"No!" Billy shouted, as Clara had run towards the prince, who took her hand gently and said,

"Look what I can do! Do you want some more sparkle on your dress?"

And with that, the prince worked up some strange magic, and threw glitter onto Clara's dress from his bare hands. Billy watched in shock.

The prince looked at him in amusement and said to Clara, "Would you like your hair to be long enough to climb?"

The prince did another strange spell from his hands, and Clara's hair started growing longer and longer.

"Stop!" Billy started screaming. "What are you doing to her?"

"I'm giving her all the things she desires! I'm letting her be a princess. And from what she's told me, you never let her be anything close back at her so-called home," The prince laughed aloud. Clara joined him, her laughter echoing once more as she reveled in the joy of this new life she never imagined living. Billy was horrified. He couldn't leave Clara. He couldn't leave her in this strange book. He could never leave her with this horrible prince. He shouted desperate words to his sister, knowing that words were his only weapon left against someone as powerful as this strange young boy.

"Clara, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I should never have yelled at you, I should never have called you silly...you can be a princess whenever you want to! Back at home we can play princess together! I promise! And..." Billy was starting to run out of words to say. He desperately searched for more, his mind racing like a wild snowstorm. Finally, he shouted some final words,

"I love you, Clara! You're my sister, and I love you more than anything else in the world!"

With those words, all of a sudden, the strange magic that the young prince had conjured dissolved into nothing. Clara's dress lost its sparkle. Her hair started to shorten until it was back to its initial length. And her eyes, Billy had noticed, had been relieved of the strange trance-like gaze she had once held when looking at the prince, and turned back to their normal look. She stopped laughing, and she faced Billy.

Billy looked back at her, worried for a second. He wondered whether or not his little sister's mind had changed, and whether or not she still looked up to the young prince.

To Billy's relief, miraculously, Clara ran towards him and said, "I love you too, Billy..."

Billy wrapped his arms around her as tightly as he could and smiled. That feeling had returned, that feeling of safety and knowing that his little sister was close to him and away from any danger. She was his again.

Clara started to cry, her sobs muffled on Billy's shoulder. "I want to go home, Billy. It's scary here."

"Don't worry, Clara," Billy held her closer to him. "I'll get you out of here. We'll see Mom again soon, don't worry."

Billy then looked up at the young prince, whose once solemn and smug expression had turned into horror. Billy smiled victoriously. He had the power now.

"I won't let you take her. She's my sister, and we're going home." he said firmly, a glare planted on his face as he stared down the prince.

The prince looked at him angrily, and said with great fury, "It is not often that visitors come here. They're scared off by the goblins before they can get any further. And if not the goblins, it's the mountain. And if not the mountain, it's the trolls..."

"But when visitors do come...they have a choice." The prince continued, looking at Billy with piercing eyes. Billy started to feel dizzy while looking at them, as if the simple gaze had compelled him to do something against his will. He quickly looked away.

"One choice...is to stay with me. To stay with me, in my great and wondrous palace. You can rule with me, enjoy the beauty of these vast lands, revel in the tranquil solitude so rarely interrupted..." The prince said dreamily.

Billy started to feel what the prince was describing. It was a feeling unlike any other that he had ever experienced in his lifetime. Just by the prince speaking of the lands, Billy could practically feel a cool breeze blowing past him as if he were standing outside in an open space. He could feel the peace that the prince felt in being so alone. And slowly, he felt his grip on Clara slowly release.

"So what do you say? Will you live in these beauteous lands? Will you stay with me?" The prince grinned.

Suddenly, Billy snapped out of his temporary trance. He held Clara tighter after realizing that his grip on her had been slowly releasing, all triggered by the simple glance at the prince's grin. It was the grin that Billy did not like, the grin that he had seen upon first meeting the prince. It was then, that Billy knew, the prince was trying to work his strange magic on him. It was the magic that he had worked on his little sister, and it was successful, as she was young. But Billy was not as naive. The love for his sister and the fear he had felt earlier had kept him from being that way.

And so, Billy looked directly in the eyes of the strange prince, and said in a grave and firm voice, "No."

And it was that simple word that made the grin on the young prince's face melt away into a frown. He stared at Billy deeply, and Billy could practically feel his anger.

"Then I suppose you have chosen your remaining option. This is one that you will not like, I'm quite certain. Its reserved for my more...resilient visitors..."

And with that, the prince began to change all of a sudden. Billy and Clara watched it happen in shock. First, his skin began to turn rough and scaly. Then, his body began to change form completely. Billy realized what was happening as soon as he was almost finished transforming. He saw horns grow from his head, and then the prince had grown a tail, and before he knew it, he was staring at a large dragon, who was so tall that he had reached past the ceiling, as part of it crumbled to pieces.

Rashi had been wrong about one thing after all. The dragon was in fact, out today...just not in the desired form. 

The prince, with all of his strange magic and tricks, was in fact, the dragon that Rashi had warned them of.