Dragon Little stood in front of the crying soldier, who was hugging his legs, squeezing himself into the corner of the roof. 

She was only three years old and her father left her on the roof of a planet that’s about to be terrorized and destroyed by an evil machine. In front of her was the only man who could save the world, a man implanted with the virus that can save everyone. 

I thought it was perhaps too much of a task for her to help a crying soldier. But I did not know enough about humans: Not how and when they cry, not how and when they’re brave. I have seen so few brave humans in my centuries of life. I have seen so few brave… any brave creature, in fact, that ist not someone’s dream. 

I trusted Dragon Father to create an adventure his sweet, kind, brave daughter would be able to handle. 

But it did not begin that way. 

“Stand up,” she told him, standing awkwardly next to him. 

“No,” he shrugged. 

“Stand up and win the war!” 

The soldier, Colonel Widget, cried and tears came down his cheeks. “I can’t!” 

Dragon Little stood in front of him for a minute or two, then she grabbed his hand and tried to pull him up. “Get uppppp!” 

He pulled his hand back and continued to cover his head with his hands. 

Dragon Little stood there for a full minute again, looking at him. 

“Are you chicken?” she taunted him. “Are you a frightened stupid chicken?” 

He turned his head away from her. “Yes! Yes, I am!” 

Dragon Little was taken aback by his response. I suppose she had never heard someone admit he was afraid.

She stood there for another minute, and then she turned away and looked at the sky. She was searching for her father to help her. 

But Bonny’s Revenge was not in the planet’s sky. 

Her gaze still searching the sky, she took a step away from the crying soldier, then stopped. 

Her mouth clenched in determination. 

I knew that face. 

To call her father she would have to admit that she had lost. She was determined not to do that. 

She spun around and, as I will soon see, was ready with a new tactic. 

But this tactic would not lead to the results Dragon Father expected. Even now I shudder at the implications of the next few minutes on Dragon Little’s life. 

I will gather my strength and continue to tell you the story tomorrow.

—Told by The Red Dragon