Chapter 1 - Full story

Dragon Magic Fixes Everything

I looked up at the giant house. It seemed a bit much for just two people to live in, with grand windows, a large backyard, and its sheer size.
My name is Taiyu Starlette. My dad died when I was ten, and my mom raised me until she mysteriously disappeared last year. Ever since, I have moved from foster family to foster family (dreaming up ridiculous explanations about how mom disappeared all the while). My last foster mom gave me back because she ran out of money to raise me.
That’s why I was waiting in front of 22101 South Ettodnayw (which I still can’t pronounce) Mississippi at 12:00 PM.
“Oh, you’re Tay-i-oo...!!” A woman said (struggling with my name... grrrr...), rushing out of the enormous house and giving me a hug. She was wearing a set of gold earrings with a matching gold necklace, and a yellow dress.
“Follow me to your new room!” She said, already halfway up the porch steps.
“Um, okay…” I mumbled, jogging to keep up with her bouncy steps.
“By the way, I’m Leah Drazil, your new mommy!” She giggled. “Come meet your new daddy now!” She opened the door to my room and pushed me in.
“Whoa…” I gasped as I looked around. There was a giant bed, a TV, and even my own couch!
“I’m sorry it is a bit empty, but we’re getting you a desk and computer tomorrow.” Leah said apologetically.
“Wow, thanks…” I replied in disbelief.
“Whatever.” A man said. I hadn’t even noticed him there!
“Oh, this is my husband, James Drazil!” Leah said happily.
“Hello…” I said.
“Why don’t we have lunch soon? But first why don’t you explore a bit?” Leah asked, trotting out of the room and dragging James with her.
Once they left, I opened the suitcase sitting on my new bed. My favorite doll was sitting on top of the pile of few jeans and t-shirts I had owned. It had appeared after my mom had disappeared. It was a dark green dragon with purple eyes (that I could almost have sworn that I had seen moving once in a while), scaly green wings, and a scaly green tail with a blue-feathered tip. I put it under my pillow and walked into the hall.
I marveled at all the beautiful paintings lining the walls. Some of them were weird, several containing golden dragons and silvery unicorns.
I came to a door and opened it. I gasped. It was a bathroom, but the bathtub looked at least four foot deep, and the sink was so gold… I thought of how expensive it might have been and shuddered.
I walked to the counter where my average, green toothbrush stood out against the gold ones like a thistle bush in a tulip patch.
I looked around again. The walls were dark green with beautiful tulip paintings scattered here and there. One corner caught my eye, though. It was the only corner with nothing fancy or expensive looking in it. Even the tulips avoided that wall. I walked over to the left of the corner and knocked on the wall. Thump… Thump… Thump… It went as I went closer and closer to the empty wall. Thump… Thump… Thump… Clang! I hit something that sounded different than the rest. It sounded metal around the empty wall. I investigated more and discovered a large, three-toed footprint partway in the bathroom, partway under the wall.
“What the…” I started as I found a button by a plug in, pressed it, then paused as the wall rose and revealed a silvery metal door.
“Okay… Wasn’t expecting that…” I muttered as a backed up a bit. After a few seconds, I just shouldn’t resist. I grabbed the silver handle, tensed, and pulled as hard as I could. The door slowly creaked open, and I anxiously peered through, inventing another idea. Maybe mom went through this door and was kidnapped by renegade pirates…
“Oh… my… gosh…” I whispered. “I knew the house was big, but this is ridiculous!”
It seemed that a whole other world was on the other side. There were mountains, a lake, a meadow, and sky. I walked through. After I got about 20 feet away, I turned. The house was gone. The only thing different was a silver door sticking out of the dirt.
“TAIYU!!!!” A voice said as I was knocked to the floor. I was lying under a monstrous beast.
“What are you?” I asked, leaping to my feet, reading to run. It looked like a dragon. It had large, green wings, purple eyes, a scaly green body, and a green tail with a blue-feathered tip.
“Are you my dragon doll?” I asked, leaping to my feet, readying to run.
“Kinda.” It replied. It had a very girly voice, and was now sitting on its hind legs. “I’m Meadow, a dragon.” She flapped her green wings as she spoke. “I’ve always hoped you could meet the real me!” she continued, sweeping me into a crushing hug. After she let go, I backed away and looked around. A strange creature-half lion, half eagle-was flying overhead. “It’s a griffin. They seem a little too polite to me. But then again, they can leap to conclusions and start scratching each other up over the silliest things.” Meadow said, almost reading my mind.
“What is this place?” I asked.
“This is Dragon Valley.” Meadow replied as her tail swished back and forth behind her, resembling a snake with an arrow nose.
“And where is that?” I asked, crossing my arms.
“Next to Griffin Lake.” She answered, her tail lashing the ground now, showing she was becoming annoyed. “Where did you come from?”
“Over there,” I started, but the silver door was gone. Instead, it was replaced by a dark blue one.
“You didn’t come from a door, did you?” Meadow asked nervously.
“A silver one.” I said guiltily, although I didn’t know why.
“Oh, no! The doors change every thirty minutes! Your door could be on the other side of Unicorn Canyon for all I know…”
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘THEY CHANGE?” I practically screamed at her.
“The doors move in a strange pattern, changing every half hour. Grrr… I wish I knew more about this kingdom…” Meadow roared.
“You didn’t come from here?” I asked, trying to push panic out of my mind.
“I’m not sure... All I remember is waking up about a year ago in the middle of this field. Nothing before.” She replied, her tail drumming the ground. “Oh, I know! I have an old friend who knows where all the doors are. Hop on my back and I’ll fly you there.” She shouted, lying down. I jumped on, and she slowly rose through the air as she flapped her massive wings.
We flew over a large canyon, full of rainbow colored horses with large spiral horns on their foreheads.
We landed on an island filled with strange people with long, fish-like tails. “Mermaids?” I wondered as Meadow led me to one sitting on a rock.
“Misty, would you tell us where all the doors are to the other world?” Meadow asked as the mermaid turned toward us.
“Of course. One is in unicorn canyon, one is in Dragon Valley, one is sunk at the bottom of Griffin Lake which is no use to you land dwellers, and one is over there.” She said as she pointed with her tail at a white door partly submerged under the water. “Oh, and the final door is in queen Leahzard’s castle.” She finished, diving into the water.
We flew back to Dragon Valley, and I wrote down where the doors we saw were on a piece of paper I found.
“Okay, at 12:30 there was a white door in Mermaid Canyon, a blue door in Dragon Valley, a dark green door was in Unicorn Canyon, and a yellow one was at Griffin Lake. That means my silver door is in Queen Leahzard’s Castle!” I concluded happily.
“We can’t go there.” Meadow said hastily.
“Why not?”
“Queen Leahzard is the meanest ruler we have ever had. She seems a bit suspicious to me. She disappears days at a time, taking her gold with her.” Meadow replied, glancing around nervously. “Taiyu, I have an idea! We could observe where one door goes and find the pattern!” Meadow suddenly burst out.
“Great idea!” I said as I got on her back once again.
After a while, this is what my chart looked like:


