A Deep Cave

With so much time spent on looking after the library, Kiki had never really had the opportunity to leave the town. So, as she passed through the empty streets, she made a plan to stick to what seemed like the safest route. Growing up in this place for only a couple of years before there was no-one left, she had always been told that the denser the forest, the less safe it was. Therefore, she had always been too scared to leave the safety of the town. She did, however, know of one area that other fairies had visited, where the forest was less dense, and so she made her way along that path.

Finding someone else was her main focus on this adventure but all the new sights were so exciting that she often found herself slowing down to take everything in. The forest floor beneath her was covered in long grass as the path had not been used for a very long time.  She was very pleased that she was able to hover above, instead of wading through it. The tall trees seemed to go up forever and Kiki wondered if there could really be places in the Emerald forest with more trees than this. Wild flowers she had never seen before bloomed beautifully in the areas where the sunlight pierced through the leaves of the trees. It seemed like a very different place to the town and Kiki thought it was beautiful.

After a while the path started to continue down beside a tall rock face. Looking up she could see there were even more trees at the top which seemed incredible - really how big was the forest,  she wondered? The rock face was rough and untouched, and yet there was a certain beauty about it. There were cracks where moss was growing and occasionally other plants  growing in places where a small amount of soil had collected. Then there, set into the rocks was a hole, Kiki’s heart started to race out of excitement  as she hurried to take a closer look. But as she drew closer she realised this wasn’t just a hole it was a large dark tunnel. Her mind sprang back to all the stories she had read when she was younger where caves were mentioned. Ideas of hidden tunnels to secret places, or caves where glistening pools were found deep into the rocks, or even caves where precious crystals and diamonds were found flooded her mind. Excited and intrigued she couldn’t help but investigate and pause her search for friends. She just had to see what she could find.

The tunnel was dark and yet there were no bats, no rocks dripping with water, and no sign of anything shining in the walls. Kiki did not give up hope of finding something special so she carried on into the darkness. It felt like it carried on forever in this way until she saw a faint glow coming from up ahead. She quickened her pace and continued towards the light. Then quite suddenly the tunnel widened and she could finally understand it was candlelight she had seen. However, to her amazement and surprise what she found was no ordinary scene. There in front of her was not only one dragon but five, all watching her with caution.  How was it that she paused her search for a friend to investigate the cave and found 5 dragons? After gaining some composure she introduced herself with surprise written all over her face.

One of the dragons stepped forward. It was  covered in spikes of blue, pink and purple that shimmered in the candlelight and reminded Kiki of gems. Dark purple horns grew from its head and matched the deep colour of their wings. As it stepped closer, Kiki’s heart pounded in her ribcage and questions flooded her mind. Would they be friendly? Should she flee or stay? The dragon cocked it’s head, it’s deep purple eyes looking intently at the little fairy. Kiki found herself enamoured by the blue scales which covered the dragon’s body; a slight shimmer could be seen bouncing off them, making them seem like they were covered in glitter. After what seemed like forever, the dragon spoke with a calm tone and with perfect articulation introduced herself “Hello, I am Alula”. The faintest of smiles played on Alula’s face and Kiki could feel her body relax.

The two of them had a small conversation and then the little fairy noticed something deeper into the cave. A pile of well loved books was nestled behind a protruding part of the cave wall. Kiki took a better look at the other dragons and realised some of them were reading. Her wings tingled with excitement as an idea flowed through her mind. She knew it could be a risk but it was too good an opportunity not to take.  “Would you perhaps be interested in visiting my library?” she questioned eagerly. Four other pairs of eyes snapped to look over at her as Alula looked at Kiki, eyes wide open in shock. “A library?” the gem dragon whispered in astonishment. She glanced behind her at the other dragons before they all nodded their heads at each other in agreement.  A couple of moments later after a few more questions back and forth between the fairy and the dragons, they all set off together back to the Great Tree Library.