Once upon a time, years ago, there was a little girl named Ernylee.  She loved faeries. At night the tiny sprite faeries would come visit her and take her to the beautiful flower meadows and tall tree forests in the land where they lived, a land called Morandella. They played and danced and laughed together.  They had great adventures as they explored the beautiful island where the faeries live.  

As years passed and Ernylee started school, she shared her adventures with her friends.  But she learned that her friends didn’t want to hear about faeries and “make-believe”. They even made fun of her, calling her a baby and weird.  So, she learned not to talk about her time with her faery friends and kept it to herself. 

 

Morandella was beautiful place and Ernylee and the faeries play games and explored the area for flowers, magic stones and treasure. They went to the beach, climbed trees, ate honey and sucked nectar from blossoms. Even as she became a teenage and later a young woman, she still visited her faery friends. 

 

As got older, Ernylee, did not have much time for her friends and she didn’t see them for long periods of time. It is rumored that in the last week of August, in the year of 1997, Ernylee's faery friends of Morandella came to her in the night. They told her that their kingdom was under siege by a great dragon. It was being destroyed by fire and they needed her help. Ernylee was not sure she could do anything to help the faeries, but because she cared about them and their land so deeply, she agreed to journey back to Morandella to see what she could do.

As Ernylee returned to the lands of her childhood dreams, her heart was saddened. The forests where she had once frolicked in with her friends were charred and blackened. The flowered fields were barren wastelands.  Although none of the faeries had lost their homes, many had left Morandella in fear. Lorinda, the Queen of the Morandella Faery Kingdom and a dear friend of Ernylee’s, took her to the Great Island where Lorinda’s family had lived for centuries. The island was in the middle of a beautiful crystal blue lake located in the center of the island kingdom. She was told that the dragon who was destroying their lands, Flambeauay, had taken over the island and Lorinda was banished from her home. Lorinda began to cry as she told Ernylee more, how her husband, Glademus, the king of Morandella, had been destroyed by the dragon.  Lorinda and Ernylee both cried together.  Ernylee felt great sadness and knew she had to help her friends.

The dragon Flambeauay had taken up residence in a cave on top of a hill on Lorinda’s island. The once lush green garden island was now an ashened wasteland. All the trees were charred; all the flowers were gone, burned; all the animals and faeries exiled.

The faeries had tried to overpower the dragon with their magic, but they were too small, and their magic had not been strong enough to defeat him. They had tried to get others to help them, but the people of their land were too afraid to, and the only people in our world who believed in them were children. If they revealed themselves to adults, they risked being captured, because that is what adults do.  They were afraid to ask their children friends to help because the dragon could easily overcome them and hurt them.  The faeries thought that their only hope was their longtime friend, Ernylee

Ernylee was extremely frightened. The faeries described the dragon as very large, 30 feet tall, and he had wings that spanned 50 feet. He had two heads and could breathe fire from both.  She had no idea how or what to do, but the faeries convinced here that they would help her and explained their plan.

 

The faeries told Ernylee that Flambeauy almost always attacked at night. They thought that perhaps he was sleeping during the day in a cave on a hill.  The faeries believed that if Ernylee could find him while he was sleeping, maybe she could destroy him. And, they would help.

The faeries called a meeting. They all vowed to support Ernylee in her effort to defeat the dragon. They gathered their magic faery dust and gave it to her. She tore a piece of her black shirt off and made a pouch to hold the glittery granules. Then, Queen Lorinda transformed a blackened branch into a mighty jeweled sword. It glistened in the sun. The most striking feature of the sword was an exquisite blue heart-shaped stone on the top of the blade near the handle. The stone sparkled of topaz, the same translucent color of the water in the lake that surrounded Lorinda’s beloved island. Then Lorinda took a maple leaf and turned it into a great shield that looked like pure gold. Lorinda told Ernylee that the sword had great powers and the shield would fend off the flames of dragon. All she had to do is believe in herself and in her faery friends. The faeries were sure they would succeed. Ernylee took the gifts, but the thought of battle against the giant beast made her tremble.