Time: Position of green door:

12:30 Unicorn Canyon
1:00 Dragon Valley
1:30 Mermaid Island
2:00 Castle
2:30 Griffin Lake
3:00 Castle
3:30 Mermaid Island
4:00 Dragon Valley
4:30 Unicorn Castle
5:00 Dragon Valley
5:30 Mermaid Island
Now Castle


After landing on Mermaid Island and studying my chart, we found a pattern.
“Oh, it goes Unicorn Canyon, Dragon Valley, Mermaid Island, the castle, Griffin Lake, and then goes backwards!” Meadow realized. “And if your door follows the same pattern…” She continued, scratching out another chart in the dirt with a long claw.


Time: Silver door:

12:30 Castle
1:00 Griffin
1:30 Castle
2:00 Mermaid
2:30 Dragon
3:00 Unicorn
3:30 Dragon
4:00 Mermaid
4:30 Castle
5:00 Griffin
5:30 Castle
Now Mermaid


“Whoa, if your chart is correct, that means that if we get to Dragon Valley in the next thirty minutes we can find my door!” I said happily.
“Great!” She replied as I got on her back and we started to lift off.
“Wait!” I suddenly shouted as I leaped off. I quickly scribbled her chart onto the back of mine. “So I’ll know where the silver door is at all times.” I explained as we finally took off.

