The Dragon Princess

The old stone bridge trembled; Melting stones and rocks from the bridge crashed onto the ground below. The sight of the three headed beast spewing fire into the sky from across her left the Princess frozen. At the other end of the bridge, her mother, the Queen, moaned one last time as she tried to break the shackles that bound her to the pillars, but her strength had already departed her.

The Princess stared at her mother. The lifeless gaze of her mother’s eyes resonated as rage in her. She uttered a war cry. “Eg er princess af Dreka!” she yelled and charged holding her broken dagger and cracked Opal shield onto the trembling stone bridge.

“Wake up sleepy head. You'll be late to camp!,” Mom nudged Mira from her dreamy sleep.

Mira, an 8 year old lazy little bundle of joy opened her eyes; she looked around for dragons and castles, but found herself transported back to her boring bedroom. Her mom smiled, sitting beside her. Mira smiled back, and pulled her woolen blanket over her head.

“Wake up now! I made pancakes for you…”

“With blueberries?” Mira mouthed indiscernible words from under the covers.

“Yes, with blueberries! Eat some breakfast while it’s hot, and we’ll go to camp,” mom said, pulling the sheets off Mira’s face. “Vani,” a tame yell rang from the first floor. Mom knew what it meant; she mouthed along, rolling her eyes. “I can’t find my tie. Can you please help me find it? I need to hurry.”

Mira giggled.

“Coming,” Mom responded and got up. “Get down soon, okay?” she said, looking at Mira, and hurried down.

As soon as she left, Mira crept back under the blanket and pulled out her handheld video-game console. It was the summer of 2003; the first summer break for Mira after their family moved coasts from Atlanta to San Diego. Dad worked at the bank and mom recently quit her job as a copywriter to start her own design studio.

Mira was a shy and reserved girl, and leaving her old friends only made things worse. Her first year in the new school was unpleasant to say the least. Being a new student,

she was picked on everyday for the first two weeks, which pushed her to seek solace in solitude. Mira wasn’t the best student in class; she didn’t even try. While her allergies kept her off the playground, the few times she set foot on it, she was bullied; but she never complained. The only class she liked at school was Art class. She often skipped Physical Ed. to trail her art teacher and paint through the infinite landscapes of her imagination. After school, she would rush home to enjoy the best part of her day — exploring the mystical worlds of Dragool with her favourite video game - ‘Heroes of Dragool’. But summer break meant that her whole uneventful schedule was going to change, and not for the better. Her parents enrolled her at ‘The Champs’ Camps’ in the neighbourhood, in the hope of having her mingle with the neighbouring kids. Now, for the unfortunate young girl there was no escape; she would have neither the escape of isolation nor the comfort of art. And that was not the worst part; even though she had no classes, no school or homework, she would have to wait until evening to get back to her videogames, the mere thought of which made her   With these concerns weighing her down, Mira crawled out from under her blanket, put on her pink flip flops, and waddled towards her bathroom. Brushing - Blueberry Pancakes - A boring few hours later... It was 2 hours past noon. All the 30 kids finished their lunch and ran out from the Champs’ Camps Command-Centre to the playground. Three lavishly dressed ladies running the camp were engrossed in a post lunch debate inside the command centre tent. After a morning of forced socializing, Mira finally found time for herself. She walked around the grassy playground, wandering away from groups of children playing tennis, badminton or just running around. She skipped and hopped through an unoccupied territory of the ground, where she saw a kid rocking a half sleeve Khaki shirt and shorts, crouched on the ground as if he was borrowing for hidden treasure. Mira’s curiosity drew her towards him. As she walked closer, she noticed that the kid was carving the figure of a fire breathing dragon in the sand. “Is that a dragon?” Mira asked.

The kid looked over his shoulder. He had thick rimmed round glasses over his eyes and a bowl haircut. He was a fragile little thing. By one look Mira could tell the beaming little kid was just like her - someone who preferred isolation. “Do you like it?” he said, seeking Mira’s approval. She nodded, looking at the unflattering drawing. “But his wings are too small,” she said and knelt down beside him, adjusting her pink frock. “My name is Rahul, by the way,” the kid said and extended his thin hand. “I love dragons,” he added. Smack! A green tennis ball crashed into Rahul’s hand before bouncing all over his work of art. Rahul looked up, enraged. Mira followed his gaze to catch the responsible party.

