2017 Inklings Book Contest finalist: Harshita Dasot
Today we are featuring Inklings Book Contest 2017 finalist, Harshita Dasot! Harshita finished 4th grade this past school year. The story she submitted is called “The Dragon of Coral Cove” We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did!
Leave a comment below on what you thought!
The Dragon of Coral Cove
by Harshita Dasot
Prologue
One peculiar day, two twins were born. They were the key to the Underworld. The twins, Lia and Mia did not know this. They always dreamed of adventure ever since they were born. They grew up and when they were 12, they came upon a book. It was unlike any other book. It glowed at night and sounds burst out of it in the day. Lia and Mia had been too afraid to open it at first, but their curiosity overtook them. They opened it the next day in their bedroom. Suddenly, a voice spoke, coming from the book.
“You are Mia and Lia I presume?” The voice spoke. Mia and Lia answered with a “Yes”. Then Mia and Lia asked the voice a question.
“How do you know us?” They asked in chorus. “Why, you don’t know? You are the key to the Underworld. If you touch anything with information about the Underworld, that thing turns into a portal to the Underworld. When you touched this book it turned into a portal because it, The Dragon of Coral Cove contained information about me, the dragon of Coral Cove. Coral Cove is in the Underworld. I came to talk to you through the portal because I am chained up in Coral Cove for no reason at all. Can you help me be free? I want to go back to my family in the Underworld. By the way, my name is Jerry. Oh, and if you’re in the Underworld, time won’t pass in your world.”
Mia and Lia looked at each other with grins and agreed to help the dragon. They both stepped into the book and found themselves in a hot, moist cave with bars at the entrance. They presumed it was Coral Cove. They saw the dragon sitting at the other end of the cave watching them. They went over to him and he said, “So what’s the plan to free me from here?”
Chapter 1: The Plan
Mia, Lia, and Jerry the dragon, were having a chat on how to free Jerry without suspicion and hardship. Mia’s face suddenly lit up. “I’ve got it! The perfect plan. Since the chains are metal, Jerry you can melt them in the day, since no one guards this place that time. Then we will run or fly to the gates. Lia and I will have clubs ready with us should the guard try to stop us from escaping. Once we are out the gate, Lia and I can go home and you can find your family Jerry.”
Lia thought it over and said, “It’s not a bad idea.” Jerry looked at them with sad, long eyes and said, “I can’t breath fire. I had traded it for my life. A long time ago, I was in a battle between two different clans of dragons. I was about to be killed, but then the dragon that almost killed me said if I gave my dragon fire he would let me live. I let my fire go and survived the battle unlike my older brother Garry. But, I was captured the next day and to this day I’ve been held captive in Coral Cove.”
Mia thought a minute and said, “Don’t worry. We will make a fire instead of you breathing it.”
Chapter 2: The Escape
Mia, Lia, and Jerry gathered hay from Jerry’s mattress, wood from Jerry’s bed, and rock from the floor. Once they were done gathering hay, they gathered the brush and pushed it against the metal bars. Then Mia picked up two stones and rubbed them together. In a few seconds, sparks shot out of the rocks. Mia dropped them into the brush. A few seconds later, the bars began to show signs of melting.
Within seconds they climbed onto Jerry’s back and had clubs ready with them. As soon as the bars melted, Jerry flew out of the wide opening through the grand, bronze gates. As they had expected the guard tried to fight them. Mia and Lia raised their clubs and fought off the giant centaur. After the centaur had experienced a few cuts and bruises he let the team pass. But as soon as they went out the gate they were flying over the Mystery Mermaid Sea. Lia and Mia did not know this yet.
“Oh, no! Now what do we do? We can’t go home in the middle of the sea!” , Lia said as she panicked.
“I’m afraid this is more than a sea. This is the Mystery Mermaid Sea. In it mermaids of different personalities live. You can only leave this sea if you meet with a mermaid. That mermaid might be good or evil. If it is good, it will let you pass after you hear one of its jokes. But if it is evil, it will sing a short song to lure you into the sea and capture you forever. If you hear the song there is no way to resist it even with something in your ears”, Jerry said.