I leaped to the ground once we got there. “Here it is!” I said as I pointed at it.
“You will come back, right?” Meadow pleaded.
“Of course.” I replied as I opened the door, but stopped when she started to speak again.
“Good. Otherwise I’d have to make you.” She said happily as smoke wafted out of her nostrils.
“I sure hope she was joking…” I muttered nervously as I walked into the bathroom. I wonder if mom was fried by a dragon…



I scurried to the kitchen, checking my watch as I ran. Yikes! 12:00 AM!
Once I got there, Leah greeted me with a hug. “I was sooooo worried about you! Where were you?” she asked.
“You wouldn’t believe it! There is a hidden door in the bathroom that leads to another world! And I met a real dragon! And then the door disappeared, and…” I continued. Leah looked slightly pale for a moment, and her green eyes seemed red, but suddenly she laughed.
“It sounds like you had a very entertaining dream!” she giggled.
I was about to argue further when James walked in. I yawned. “Since you decided to show up so late and you seem so tired, you can go to bed without dinner!” he said as I found myself being dragged to my room.
I checked to make sure the door was firmly shut. “I think I liked it better when I was trapped in Meadow’s world…” I mumbled as I flopped onto the bed and fell asleep.
Thump! I found myself dropped onto a hard, stony floor. “What happened?” I groaned as I rubbed my sore head.
“So you’ve learned about my kingdom!” A harsh voice growled. I quickly sat up and turned around to face a golden dragon. “I am Queen Leahzard. Welcome to my castle. This is my dungeon. Do you like it?” She hissed as flames lapped out of her mouth, like a golden Jack ‘o Lantern. She circled me, grinning.
“What do you mean that I have learned about your kingdom? Was it a secret?” I whimpered nervously.
“It was until you found my silver door Leah’s house.” She breathed, the flames intensifying. “Do you know who I am?” She continued, all the flames dissipating. One of her long, white fangs sparkled.
“I don’t think so…” I squeaked. Should I?
“Good… lets keep it that way!” she shouted. Her large, red eyes submitted a red glow. Large, rainbow flames shot out of her mouth and engulfed me.
I felt great pain… My hands grew large claws… My mouth became a yellow beak... I grew a strong pair of large wings... My feet grew large and powerful… I grew a lion’s tail… I fell from my feet to my forepaws and hind legs… Feathers coated my front half, while soft, tan fur covered my back. My head grew feathers while my eyes became more sensitive… Then, I think I may have passed out…
When I woke up, I was laying on a sandy beach next to a large lake.
“What happened…?” I mumbled, but instead of words, a squawk escaped my mouth, or actually, beak.
Suddenly, my nose smelled the scent of other animals. Two other beasts approached me. “Squawk!” One screeched, but I heard real words. “Who goes there?” one said politely.
“Taiyu Starlette of the real world.” I replied. Somehow I knew how to correctly introduce myself.
“Come on, you’re a griffin like us! You aren’t from the real world!” it replied with a smirk. Its friend lashed his tail at me as they left.
“A griffin?!” I squealed as I galloped to the water and peered at my reflection. A black-feathered griffin stared back.
While staring at the water, my eyes caught a silvery fish streaking by. My tail lashed. I slowly got ready to pounce…
Splash! My head darted in and out of the water so quickly that I was shocked. I held a small catfish in my beak. I swallowed it whole.
“Did I just eat a raw fish?!” I scolded myself as I shivered and continued down the beach.
I smelled more company. Two more griffins drew closer, one large brown one, and a young white one.
“Greetings, friend.” The brown one said as she came to my side. The young one followed.
“Good day.” I replied. The little one walked behind me and stared into the water. It grabbed a small minnow.
“The fishing is good here. Care to join me?” I asked the brown one.
“Sure.” It replied as it walked to the edge of the water. I turned, too.
“Squawk!” I squeaked as I ran into the little one. It toppled into the water, squeaking angrily at me.
“My eaglet!” the brown one said. It spread its mighty wings and flew over the water. Its head darted into the water and grabbed the eaglet by the scruff of its neck. It dropped the dripping wet little one onto the shore. “You did that on purpose! Now I’ll get you…” it roared. It leaped at me, so I growled and did the same. She slashed at my wing with a talon while I bit her wing.
“DON’T WORRY, TAIYU!! I’M COMING!!!” a voice said as fire rained down a few inches away from the brown griffin’s head.
“Oh, no! A dragon!” the brown one whimpered as it grabbed the little one and scurried away.
Meadow landed gently beside me. “What did she do to you?” She gasped, eyeing my black wings.
“Greetings, my reptilian friend. And I am not positive, but I believe that Leahzard has changed me into a griffin.” I squawked.
“You even talk like a griffin…” She sighed. “I guess that Leahzard thinks that you know more than you should. That’s why she turned you into a griffin, so you couldn’t tell any other humans about it. Do you remember her doing anything that could help us?” She continued.
I wonder if Leahzard turned mom into a griffin… “What? Oh, she asked if I knew who she really was...” I replied.