The next several days, Ernylee scouted the area around the island, trying to find a way to get across the water without the dragon seeing her. At night, she hid in a hole once occupied by a large fox or boar. She watched the dragon as he flew over the kingdom, breathing fire. Always he came at night, never did she see him during the day.  She set her mind to the task at hand and began to work on how to get across the water.

Days passed, as Ernylee gathered reeds and logs. She began to build a raft that would float across the lake. She planned crossing during the day.  She would lay branches over herself as she floated across the water to the island. Just in case the dragon saw the raft, she would be hidden. Ernylee was still full of fear but kept reminding herself of what her friends had told her, to have faith in herself.

As Ernylee studied the behavior of Flambeauay during his nightly rampages, she looked for some weakness in the dragon. But Flambeauay seemed invincible. He was a graceful flyer. He would breathe fire from one of his heads as he flew, keeping his second head ever watchful while the first did the damage. Soon, all would be lost. Ernylee met daily with the faeries and finalized the plan. Lorinda had been insistent on the date, October 30. The plan was set.

In the early morning hours on October 30, Ernylee pushed off the lakeshore and started drifting toward the island. She knew exactly in which cave the dragon slept. Never once in all the weeks she had been in Morandella had the dragon come out during the day. So Ernylee planned to attack the cave during the day. Flambeauay had never given any indication that he knew that Ernylee was anywhere in the faery kingdom. But for some reason, Ernylee felt the dragon was just waiting for her to make her move.

The trip across the lake went well. Now her task was to get up to the cave where Flambeauay should be sleeping, then to use the sword that the faeries had given her to kill him. The thought filled her with anguish, she still wasn’t sure she could do it.  She kept telling herself, she had to kill the dragon in order to stop the destruction of the land but killing was so against all she believed. Lorinda accompanied her along the way with a small band of faeries. Lorinda sat on Ernylee's shoulder, holding onto her collar.  She swore to Ernylee that she would stay there with her until it was over. 

Once on the island, they began their trip up the mountain. The band of faeries flew ahead to check the cave and make sure that the dragon was asleep. The climb was much harder than Ernylee thought it would be, she tired often, and was concerned that she would not make it before nightfall. Lorinda kept reassuring her that all would be well, but Ernylee watching the sun getting closer to the west horizon, felt sick and panicky.

The band of faeries returned from the cave to say that the dragon was awake and moving about in the cave. Ernylee wanted to hide, but Lorinda told her it was time. She had to stand tall and believe in herself and the faeries.  All would be well. Ernylee tried to believe but was not sure that she could face the fire and the might of Flambeauay. Lorinda told her that the shield would protect her. She told Ernylee to use the faery's dust to blind the dragon, then use the sword. Ernylee, although frightened more than she had ever been before in her life, made the decision to do it, no matter what the cost. The faery scouts suggested a location for the battle.  The ground was flat and would help Ernylee from slipping and falling.

The faeries rested while Ernylee ate some food she brought with her.  The sun set quickly, and a full moon filled the sky.  As the stars began to sparkle, Ernylee heard the great dragon take flight. It roared and blew fire and began his circling of the island. It was not long before the dragon realized it was not alone.  He swooped down toward Ernylee and the faeries, and Ernylee knew it was time to face the monster.

Flambeauay saw her and began circling around the sky above her. When she saw the fire coming at her, she held up the shield for protection. She could feel the force of the fire hitting the shield, but as Lorinda had promised, she was safe from the flames and heat.

"The faery dust," Lorinda whispered in her ear.

"I cannot hold the shield and the sword and the faery dust all at one time," Ernylee said to Lorinda.

The band of faeries was suddenly there. They took the shield from Ernylee and she withdrew her grip and grabbed the black pouch of faery dust that she had tucked in her waistband. She filled her hand with the magic particles and took a deep breath. Lorinda said she would give the signal.

 

"Are you ready?" Lorinda asked.

"I’m so scared," whispered Ernylee.

"It will be okay. I promise you!"  Lorinda.  Then she yelled, "NOW."