“You see, the evil mermaid has magic which she uses to make sure you can hear it, with or without something in your ears. I can’t fly over this sea because it also has gates that stretch into the sky and never end just like Coral Cove”, added Jerry with a grim expression.
Chapter 3: The Song
“Oh, no! This is so bad! What are we going to do?”, said Mia, panicking this time. Suddenly, they heard a sound. They all exchanged glances. They knew this was not good. A song started.
“Come, come where heartaches never happen.
Come, come where there is pure relief and relaxation.
Come, come where there is fun.
Come, come where heartaches never happen.”
After the song, an eerie, wailing sound came from below. The dragon started to freefall. In panic, Mia scrambled around Jerry’s back trying to grab hold of something. Instead Mia slipped on Jerry’s scales and started falling even faster than him. Lia suddenly saw a mermaid waving at her. She took a chance and jumped off Jerry’s back. By that time they were close to the water, so she landed in the mermaid’s hands. The mermaid smiled at her and took Mia to another mermaid waiting in the water.
She gasped in surprise for she saw her sister in the other mermaid’s hands. They smiled at each other. Lia felt something was not right. Then she realized what was wrong. They were evil mermaids! They took her sister and her under the water. Mia and Lia lost consciousness in a few seconds.
Chapter 4: The Cheats
A few hours later, Mia and Lia were sitting in a conch shell prison with air bubbles around their heads. They looked at each other and finally understood it, the Plan. The mermaids, the dragon, the centaur guard, the dragon’s fake story. It was all a plan to capture them.
“Why did you capture us? What did we do to you? Why?!”, asked Mia and Lia together once they found out they could talk.
“We want to take over the Underworld. You angered the new king’s old nemesis, Mordu. Mordu is our king. The new king has a weakness. He can’t stand anyone being captured without wrong doing. We will turn you over to the king once you can’t breathe anymore. He will turn over his kingdom to let you live. Then all the bad creatures in the Underworld can live in peace. We are called the Cheats. Oh, and I can breathe fire. Also, Coral Cove was my real home, not a prison.”, said the dragon. Mia and Lia were very angry once they made sense of their situation.
“These air bubblesss get sssmaller as you take breathsss. Once the bubblesss are sssmall enough they will sssuffocate you.”, said both mermaids, hissing with lizard-like tongues. The Cheats glanced at each other and cackled.
“We can’t believe you fell for it”, said the dragon cackling some more.
Chapter 5: The King
The Cheats disappeared after saying that. Mia and Lia looked at each other with long, sad eyes, hoping this wasn’t the last time they would see each other. Their air bubbles got smaller and after a few minutes, they fell asleep…. The Cheats came into the room, picked Mia and Lia off the floor, and with a flash changed into presentable clothes. The Cheats swam out the door, then jumped into a water current leading to the king’s castle. After a few minutes of bumpy riding, the Cheats landed in front of the castle. The castle was enormous with large clamshells decorating the perimeter of it. The Cheats went to the gates and asked the guard to let them in.
“Why should I let you in? You have no purpose here. Do you have an offer for the king?!”, the guard asked suspiciously. “Oh, we do have an offer for the king, though it may turn out to be a deal in the end”, the Cheats answered with pure confidence. The guard escorted the Cheats to the king’s bedchamber. They went in, bowed, and then the guard introduced them to the king. The guard bowed again and left the room.
“Well, what do you want this time, Cheats?”, the King asked with a tinge of anger in his voice. “We want to make a deal with you. We have two young girls as prisoners and will only free them if you give us your kingdom.” “Not two, innocent girls for prisoners. Let them go! Please let them go. Fine, I will give my kingdom to you.” , the king said, desperate to free the young girls.
“Not so fast! Mr. King, don’t give your kingdom right now. Just listen to me. I know what I am doing.”, said Mia popping out of nowhere. The Cheats said with confusion to each other,
“How did she get here?” The King meanwhile was thinking about what Mia had said.
“Ok, I will listen to the little girl. She is one of the prisoners anyways. I declare war against you and your King Mordu!”, the King announced.
