In ancient times, before the world as we now know it, dragons and humans were friends. They co-existed on the basis of being true creatures of Mother Earth. Not one superior or better than the other. Dragons helped humans evolve and get deeper knowledge on many arts: hunting, intuition, lucid dreaming, working with metals, construction, etc.
One very old and wise dragon however, Dracco, grew restless of this cooperation. He seemed to see it as a useless endeavour to teach humans, who were greedy and pigheaded, who fought for the little losing sight of the big picture; he grew restless seeing the numbers of humans grow steadily, while the number of dragons just dwindled. He proclaimed his race to be stronger, wiser, better, and rallied the dragons to not teach humans to make the very same weapons that could decimate them. He then convinced dragons to fight instead against the humans and subjugate them. Human villages and towns were raided, burnt to the ground. All the knowledge that was had and enjoyed previously was vanished. Humans grew to be fearful of these amazing beasts, and deemed them vicious, selfish, gold-oriented, greedy. Dragons retired to the underworld, with an occasional excursion to the outside, only to be greeted with violence and hatred, and retaliated with fire and chaos. Their once peaceful kinship was now an endless cycle of pain.
Such was the state of affairs when a young dragon, by the name of Cinder, had a very prescient dream. He dreamt that he could heal the relationship between humans and dragons; a dream in which he didn't have to dwell in cavernous homes for most of the time, and could actually fly and be free outside, without having to raid villages, pillage humans and burn things to the ground. He dreamt he wouldn't have to follow the orders of Dracco, who was just getting more and more insane due to his age and a life of hate. This dream was so etched in his heart, that he consulted his great grandfather, and old emerald dragon by the name of Tulsi.
Tulsi used to be a blacksmithing teacher of humans, back in the day, and upon hearing of Cinder's dream he forged for him the last dragon-slaying sword and a magic shield; a sword that could actually pierce the metal-like skin of an old dragon, a shield that could protect the bearer of the engulfing fire of a dragon's breath. Tulsi instructed Cinder to go out into the world, and find a human girl to be the bearer of these gifts. He told him that only a girl could appease the hate of Dracco, and defend herself against his vicious attacks. Tulsi told Cinder to find a truthful girl, who was strong enough, smart enough, beautiful enough, kind enough, courageous enough, to be able to do this. Cinder was dismayed at the amount of qualities to find in a human girl, but above all, did not like the idea of having to be among humans, who hated dragons and didn't think twice about killing them whenever they had a chance, especially since at his young age he was pretty vulnerable and didn't have much strength to defend himself. However, the promise of a better future for his kind, the yearning to fly free, lured him out of his cave, to find the person who will bring upon such life to all.
Cinder leaves his sacred lair, in search of a girl. He carries a magical shield, and a beautiful sword. And the weight of a beautiful dream guides him, a dream of peace, and a dream of flying, unhindered by hate or fear.
“No, I would not want to live in a world without dragons,
as I would not want to live in a world without magic,
for that is a world without mystery,
and that is a world without faith.”
R.A. Salvatore.
**After the horror of the events of Friday Dec. 14th in Connecticut, working on a doll and a dragon seemed a bit silly and useless; I felt a bit powerless against the dark forces that have turned the world so grey and full of suffering. However, I remembered this quote and it gave me hope. There is magic in this world, and we all need to feel it in order to create change. Change is not imposed, it comes from within, and it is within where we will find the answers to heal our world, and give our children a better and brighter future.
Please believe in magic, as I believe in dragons.
