7. Dragon Breath.

“HOW DARE YOU!” said the dragon in a booming voice. His scales were bright yellow and shiny (almost glistening). His wings expanded and blocked out the rest of the auditorium. He took a step forward and I felt the stage shake beneath us. He was more terrifying than any dragon I had ever seen in drawings. His head alone was larger than my whole body. 

Ream breathed a heavy breath and then let out a puff of steam that blew over me and Deli. Soy was still tucked down behind the hut, but I knew he felt it too. 

"Go!” yelled Deli as she jumped between my legs to lead the way. 

The three of us sprinted toward the exit door. Soy charged through first, and as Deli and I ran behind him, I felt more of the steam. This time it was much hotter. I slammed the door shut behind us and we ran as fast as we could to the tree line. We kept running until the school was out of sight. We stumbled over logs and under branches. Soy and I both fell at least twice, but Deli seemed to weave through the trees perfectly with every jump. When we were deep in the woods, Deli finally told us that it was okay to walk for a minute. 

“He’ll have to hide in the auditorium until he can take human form again. It takes much more effort to build a disguise than to let your true form show,” she explained.
“That was a DRAGON!” yelled Soy, catching his breath.
“I don’t understand what just happened,” I muttered. 

Deli replied, “Listen boys, I know this is a lot to take in, but it’s time that you started believing me. It will make this a lot easier." 

Not running anymore had helped me to calm down and think a little more clearly. 

“Did you know that he was going to do that? Change like that?” I asked.
“I was counting on it,” she said.
“That was pretty risky, don’t you think?” Soy asked angrily. “Especially since he would’ve passed right over you and gone for the main course!” 

We found the worn dirt path that led to my neighborhood. It was quiet in the woods, except for a few birds chirping overhead in a strange whistle.

“What happened when you flicked that switch?” Deli asked me.
“That curtain’s been broken for two years. Miss Weaver told Mr. Salazar to fix it, but he just put up a sign instead. She doesn’t mind because without a curtain falling she can bow as many times as she wants to when the play is over.”
“Miss Weaver finally did something right, then,” said Deli. 

I stopped in my tracks. 

“How is it that you know Miss Weaver?” I asked. “And what did Ream mean back there when he asked you if you’ve found ‘him’?” 

Soy stopped walking, too. 

Deli replied, “Okay, I’ll explain. But keep walking. We still need to get to your house, and it’s another five minutes away.” 

I almost asked how she knew that, but decided not to bother. 

She continued, “I’ve been watching Stagwood for a long time. My job was to find the hero before Ream did.”
“What do you mean ‘the hero’?” I asked.
“About twelve years ago, a hero was born here in Stagwood,” she answered. 

“I was born in Stagwood twelve years ago!” said Soy. 

“Yes, I know,” Deli responded. I could feel her looking at me as she spoke, but I got real interested in the colorful leaves at my feet instead. 

“Do you know who the hero is?” I stared harder at the fallen leaves. 

“We know that it’s a boy,” she said.
“Well, duh,” interrupted Soy with a proud smile, “aren’t most heroes?” 

“Actually, no. About 51% of heroes are female and 5% are non-binary. The males just seem to brag a lot more about it,” Deli explained with a smaller, but louder smile.
“Yeah, well…” Soy sometimes started a sentence without knowing how to end it. “Go on,” he said.
“As I mentioned, we know that he was born here in Stagwood, and we also know that it was in the summer,” she answered.
“Right, and I was born in June. I think we’ve decided that it’s me,” said Soy.
“And when were you born?” she asked me. 

My stare pierced the leaves and was well on its way to the center of the earth. “July,” I mumbled.
“Guys, guys, guys. It’s me,” said Soy with a hand on my shoulder, “When you’re a hero, you can just… feel it.”
“For years we weren’t sure who the hero was, because not much else had been written about him,” Deli told us.
“Written? By who?” I asked. 

Nearby, a woodpecker was knocking on a tree. I couldn’t see where it was, but Deli had noticed the sound, too. 

“The fairies write down the stories. The battles between good and evil, darkness and light, and magic and sorcery are all found in the fairytales,” she said.
“Fairies?” I asked, looking at Deli.
“Of course.” she said. “That’s why they’re called fairytales. Fairy’s tales. Who did you think wrote them?” 

“People!” answered Soy.
Deli responded, “People can’t write the way that fairies do. Fairies are able to be places without being seen, and to know what is happening as it happens. They are the first and true storytellers.” 

“Wait, are you saying… those stories are real?” I thought out loud.
“Yes,” said Deli, “as I was trying to tell you before, the creatures you’ve read about are real, and so are their adventures. And the hero of this story has the most important adventure of all ahead of them.” 

"So what is it that the hero has to do? I should probably know before I get started with my heroicalisms,” Soy boasted.
“Heroics.” I corrected. “And this adventure sounds kind of dangerous.”
Deli’s eyes became serious behind her glasses. “Yes. He must face the gravest of foes.” 

Soy had lost his smile. He lowered his eyes, choosing rocks to stare at instead of leaves. “Foe, like an evil gnome?”
“Afraid not. More like a dragon," she replied.
Soy and I looked at each other. “You mean Ream? He’s part of the fairytale?” I asked.
Deli nodded. “Perhaps he wasn’t always meant to be, but he is now.” She looked at the trees above us.
“Guys, I’ve thought a lot about it, and I don’t think that I’m the hero,” said Soy definitively.
Deli smiled. “It’s all right, Soy,” she said. "After years of searching, I believe I’ve found him.”
“And who is it?” asked Soy. 

Deli shot a glance behind us towards the path.

“There’s no time for that now,” she said. “Ream has spies all over these woods and we’ve taken too long. Unless my ears are deceiving me, they’re getting closer. It’s time to get inside.” Deli sprinted ahead with long jumps.
Soy whispered in my ear, “Okay, maybe they do have a neck, but now she’s talking about ears? Seriously, Deli has no idea how to frog.”