does anymore damage. I have come to assist him. Tomorrow we should reach our destination, and find the dragon. Now, that is enough for me to tell you this night,” he finished, seeing that Peter was about to ask something else, “now go to bed. We must rise early tomorrow. I am going to see the wizard.”
Peter could only nod 'yes master', and walked to the shelter. His thoughts filled his mind, but somehow, he managed to fall asleep peacefully.
The next day, Peter's eyes filled with sunshine before he was ready for them to. But, remembering what he had learned last night, he decided it would be best to get up. So, he staggered onto his feet and started preparing things to move on. By the time the other two men were awake, he had a fire burning, and breakfast cooking. “Good lad.” murmured Master Isaiah. When they had finished, Peter was all ready to go, with the supplies packed up and everything. They walked for several hours, with Peter

































keeping up all the way, walking only a few steps behind them as was proper for a page to do, and keeping his mouth shut. He didn't even kick the pine cones. “You should have told the boy where we were headed earlier,” said the wizard, leaning over to Master Isaiah, “look what a change it's made!”
Peter smiled. He had heard what the wizard said. After another mile of walking, the wizard stopped.
“We've reached it, Isaiah,” he said softly, “the dragon is nearby.”
“Yes, sir,” said Master Isaiah, and turned back to Peter to tell him, but he already knew.
They walked on a little further, and Peter realized that he would be face to face with a dragon, and not just any dragon, but the famous blue dragon, the most terrifying of them all. He began to be a bit scared, but put his chin up, and pretended to be brave. The three of them entered a clearing. There was green moss everywhere, with some huge rocks around the side of where they were standing, and a another flat rock in front of them. Peter looked over to the side, and saw one of the trees were scorched. “Look!” he said, and the two men looked over. The wizard started to say something, but was interrupted. Out of nowhere, a huge figure covered them with shadow. It was the dragon! He swooped down, and hovered over the flat rock for a while. He sat down on top of it, and all of a sudden, shot flame out of his mouth. They all ducked, and the searing blue fire missed them by inches. Now Peter was really scared, but he stood his ground. The wizard stood up first, and stepped closer to the dragon.
“I have come with a message!” he bellowed. Peter was confused. He leaned over to Master Isaiah and asked, “Can the dragon understand him?” Master Isaiah nodded, without taking his eyes off the dragon the whole time. “Yes. Dragons are very smart creatures. Some can even talk. We aren't sure about this one yet, but he should, because he is one of the most intelligent non-human creatures in the history of this earth.” Quite a while went by, the wizard shouting to the dragon. Finally, Peter heard a loud voice say, “You have come here to make me stop what I am meant to do?” The dragon had spoken! He spoke again, with a voice that sounded like gravel scraping across a marble surface, saying, “No. If that is what you have come to do, you will never succeed.” Before the wizard could answer or do anything, the dragon lunged at him. He stepped away just in time, and Master Isaiah joined the fight too. The dragon swung around, aiming his tail to hit Master Isaiah. “No!” Peter yelled, feeling a rush of courage.
He jumped in front of Master Isaiah, knocking him out of the way. He felt a huge blow, and in seconds was knocked to the ground. He could barely breathe, and his head felt like it was split in two. In a mere moment, he was knocked out.
Peter woke up, his head spinning. As he looked around, he wondered where he was. He saw a dresser and a big window on the wall behind him. “Where am I?” he said out loud. Then, he felt a cold cloth on his forehead, and heard someone stand up. “How does your head feel?” a kind voice asked.
“I feel like the room is spinning around... wait, it's stopped. But I do have a headache,” he asked again,
“Where am I?”
“You're in Master Isaiah's manor,” the voice came into view. It was a nurse, “I'll go fetch Master Isaiah, if you think you can stand a visitor. He can tell you more about what happened than I can.”
“Yes please.” Peter was so confused. “Peter!” He craned his head up, and saw Master Isaiah walking towards him. He started to ask a question, but Master Isaiah interrupted, “Wait. I know you have many questions, but let me do the talking. Do you remember the dragon?” Peter nodded yes. “Well, when you knocked me out of the dragon's path, he instead hit you. You fell to the ground, and I suppose you passed out. No wonder! Well, after the wizard and I were done there, we rushed you back here. You've been out cold for almost a week now. You took a lot of damage, and I am so glad that you're okay!”
Peter smiled, and asked, “What happened to the dragon? And the wizard?”
“Well, we could not kill the dragon, because it was too hard, and valuable. Instead, we simply had to send it to another kingdom. Don't ask me how, I'm not quite sure myself. And the wizard? He had other business to attend to. Peter, you saved my life, and I want to thank you for it. How would you like to come live with me? You can train as a knight, or continue to be a page boy.”
Peter smiled. A knight. That had been his goal for a long time. He nodded, and even though he had a splitting headache, he had never been happier in his life.