Once there was a powerful draco. He was so large he could scale a castle in a single bound. He was so powerful he could make an entire point shake, as though the Earth herself was trembling in rage. His fire was so searing, it was as though the Sun himself had bestowed it upon him.
The draco had talons made of iron as dark as the night. He had scales made of diamonds as radiant as the Moon. His wings were of a fine silk, like a flower petal to the touch, but they were as strong as chain mail. And his eyes, his eyes were pure sapphire, and could see as far as the ends of the Earth.
This draco thought that he was the most beautiful creature on the Four Points, and he wanted to rule over it as the strongest lord who had ever lived. So to show the whole population of Earth that he was the strongest lord who had ever lived, the draco flew over the North point, setting the forests ablaze. This is why there aren't many forests in the North anymore.
This enormous pyre blazed so high in glorious warning that the entire population of Earth could see it, and the entirety of the Four Point shivered in fear. No one wanted to go up against such a beast. And so the draco was accepted as the foremost lord of the Four Points.
The draco was not a good lord. All the riches of the South he hoarded for himself. All the good food from the West he ate. All the animals from the North he also ate. But when the draco turned to the East, in his eyes they had nothing good to offer him. In a childish rage, the draco flew for the East, so as to decimate it. Which he did.
The entire point of the East burned until not a green thing was left, leaving only scorching desert. The East still remains a desert, a constant reminder of the draco's tyrannical rule.
The people of the Four Points did not want anymore of the draco's so-called rulership. Nor did the Earth want the draco to destroy anymore of her gifts to the people, for each blow he made to the people was a blow to her.
When Fortune saw the blaze of the East point, she turned and saw the draco, terrorizing the people, and steadily destroying the Earth, and she was not happy. Thus, hearing the complaints of the Earth and her people, with the help of the Ocean, Fortune created a hero she named Oasis.
Oasis was a very quiet man, but he had an air of strength about him. He was dark skinned, and clothed in green garments, with eyes of such a startling blue that ones who saw him doubted if even the draco's sapphire eyes were as blue as that. With him he had a scimitar formed from solid water.
When he was brought to Earth, the first place Oasis came upon was the hot and now uninhabitable East point. All Oasis could see was grief and despair from those Easterners who had survived the draco's wrath.
"What has happened here?" he inquired.
"The draco has destroyed our point!" the surviving Easterners cried. "Now all our homes, our food and our water is gone! It would have been a better fate to die in the draco's inferno!"
Oasis was very angry. "The draco…" he said. "I shall put the draco in his place, so no more grief will come to this land!"
Resting in his lair, the draco was weary after spending so much of his energy on destroying the East. Turning his sapphire eyes idly towards the now decimated East, the draco saw Oasis, standing among the Eastern survivors, waving his scimitar in the air, shouting for the draco to come and face him.
"Who is this small being who dares challenge the strongest lord who has ever lived?" the draco thought angrily. Instantly, he flew for the East, ready to eat this challenger.
When he got to the East, the draco said, "Who are you, little defier, and who do you think you are? I am the strongest lord who has ever lived, and I could snuff your life like one snuffs a candle!"
"I am Oasis!" Oasis declared. "Formed by the Ocean, and it is you, draco, the one who has brought needless grief on not just the East, but the entirety of the Four Points, who will be snuffed like a candle!"
The draco was even more angry when he heard this, and used his fire to try and kill Oasis where he stood. But when the fire died, Oasis still stood, unscathed. Then a brutal battle broke out, going on for days and nights. But as skilled as Oasis was, he was neither as strong or as enduring as the draco, and he began to tire of the fight.
Then, the draco swiped at Oasis, his iron talons tearing into Oasis' chest. Oasis fell to his knees, bleeding the water he was made of. The draco gloated over him.
"You are a fierce warrior," he said. "But I am still the strongest lord who has ever lived!" And he ate Oasis.
But Oasis was determined. Just when he was before he could be swallowed, he sliced into the draco's throat. Instantly the draco spat him out, but it was too late. Unlike the diamond scales covering the outside of his body, the draco's inside wasn't quite as strong.
The draco couldn't believe that he, the strongest lord who had ever lived, had been defeated by such an inferior being. Roaring his defiance at the skies, the draco died.
The people of the East cheered for Oasis' victory, but the celebration was short lived. Oasis' injuries were too severe. And while he had saved the rest of the Four Points, Oasis regretted that he couldn't have helped the Easterners in their uninhabitable land.
As he lay dying, surrounded by the Easterners, he said, "I wish I could have truly helped you," before breathing his last breath. All night, the Easterners grieved for the dead hero.
But the next day, the Easterners saw that where Oasis' body had been, there now was a wide pool of water, and in place of his scimitar there was a tall palm tree.
While the North, South and West rejoiced that the draco's tyrannical rule was over, the East rejoiced even more, for Oasis had got his wish; in his death, Oasis had brought back hope of life to the Eastern point.
And while the draco's presence is still felt in the heat of the East, the presence of Oasis is also felt, scattered through the desert, a constant reminder of the hero's courage and sacrifice.
No comments:
Post a Comment