“Hey four eyes! Bring me the ball,” a chubby kid with a scar on his forehead yelled from a distance. It was Tony, third grade’s number 1 bully. A bunch of rowdy looking kids stood behind him, holding cricket bats. Rahul’s rage vanished on seeing Tony. He diligently picked the ball up and tossed it towards the group. His throw made it to its destination after three bounces. The kids taunted Rahul and returned to their game. Rahul turned to his damaged drawing. Mira knew Tony and his band of bullies too well. She did not say a word. Rahul sat down with a twig and began mending the disrupted portions of his drawing. Mira picked another twig and fixed the wing.

“Wow. That looks so much better. Where did you learn to draw so well?” Rahul admired Mira’s work. Mira smiled at him. As she was about to speak, Smack! Crash! Bounce! The ball crashed into Rahul’s right shoulder and bounced onto the drawing. Annoyed, Rahul got up rubbing his arm. Without thinking, he picked up the ball and hurled it in the opposite direction. A moment later he realised his mistake. His throw took the ball over the chain link fence, into the ‘dead zone’ - a private property beyond a huge banyan tree. The ball bounced with a thud once, and twice, but did not bounce a third time. Instead, a loud snarl thundered from a corner behind the fence. Rahul gasped. Mira stood terrified.

The group of kids, led by Tony, rushed towards the two stunned kids.

Tony sported a red baseball-cap, red shorts, and blue tank top with the image of a drooling dog. His face was a mirror image of the gnarly dog on this tank top. Holding the cricket bat over his right shoulder, he walked closer to the two kids, giving them a fake inspection. The other kids watched from behind - some anxious, some excited about the showdown.

“How dare you throw our ball away,” Tony said, with a menacing look in his eyes.

“I… I am sorry,” Rahul said, stammering.

Tony looked at Mira. “Isn’t she the crazy girl who sits alone?” he tossed a question into the air.

“Yes, she is the one,” a couple of kids from behind him yelled.

Mira, who was looking at the ground, did not respond. She was too scared to face them. Her heart was racing a million miles a minute.

As Tony hawked the two, anticipation filled the air. He suddenly stopped and put his bat down. “Since you threw the ball, you have to get it back,” Tony proposed the gentleman’s terms to Rahul. “And you have to go alone!” he added with an evil grin. The group of kids behind Tony fell silent.

“It fell in the dead zone,” one kid whispered.

“I… can’t go alone…” before Rahul finished speaking, Tony tossed the bat, grabbed the stammering kid’s arm and started dragging him towards the tree.

The kids behind Tony cheered him on, while a few others helped him drag Rahul towards the fence gate. Rahul started wailing. Figuring it was her best chance, Mira sprinted away and found refuge behind a tree. As the kids tried to unlatch the fence gate, another monstrous snarl tore through from the dead zone. The kids abandoned Rahul and scattered away from the gate fearing for their lives. Mira watched from a distance hiding behind a tree as her new friend cried alone, abandoned. Suddenly, Mira felt someone creep up behind her. She turned around to find Tony in her face.

“Hey crazy girl, if you return tomorrow, we will throw you in the dead zone,” Tony spooked her.

“And if you tell on us, we will call the ghosts on you,” a kid from behind Tony said making a squinty-eyed scary face.

“Yes. Ghostsss… ” three others made scary noises from behind the bullies.

The thought of ghosts sent chills down Mira’s spine. The rest of the day, Mira spent in dreadful isolation.

Mira returned home from the frightening first day at camp to find that her Mom hosting a bunch of her old friends and new neighbours. Amidst the chaos in the house, Mira noticed some of the neighbour’s kids messing around with her videogames. This was the final straw in an already painful day. Mira, frustrated, yelled at the kids and got yelled at by Mom for her rude behaviour. Shattered, she raced up the stairs with her video game in hand and shut the door behind her. The poor little kid climbed onto her bed sobbing. “God, please take me away from here. I don’t want to be here. I can’t be here,” she cried. Leaving her video game switched on, she cried herself to sleep. At the dead of the night, the light from her videogame started to flickr. A few moments passed and the flickering intensified; a strong wind knocked the windows open and momentarily, the console screen went black after a spectacular flash and the room fell dead silent.

Mira woke up, holding her head, reeling from a badheadache. It was dark, cold and raining; She was in a puddle of mud. Tall trees surrounded her - all of them dry to the last branch. As she got onto her feet, Mira noticed that her hands and legs were longer than she last remembered. She felt her own body;

She was no longer in her night dress, but in a slick black outfit. She looked around, and found a puddle of water close by. The sky groaned and rumbled with flashes of thunder lighting up the full moon sky.

