A/N- Lighthearted blood shed near the end of the story, nothing that will gross anyone out though :) don't worry

Once in a far kingdom, a great dragon ruled. It rarely bothered the citizens; it went around occasionally raiding farmers for sheep and scaring cattle for amusement. When it wasn't bothering the citizens of Goatalie, the scaled beast was sleeping on one of the rooves of the castle. That evening it was curled around the highest tower of the castle, his claws buried in the stone to keep itself from sliding off. It's dark blue scales reflected the light and its mighty, powerful wings were folded in with it's long, impressive tail wrapped around itself. His weight against the tower was enough to make the tower compress, but the dragon was only as tall as a giraffe, rendering it less terrifying than most dragons three times its size.

A few villages away were three children in their teen years sitting on a log next to a soft flowing stream that connected most of the towns to the ocean. Sitting there were two boys and a girl; children of poor men and poverty. One of the boys looked up at the sky, across the open meadow and over the tree tops in the distance, laying eyes on the small outline of the dragon sleeping on the castle tower. He was only eight when the dragon took power of Goatalie, and an idea crossed his mind ever since- only now did he blurt it out: "We should go slay the dragon, guys."

The other boy and the girl turned their heads and looked at him with wide eyes, wondering where he would get such an idiotic and bazaar idea. "Why would we ever do that, Ace?" The girl asked, shaking her head lightly. She knew Ace was a kid looking to be noble whenever he could get the chance, but it was clear he has been reading too many fairytales to his little sisters at night.

"Because... why not?" Ace shrugged, his dark brown eyes looking at Violet for some support on his new idea. When he found that Violet's emerald green eyes gave him nothing but disapproval, he let out a sigh, his shoulder's slumping with his ego.

"We aren't going to kill the dragon," Jackson, Violet's older brother, stated quietly. He knew the blonde, curly headed idiot was a sheep brain, but his current idea was just outlandish. "Ace, stop being an idiot."

"We all agreed on that last week; Ace can't help but be an idiot," Violet reminded her brother, a small smile creeping onto her face. Making fun of Ace was something she would do often- Ace was a farmer's son while Violet and Jackson's father worked as a knight, giving them both, mostly Jackson, a chance for some education.

"No we didn't!" Ace shouted, his shoulder's tensing as he glared at her. "I could kill the dragon if I wanted too!"

"Could not," Violet began to grin, jabbing her finger into Ace's shoulder mockingly. "The bravest, strongest, most noble men couldn't slay the beast. You certainly couldn't." Ace's heart began to crack at her words. He was hoping to impress her with his brave- his noble- idea, but his plan just went back on him completely too quickly.

"I can do whatever I want. Maybe I would actually try if you guys gave more support," Ace huffed, crossing his arms as a light red color crawled onto his cheeks. Jackson rolled his eyes, he had enough of this topic. Ace was a drama queen- he was too caught up in being like a knight that he forgot he is just a farmer's son with too many sisters to count. Jackson was lucky with only one little sister compared to Ace's siblings.

Violet stood up, her baby blue dress covered in dirt and scratches. "Well whoever does slay the dragon, will have my eye for sure," she spun around once, lifting her eyes to the sky as she clasped her hands to her chest. "Only the bravest, strongest, and most noble man could slay such a beast."

Ace perked up as she said this, his shoulder's relaxing from their constricted state. "Would you date the man who slayed the dragon?" Ace asked, the wooden wheels in his head starting to turn for the first time in years. Violet gave him a nod, dropping her hands to her sides.

"Guys, come on. Lets just skip this subject," Jackson cut in quickly, as the oldest one there and Violet's brother, he found it awkward when Ace fell head over heels for Violet. Jackson did not want to be related to the Thorn family, it was enough just being Ace's best friend.

All was quiet for a few minutes, Violet sitting back down between the boys. They each thought of what they could change the subject to as they stared at the stream or sky. Talking about slaying the dragon wasn't such a bad topic after all compared to what they were thinking up of.

"I hear a dragon hisses like a serpent when it's injured," Violet said, looking at Ace. "Jackson told me that the knight's that have ever managed to injure the dragon would puncture between his scales where they are the thinnest- the neck- making it impossible to breathe," Jackson shook his head as his little sister spoke. It was true what she said, but she forgot the part that the knights that told him this were drunken fools, including their own drunken father.

