The Mysty Mountain Mermaids 
 

Once upon a time in the mystic valley of Mystglenn, there lived a family of mermaids. They stayed in the crystal clear lake singing and playing away the warm summer days. The mermaids that lived in the valley were blessed by the sun and it always warmed the water with its golden rays until one day when an evil magician travelled into the valley.

The mermaids were scared of the magician and tried to stay away from him because they were frightened of the thought of what evil magic he could cast upon them. The magician was unhappy that they ran from him and he decided to punish them for being rude to him. The magician thought for many days about the proper punishment for them and finally decided. The next day, the magician went to the shore of the lake and began to cast his spell. As he cast the spell, the sky began to turn dark and shortly after, a great storm came, and the thunder and lightning pounded the valley with no end in sight.

This was the first storm any of the mermaids had ever witnessed. The lightning and thunder scared them. And as time passed, the days began getting colder and the leaves started falling off the trees. The changes in weather were new to the mermaids and they had no idea about what was going on. It got colder and colder and finally a layer of ice began forming on the top of the lake and the mermaids had to swim to the bottom of the lake so they could keep warm.

They lived beneath the surface for many months but they were not happy and they seldom sang their songs. "What should we do?" the queen of the mermaids began asking. One of the elders spoke up saying, "I think that one of us should swim to the surface so that we can break through the ice and get some help. If we can wake the dragon that lives under the lake, he'll solve our problem."

"I think you may be right!" the queen exclaimed. She went before her people and asked, "Is there anyone here who has the courage to go to the surface and awaken the dragon?" As she went down the row asking people everyone of them made up as excuse about why they couldn't do it. The queen was about to give up when Rae Rae, the littlest mermaid, stepped forward. "I'll do it," she said with a weak voice. Many of the adult mermaids didn't like the idea, but since none of them volunteered, the queen agreed to let Rae Rae try.

The elder took Rae Rae aside and taught her about the dragon and how to call it. After a week of learning and preparing, Rae Rae swam up to the surface, found an area of thin ice and broke through. Pulling herself up onto the ice, she said "I've done it, now to sing to the dragon." Rae Rae shivered from the cold and found it hard to sing but she knew everyone was counting on her so she started singing the sad song the elder had taught her. Day past and night came and still no dragon, but she kept singing and just as she was beginning to wonder if the dragon really would come, a speck in the sky appeared from the mountains to the north. She watched the speck grow and kept singing even though her body was nearly frozen from the cold.

The speck grew and grew and the dragon reached her a few minutes later, fluttering his wings as he hovered above her. He slowly landed beside her and noticed she was cold, so he began warming her with his heat. He asked, "What is wrong with you?" Rae Rae responded, "the magician destroyed our land and the storms he made have caused this freezing weather." The dragon listened as she told him the story and when she was done, he thought for a while. Then he told her to climb up on his back and hang on tight. After she was up and ready, he started flapping his wings and lifted up off the ice.

He started taking deep breaths and concentrating and then, all of a sudden, fire darted from his mouth down at the lake, melting the ice. He flew along the surface of the lake breathing fire and melting the ice. After he had melted all the ice, he landed on the shore of the lake and helped Rae Rae down. Rae Rae was totally amazed about what had just happened. Rae Rae and the dragon talked for a while and made a deal.

The dragon announced "if you will sing for me during the day, I'll warm the lake with my firey breath at night." Rae Rae loved the idea because she got to spend time with her new friend and also saved all the mermaids. The next day, Rae Rae swam back down and told the other mermaids about what had happened and they began treating her like the heroine she was. From that day on, she spent her days with her best friend the dragon and her nights with her mermaid family, safe and warm once again.

Tiger's Eye

Artwork By

Jack Shalatain

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