The faeries dropped the shield. Both of the dragon’s heads were immediately in front of Ernylee. The heads came closer, and Ernylee hurled the faery dust from her hand. She only hit one of the heads, which meant the second came at her, eyes blazing and as he sucked in a deep breath Ernylee lifted the sword in both hands……

Then, the most remarkable thing happened. It was as if time stopped then in slow motion Ernylee was holding up the sword, and the beautiful heart-shaped topaz jewel in the blade of the sword caught the rays of the full moon. The reflection from the jewel made a brilliant beam of light. Ernylee moved the sword to direct the light into the eyes of the second dragon head, hoping to blind him. As she did this, the dragon gave an earth-shattering scream and fell, tumbling to the ground. As he hit, the ground shook from his weight.

Then, the dragon’s huge body began to tremble and then, it began to shrink. Lorinda and the faeries flew over the dragon’s body as it got smaller and smaller. Ernylee thought it had disappeared completely, when she heard the shrills of excitement and joy from the faeries. As she moved closer, she realized that the celebration was not for the death of the dragon, but because now where the dragon once had been, stood Glademus, the faery king!

Suddenly, the kingdom was lit up with hundreds of lights from tiny lanterns being carried by flying faeries. They all gathered around the scene of the dragon fight. Ernylee sat on the ground, stunned and confused. Glademus moaned, then finally flapped his wings, and rose to his feet. Lorinda ran to him, they hugged, and the air filled with the merriment of faeries as they sang, and danced, and laughed. The ground gave a slight shudder and Ernylee could see in the full moonlight that the earth suddenly burst with life. The trees once more grew and their leaves turned green, vines twisted from the ground, and flowers suddenly appeared everywhere.

Glademus and Lorinda came to Ernylee. She was stunned.  What had happened?  Lorinda explained to her that a witch had put Glademus under a spell.  The witch had captured some of the faeries and had stolen their faery dust for some of her wicked spells. The faeries had banded together and attacked the witch and destroyed her home.  In revenge, the angry witch captured Glademus and put a spell on him, turning him into a dragon. The faeries defeated the witch, but her spell remained. 

Lorinda further explained the elements needed to break the spell included:  the reflection of a beam of moonlight from a full moon reflecting through the topaz heart stone into the eye of the dragon and that it had to be performed by an adult human who did not know that the dragon was a spell put onto Glademus. Although the faeries had figured out how to break the spell, they could not find an adult human who would be willing to risk their own life to save the faery kingdom.  Not, until Ernylee.

Ernylee was relieved and overjoyed. In celebration, the king and queen announced there would be a great feast in the royal castle grounds. Hundreds of faeries gathered and rejoiced.  lifted Ernylee into the air and flew her to the celebration on the island. Music and the sweet smell of flowers and honey filled the air. There was dancing, singing, and joy everywhere.  Ernylee was overwhelmed by the feelings of friendship and love, happiness and joy.
 

After an hour of celebrating, King Glademus and Queen Lorinda appeared in front of Ernylee and asked for the attention of all the faeries. They announced, that in gratitude of saving Morandella and King Glademus from the horrible witch’s spell, they decided to give Ernylee the kingdom that had been once been ruled by the witch that they destroyed. All the faeries cheered. Ernylee was overwhelmed. The faeries once again gathered around Ernylee and lifted her into the air. They flew northward and she began to view the great island kingdom that was surrounded by various sized islands on the north and west sides. They flew her around the islands, and because of the full moon she could see the beauty and splendor of the land that had been given to her. Her heart was overflowing with excitement and joy.

On November 26, 1997, Ernylee was made the Queen of the new land. At her coronation, the faeries presented her Majesty Ernylee with the Scepter of Light and the Crown of Honor. With the permission of the faeries, Queen Ernylee renamed the lands, the Kingdom of Bellelealand.

As the Queen reestablishes order in the new land, Dukedoms are being created and Peerage granted.  It is the wish of Her Majesty that the Kingdom of Bellelealand be a land of Friendship and Love, Happiness and Joy.

August 1997