Mira took a few weary paces towards the puddle and looked down into her reflection. The little girl who played with her videogames only a few hours ago was now transformed into an 18 year old dame. Her face looked shapely and beautiful; her eyes hid a subtle glow and her torso was developed. Confused, Mira fell to her knees, still looking at her reflection in the water. A rustling in the bushes behind her pulled her attention.

She looked over her shoulder to find two blood-red eyes in the bushes close by. Before she could get onto her feet, a ferocious beast leapt from behind a tree, with its razor sharp teeth and claws pointed at Mira.

Just as the beast reached within a few inches of Mira, an arrow with a green-flame tipped head pierced through its heart, pinning it to a nearby tree. Mira’s heart skipped a few beats as she fell back on her knees. Her eyes were still stuck on the wailing beast, when the beast disintegrated and disappeared into the air as black soot. Mira took it all in, with no clue as to what was happening around her. Her heart was still pounding, when she heard the sound of hooves followed by a fierce gallop. Turning around, she came face to face with a beautiful brown steed with glowing white mane approaching her. She looked up and her eyes widened in surprise. The horse rider jumped down and stood beside Mira.

Dressed in a white flowing gown covered with a violet chest piece, stood a beautiful warrior. Her long brown hair danced freely in the wind. In one hand, she held a sturdy long bow and a shiny arrow in another.

“Nikita?” Mira whispered.

A moment later, an enormous bird with fiery wings – a phoenix - landed on the ground. Another beautiful dame, dressed in pink, with short golden hair stepped down from the bird. She held a wooden staff with a glowing tip in her hands.

“Jia?” Mira gasped. She could hardly believe her eyes as she realised that she was in the company of her favourite heroes - Nikita and Jia - the Heroes of Dragool themselves.

“Are you hurt, princess?” Jia said, in a mellow voice.

“Princess?” Mira mumbled as she rose to her feet.

“We do not have much time,” mumbled Nikita, looking at the moon.

“Where am I?” Mira said, getting up. “And… who are you?” she added awkwardly. Though she already had a vague sense that she somehow escaped into the videogame world of Dragool, she wanted an answer to reaffirm her sanity.

“It’s me Nikita,” the warrior in white replied in a worried tone.

“I am Jia,” the other said. “Judging from all these dead trees, it appears we are past the north rim of the kingdom,” she added.

Suddenly, blood curdling howls from afar interrupted the introductions. The two warriors immediately switched into an offensive stance. They took note of the surroundings and waited for another howl, but there was none.

“Princess Mira, we have to move fast. If we do not get to the castle by sunrise, the whole world will be in grave danger,” Nikita said. Mira held back her questions.

“I will take Princess Mira with me and fly to the castle wall. We will meet you there,” Jia said, looking at Nikita.

“Are you sure flying is the safest option? The wizard has control of the Dragons ...”

“Pheona is the Queen of the skies. No dragon can keep up with her speed,” Jia said and looked at her phoenix. “In fact, it might be better if you too joined us. The forests from here on are no longer safe. And Pheona can handle the three of us,” Jia added.

The bird spread its enormous wings, ruffling its feathers. Mira could not take her eyes of the magnificent bird.

“I do not doubt that,” Nikita said, petting the bird.

“But I feel comfortable with my feet closer to the ground, with Epona,” she added with a smile.

The horse two a couple of steps towards her and neighed.

“I will take the pass between the mountains to keep away from the wizard’s creatures, and will meet you at the castle wall,” Nikita said and mounted her horse. Moments later, Epona galloped away into the darkness of the woods. Jia looked at Pheona. The bird lowered its body for Jia and Mira to board.

“Jia… Can I ask you something?” Mira said.

“Sure, Princess. But let’s get going. We can talk on our way,” Jia replied and leaped onto the bird. She then extended her hand to help Mira. Mira placed her shivering hand in Jia’s firm fist and crawled onto the bird. Pheona took flight. The wind from its wings caused the trees to tremble. The bird soared high in the sky. Mira was left speechless by the experience. The world looked beautiful beyond words from high up.

“Jia. Where am I? What is going on?” Mira asked.

“You do not remember anything? That wretched wizard.” Jia sighed.