Ace didn't reply to her, letting her fall back into the silence of the meadow. She knew that no man would ever be able to slay the dragon, and she knew Ace certainly didn't have the brain or brawn to even pick up a sword. She let out a soft sigh, accepting that it was an awful idea to feed that information to Ace's hungry and idiotic mind. It was an awful idea, but she almost wanted him to try and kill the dragon. Somebody had to, it has been five years since the dragon came to Goatalie and people have started to act like the dragon wasn't even there anymore. Violet was worried that if the Goatalian people continued to let the dragon live here, more would come and try to take over- more that weren't as small and relaxed as their current ruler.

Atlas, Violet stood back up. "I am going to go home, Jack. I have a few chores to finish," she ran off through the meadow in a hurry, leaving her older brother by two years with Ace. Ace was only a year younger than Jackson, but he seemed tiny due to Jackson's build. The teenager was training to become a knight, his shoulder's broad and legs long and slender. Ace was a cockroach compared to Jack.

"I am going to kill that dragon," Ace finally decided after Violet disappeared from sight. He stood, his heart beginning to fill with bravery that was disguised as blind stupidity. "I am going to kill it with, or without you."

"You can't be serious," Jackson groaned, placing his head in his hand. "You don't even have a sword!"

"I am serious," and with that, Ace ran on home, Jackson sitting quietly on the log all alone. He knew Ace wasn't serious, he has known the kid for eight years and he has done a lot of stupid things during that time, but none even close to what he was now planning. He wasn't sure if he was going to give in to Ace's dumb idea- he almost wanted to- but Ace needed proper training if he was going to even go near the castle.

Ace of course, never did slay the dragon and the evening at the river was just a simple memory of youth. It was Ace's 15th birthday that Jackson gave him a used, old sword from a knight he trained under. It was made of copper and the hilt's butt was broken off, but Ace used it everyday to train in the corn field's of his family's farm. He had seen Jackson show off his swordsmanship many times before, so he would go out every evening and copy what he remembered.

The dragon continued to occasionally terrorize the kingdom, stealing live stock and gold, scaring cattle, and sleeping on the castle's roof tops in the evenings. Still, no man feared or took much notice of the dragon unless it came to take from him, but people would still go and try to slay it- rarely did those people return.

When Ace was 16, the dragon came to his family's farm to take their sheep for the second time over its long rule. Ace's sister's ran as the dragon began to land in front of the house, scattering out into the corn field or hiding in the house to watch from a distance.

"Humans! Give me your sheep!" The dragon hollered, spreading his wings to cast a dreadful shadow over the house. Its blue scales gleamed with a light shimmer and its teeth were bared to seem scary.

Ace's father went outside the house first, clearing his throat with a cough, and said in reply "I have no sheep I can spare to you. Without them I will have almost no income to house my daughters!"

"Give the sheep to me or you will have no home!" the dragon threatened, snarling its large teeth at the old man to scare the girls that were watching from the window. Ace's sister's all looked diversely different from himself and each other and no one never knew why even their hair colors wouldn't match their parent's.

Ace's mother came outside after her husband, wailing, "but without our sheep, how will I spin wool to knit winter cloths for my children?"

"Give me your sheep or you shall have nothing to wear!" the dragon hissed, shaking its head and long neck with a snarl. It was becoming irritated and just wanted to leave to the castle for another nap.

Ace's bravest and oldest sister, Andrea, came out with the dog. "Without our sheep, how will we feed on anything else other than corn?" Seeing Andrea through the window Ace knew Andrea was the symbol of the family, and Ace was proud of that because they had the same dark brown eyes.

"Give me your sheep or you will have nothing but ice to eat!" The dragon growled, its tale beating against the ground, shaking the Earth below. A girl's yell was heard from behind as the dragon shook it's mighty body- the sight was what nightmares fed off of.

Last, Ace came out with his rickety sword in hand as his eyes shone brightly- here was his chance. "We will not have to give up our sheep because I will slay thee dragon!" Ace yelled, puffing out his chest. "I am Ace Thorn, son of Arnold Thorn the third. I am no more than a farmer's boy, but I shall slay thee for Lady Violet's heart-" Ace's heroic moment was stolen away as the dragon swayed side to side, hissing vigorously before it dropped down onto the ground with a THUMP.

As the dragon laid before the Thorn's house with its stomach down, the cause of death was easily identified. A sword of steel driven into the dragon's neck to where the hilt was only protruding out. Many puncture holes were covering the dragon's neck, dark red blood oozing from each and every one. The slayer of the dragon was slowly letting go of the sword's hilt, leaving the sword in its new dragon-sheath. The slayer wore a light blue dress, covered in blood and scratches. "I told you no man could do it."