Proud in name and proud in nature, Lazar believed all peasants to be shiftless, lazy creatures that needed to be dealt with by a firm hand, and his was, by far, the firmest in the land. When the peasants claimed that The Great Serpent had badly depleted their herds and flocks the prime minister accused them of treason, stating that they were only inventing tales while they secretly hide away the choicest animals for their own selfish appetite, instead of thinking about the needs of the palace and the nobility that lived within its walls. Those who protested were seized and thrown into dark, damp dungeons, their houses burned to the ground, and their families put to work for members of the privileged nobility.

What the dragon didn't take, the prime minister and his men soon did. So it was that the people of Lark became oppressed and hungry, their lives sinking deeper and deeper into dark despair.

One fine spring day Princess Hope stood on her balcony taking some air and meditating on her future. Her red hair with its deep, golden highlights was blowing in the wind and catching the light of the noonday sun as her eyes rested on the land of Lark with its rolling green fields and distant snow capped mountains. She was unaware of the sorrows that were taking place in the village outside of the castle walls. Yet hers wasn't as happy and carefree of life as you might have supposed. For her father, King Ryan, had just informed his daughter that Prince Alexander of Briar had asked for her hand in marriage. Both the King and the prime minister, Lazar the Proud, had been in favor of the match, the former saying the prince would give her a good home, the latter that such an alliance would benefit the kingdom. But the princess had strong opinions of her own on the matter, and was not so easily convinced.

Hope had known Prince Alexander all of her life, having attended many of the same royal functions as he. Hope had decided at a very young age that she didn't care one wit for the neighboring prince. And, as far as she could determine, Prince Alexander had done nothing that would change her opinion of him. In fact, it seemed to her that the older he got the more selfish and mean-spirited the prince grew. She believed that he would make a very poor king and an even worse husband.

She thought of his slicked back, oil coated hair and the haughty way he held his head, with his thin, rather pointed nose stuck high in the air and sighed heavily.

The young princess was so self-absorbed in her own misery that she didn't notice the shadow pass overhead, circle as though something had caught its eye and glide back toward the palace and the balcony upon which the girl with the bright red hair stood.

It wasn't until Princess Hope heard the screams of the maidens below her that she looked up and saw the huge green monster with its large yellow belly and heavy orange claws descending upon her. But by then it was too late.