Prince Nikolas
 
           In which Prince Nikolas is called to rescue a beautiful maiden and slay a terrible dragon.

 Once upon a time there was a brave and handsome prince named Nikolas. He lived in a tiny little castle all by himself out in the forest. The castle was filled with many strange and wonderful things, some beautiful and useful, some old and broken. Each tiny room in his castle could hold exciting treasures or terrible dangers, but there were so many things that no one knew what they all were. Prince Nikolas had lived among his strange collection for so long that even he had forgotten what treasures and dangers his tiny castle held.
 Prince Nikolas was a young and brave and strong Prince, but sometimes, living in the middle of the forest all alone, the Prince would forget that he was brave and strong and handsome. Brave or not, strong or not, Prince Nikolas worked dutifully in the forest and in his castle every day, for he knew above all else that he was an honorable Prince.
 Each day Prince Nikolas would go out into the forest to do his work. He would gather wood and hunt for game and pick berries from the bushes. He would tend the large fruit trees that grew near his tiny castle and sweep the cobblestones that made a path from the forest to his home. Although Prince Nikolas lived all alone in the tiny castle, he tried very hard to keep his many treasures neat and clean for visitors when they came.

 One day, as he was returning from doing his very important work in the forest, Prince Nikolas saw that a messenger had arrived to his castle and was waiting by the front door.
  "Hello," said Prince Nikolas. "Do you have a message for me?"
  "Yes, sir!" cried the messenger. "There is a beautiful maiden captured by an evil dragon! The King has requested that you, his favorite prince, so strong and brave and handsome, go rescue her!"
  "Oh no!" said Prince Nikolas. "I can not help this beautiful maiden, for I am neither strong nor brave nor handsome. I think that you must be mistaken – the King could not have asked for me."
  "But he has, kind sir," said the messenger. "The King knows that you are indeed strong and brave and handsome, and you are the only one who can rescue the beautiful maiden from the evil dragon who has captured her."
  "Oh no!" said Prince Nikolas. "I can not help this lovely damsel. I have too much work to do in the forest, and can not leave my obligations behind."
  "But you must, kind sir," replied the messenger. "The King knows that your work is important, but it will not fall into disrepair without you. The King will find others to work while you rescue this maiden."
  "Oh no!" said Prince Nikolas. "I can not assist this comely lass. I have not yet learned all I need to learn about swords and fighting and slaying dragons. I can not ride a horse, and I do not have the things I need for such a task. I spend my evenings knitting and arranging flowers, not fighting!"
  "You can and you must, kind sir," said the messenger. "The King knows that your skills lie with knitting and flowers, but he is sure that you can use those skills, not swords and fighting, to rescue the maiden and slay the dragon."
  "Very well," replied Prince Nikolas. "If I am the only one who can do this important task, I will do my very best. If I fail to rescue the maiden and am slain myself by this terrible dragon, I am sure that you will find another champion to try again."
  "Thank you, kind sir!" cried the messenger. "For you are our best and most treasured hope to perform this vital and daring rescue!" With that the messenger laid a scroll of parchment at the feet of the brave and strong and handsome Prince Nikolas, bowed to him, and turned to leave.
 Prince Nikolas picked up the scroll, which had all the instructions for finding and slaying the dragon and rescuing the beautiful maiden. Reading its portentous words, Prince Nikolas shook his head in despair and thought to himself, "The King does not know me. I am his son, but he does not realize that I can not do this task. Never-the-less, I have given my word that I will try, and so I shall."
 Prince Nikolas retuned to his castle to prepare for his dangerous journey. He tended his fruit trees and swept the cobblestone path. He went out into the forest to check on his game traps and pick some berries for his trip. He cleaned his tiny castle from top to bottom and arranged his belongings so that the immense piles of treasures would be as neat as he could make them for his return.
 When he had done everything he could to prepare for his journey and leave his very important work behind, Prince Nikolas gathered a warm cloak and some food for the journey. He packed them all into a large traveling sack and went into his tiny sitting room. Looking around nervously, he finally picked up the only tools he knew how to use: knitting needles and a delicate crystal vase.
  "This is very strange," thought Prince Nikolas. "How can I slay a dragon with knitting needles and a vase? These things are not weapons, nor do they seem useful for slaying a dragon. Never-the-less, I have given my word that I will try, and so I shall."
 Once he had prepared everything for his journey, Prince Nikolas went straight to bed, for he wanted to wake up very early to start his journey. The next morning, Prince Nikolas arose from his bed, gathered his sack of supplies, and set out on foot to find the maiden and slay the dragon.
