The Terrifying Dragon of Spindle Stone Rock

Long ago, there lived a powerful king in a beautiful castle by the sea. His beautiful wife bore him two wonderful children: a daughter, whom they named Margaret, and a son, whom they named Child Wind.
When Child Wind grew up, he asked his parents for permission to travel the world. The queen was deeply saddened when her son left home, as if she knew she would never see him again, and soon she passed away. The king grieved for a long time. Neither hunting nor traveling around his kingdom, which his courtiers arranged to entertain him, could lift his sorrow.

But one day, a messenger from a distant castle brought a letter to the young princess Margaret from her father. The king wrote that he had met a beautiful lady during a hunt, fallen in love with her, and soon intended to bring her to the royal castle as the new queen.
Princess Margaret was saddened, realizing that another woman would take her mother’s place. But as an obedient daughter, she accepted her father’s decision, and on the appointed day, she went to the gates to hand the keys of the castle to her stepmother. The wedding procession soon appeared. Margaret stepped forward to greet her father, bowed deeply, and presented the keys to her stepmother. She blushed with embarrassment and looked so lovely that one of the courtiers remarked:
"How beautiful this princess is! Truly, she is the most beautiful woman in the world!"
The king’s new wife interrupted the knight sharply:
"You should have said, 'After the new queen.'"
And she whispered to herself:
"Soon, this beauty will vanish..."

That very night, the queen asked her servant—an evil sorceress—to destroy the princess’s beauty. The servant promised to do so: she decided to turn Margaret into a dragon. Her spell was this: Princess Margaret would become a dragon and remain one until her brother, Child Wind, kissed her three times. But, she warned her mistress, if the prince did manage to break the spell, the evil force would turn on the queen herself, and she too would face a terrible transformation. The queen—so great was her hatred for the princess—agreed to these terms.
The next morning, a terrible roar came from Princess Margaret’s chambers. Her maids, peeking fearfully into the room, saw a hideous monster. They fled in terror, and the dragon, through the long and narrow corridors, escaped the castle and disappeared into the forest.
When the king was informed of what had happened, his heart gave out, and he died. Soon, another disaster struck the kingdom: peasants reported that a fearsome dragon had appeared on the Spindlestone rock by the sea, devouring everything in its path.
The people sought advice from a powerful wizard. After studying the stars, gazing into a magical crystal, and consulting ancient books, he said:
"The terrible dragon is Princess Margaret! The dragon is tormented by hunger, which is why it devours everything. Find the seven best cows in your herds and feed the dragon their milk. Then it will stop terrorizing the villages. And one more thing: summon Prince Child Wind from across the sea. I am powerless against the spell cast upon the princess, but I know it was done at the new queen’s command, and only the prince can break it."
And so it was done. The dragon was given milk and ceased to terrorize the area, while a messenger was sent to Child Wind.

When the young prince received the terrible news, he vowed to lift the curse from his unfortunate sister and take revenge on his stepmother. The twelve knights who had accompanied the prince on his travels also pledged to help him.
Together, they built a swift ship. The keel of this wondrous vessel was made of rowan wood, against which no magic could prevail!
Soon, the prince and his knights boarded the ship and set sail for home.
Before Child Wind even approached his homeland, the old sorceress reported to her mistress that the prince was sailing home. The queen ordered her to stop the prince, and the old woman summoned demons with her spells, saying:
"Let Child Wind never reach the shore! Raise a storm, wreck his ship, but do not let him set foot on his native land!"
And all the demons flew to the sea like a dark cloud to meet the prince’s ship. But no magic could harm Child Wind’s ship, for its keel was made of rowan. No matter how the demons screeched and wailed, the ship continued to sail toward the shore. Finally, the demons returned to the sorceress, having achieved nothing.
Then the evil old woman used her most terrible spell, forcing the dragon to leave its perch on the rock and crawl toward the harbor.
As Child Wind’s ship approached the shore, the dragon plunged into the sea. It coiled around the ship, rocking it and pushing it away from the shore. Three times, Child Wind urged his men to row harder and not lose heart, but each time, the fearsome dragon drove the ship back.
Then the prince steered his ship around. The sorceress rubbed her hands with glee, thinking that Child Wind had grown frightened and fled. But the young prince rounded the cape and docked in a neighboring bay. From there, he and his knights, with drawn swords and strung bows, rushed to confront the terrible dragon.
But when the prince stepped onto his native soil, all the sorceress’s spells crumbled. Now, the queen’s servant had no power over the dragon. The evil old woman either vanished or fled. And the queen returned to her chambers alone, awaiting her fate.
Meanwhile, Child Wind approached the fearsome dragon and raised his sword. But then, from the dragon’s hideous mouth, a girl’s voice cried out:
"Break the spell, dear brother! Kiss me, dear brother!"

The hand holding the sword trembled, and Child Wind stepped back. But then he steeled himself and approached the dragon. He kissed the dragon once. But nothing changed—the dragon remained a dragon. The prince kissed the terrifying face a second time. Still, nothing happened. And when Child Wind kissed the dragon a third time... Oh, miracle! Instead of the dreadful monster, his sister Margaret stood before him, as young and beautiful as ever.
Child Wind gently wrapped Margaret in his cloak and took her to the castle. Before they even reached the castle steps, a strange event occurred: the queen, sitting before a mirror in her room, suddenly shriveled up and turned into an ugly toad. The toad croaked and hopped away from the castle, while Child Wind and Margaret entered the gates of their ancestral home.
From then on, Child Wind ruled his father’s kingdom wisely, and old folks told their grandchildren the terrifying tale of the dragon of Spindlestone Rock on winter evenings.

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The Terrifying Dragon of Spindle Stone Rock

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