A Council of Wyrms
“Hello?” came a sweet, small voice echoing into the depths of the cave, “is anybody there?”
Snorg grunted indignantly as he came awake a year or two early from a rather long nap. “Go away,” said the groggy green dragon, “I am trying to sleep and you are not helping the matter.”
“Oh,” sighed the small voice, “I hoped to find a dragon.”
“A dragon?” said Snorg in amusement, “whatever would you do with a dragon?”
A smile was heard in the little voice, “mother said I could have a pet so I set out all by myself to find a dragon.”
“A pet?” said the dragon trying very hard to conceal a laugh, “how would you keep a dragon as a pet?”
“Oh I would chain him up in the backyard,” squeaked the little voice in sheer delight.
“And what would you feed him?” asked the dragon in growing amusement, sensing this to be a very young and precocious child of the human variety.
“Grass of course,” said the little girl, “they are green from all the grass they eat. We have lots and lots of grass.”
The dragon would have been rolling on the floor of his great cave in mirth had he not forced himself to be polite, saying, “we must discuss this matter thoroughly of course but are you not a little young to be running about alone? Your parents must be beside themselves with worry. We shall discuss how to properly capture a dragon as I escort you home.”
He crawled from his cave to find a very miffed young lady before him who scolded, “I am a BIG girl and can take care of myself.”
The dragon said gently, “it is one thing to be a big girl and quite another to be a good girl.”
The little girl looked quite nervous, “oh.”
“Yes,” said the dragon, “a good girl, no matter her size, would not disobey her mother. Size is of no matter if you are not also a good girl.”
She nodded quite seriously and said firmly, “you are right. I want to be a good girl too! What must I do?”
The dragon smiled, “you shall accompany me to your house and on the way we shall discuss your dragon conundrum.” She smiled and they walked slowly back to her house (by draconian standards) but quite swiftly by her thinking. He said, “I am a dragon.”
She said, “yes but I do not think I can tie you to the maple tree.”
The dragon laughed, “no but I would be willing to be friends. Dragons do not take well to domestication.” She gave him a confused look and he said, “we do not make good pets but the best of companions.”
She laughed and said, “I want to be your friend too.”
Suddenly the dragon stopped and sniffed the air; it was heavy with the scent of burning wood. His sharp eyes saw the cloud of smoke emanating from a point directly upon their path. This could not be good. They walked on, the dragon ever on the alert for some sign of danger. The Wilds were a terrible place to raise a family, for danger lurked around every corner; the human predators were worse than any creature of the forest depths. The smoke grew thick as they came to the place where the girl’s home had once stood. There was no sign of a living thing in the farmyard, outbuildings, or surrounding countryside. He sighed heavily, it looked as if the child was the sole survivor of her intrepid family; her disobedience had inadvertently saved her life.
She looked around in surprise not quite understanding what had happened and queried in her birdlike voice, “where is mamma and daddy? Where is my little brother? Little brothers do not make good pets either, they are noisy and annoying and you cannot tie them to the maple tree. Is it not a beautiful tree Snog?”
He smiled sadly and said, “yes child it is a beautiful tree. Your family is not here anymore it seems. You must come and stay with me for a time.”
“Really?” said she in delight.
Then her face fell, “you will not tie me to a tree will you?”
He laughed, “no child, that I will never do, at least if you try your best to be a good girl.”
She smiled contentedly but said, “mamma said never to go off with strangers but I suppose it is alright since we are friends already. Will my family miss me? Where are they? When will I see them again?”
Snorg said sadly, “they are gone away, perhaps forever. Certainly they shall miss you. Hopefully they are in a happier place.”
She gave him a thoughtful look, “why did they not wait for me?”
He said gently, “it was not yet your time to go with them.”
“A happier place?” asked the girl, “where might that be? I thought there could be no happier place than our cozy kitchen.”
The dragon asked, “did no one ever speak of other places?”
She looked thoughtful for a moment and said, “mamma sometimes spoke about some other country I think. Yes, when granny went away, mamma said she went to the happiest country in the whole world or even beyond it. Is that where mamma went?”
Snorg smiled, “if they know of that place and how to get there, then I am sure that is where they have gone and there they will wait for you one day.”