 Prince Nikolas walked through the forest, over the hills, and across the fields towards the caves where the dragon lived. As he approached the caves, he could feel the air getting colder and the ground shaking as if some huge beast were tramping back and forth in fury. In the distance he could hear terrible roars that chilled him inside and out.
 Listening to such horrible sounds, Prince Nikolas began to be afraid. He sat down a grassy hill just out of sight of the dragon and thought, "I am not strong, and I am not brave. I only have these knitting needles and this vase to fight a huge and terrible dragon. How can I perform this important task with so little to help me?" Worried and discouraged, Prince Nikolas took out his knitting needles and some yarn and began to knit so that he could calm his nerves. Prince Nikolas thought and thought and knit and knit, until the sun began to slip beneath the hills in front of him and darkness fell. Still Prince Nikolas thought and knit, knit and thought. Before long, it was too dark to see anything at all, but Prince Nikolas was so worried that he just kept knitting.
 Now, Prince Nikolas had few skills at fighting or slaying dragons, it was true. But living alone in his tiny castle with little to entertain him and only a few visitors to distract him, Prince Nikolas had learned how to knit very well. He knit as beautifully as anyone in the entire kingdom and could knit in full sunlight or in utter darkness equally well. As he sat in the dark and thought, his knitting grew and grew until it covered all of the grassy hill around him, and still he knit. Strands of lovely strong yarn rolled out from his flying hands and the clack clack clack of the knitting needles pierced the darkness. Sometimes a great sigh would escape his lips, and the clack clack of the needles would pause for moment but would resume shortly thereafter.
 Prince Nikolas sat and thought and knit until finally he saw the sun rising over the hills. All around him were yards and yards of lovely knitting, strong and even stitches linking together different shapes and patterns and colors. Prince Nikolas looked around him and sighed once again. "I have knit and knit, but still I do not know what to do. Still I do not know how to slay the dragon and rescue the beautiful maiden. Instead of weapons, all I have are these knitting needles and yards of knitted webs. Still I am afraid, and still I do not believe I can perform this important task set to me by my King."
 Realizing that he could not put off his duty any longer, Prince Nikolas gathered up his knitting and folded it into his traveling sack. He placed his knitting needles carefully into his belt and started down the hill toward the caves where the terrible dragon and distressed maiden were waiting. When he was almost there, he stopped and hid behind a large rock to plan his approach.
 Opening the scroll given to him by the messenger, Prince Nikolas read the passage that described the dragon.
 This dragon is as large as three horses, with large leathery wings and an icy breath. It’s hide is tougher than the strongest leather, and iron-like scales cover its back and tail. The only vulnerability the scholars have found in this terrible beast is his eyes, which although covered by thick armored eyelids, can be pierced when the dragon holds them open. Only the bravest and cleverest of warriors will slay him.
  "Oh my," thought Prince Nikolas, rolling the brittle scroll carefully back into a tube. "I don’t believe my poor knitting needles and delicate vase will be of any use against this monster. Perhaps I should simply return home in failure so that a true knight can come to slay this beast." He sighed once again, but quietly, for his hiding pace was very close to the dragon. Only a few yards below him he could see the great blue and green shape pacing in front of an opening to a cave where the maiden was surely trapped. Occasionally the dragon would stop and drink from a tiny swift stream that ran down the rock face and exhale icy clouds of vapors that filled the air with mist.
  "I should not fight this dragon," thought the Prince. "If I do, I might put the beautiful maiden in even more danger, for what if the dragon sprays his icy breath on her as we fight?" Creasing his forehead in a deep frown, Prince Nikolas thought about the danger to himself and the danger to the beautiful maiden. Finally he stood up and clenched his teeth.
  "No!" he said to himself. "I have given my word that I will try to rescue this maiden. She might get hurt if I fight the dragon, but she surely will be hurt if I do not. I must try to do what I can, even though I only have knitting needles and a vase."
 Prince Nikolas shouldered his traveling sack, checked that his needles were secure, and started down the hill towards the dragon. As he approached, the dragon turned and saw him. Rearing up and giving a terrible roar, the dragon waved his huge claws in the air and whipped his long tail threateningly back and forth. His massive leathery black wings beat so strongly that they made a howling wind that the Prince could feel right through his tunic down to his bones. Chilled by the dragon’s very presence, Prince Nikolas reached in traveling his bag to pull out the warm web of knitting he had created as he thought and thought the night before.