“Ok, since you already have one girl, we suppose you can have the other also”, the Cheats sneered. They snapped their fingers and in front of the King, appeared another girl, who was the spitting image of her sister.
Chapter 6: Plan Win
Mia and Lia ran and embraced each other. “My name is Mia and she is Lia. Mr. King listen to everything we say or else you will lose the battle. First, we need to gather all the people and animals on your side. Also gather the children. Then, with them and your soldiers you will have a better chance of winning the battle. Once we have gathered everyone we will have to prepare them. Even your soldiers will need more preparation. After preparations we will give them drills to do everyday. They all will have a special job to do. They will learn what they have to do in any situation. On the day of the battle, they will fight with all their might and try to win the battle. To win they will have to kill Mordu. If they do not, another day of battle will be in their future. This plan is called “Plan Win”.
“Plan Win” is how we will win. After we win, Lia and I will go home and the Cheats will not disturb you.”, said Mia.
Chapter 7: The Jobs
Whatever Mia had said to the King, he had done. After preparations, Lia assigned jobs to the people.
“Women shall be in charge of the makeshift hospital during battle. The men will be using their weapons from home to fight. Men will participate in the army drills also. The older children are in charge of building a wall and fort to store our supplies. In the battle they will be using slingshots to fight. The oldest children will be allowed to use weapons instead of slingshots. The younger children will be using shields to protect themselves and other people around them. The soldiers are more experienced so they will help the men sharpen their skills. The soldiers should show the men all their tricks. Last but not least, the animals will be helping carry the food and drinks. All the supplies will be provided. Thank You! You may now start your work.” After the big speech Mia and Lia got together and agreed that everything was going as planned.
They went to the women who were organizing the makeshift hospital for the injured. Then they went to the army field where they saw soldiers helping the men sharpen their skills. The children were doing fine when Mia and Lia went to check on them also. There was just one child who seemed frightened and afraid.
“Why are you so frightened?”, Mia asked the little boy. He pointed to the horizon and Mia screamed out loud. Lia rushed over and asked Mia the same thing Mia had asked the little boy before. Mia pointed to the distance and Lia saw a big cloud of dust heading their way.
“Everyone gather around. I have an important announcement. The Cheats are coming! We have no time to prepare. Everyone get ready with your weapons and jobs and let’s lead this kingdom to victory!!!!!”, Lia shouted. Then she led a dazed Mia to the hospital to wait. The people were all ready and were standing outside for further directions.
Chapter 8: The Battles
“Now remember all the battle plans we told you. Follow them and you may win. Now go and fight with all your might for your kingdom, your hearts, your king, your lives, everything you own, your children, and your peace!!!”, said Lia hoping to motivate them.
They charged towards the Cheats and took the higher ground for they knew with higher ground they had a better chance of winning the battle. They fought and fought and were winning until the flying monkeys came and started dropping their business on the people’s heads. Now the people were fighting the Cheats and the monkeys. That day the people lost but no lives were lost.
The days passed by and soon another day of battle came. The Cheats came charging towards us. Just like last time, the people took the higher ground. This time the people were prepared for the flying monkeys and their droppings. It was around this time that the little boy who had first spotted the Cheats last time charged towards the enemy. He slid underneath everyone on the enemy’s side and finally reached Mordu. Mordu was busy fighting the new King, so he did not see the little boy.
The little boy’s name was Emmerich Himmelsbach. Emmerich walked carefully past Mordu’s horse who was kicking the air wildly. He drew a small pocket knife from his jacket and plunged it into Mordu’s heart. A scream pierced the air and Mordu fell to the ground, dead. The Cheats then surrendered and ran away never to be seen again. Mordu’s horse was terrified to see his master dead so he kicked Emmerich on his knee and galloped away.
Epilogue
Emmerich winced in pain, but smiled with triumph. He had defeated Mordu! Cheers rose out of the crowd. They all headed back to the castle where Emmerich was treated with medicine for his knee. In the end, everything turned out to be well. Everyone headed back to their peaceful lives never to be disturbed by Mordu or his followers again.
Mia and Lia headed home with happy hearts and vivid minds. They never forgot their amazing adventure in the Underworld.
Now my friends it’s finally time to say:
The End