Mira shook her head. Jia took a deep breath. “A word spread that half a moon ago a dark wizard by the name of Virat appeared in the far off lands. With his spells, he succeeded in conquering armies of the Western Kingdoms and arrived to conquer the three great Eastern Kingdoms — the

Highlands, the Midlands and the Kingdom of Dragool, your kingdom - home of the dragons.” Pheona flew high into the sky, behind a dark cloud. Jia pointed to a castle from between the clouds. At a great distance, a magnificent castle stood on the mountains. Each of the 4 towers of the castle shot flames into the sky.

Suddenly a dragon snarl shook them. Mira trembled. Jia looked at Mira and gestured with a finger on her lips. She stood up and looked around. Another dragon roar tore their ears. Three red colored dragons flew up to the cloud. Jia raised her staff above her head, and closed her eyes.

The dragons started circling the cloud, snarling. The star head-piece of Jia's staff began to glow. Before long, the dragons shot a fireball towards the cloud.

Mira gasped. All the three dragons roared, but Jia and Pheona did not care. Another huge fireball came right at them.

Just as the fireball was about to make impact, Jia opened her eyes; her blue eyes glittered like sapphire stones. “Fira fen varga!” she yelled and brought down her staff. The staff crashed into the fire ball in a blue explosion, shockwave, which rammed the dragons away. With a burst of pace, Pheona dashed out in a zig-zag path, and left the dragons biting dust.

“I am sorry Princess,” Jia said.

Mira looked over her shoulder; she could barely see a thing.

“I did not intend to hurt your dragons,” she continued.

“My dragons?”

“Yes. Your mother, Queen Vani, Queen of Dragool controls the dragons,” she said and looked at Mira. “Well she controlled them, until the wizard came to the East lands for the dragons. He desires to take the black dragons…”

“For one who controls them, controls all the beasts...” Mira spoke along with Jia, to her own surprise.

Jia nodded. The story sounded like the plot from her video-game.

“The wizard caught us unaware. Our armies were no match to the combined strength and sorcery of the West and the wizard. We risked everything to rescue you from his secret creating a

 

prison. Now that we have you, we can make our last attempt to win back what is ours,” Jia said.

Mira looked at Jia, and looked around the clouded sky. “We are almost here,” Jia said.

The castle of Dragool was now in sight. Pheona slowed down and hid behind a cloud. Three dragons, each as gigantic as Pheona, circled the castle’s outer wall.

“We do not have much time now,” Jia said, looking at the orange sky.

“But the dragons,” Mira stuttered. Two arrows shot up into the sky. Each transformed into a net and wrapped around two dragons. The dragons fell to the ground. At the gates of the castle, Nikita stood, aiming her bow to the skies. She shot another magic arrow, which trapped the third dragon. As the path cleared, Pheona flew towards the castle.

Nikita stepped on her horse and jumped over the wall, and into the castle. From within the dark clouds looming over the caste, dragons lunged onto Pheona. Jia stood up and started casting spells to stun their enemies. Mira watched on, helplessly. Suddenly, a fireball crashed into Pheona, scratching its right wing. Pheona lost balance and spiralled towards the ground. Mira slipped from the the bird and was about to fall to the ground when Jia extended her staff to reach Mira. Mira grabbed the staff, a took a deep breath.

“Princess, the bridge,” Jia yelled. At the highest point of the castle, Mira saw a stone bridge connecting a tower to the main building. The bridge led to a large circular arena near the main castle, where Mira found a tall, lean man standing beside a woman, the Queen herself, with hands and legs tied to pillars. Pheona spiralled down towards the tower near the stone bridge. Jia looked at Mira.

“Destroy the wizard,” Jia yelled to Mira.

“I am scared. I… I don’t have any weapons,” Mira trembled.

“You are the dragon princess; you need no weapons!” Jia replied. She held Mira’s hand and swung her from Pheona towards the tower.

Mira got her footing on the bridge. Pheona went crashing into the ground. Though the impact was lessened by Jia’s spell, Pheona could not fly after the fall. Mira looked down, as hordes of enemies ganged upon Nikita and Jia. The two stood back to back, countering beasts and armoured soldiers. Mira stood on the stone bridge, with her eyes fixed on the wizard.

“Mother!” she saw the Queen, her mother bound to the pillars across the bridge. “What do I do? How do I save her!?” she said to herself. The wizard noticed her presence and looked at her. He started laughing. Mira looked around and found a broken dagger and a cracked Opal shield near the tower, among many other broken bits of weaponry.