 As Prince Nikolas moved to pull out the knitted cables, the dragon lunged at him. The Prince danced away, yanking the knitting after him. It was so large that it dragged in the dirt behind him and threatened to topple the Prince to the ground. Undaunted, Prince Nikolas wrapped the excess knitting around his waist and reached for his only weapon, the knitting needles, to face the dragon.
 Furious that his adversary had dodged his first attack, the dragon leaned back to take a deep breath. The Prince ducked his head and wrapped himself tighter in his knitting just as the dragon exhaled a freezing cloud of mist. The dragon’s breath was so cold that tiny shards of ice crackled and fell in its path. Looking up once the chilly vapor had passed, Prince Nikolas was amazed to find that his knitting had protected him from the blast. Emboldened, the Prince struck at the dragon with his knitting needles.
 But his small strike against the huge beast was to no avail. The dragon whipped its tail and gnashed its teeth, rearing back once again to strike at the Prince. Nimbly hopping back from the dragon’s claws, the Prince realized that his knitting needles would not be enough to pierce its well-armored hide. Determined to find another weapon, the Prince turned to retreat. But the dragon was too close to him, and the Prince knew he could not run fast enough to get away, even for a short time. So he pulled the knitting from around his body, and in a last desperate attempt to get away, threw the knitting at the dragon in hopes that it would distract the drgaon for the moment he needed to escape to safety.
 As he threw the knitting at the dragon, Prince Nikolas watched in terror. Yards and yards of colorful cabled fibers extended out into the air above the dragon, spinning from the force of the Prince’s throw. The dragon, intent on attacking the Prince, ignored the light and harmless knitting as it slowed its flight and settled on his scaly back.
 Surrounded by the Prince’s web of knitted cables, the dragon stumbled and began to fall. He struggled against the unexpected snare, twitching and twirling to get away, but his efforts only wrapped the knitting more tightly around him.
 The dragon was trapped in the Prince’s knitting! Realizing that this was his best chance to strike at the dragon’s vulnerable eyes, the Prince rushed towards the trapped creature brandishing his knitting needles. He lunged at the dragon’s massive face knitting needles raised to its eyes, but to no avail. The dragon had closed his tough eyelids, and the knitting needles could not pierce the hard skin. Thinking quickly, the Prince reached into his traveling sack and grabbed his delicate vase. He leapt back a step to the icy stream that flowed down the rock face and filled the vase with cold water. Rushing back to the trapped and struggling dragon, Prince Nikolas threw the water in his face. Shocked, the dragon lifted his scaley eyelids for a moment and the Prince lunged toward him with his knitting needles and thrust them deep in the dragon’s eyes.
 Giving one last and final roar, the dragon fell to the ground and perished. Prince Nikolas had slain the dragon! Moving behind the dragon’s huge body the Prince walked into the cave where he saw a beautiful maiden tied to the wall with thick ropes. Nimbly untangling the knots, the Prince freed her and led her out into to the sunlight.
  "Oh thank you, brave sir!" cried the lovely young woman. "You have freed me from that terrible dragon! I had all but given up hope that I would ever see the sunlight again!" She threw her arms around Prince Nikolas and hugged him tightly.
  "You are welcome, Lady," replied the Prince, suddenly shy. "I hope none of his icy breath hurt you as we fought."
  "The cold of his breath was no match for the fire of your bravery and strength, kind sir. I will be well, now that you have freed me." The maiden clasped Prince Nikolas’s hand and looked into his eyes. "I am Amarynth, and I hope you can please take me home now."
  "Of course, Amarynth. I am Prince Nikolas, and I would be honored to accompany you to safety." With that, the Prince and the lovely Amarynth turned away from the dragon and his terrible cave and started up the green hill towards his tiny castle. They walked in the sun and talked and talked until they finally arrived at his tiny little castle. Opening the heavy wooden door, the Prince led Amarynth to his sitting room where she could rest.
  "Brave Prince Nikolas," said Amarynth. "You have rescued me from the terrible dragon, but I have nothing with which to repay you. I hope that we can be friends from now on, and perhaps someday I will be able to help you as you have helped me."
  "Dearest Amarynth, you have already helped me. You have given me your friendship, and that is all I desire." The Prince bowed gallantly to Amarynth and smiled.
  "There’s just one thing," said the lovely Amarynth, looking around the tiny castle. "Why do you have all this junk in your castle? Don’t you think that you should throw some of it away? Maybe I can help you. Here, let's start over here in this corner..."
 Prince Nikolas simply smiled to the lovely maiden he had rescued from the terrible dragon. As difficult as it had been to fight the dragon, the Prince knew that this challenge would require all his new-found bravery and strength.
 
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