*I think it was a good idea to take a day off, don't you think?* Malaisra sends to Mordion, while taking a lick at her popsicle.

Mordion nods, smiling widely, his eyes half closed against the breeze. The sun is reflecting off his scales.

Mala and Mordion have used the shop portal to go to Amsterdam, and currently they are on a "water taxi", a small boat that takes passengers to wherever they want to go on Amsterdam's canals. Mala prefers this mode of transportation to the tram or a regular taxi - Amsterdam is at its most beautiful when viewed from the water. Not that she gets much peace to enjoy the view today, though...

Her small dragon apparently enjoys the fast, bumpy ride very much, and Mala is constantly worried that he'll topple overboard, with the way he's precariously perched on the railing and craning his neck to take in everything.

*We can do the grand sightseeing canal ride later on, if you'd like...*, she sends to him, *just try not to fall in, please!*

All too soon for Mordion, and non too soon for Mala's nerves, they have arrived at their destination. A shop owner in Dresden, who has sold Mala a few Enchanted Dragons before, has given her the address of a small toy store in Amsterdam that might have more, and she has decided to follow up on the lead.

It takes her and her dragon a while to locate the small street where the store is located, and several minutes more to find the store itself, which turns out to be a tiny, but cozy one-room shop. The shop owner is a round, grandmotherly woman with snowwhite hair and kind blue eyes. When Mala and Mordion enter, she smiles at Mala - and then at Mordion!

*She sees me!* Mordion sends, amazed.

As if she'd heard him, the old woman chuckles and says: "Yes, I can see you, little one. Don't look so surprised... one of your brothers is currently sleeping upstairs, you know."

To Mala, she says: "I've been expecting you - Georg, my friend from Dresden, told me you might come. I believe I have something for you."

She walks to the door, locks it and puts a "Closed" sign into the window, then she beckons Mala and Mordion to follow her through a door in the back. There, in the backroom, she takes a big cardboard box from a shelf and hands it to Mala with a smile.

Mala sets the box down and opens it - and then she gasps in surprise. Inside are five small dragon plushies, but they don't look like the others she's found so far. When she picks one up, it "feel" the same, though... it radiates magic just like the others did.

And there are other plushies in the box: cat, dog and mouse plushies. Mala looks at the old woman quizically, then picks up one of those, and to her surprise, the cat plushie she holds feels magical, too.

"I didn't know there were other magical plushies!", she exclaims in surprise.

"None of them have awakened for me, yet, so I don't know if they are going to be ordinary animals or magical creatures like the dragons", the woman replies, "but please, take them with you. Georg tells me you have a store just for magical plushies... I'm sure you'll find a suitable owner for them that much more quickly than I could. Not many people find their way into my humble little store."

Mala nods. She and the woman sit down with a cup of tea to talk about the price, while Mordion, with the woman's permission, visits her dragon, a mischievous little winged creature named Ant.

An hour later, they leave the shop, with Mala holding the cardboard box under one arm.

*So, how about that sightseeing canal ride now?* Mordion sends, eagerly.