“How do I get there Snorg?” asked she, “I think I shall miss them very much.”
Snorg smiled weakly, “you will certainly miss them, but do not worry, they will miss you too. You must trust the Master to find that country one day.”
She laughed, “I do, I do! Oh, it is not fair that they all left me behind.”
Snorg smiled, “it perhaps seems unfair but things are as they must be and we have to wait patiently until our own turn comes to go to that wonderful place.”
She smiled, “good girls must be patient, so I will be patient though it will not be easy.”
The sound of approaching hooves caused the dragon to turn his head suddenly to face the coming onslaught while he drew the child beneath him with one of his great forearms. A half dozen horsemen galloped into the farmyard but the second their horses caught sight of the dragon, they went mad with terror and flung their riders to the ground. The men got to their feet and though shaking with fear approached the monster, their leader said, “what have you done? Caught in the act! Is it war you want monster? Why destroy innocent folk for the mere joy of it?”
The dragon looked at the man in astonishment and then thought what the scene must look like to the newcomer: the smoldering house with a dragon sitting before it. Snorg tried not to laugh but said as respectfully as he could, “you are quite mistaken sir. I would never commit such a crime.”
The man snorted derisively, “then who burned the house? Do not tell me you do not have a ready source of fire.”
The dragon yawned expansively showing his terrible teeth and said, “if you will notice, the softer ground in the area is trampled by numerous hooves which suggests a large party of mounted men. Dragonfire would have utterly consumed the house and the ground upon which it sits had I been the culprit and as you can see there are still several upright beams and the ground is quite unscathed. What have I to gain from such a crime? Whereas bandits could certainly take what they want and flee, destroying the house and perhaps the family with it for the sheer joy of destruction.”
The man said, “that is certainly a convincing argument but if true what are you doing here?”
The dragon then drew forth the terrified little girl and said, “she awoke me from a much needed nap and I set out to return her home when I discovered she was gone with none the wiser. What are you doing here?”
The man scratched nervously at the back of his neck and looked at the ground saying, “we saw the smoke and gathered up as many men as quickly as we could to help but it seems we came too late.”
“But the fun is only beginning,” snarled a sinister draconian voice as a small black dragon landed not far from his much larger green conspecific.
“What are you talking about?” said Snorg with ill-contained menace in his voice, “what part have you
in this tragedy?”
“None,” said the black, preening himself like a cat, then he smiled maliciously and said, “yet.”
“Be gone,” said the green as patiently as he could, “enough evil has been done this day.”
The black scoffed, “you would defend these miserable creatures from me? Your own kinsman?”
Snorg scoffed, “we are certainly not related, unless we are very distant cousins. And yes, I will not allow these poor little things to come to harm if I can help it.”
“Humph,” snorted the black in disgust, “they are worse than rodents, all of them. Of what interest can that be to you?”
Snorg said gravely, “it is a moral obligation that the strong protect the weak from imminent harm.”
“Moral obligation indeed!” scoffed the younger dragon, “you green dragons are all the same: always preaching endlessly about goodness and all its disgusting cousins. What proof have you that there is even such a thing as right and wrong?”
Snorg said patiently, “has not the Master written in upon the heart of every thinking creature? Is it not his will that we abide by his laws?”
The black fell back laughing and finally catching his breath, said, “the Master! Bah! If he even exists, he certainly would never care about the miniscule affairs of mortal beasts. You sound like one of the Brethren prattling on like that! One would think you were not a thinking creature yourself! If your perfect and loving Master is as you think him to be or even exists at all, why is it that he allows his beloved creatures to endure such horrors as lay before us? What has that wretched child done to endure the loss of her entire family or what has her family done to garner the wrath of the Master? Why are creatures such as myself, selfish and evil to our core, allowed to endure while seemingly decent folk perish?”
“That is an excellent question,” blurted out the boldest of the men, “I never took the time to worry about philosophy and all that, I had enough to do just eking a living out of this wild land, but I think our late neighbors were about as devout a bunch as could be found outside the Brethren. Is this how your benevolent Master repays his own?”
The black dragon smiled in amusement and said to the man, “there is hope for you yet my pathetic fellow.”
