A cool breeze blew in through the open window of the shed that served as Eun-mi's studio workshop. The radio was on, playing a loud pop song as she worked hunched over at her bench. She tapped a small piece of metal gently, bending it to fit her needs, and then carefully placed it in position to the almost finished ring. She reached over to the table behind her with one hand while using the other to position small pins needed to hold the ring steady as she placed it onto a fire brick for soldering. Grasping blindly, she reached for her torch when suddenly a loud screech broke her concentration. She spun around to see a small, colorful lizard-like creature looking at her with much distain. It had bright yellow feathers covering it's entire body except for its legs and face, which instead glimmered in bright teal colored scales.
"Are you finished yet?" it asked impatiently.
Eun-mi blinked in confusion for a second, before ignoring the dragon and reaching next to it for the torch. The dragon gave an exasperated sigh before curling back down to continue it's nap. "Jeez, you wake me up for nothing," it grumbled. "All I came here to do was deliver a stupid letter. Been here all day and you haven't even touched it. Hump!"
Continuing where she left off, Eun-mi took the torch and brought it into a full bushy flame. Slowly bringing it to her piece, she heated the metal. The ring flashed with blues and reds before the solder finally fell into place, securing the gem-prongs to their place in her ring. Once done, she removed the ring from the brick and dunked it into a bowl of water at her bench. The ring quickly hissed as it sank to the bottom of the bowl.
Finally able to take a break for the first time today, Eun-mi stretched and turned to the dragon.
"Who are you again?"
The dragon gave a groan before getting up and grabbing the envelope it had been resting on top of. “Just read this.” Eun-mi gingerly took the envelope in her hands and turned it over a few times before looking back at the dragon. “Do I have to?” The dragon groaned again and retorted with a simple “yes.”
Fifteen minutes later, the letter had been burned to ashes. Eun-mi was adding the final touch to her ring, a small pearl, while the dragon watched from its new perch on her shoulder. Finally finished, she held it up to the light. The ring glimmered gently and Eun-mi let out a small smile. “So, dragon,” she said, “what is this ‘school’ that letter spoke so highly about?” The creature cocked it’s head to the side and looked at her. “Why don’t you see for yourself?” The room suddenly filled with an incredibly bright light. A rushing wind flew around Eun-mi, and when she finally opened her eyes she found herself placed outside what appeared to be a large castle. “We’re finally here,” the dragon sighed, “why did you have to spend fifteen hours today on that ring, Eun-mi?” The girl just shrugged and watched the dragon leap off her shoulder and begin running into the castle. “Well? Come on! I bet everyone has already started without us. Jeez!” Eun-mi shoved the completed ring into her shorts pocket before walking quickly after the small dragon.
The castle was full of many large and exquisite rooms. She followed the dragon through a room with large comfy chairs, and then into a dining room where staff was starting to clean half eaten plates from the large oak table. Eun-mi’s stomach growled; she hadn’t eaten today after getting wrapped up in her work again. Her gaze lingered a moment longer on the food before following the dragon deeper into the castle. She could sense her being led downwards, and eventually the dragon brought her to a cavern. She could see several other people wandering around the aisles stocked high with various dragon eggs. About 30 feet away a large earthern-colored dragon was watching the people as they seemed to search the aisles for something. She heard a squeak behind her and quickly turned to see the small yellow dragon who brought her here dash off.
“Hey! Don’t leave me alone here!” But the dragon was already gone. Eun-mi turned around and looked nervously into the cavern. “Aw man, what am I even supposed to be doing here?”