“How are you, my bride?” the Wizard yelled, laughing maniacally. “But you ran away from me without taking your pre-wedding gift.” He made circular gestures in the air, casting a spell.

Nikita and Jia were struggling to keep up with the enemies.

Jia looked up. “I have a bad feeling about this. If he finishes that spell…” And he did. The skies rumbled, opening a dimensional portal. From the portal, a giant creature, a beast of the ancient world jumped out.

“Cerberus, I summon you,” the wizard yelled.

A three headed beast, larger than any of the dragons, even larger than Pheona, landed on the circular arena. It had scales over its body for shield, and a tail which extended to half the length of the bridge. It stood on its hind legs and roared, spitting fire and ash into the air. All the creatures and soldiers on the ground below momentarily froze in terror at the sight of the beast.

Cerberus landed its front legs on the bridge; the stone bridge quaked, sending rocks crashing to the ground. Jia built a force field protecting herself, Pheona and Nikita. The sight of the three headed beast spewing fire into the sky from across her left Mira frozen. At the other end of the bridge, Mira’s mother moaned as she tried to break the shackles that bound her to the pillars, but her strength had already departed her.

Mira stared at her mother. The lifeless gaze of her mother’s eyes resonated as rage in Mira’s. She uttered a war cry. “Eg er princess af Dreka!” she yelled and charged onto the burning stone bridge.

Two heads of the beast spat flames at her. Mira blocked the flames with her cracked shield, and pressed forward. But as she took another step, Cerberus lashed his tail and struck Mira’s feet, throwing her off balance. She fell flat on the bridge. Flames surrounded her.

“Brave bridey! You can’t stop me anymore. Once the first rays of the Sun hit your mother’s forehead, I will gain total control! I will be the King of the world! Cerberus, finish her!” the wizard yelled. Cerberus walked onto the bridge; raising his front legs, he stomped the bridge, cracking the last bits that held the burning bridge together. As the bridge collapsed, Mira crashed towards the ground below.

“Jia, protect her,” Nikita yelled.

“She is falling too fast… I can’t…”

Mira’s heart stopped for a second. Time seemed to slow down. The wizard’s hysterical laughter rang through her ears.

Her Mom left one last gasp and hung her neck. Mira screamed in agony, her eyes slowly turned red.

A loud roar tore the skies. A black flash of light shot down from the clouds faster than the blink of an eye. It swooped Mira from under her, in the middle of her descent and disappeared into the clouds.

The wizard, at the center of the arena stood stunned.

“The black dragons!” Jia exclaimed. Another roar followed. The wizard’s minions on the ground froze in fear.

“No! I cannot let that happen. The sun is almost up! Cerberus, hold them off. Kill them!” the wizard yelled.

The beast, enraged, shot flames into the sky, aiming at the clouds. Two heads of the best kept flaming the sky, while the third shot aimed plasma bolts into the clouds. This continued for a while.

“Yes. It is time. The sun is almost up,” the wizard yelled. “My victory is inevitable.”

“No! We have lost…” just as Nikita whispered, the Sun became shrouded in black.

The black dragon sprung out of the clouds, with open wings, casting its shadow on the bridge, the castle and the Queen.

“It can’t be,” the wizard mumbled. For all his evil intentions, even he couldn’t resist admiring the majestic black dragon descending with its wings spread full length. The black dragon shot blue flames at Cerberus. Two other black dragons slipped out from behind the big one and headed straight to the ground, shooting blue flames at the wizard’s army. After devastating the ground, they returned to the mother dragon’s side.

Mira stood on top of the mother dragon with her eyes closed. She slowly raised her right hand above her head; the dragons stopped their fireworks. Cerberus whimpered on the bridge.

The wizard started trembling. Mira opened her eyes. Her eyes were red as rubies, like the eyes of the black dragons.

“Finish,” she commanded.

 

The two black dragons flanked Cerberus and blasted it from both sides while the mother dragon jetted past the bridge and stopped in front of the wizard.

Mira climbed down the dragon and sprinted towards her mother. The wizard picked his staff and shot plasma bolts at

Mira, which she deflected just by looking at them.

The mother dragon leapt onto the wizard, and in one stroke, broke him into two pieces. The portal opened up again, and dragged Cerberus into it.

Mira rushed to her mother. An arrow struck and broke her chains. It was Nikita and Jia. The moment her hands got free, the Queen, too wary to stand, wobbled. Mira caught her mother in her hands.

