Once upon a time, there was a dragon.

Huge, fire-breathing dragon with scales resistant to any blades.

But the dragon was asleep.

He was enchanted in stone, long, long ago. Charmed by ignorance, blindness and stupidity. 

A great building was made of the stone into which it was enchanted. Hundreds of people lived there and they trod on the dragon for days without even knowing it. At the top of the building, the famous sculptor placed a bas-relief that was supposed to represent horses at a gallop, but before he started working, he had a dream... A dream in which he carved a dragon's head istead. 

As he was a man with an open soul and mind, so he took it as a sign and did like in a dream - carved a dragon. After this act of insubordination, he was beheaded by the then self-proclaimed ruler of the area where the building was standing. But the dragon on top of it remained and reminded people about the truth, admittedly only to a few people, but it is always something.

The dragon had waited patiently for eons, knowing the day will come, when someone finally remembers and it'll be free. 

***

The gray pigeon flew to the girl swinging alone on the swing.

'Would you like to wake a dragon?' He asked directly. He wasted no time wrapping around the bush. 

The girl stared at him in amazement, probably more because he spoke than just his words. Nevertheless, she decided that she would lose nothing by answering.

'Sure,' she said.

'Then follow me.'

The pigeon flew away, and the child left the swing and followed. They quickly reached the building with the dragon's head protruding from the top.

'Come on, sunshine, take the ladder that the builders left to its fate, and set it over here so that you can reach the relief.

'But ... I live here and I can tell you that this is not a real dragon.'

'Well, of course, it's not! Not yet, but it will be soon. Come on with that ladder.'

'It's too heavy.'

'Then pull it across the ground. Yeah, like that, see? Quite easy now...'

When the ladder was leaned against the side of the building and the girl, panting, climbed to the very top of it, the pigeon said. 'Now hold this.' He plucked a feather from his tail and handed it to the girl.  'And tickle his nose.'

'Will it really do anything?' The girl asked uncertainly, looking at the feather and at the dragon's head. Up close, it seemed so much more terrifying than from the ground. 

The pigeon looked at her. 'Are you too old?' He asked as if to himself. 'Or maybe too young ...? Sometimes it's hard for me to catch up in your human maturity and immaturity.''

'I think I'm still quite young, but that doesn't change the fact that you're telling me to do nonsensical things ...' 

'So you don't have faith that this dragon will come to life?'

'Not really.' She shrugged.

'Then at least rely on it's faith in you.' The bird snorted, flapped its wings, and flew away, leaving the girl alone.

'Pigeon! Wait! Sorry!' She called, but it didn't look like he was going to come back. 

She looked back at the enormous head, though she had seen it so many times, she had never really looked at it, much less from that up close. Nobody was able to tell her why there is such an ornament on, otherwise not a very sophisticated residential building. Anyway, hardly anyone paid attention to the dragon, as if it were invisible, especially to the always busy adults. The girl, above all else, did not want to be one of them, blinded by work and duties ... No, it wasn't her, definitely. 

With a heavy sigh, she climbed onto her toes and reached for the nostrils of the bas-relief dragon, tickling them with a feather. For a long moment, nothing happened, until suddenly ...

The whole ladder trembled. 

However it wasn't really it, but the building ... 

The vibrations were slowly increasing, the glass was crumbling and flying out of the windows, the walls were beginning to crack, and terrified people fled from the apartments in panic. The girl, somehow enchanted, stood on the ladder and stared at the bas-relief, which became more and more convex and took on colors. Suddenly a hail of debris rained down on the girl, the ladder tilted, she lost her balance and fell down. However, before she hit the ground, a large, leathery paw managed to catch her. 

As the dust was falling from the demolished building, the girl noticed a huge eye staring at her intensely. After a moment the eye moved away and she saw the dragon's face in all its glory. The scales glistened with shades of navy blue and purple, and the eyes were living, burning fire. The dragon said nothing. He just nodded his head and laughed loudly until everyone's ears hurt. He spread his shiny wings and flew to the sky, still holding the girl in his claws. 

Below, shocked people were crowding around the debris. I will reassure you, that no one has suffered as a result of the collapse of the building, from which emerged the dragon. Residents had left it just in time.

The girl, however, did not even look back for a moment. She knew exactly what she was leaving, but she wanted to know what was in front of her. The dragon sat her on its back, where she made herself comfortable in the hollow of his neck. 

The flight was long, but it was hard for the girl to tell exactly. They could fly for hours or days, but just as well for months or years. High above the clouds, everything seemed completely different, as if it were no longer subject to the laws created by the human mind, but had a life of its own. 

The air was icy, but the girl was not cold at all.  The dragon remained silent, the clouds blocked the view of the ground, but the girl was not bored at all. It seemed as if a long, long time had passed, and yet she did not feel tired.

When the sun was hiding behind the horizon, the girl admired the stars above her head, and when it rose again she marveled at the pastel patterns it created on the crests of the clouds.Finally, it is difficult to say after how long she became weary and fell into a deep, restful sleep, lulled by the sound of dragon wings and the gentle wailing of the wind.

***

When the girl woke up, the first thing she saw after opening her eyes was the huge eyes of three ... no, four dragons staring at her, and none of them was the one she was flying on.

They looked fantastic, differed in every aspect; size, color, horn arrangement, one had no scales at all, just the smooth skin, the head of another was covered with something like an ostrich feathers. They were all watching the girl with great interest.

'Hello, lass' said the one with smooth skin, which was pale and bluish veins showed clearly through it. His eyes were a faded red, and it occurred to the girl that he must be very, very old. 'Welcome to the dragon rally we've been waiting for so long.'

The girl got up from the ground and looked around. Only now did she realize that the dragons around her weren't the only ones there. More of them gathered up nearby. Much, much more.

'How did it happen ... where did so many of you come from?' she asked.

'You woke us up, lassie.'

'But ... I woke up only one ...'

'It was enough. If one wakes up a single dragon, all of us wake too.' 

The girl looked around again. The dragons have gathered in the complete wasteland. As far as the eye can see, only dry, barren earth and rocks. The sun was hidden behind a thick mantle of clouds and a faint vapor as if it were fog, so it was difficult to tell whether it was evening or the middle of the day.

'And where is ...' the girl began, carefully examining each individual dragon. 'The dragon who brought me here? I don't know his name.'

The pale dragon make some grimace, what seemed to be a smile, but did not reply. The one with a featherhead, which was a beautiful yellow color, did that. As soon as she spoke, the girl realized that it was a dragon lady.

'He'll be here soon. Do not be afraid, you have chosen him, so he will accompany you as long as you need it.'

'Accompany me? But in what?'

The pale dragon must have smiled this time. It was a broad and terrifying smile. 'In your adventure, of course.'