Tom sat huddled in his chair, wrapped in his favorite blanket, and held the open book tightly in his hands. Behind him, the floor lamp, which had been exclusively chosen as a reading lamp, cast its gentle beam of light on every word. It was autumn, and outside, it was already pitch-dark, damp, and cool. The rain pounded heavily against the window in a steady rhythm, evoking the familiar feel of autumn weather. But Tom didn’t mind; he loved these moments when it was damp and cold outside, and he could immerse himself deeply in his heroic stories in his cozy, warm room. At just 12 years old, he already had an impressive collection of books on his shelf, which he took great pride in. He loved these historical knight novels, not only because he learned some historical facts but also because he admired the heroes who fought against evil for the good of others. And in the end, as the icing on the cake, the hero also won the heart of the princess, admired by all. Then he felt one with the hero, not because of the desirable princess; no, girls didn’t interest him that much yet. But how people looked up to the heroes, and he remained deeply in their memory forever, having saved humanity. That left a magnificent impression on him every time.

Greedy for the next word and gripped with excitement, he turned the next page. His eyes became glassy, moved by the hero’s mystical courage. Oh, how he wished to be in his place. The hero was tirelessly fighting against the fire-breathing dragon Galactus and skillfully dodging every fire beam. With an agile somersault, Heimo hid behind a rock and tried to catch his breath, but so did the dragon, who could no longer see anything through all the smoke from the fire and tried to locate his enemy. Carefully, Heimo reached for his sword, slowly drawing it from its sheath, but the hissing of the sword was impossible to miss. Galactus quickly found his hiding place and waited for Heimo’s attack. Heimo, gripping his sword tightly, cautiously peeked over the rock and saw the waiting dragon. He realized he had to distract Galactus somehow to execute his attack. He looked around in his limited hiding place but couldn’t find anything of great help. So he came up with the idea of loosening a rock from his protective boulder. With all his might, he began to pull on a rock tip, but unfortunately, nothing happened, and time was running out as Galactus came closer to him. Desperate and with double the strength, he made a second attempt. This time it began to wobble. Heimo put his sword aside and, fully concentrated, made a third attempt, using his right leg to brace against the large rock. On the third tug, he finally held a sizable rock in his hand. Fully aware of the danger again, he quickly prepared to throw but paused in surprise. Above him, he saw the massive head of the dragon hanging, who had calmly watched his last attempt. The dragon smiled at him slyly.

“Your effort to defeat me was all in vain, Knight Heimo. Your miserable life will soon come to an end here. Do you have any last words? I will gladly deliver your final message to your beloved,” said Galactus with evil satisfaction.

“You and your master will never win. If I am no longer here, Leon the Brave will take my place and protect Lohengrin from the servitude of your master Lucifer.”

Galactus burst into terrible roaring laughter, and Heimo’s stomach twisted in horror.

“You and your comrades live in a dream world, believing that good can forever and always defeat evil. But it is not so; you will see, Lucifer and the dragons will rule over everyone and everything with merciless severity, and those who oppose will either be killed or end up as slaves. Oh, and your beloved Clara, I must not forget her; she will, of course, take a special place, next to Lucifer, as the wife of the evil ruler, whether she wants to or not. For all the time she lives, she will remember you as the greatest loser.”

“Never! Clara will never marry Lucifer; she would rather die than bind herself to that disgusting villain,” Heimo shouted at the dragon. The latter, gloating over his opponent’s despair, took a deep breath to unleash his victorious fire beam on him. But a thunder shook the earth, and Lucifer’s commanding voice echoed in the air.

“Stop, Galactus! I have changed my mind; it is to our advantage to keep this scoundrel alive for now. I have other plans for him. Bring him to my castle.”

Galactus let out black smoke from his nostrils in disappointment. Then he looked at Heimo deep in the eyes and began to put him into a trance with a magnetic gaze. Heimo immediately let the rock he had previously held slip from his hand.

Tom, who had followed the events with gripping excitement up to this point, felt dizzy as if he were looking directly into the green-yellow eyes of Galactus. His eyelids grew heavier, and he slowly drifted off to sleep, the book falling with a dull thud onto the carpet, and Tom sank into a deep sleep.

Unclear how much time had passed, the clinking of chains gradually brought Tom out of his deep sleep. When he finally opened his eyes and shook off the blurriness, he was horrified to find himself chained in a dungeon. But he was not alone. Opposite him sat another man, also chained to a wall, wearing clothes reminiscent of a knight. Tom looked closer, shockingly surprised to find that the man opposite him matched the description of Heimo the Knight from the book he had just been reading.

“Are you Heimo the Knight?” he asked the man to be sure. The knight looked at him in bewilderment.

“How do you know me? Yes, I am Heimo.”

A satisfied smile flashed across Tom’s face, despite his dire situation, and he thought that now he would finally be able to taste the adventure and the esteem of a hero alongside Knight Heimo. But a shadowy thought clouded his mind: How would his parents react when they didn’t find him in his room? It would soon be dinner time, and they would come looking for him. But these thoughts quickly faded in his anticipation of the adventure he had longed for.

©2025, Vasiliki Papadopoulou