The Power of Stonewell

There are many reasons why you should never poke a sleeping dragon. The main reason is not that it might wake up and eat you, because dragons are actually rather mellow creatures. The main reason is not what the dragon might do to you but what the Dragon Keeper might do to you if he finds out you've poked his dragon.

"I want to be a Dragon Keeper when I grow up," little Marlie said to her mother one day, while helping her hang up the laundry.

"Sorry, Sweetheart, you'll never be a Dragon Keeper. Only those born with the power of Stonewell can control the dragons and be Dragon Keepers," her mother replied, pinning a shirt on the laundry line.

"But how do you know I wasn't born with the power of Stonewell?" Marlie asked earnestly.

"We'd know if you had the power of Stonewell, but you don't. Nobody in our village does," her mother told her patiently.

"But isn't there a way for me to get it?" Marlie asked always hopeful.

"No, you have to be born with it and you weren't. You'll never be a Dragon Keeper," her Mother told her firmly. Her mother felt sort of bad about crushing her daughter's dream, but it was ridiculous to even think about becoming a Dragon Keeper. The Dragon Keepers were an elite group, and they weren't to be messed with. She didn't want her daughter to get in trouble for trying to be one of them. She watched as her daughter thought it over, worried that she still might want to be a Dragon Keeper.

"But people weren't always born with the power of Stonewell, so it must it have come from somewhere. Mother, where did it come from,?" Marlie asked, turning to look at her mother.

"No one knows that, Sweetheart," her mother replied losing her patience with her precocious daughter. "You can ask your father for the story of Oswald the Great when he gets back from Remly City. After all Oswald the Great was the first one to use the power of Stonewell." Marlie knew that her father wouldn't get back from business until next week and because she wanted to know about the power of Stonewell now, she decided to ask her brother Alfred . She knew that her brother would know the story because Alfie had gone to school and knew everything. Marlie sprinted out to the field were Alfred was working.

"Alfie, Alfie!" Marlie called as she ran up the hill to the field. Alfred looked up from the wheat he was cutting.

"What is it Marlie?" Alfie asked, wiping sweat from his brow and leaning on his scythe.

"Do you know the story of Oswald the Great?" Marlie asked.

"Yea… Why?" Alfred wanted to know.

"Will you tell it to me?" Marlie said with her sweetest smile.

"Only if you give me hand with this," Alfred said giving the wheat stalk to Marlie to hold while he chopped.

"Long, long ago there were no dragons in Remly, then one day the dragons migrated to Remly. No one knows where they came from or why they came, but once they got here they caused destruction wherever they went. The dragons destroyed whole villages and burned fields and crops with their fire breath of doom. If they weren't stopped, soon they would've destroyed the whole kingdom." ("Wow," Marlie said softly.) "Then Oswald the Great decided to try to put an end to their destruction. He went into the Dragon Valley, and then a week later came back riding on back of a large silver dragon. I have the power of Stonewell!' he supposedly cried out while flying towards Remly city with a stone clutched in his hand. Anyone with the power of Stonewell can control the dragons. The dragons will no longer harm our kingdom; instead they will help it.' "

"A stone? Do you think that might be the power of Stonewell?" Marlie asked eagerly.

"Don't be so ridiculously naïve, Marlie; you have to be born with the power of Stonewell," Alfred retorted, immediately dismissing her idea. "Anyway, now that Oswald had control of all the dragons, he used them to help rebuild the kingdom."

"How could dragons rebuild the kingdom?" Marlie asked.

"They probably transported supplies or something," Alfred replied dismissively with a wave of his hand, "And now we have Dragon Keepers, one for each dragon, that protect us from them and allow us to use the dragons when we need to." Alfred finished proudly as he pushed the barrel of wheat to the shed.

"Wow," Marlie said. "Are the Dragon Keepers related to Oswald?"

"What on earth would make you think that?" Alfred asked, setting the barrel down and turning to look at his sister in shock.

"Well, maybe the power of Stonewell is passed down, like royalty or something," Marlie replied with an indifferent shrug of her shoulders as she started to skip down the wheat row, her blue dress flapping all around. Alfred dragged another barrel out of shed. "Well, couldn't it be?" Marlie demanded, turning back around with her hand on her hips.

"I dunna know Mar… I suppose it could be, but as far as I know Oswald the Great never married and had kids," Alfred replied slowly, "Although he mighta had some apprentices or something."

"So, maybe he passed it down to them," Marlie reasoned.

"Just how do ya figure that, Marlie. They weren't his kids," Alfred said, chopping wheat into the barrel.

"Maybe like how Madame Jilly passed that book down to Mother," Marlie said.

"But then the power of Stonewell would have to be something physical, which it isn't," Alfred said, shaking his head at his sister's folly.

"And how do you know it isn't? You don't know everything, Alfie," Marlie retorted indignantly.

"Marlie, everybody knows the power of Stonewell is something you're born with, not something physical that you can take and pass around to anybody," Alfred replied, getting irritated.

"Well then how did Oswald the Great's apprentices get the power of Stonewell?" Marlie asked defiantly, helping Alfred put the last stalk of wheat in the barrel before they pushed it to the shed.

"Look, Marlie, the apprentices already had the power of Stonewell, 'cause they born with it. Oswald the Great just taught 'em how to use it," Alfred replied sighing, "Now go away so I can some work done," Alfred said exasperated, waving Marlie away with his hand and pushing the barrel of wheat himself.

" Okay, Alfie," Marlie said sadly as she walked away towards the house. Alfred watched her go, wondering why his crazy little sister was so interested in the power of Stonewell. After all it wasn't like she was ever going to be a dragon keeper or even ever see a dragon.

Marlie wandered slowly down the wheat hill. She didn't go straight towards the house. Instead, she angled off towards the creek shuffling her feet. There has to be a way for me to be a Dragon Keeper, there just has to be, Marlie thought to herself while hopping over a rock. "I'm sure there's a way for me to get the power of Stonewell, but how?" Marlie wondered aloud. Marlie paused and turned back to the rock she had just hopped over. "A stone! I wonder … could this rock be like Oswald the Great's stone?" Marlie exclaimed, excitement running through her.

Marlie bent down and slowly ran her hands over the rock. She peered around it, examining every inch. The rock was about half as tall as her knee and about as wide. It was a gray circular rock, ordinary in every single way. Marlie realized this rock was not the power of Stonewell. Greatly disappointed, she took off running down the hill towards the brook. Tears filled her eyes, as she finally believed that she would never be a Dragon Keeper.

Marlie flew down the hill, her two braids steaming behind her, wind drying the tears on her face. Suddenly Marlie tripped over a rock and went tumbling head-over-heels down the hill. Finally she stopped where the ground leveled out right before the creek. Marlie landed sprawled awkwardly on the ground. Marlie sat up and found herself staring straight into the eyes of a pink dragon.