A summary of "A Wonderful Adventure" by Alexey Pekhov

Young Prince Roderick, tired of his overprotective mother and the dull life in the castle, decides to perform a heroic deed to earn the respect of the court on par with his older brother, the renowned warrior Jon. The youth secretly journeys into the Dark Forest, hoping to slay a fearsome dragon and free a beautiful captive. Jon, understanding his younger brother’s stubbornness, agrees to cover for his absence from his parents for a month, offering valuable advice and lending his best sword, Stormbiter.

On the sixth day of his journey, Roderick reaches the rundown border village of Uley and stops at a dingy local inn. There, he carelessly boasts to the innkeeper of his intentions and supposedly extensive experience in slaying monsters. The greedy innkeeper decides to take advantage of the young man’s naivety and offers to rescue another "princess," who is supposedly waiting for the knight in the nearby forest. Believing the impostor, Roderick obediently follows him to a stream, where, instead of a noblewoman, he discovers a bearded bandit in disguise. Suffering a severe blow to the head, the prince loses consciousness.

Upon awakening, Roderick discovers that the robbers have taken Thunderbiter, a purse containing one hundred gold coins, and a thoroughbred horse, leaving him with only his heavy armor. Soon, a cart belonging to the magical item merchant Jig appears on the forest road. The cunning fat man, appreciating the unarmed knight’s desperate situation, offers him an old, dusty sword named Surt. Jig assures him that this is a legendary weapon, capable of easily decapitating any lizard, but demands two hundred coins for it. Penniless, Roderick exchanges Surt for the gray donkey abandoned by the bandits. The merchant takes the payment and hurries away, forbidding Roderick from drawing the blade until nightfall and uttering the magic words to activate it.

At night, in a forest clearing, Roderick tries to draw his blade by the moonlight, but it becomes stuck in its sheath. The frustrated young man angrily throws the weapon against a tree, and suddenly the sword begins to loudly complain in a human voice. It turns out that Surt is truly imbued with magic, understands everything perfectly, is terribly ticklish when sharpening, and categorically objects to fighting fire-breathing monsters. The magical blade laments its unfortunate fate and the careless previous owners who invariably died out of stupidity, leaving it to rust. Despite the cowardice and incessant whining of his new companion, Roderick firmly resolves to continue his journey.

At noon the next day, the prince reaches a mountain cave, at the entrance of which a warning sign has been posted. Roderick loudly challenges his opponent to combat, sparking another heated argument between him and Surtr. The noise attracts the lair’s inhabitant — a huge black dragon with shiny scales. The monster watches the quarrel peacefully, then lazily promises to eat the intruder so he won’t disturb his sleep. In a panic, Roderick charges, holding his magic sword forward, screaming in terror. Seeing and hearing the mad, talking weapon, the colossal lizard suddenly becomes frightened, begins to back away, and flies away in panic.

Emboldened, Surtr celebrates his victory, and Roderick heads deeper into the clean, well-appointed cave, where a straw-haired beauty sleeps on an elegant bed. The prince awakens the girl with a kiss, but instead of gratitude, he is met with an avalanche of rage and harsh curses. The capricious and selfish princess declares that she had lived perfectly well in the cave, completely alone, and that the insolent rescuers in iron armor have finally gotten to her. The enraged girl hurls a heavy frying pan at Roderick, forcing the knight and his frightened sword to flee shamefully outside.

Not far from the cave, Roderick finds a sobbing dragon, whose bitter tears have already formed a pond beneath its paws. The peaceful and sentimental monster, named Karl, confesses that he was raised by a kind mother, cannot breathe fire, and kidnapped a noblewoman merely to stop her fellow dragons from mocking him. Ultimately, Karl himself became a victim of his captive’s tyrannical nature, forcing him to fulfill her every whim and fetch milk. Roderick sympathizes with the unfortunate creature and advises it to imagine an evil princess in the place of the lonely pine tree. Enraged, Karl suddenly hiccups and spits out a gigantic gout of fire, which instantly engulfs the tree and a vast tract of land around it.

Having regained his self-confidence, a happy Karl readily accepts Roderick’s offer to leave the capricious girl forever and set off with him in search of true adventure. Surtr also approves of this union, glad that he won’t have to return to the bitchy princess. Roderick decides to fly first to the village of Uley to restore justice and return his father’s gift — the sword Thunderbite. The brave prince, the talking blade, and the peace-loving black dragon soar high into the sky, heading for Skarra Castle, where Roderick’s beloved Mia awaits.