The Queen looked at her daughter, and smiled and slowly closed her eyes.

“No. Mother, no!” Mira yelled.

The dragons started snarling, shooting flames into the sky. Mira trembled in pain. “No,” she screamed.

“Wake up! Mira, are you alright? Mira!” Mom shook Mira on her bed. Mira, trembling, opened her eyes.

Breathing heavily, she sat up. She was in her room, in her bed. She was her 8 year old self again, and her mom was with her again. Her mom hugged her tightly. Mira returned the hug and started crying. Her mom kissed her on her head.

“Are you okay darling. I was so worried,” her mom said.

Mira nodded, sniffling.

“I am sorry for yesterday, honey. I shouldn’t have… ” mom said.

Mira, held onto her mom tightly.

“Do you want to go to camp today, or should we go out exploring?” Mom said.

Mira gave it a thought and after a few moments, she mumbled, “camp.”

“Okay. I will make you pancakes,” mom said and tried to get up, but Mira did not let her go. Mom stayed on the bed, beside Mira, hugging and kissing her. Mira glanced over to the table; her video-game console was as she had left it, and beside it was the cartridge Heroes of Dragool.

Back at the Champs’ camp -The second day at camp wasn’t interesting either. All the kids gathered in the tent and then dispersed to the playground.

Mira looked around the camp and found Rahul hiding behind a tree. She approached him.

“I am sorry for yesterday, Rahul,” she said.

“Leave me alone,” Rahul yelled at her and started sprinting away, but before he got far, he bumped into Tony who was playing near the banyan tree with his gang.

Mira watched from a distance. Tony pushed Rahul down. The images of the circular arena and the growling beast from her dream flashed in front of her.

Without a second thought, she rushed towards the kids and rammed Tony. Tony fell to the ground and tumbled. All the kids around him stood in silence, in shock. Tony was humiliated.

“You! How dare you return to my camp? And how dare you fall me?” Tony yelled. “That is it for you.” he added.

Mira stood her ground. The kids around her were surprised. Tony raised like a maddened bull and started dragging Mira by her hands towards the fence. Mira did not resist.

Rahul got up and ran towards the tents. A larger group of kids joined the scene, but none of them were brave enough to face the wrath of Tony. Tony unlatched the gate, and threw

Mira into the dead-zone with all his force, and locked the gate. Soon a loud snarl came from inside the house.

All the kids gasped. Rahul informed the organizers, who came out of their tents; spotting a large crowd of kids at the banyan tree, the ladies rushed towards the tree.

The snarls continued. Mira looked around; she was scared.

Tony stood guard at the gate. All the kids kept looking in horror. Another snarl came from dark interiors. Mira looked into the darkness. She took a deep breath, and took a step forward, towards the dark interiors. The kids gasped.

She took another step, and the kids gasped louder. Tony’s expression changed from anger to one of disbelief. The meek

Mira did something which he could never dream of.

Mira took another step and disappeared into the darkness.

A moment later, there was one loud roar, after which silence took over. That was probably the quietest a group of 20 kids had ever been, anywhere in the world. The ladies reached the banyan tree, pulled Tony away from the gate, and opened it. But looking at the petrified kids, they themselves were too scared to enter the premises.

A moment later came another snarl, which turned into a weak moan, and into a woof. The kids and adults looked at the darkness; some scared, some confused and some not knowing what to expect.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, walked a large creature — a five foot Saint Bernard dog, holding the tennis ball in its mouth, and sitting on top of the dog was Mira, smiling and petting the dog as he carried her out towards the gate.

The kids started shouting in joy, and the organizers released a sigh of relief. The huge dog dropped the ball and started licking Mira. The kids gathered around Mira. Rahul looked at Mira from a distance. Mira looked at him and smiled. He hesitated for a bit, and then smiled and ran towards the kids.

Tony, standing at a tree, hung his head low. Mira looked at him. He did not look at her. Mira climbed on top of the dog and marched towards Tony. She looked at him. He was all teary.

She got down from the dog.  “Here you can ride him, but you must promise never to hurt anyone again,” she said.

Tony looked at her.

“I don’t want your stupid dog…”

Before he completed, the dog jumped onto him and started licking and drooling all over him. The kids surrounded the dog, clapping and jumping in joy.

Mira, smiling, looked up at the sky, and far above, enormous black wings raced above the clouds.