Short Stories
The Dragon's Teachings: Creation
by Toni Novotny
This piece of history was recently discovered in a small cavern in the Platte Hills of South Dakota. Within the cave’s depths was a treasure trove of ancient documents which recorded the history and beliefs of an ancient culture. Here, translated from the original Draconian, is but one of the many tales contained in those precious volumes.
When the One created all, He did so in two parts. The One made a world composed of earth and air in the dead of space. Within the gaseous globe, floated rocky islands that gravitated about the center, never venturing outside the sky which forged the only link between them. In the beginning, this was His vision. He desired a mortal plane where two parts of one whole were forever interconnected. There was no boundary between earth and sky. With one step, a being could walk from land to cloud and back again. So when finally He achieved this fantastic balance, He began to create creatures to inhabit His world. Those first beings were the Great Birds. These angelic figures were diverse and beautiful, appearing as winged hominoids, feathered snakes, and giant eagles composed of flame. It is unclear why the One diverted from His pattern when He sent the Great Birds into the world, but these mighty beasts carried a singular existence in sharp contrast to the duality of the mortal plane which housed them.
The Great Birds mourned their barren nature and inability to love. Worse, they hated the One, for He would not allow them to return to the celestial plane where He resided. When they reached the end of their life span, the Great Birds would simply shed their withered flesh as might a snake, and return to their youth. A younger Bird, all fire and spirit, tormented his elders in any way he could to rouse them from their lifeless existence.
At the height of his folly, he flew all over the world, crying to his fellows: “Behold! I am your king! Speak my name, Lucifer, and offer to me all that you may possess! And I shall offer you that which you most desire! I shall give you life! I shall give you death!” The rest of the Great Birds adopted a swarm mentality and followed the outspoken child, eager to receive that which he had promised. This unbalance caused by these early beings set the floating islands edging closer together as the Great Birds circled the world without rest.
Soon, instead of many islands, there were only seven. The largest came to a complete rest in the center of the world and the other six continued to float freely in the air. On the central island, the Great Birds helped the One plant His famous garden of Eden. Then, as a reward, they were allowed to alter the remaining islands as they saw fit. Though the Great Birds had little care for the aesthetic nature of the land, they did desire roosts with easy access to the sky in which they loved to play. So, this seemed a sufficient payment, and they aided the One in His construction.
With Eden complete, He set to work on His most challenging project yet. It was then that He created the perfect species to populate the world. They were and are the Eveakii. The Eveakii were a dual species, composed of two creatures connected through their very souls. The first half consisted of humans. Humans were crafted in the image of His spiritual self, gifted of curiosity, creativity, intelligence, magic with no need for physical strength. Humans, like He, were creators. The other half of the species was designed to mirror the physical appearance of the One, a creature composed of everything and nothing…a dragon. The dragon, while of the same intellectual standing as man, held not the vision of creation nor the tools with which to build. Instead, the dragon was gifted with amazing physical power to complement mankind’s vision. Together, the dual species was as He was, all-powerful and omniscient.
Because they were one, the two loved one another and within a century, they had built a great city upon their island. The riches and glory of Eden, however, drew jealous eyes from those who had come before. None of the Great Birds could compose such a portrait of perfection, for although they were no weaker than either half of the dual species, they could never hope to match the strength of the two combined. So, the Great Birds rallied together and flew in a spiral as one swarm. The wind of their wings threw the six floating islands together, forming a spherical shape and trapping Eden inside. Dragons fought their way free of the rocky shell and then returned to Eden to free their human friends. Perhaps a handful escaped before the Great Birds realized what had happened. Then, outraged, Lucifer dove into the core of the earth and poured fire from his lungs. He lit all of Eden ablaze, and its molten components continued to spiral about inside its newfound prison as though confused. “I claim this abyss!” Lucifer proclaimed. And then the earth began to spin.
Humans begged the One to help them rebuild their paradise. Dragons knew the answer before it ever came. As unfair as it was, the One had promised the other islands to the Great Birds, and Eden would forever burn in the center of the earth. Though He was displeased by the actions of the ancient Birds, He was not surprised. He had always known what they would do, for He was perfect and knew all things. “As are you, my children, if only you listen to one another,” He said. The dragons understood and pledged eternal devotion to their human counterparts. However, though the humans were intelligent, they had been infused with too much desire to act. They did not offer an equivalent vow to the dragons. Humans cared only for revenge.
Dragons bent to the will of their companions and carried man to the skies to slay the Great Birds. Many died on both fronts in a war which lasted seven days. Finally, the Great Birds began to fall. The last to roam the skies were smaller, reptilian creatures that so greatly resembled dragons that man became confused. In an instant, man was driving his blade through his allies. Treachery became common between the two species, even expected, but the dragons would form no army nor fight man’s will. A few did rise to kill the murderers responsible, but those few only made man’s hate spread. The dragons sensed that the Lord himself was angry and went to Him to beg forgiveness.
He told the dragons that He was not upset with them, but rather with the humans who so heartlessly slaughtered their other halves. The One wondered aloud how long it would be before humans would turn on their own brothers as well. Desperate, the dragons admitted some conflict beginning among their own ranks as well. Together, humans and dragons were perfect, but divided as they were now, both species had fallen into turmoil. Still, the love of dragons for man was so great that they offered themselves to His judgement, if only He would spare humans from such a fate. The One was pleased by their devotion but would make no such deal. Those among the humans, and those among the dragons, who had committed such evil would not be forgiven just because kinder souls were willing to sacrifice themselves to protect them.
The dragons then turned to Lucifer, offering to serve as prison guards in the abyss, just so they could remain close to the humans they loved so much. The devil was not kind, however, and tricked the dragons into a servitude which forbade them to ever walk on earth again.