“I bet that she wants it to be secret… If we do find out, that could help us.” She said. “Oh, how dumb of me to forget… I have another friend named Frost who could probably change you back! Everyone knows that he should really be the king.” She remembered as she lifted into the air. I spread my massive wings and flapped them. It felt silly until I floated up.
“Cool!” I said.
We flew to Dragon Valley and Meadow led me to a cave. “FROST!!! COME OUT!!!” she shouted into it. It echoed for a few minutes until a blue, almost white, dragon emerged.
“Good morning.” It said.
“Frost, could you turn this griffin back into a human? Queen Leahzard turned her this way.” Meadow asked, her tail once again resembling a snake.
“Of course.” Frost said. He lumbered back into his cave and moments later dragged out a black cauldron and some things I couldn’t identify. “I need a feather.” He said, turning to me.
I turned my head around, outstretched my wing, and plucked a delicate black feather. I placed it in front of Frost.
Frost then picked it up and put it in the cauldron along with a familiar gold scale and a strange liquid. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled. Blue flames roared into the cauldron, lighting everything on fire.
Suddenly, I burst into flames as well. This time it didn’t burn. My feathers dropped off. My beak disappeared and was replaced with a mouth. I slowly was able to stand again. My wings vanished. My talons became hands.
“Taiyu! You’re back!!” Meadow shouted happily. I looked down. I was human. I was still wearing the clothes that I had been when I had changed.
“Dragon magic fixes anything.” Frost said happily as he walked back into his cave, dragging the empty cauldron.
I got onto Meadow’s back and we flew to Mermaid Island, the current location of the silver door.
As I walked through, I thought. Who is Leahzard, really? I stopped my mind racing. I knew who Leahzard was. She even lived in this very house.
“Meadow, wait!” I shouted as I ran back and whispered a plan into her scaly ear.
I walked up the stairs into the kitchen. Leah was there, washing dishes.
“Where were you?” She asked nervously. Her eyes were wide open.
“Don’t act like you didn’t know, Leahzard, a.k.a. Leah Drazil!!” I shouted.
“That’s Queen Leahzard to you!” She replied, grinning. She suddenly began to grow and change. Her eyes became red while she grew a golden, scaly body and tail. She grew gold wings. She continued to change until I was looking at Leahzard the Dragon Queen.
“So, you found my true identity. My question is how you became human so fast.” She growled, acting amused.
“Dragon magic fixes anything.” I answered.
“Indeed it can. Now watch me fix you so you can never get in my way again!!” She roared as her eyes glowed once more. I whistled loudly. Suddenly, Meadow rushed through the kitchen and blocked her evil stare with a large mirror. Leahzard’s fire was reflected, and she started to change once again. Her golden wings shrunk. She grew large ears.
“Meow?” she growled as Leahzard the Cat Queen landed on her tiny paws. “I will get you eventually!” She shouted in a squeaky voice.
Suddenly, Meadow began to change. She shrunk to about my size, maybe a little taller, and slowly became human. She was wearing the same clothes my mother had been wearing when she disappeared. “Ohh… suddenly I remember everything… I had gone into the closet and found a door. I went in, and then was kidnapped by a specific golden dragon…” Meadow said as she rubbed her head. Okay, maybe my stories weren’t as farfetched as I had thought… except for the one where mom was abducted by aliens...
“I did it so you couldn’t tell anyone else… of course your daughter was the one who did it in the end…” Leahzard said unhappily.
“Hey, Taiyu, I remember telling you when you were little never take an animal from its natural habitat. Want to put this one where she belongs?” Mom asked as she grinned.
“Sure.” I replied, grinning as well. I grabbed the struggling cat and tossed her into the door. A huge banner was draped across the two mountains, one of which Leahzard’s castle was placed on. The banner read ‘All hale the new ruler Frost!’ “Oh, how did you change back?” I remembered as we walked to my old room. My suitcase was there, but the dragon doll wasn’t. “And what was with the doll?” I added.
“I believe that by defeating Leahzard, we undid all of her evil magic. The doll was my own doing. I thought Leahzard was acting suspicious, so I created an enchanted doll that I could control and see through that someone would find. Then I could hear and see if Leahzard was up to something.”
We walked out the front door, heading for the police office. “Are you really my mother?” I asked.
“Yep.” She replied.
“Do you think the police will believe our story on how I found you?” I asked, grinning.
“Nope.” She replied as she started grinning, too.
“I just can’t help thinking I forgot something…” I muttered.


Later that day, James Dragon returned from work. He walked past the open bathroom door, then turned around and looked through again.
“I know Leah was planning on adding another room for that Taiyu kid, but this isn’t what I expected…” He said as he stared through an open silver door at a new land filled with dragons, unicorns, griffins, mermaids, and one very angry cat.

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