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rain ghosts laughed.

      «It is not a chance!» Graymore struck a pose.

      «Let’s make a bet! If that happens, you’ll be our king’s bride. He’s looking for a bride, but all the girls who want to be his are drowning in the rain. And you have fiery blood, in the midst of magical rain you will not get wet to death.»

      Graymore found such a suggestion dubious, but the spirit had already advised others:

      «Get our suzerain here! I think we’ve found what we need! It’s a special maiden! A noble one, too! Not some milkmaid or reaper! She is a real princess. It is a perfect match!»

      Graymore was frightened. She didn’t want to get married at all. She didn’t like the rain king. He must be made up of water.

      «I’m going to rule my country alone,» she warned the pesky spirits. «If I am ever to have a husband, it will only be as a consort prince. As a heroine who has slain many dragons, I have the right to rule Livellin as a matriarch.»

      «That’s good! The Rain King will flood Livellin and become your consort,» the spirits laughed.

      Graymore imagined her native kingdom flooded with rain. Such a thing must not be allowed to happen. The spirits must be chased away somehow. The rain would probably stop soon. For now, the sky above the forest did not lighten, and the spirits surrounded Graymore and bellowed with myriad voices.

      «The Rain King is coming!» One of the spirits proclaimed.

      There was indeed a glimpse of something like a waterway in the thick rain, and a translucent figure wearing a crown was floating along it. The empty watery eyes peered at the princess.

      It was time to get out of here. Graymore began to make her way through the ring of spirits. She must get back to Maverin. If the spirits try to stop her, she’ll cut herself, and her fiery blood will do them all no good.

      The Rain King was already reaching out his hands to her.

      «Here is she, your majesty!» The spirits nudged her forward. «Put the water crown on her before the rain stops, and she will stay with us forever.»

      Someone’s transparent fingers brushed wet curls away from Graymore’s forehead, exposing clear skin. Immediately there was a startled shriek.

      «It is Donata’s seal!» The rain spirits shrieked in chorus.

      They screeched apart. Graymore touched her forehead. Where do they see the seal? There was no trace of Donata’s kiss long ago.

      The Rain King was gone, too. His sigh of regret hovered over the forest.

      It was a good thing he had come to his senses and was no longer trying to get a bride like the dragon-hunter. Graymore imagined the rain flooding the towers and spires of her home kingdom. In the midst of perpetual rain, dragons can no longer be hunted.

      Suddenly the jets of rain burst into bright orange sparks. For a moment it looked like the rain was on fire. Graymore dodged the sparks and grabbed her crossbow. A dragon was flying across the sky. The same dragon she had been hunting. He was the one who breathed fire downward. Apparently it had a score to settle with the Rain King.

      As soon as the dragon noticed the rain was ending, he flew away.

      «What an elusive dragon he is!» Graymore stamped her foot in frustration. «I have to chase him all over the forest again! He was only just outside! If only I’d had time to aim! Does he fly away from me on purpose? He feels I can defeat him!»

      A loud dragon howl in the distance would have startled anyone, but not Graymore. She was used to that kind of dragon sympathy. A dragon’s roar would have made even the mountains tremble.

      «That’s right. The dragon is hiding in those mountains!» Graymore took a spyglass out of her saddlebag to spy the dragon’s flight. «I’ll wager he’s got a cave there, full of bones and gold. We’re going in that direction, Maverin!»

      The horse showed no enthusiasm at having to hit the road again. If it were Maverin’s will, it would have grazed for hours in one place, but its mistress would not let it.

      «The poor horse could burn if you find a dragon!» The rain had barely stopped, and a gnome had crawled up from behind a stump. There was a rainbow in the sky.

      «Do you know exactly where the dragon is hiding?» Graymore sat down in the saddle and looked down at the dwarf.

      «He is not hiding, we are all hiding from him,» muttered the dwarf.

      «All of you? Who is that? You’re the only one I see.»

      «It is the forest folk. They’re shy. But I noticed you, pretty lady, and thought you would do no harm to the woodland tramp. And your horse is absolutely adorable! Would you like to keep it with me while you hunt the dragon? I’ll keep it safe. And a dragon can burn it with one breath,» he said.

      «You’re not one of the gypsies the dragon burnt in these parts, are you?» Graymore joked. It would be logical if the whole tabor burned down, and one runt escaped and survived.

      The dwarf shook his head seriously.

      «The gypsies aren’t here, but the evil elves are,» he warned her.

      «I didn’t know elves were evil. Everyone talks of their beauty and goodness,» Graymore gripped Maverin’s bridle more comfortably.

      «Elves are all kinds, and there’s plenty more where that came from. By the way, you’ve been a nuisance to one of them. Sheret swore he’d teach you a lesson.»

      «Who’s Sheret?» Graymore glanced behind him, but there was no sign of the dwarf.

      «How timid he is! Isn’t he, Maverin?»

      The horse cautiously roared. It certainly didn’t like the local evil spirits.

      «And now, let’s go!» Graymore spurred her horse slightly, and Maverin staggered reluctantly toward the mountains beyond the treetops of the distant pines. That’s where the dragon had flown, by Graymore’s reckoning.

      Rose in the Dragon’s Claws

      A rainbow spread across the sky. It resembled a fairy bridge of seven colors.

      «I have heard that fairies and elves travel over bridges made of rainbows,» Graymore whispered in Maverin’s ear. «They have wings, so it’s safe for them to walk across bridges, because they can’t fall down. People aren’t allowed on them without a fairies’ guide or an elf steward. The trick is that only the chosen fairies and elves can get on the bridge of the rainbow. Really, it’s curious! If some elf fell in love with me, I could travel over rainbow bridges. It would be more convenient to hunt dragons from them. By the way, do dragons have the ability to fly onto rainbow bridges?»

      There were no winged figures in the rainbow. The air was pleasantly fresh after the rain. A sweet scent of roses wafted in from somewhere. Why were there roses in the middle of nowhere? There are probably rosebushes somewhere in the thickets that bloom in the spring. Roses smell especially strong after a rain. The smell of roses followed Graymore all the way, but no roses could be seen.

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