Free My Very UnFairy Tale Life: Jenny’s First Adventure by Anna Staniszewski Page B

Most
of the time, they fly so fast that you can’t even see them. But the
one thing sprites are known for is their metalworking magic.”
    “What does that mean?” I said. “Do they make
pots and pans and stuff?”
    Anthony giggled. “I guess they could, but no.
They make amazing crowns and jewels. Their stuff is all over the
magical kingdoms. Whenever you see a fancy tiara, one that twinkles
just a bit more than it should, chances are the sprites made
it.”
    Suddenly, I thought of the purple and silver
bracelet that had once been my mother’s. It was one of the few
things I’d inherited of hers after my parents had disappeared a few
years ago. I’d always thought there was something unearthly about
that bracelet. Was it possible it had been made by sprites? Wait,
that was crazy. My parents had been dentists. There was no way they
could have gotten their hands on anything even remotely
magical.
    “So what exactly am I supposed to do when we
get to the dragons?” I asked.
    Anthony shrugged. “You’re the adventurer. I’m
just here to make sure you don’t get hurt.”
    “That’s it? No instructions? I thought you
were going to be my guide.”
    “You’ll be fine,” he said. “You’re a natural.
I can tell.”
    I didn’t feel like a natural. I felt like
someone in a dream—or maybe a nightmare. As excited as I was that
something amazing was finally happening to me, part of me still
couldn’t believe it. And okay, I was a tiny bit scared. What had I
gotten myself into?
    We kept trudging through the charred woods
until we got to a large clearing. It was dotted with dozens of
shiny hills, glowing against the burned landscape. As we got
closer, I realized the hills were shiny because they were pretty
much heaps of metal.
    And milling around the metallic hills were
dozens of dragons.
    I’d expected dragons to be enormous, so I was
a little disappointed to see the creatures up close. The biggest
one was about the size of a moving van, but most of the others
weren’t much bigger than a car. The dragons were hovering around
the metal mounds, combing through forks and weathervanes and
ladders. I spotted some random non-metal things poking out,
including the bathtub I’d seen flying through the air minutes
earlier. It occurred to me how strong dragons had to be if they
could carry objects that were almost as big as they were.
    “What is this place?” I whispered to
Anthony.
    “The dragons’ home base,” he said. “It’s
where they bring back all their treasure.”
    I didn’t know if “treasure” was the word I
would use to describe a rusty stepstool that one of the dragons was
hugging to its chest.
    At that moment, the dragon closest to us—and
the largest of the bunch—spun around and glared at us with yellow
eyes. I expected him to snarl and fry us up for dinner, but instead
he said: “You’ve been sent to help us?”
    At his words, the rest of the dragons in the
clearing stopped what they were doing and eyed us curiously.
    “Yes, indeed!” said Anthony. “This here is
Jenny. She’s going to fix everything.”
    All dragon eyes swung toward me, which made
me inch back a step. Even if the dragons weren’t enormous beasts,
they were still pretty intimidating. And the fact that they could
set me on fire with just a hiccup wasn’t exactly comforting.
    “Um, hi,” I said with a pathetic wave. “Nice
to meet you all.”
    “I am Hsssshhhem,” the large dragon said, the
name coming out like a long hiss of steam. “I am the leader of this
clan.” His neck was thicker than all of the other dragons’ which
probably meant he was the king—at least based on what Anthony had
told me about the sprite queen’s war-starting comment.
    “Er, do you mind if I call you Sam?” I asked,
pretty sure there was no way my tongue could make boiling-water
sounds.
    The dragon sighed, letting out a small puff
of smoke. “It does not matter what you call me as long as you make
the sprites leave us alone. They