Brave Knight Ben

The story

Sir Ben was a tall and strong knight with a big blue shield.

The king called Ben. "Something is in the forest. The village is scared!"

"I will go," said Ben. But he thought: how should I go in?

Ben stands at the forest edge. How should he go in?

Ben drew his sword. He marched into the dark forest. Crunch! Crunch!

A huge dark shape moved in the trees. It had big glowing eyes!

The big shape is coming closer! What does Ben do?

Ben ran forward yelling. The creature turned and ran away fast!

Ben banged his shield — CLANG! The noise scared the creature away!

The village was safe. But Ben had a funny feeling. "Was it scared... of me?"

The villagers want to celebrate Ben! What does he say?

"I was brave today," said Ben. "But next time… I will listen first."

Ben moved quietly through the trees. Snap. Hush. He listened hard.

Ben stopped. He heard... crying. Not a roar. Small, soft crying.

Ben hears crying from a big bush. What should he do?

"Hello?" said Ben in his softest voice. "I will not hurt you. I promise."

Ben sat on a log and waited. He hummed a soft little tune.

A tiny purple dragon peeked out. It was just a baby! Lost and scared.

The baby dragon is lost! It needs help getting home. What does Ben do?

"Sometimes the scariest thing," said Ben, "just needs a friend."

Ben knelt down. He looked at the ground. He found tracks! But they were small.

"These tracks are small," said Ben. "What big creature makes small tracks?"

The tracks stop at a stream. Where should Ben look?

Upstream Ben found a pile of logs blocking the water. The stream was dammed!

Downstream Ben saw the village pond was drying up. The water was gone!

"There IS no creature!" said Ben. "The logs blocked the water. That was the noise!"

The logs need to be cleared! How does Ben do it?

"Thinking hard," said Ben, "is the bravest thing of all."