The man cowered back amongst his fellows in terror after such a compliment from such a source. The little girl watched wide-eyed but unafraid as ‘Snog’ would certainly protect her not understanding but knowing something of great import was being discussed. Undaunted, Snorg said, “you challenge my conception of and the very existence of the Master based upon the fact that the innocent seem to suffer unjustly while the truly guilty endure for a time?”
“Exactly,” sneered the black dragon, “either your Lord does not exist, he is not as powerful as you claim, he is uninterested in mortal affairs, or he is some sort of malicious fellow rather than love incarnate as you claim him to be, else such affairs would not happen. Logically he should bless those who bless him and curse those who curse him.”
Snorg replied, “there is certainly much evil and suffering in the world, and much tragedy is endured unjustly according to mortal reckoning. With that I cannot argue. However your argument fails to address all that is good and lovely in the world. What of that? If there were only sorrow and pain, I would be forced to agree that perhaps the Master is powerless to stop it, nonexistent, uncaring, distant, or himself malicious, but from whence do such things as joy, love, and beauty spring if not from some wonderful fount? If the Master does exist as I hold him to be: loving, just, righteous, omniscient, and omnipresent, then there had best be a logical explanation for the suffering and evil in the world. And there is, but I think you have no such explanation for the origins of everything, the source of evil and good, etc.” The men looked intrigued while the black dragon looked quite annoyed; the little girl was eagerly impatient for she felt that a story was soon to be told. Snorg asked of the black, “and what is your explanation my fine fellow?”
The black snorted in irritation, “you certainly think that all sprang forth at the Master’s whim, but I care little for myths about the origin of life and care not to guess about things in which I have no part. I know what the world is like and I content myself with that.”
Snorg snorted in amusement, “very convincing that. You have very nearly converted me.”
The black sneered, “and what is your defense as to why this little one must suffer so?”
The green dragon yawned greatly and said, “I have no idea.”
The black dragon laughed heartily, “I rest my case.”
“Not so fast,” said Snorg patiently, “I am not the Master therefore I have no idea as to the reason why certain things do or do not happen to certain individuals, but I can explain somewhat why there is such a concept as sorrow in the world.”
The black looked bored but eager to catch his foe in embarrassment and said, “enlighten us then, the suspense is horrifying.”
Snorg gave him a patient look and said, “as far as I have understood, the world was once as we would all imagine it to be: perfect, unspoiled, and wonderful. But something happened to change all that. The Master gave each thinking creature a will of its own; he gave each the choice of choosing to obey his Maker or not. Some chose to rebel and this of course marred all creation and sundered us from the Master.”
The black snorted derisively, “so why did your precious Master not just destroy the offenders and begin anew with creatures unable to rebel? Why leave a rotten and broken world as we currently find ourselves inhabiting?”
Snorg continued, “again I cannot claim to speak for the Master, but the short version can be summed up by one word: love. He loves each of us so much that he would rather suffer a ruined creation than utterly destroy all he had wrought. Why did he give us the option to deny him in the first place? If you have no choice, you are not an independent thinking entity and nothing more than one of the unthinking animals. You cannot have a reciprocal relationship with an unthinking creature. You can have a faithful and loving dog, but it is in no way the same thing as having a loving and faithful human companion. I think the Master wants that sort of relationship with each of us, but it is our choice whether or not to return his love.”
“How can your perfect Master have a relationship with a rebellious creature?” asked the black dragon scornfully.
“He cannot,” said Snorg quietly, “he is utterly perfect and cannot consort with his fallen creatures unless they too are restored to some state of holiness. The price for rebellion is justly death, but the price of justice has been met on our behalf by the Master himself. He who was immortal, eternal, and perfect took on mortal form and allowed himself to die on behalf of each and every thinking creature that we may be counted perfect in his sight and that our relationship to him might be restored.”
“He is dead then,” said the black triumphantly, “that is why he cannot aid his servants!”
Snorg sighed patiently and continued, “he was dead but death cannot hold such as he! He overthrew the grave and lives once more and has given us each the chance to know him. Some of us make excuses or flatly ignore his offer to our eternal peril.”
The black dragon yawned and the men looked flummoxed. The black said, “a lovely bedtime tale I am sure, but you can proselytize all you want and you shall never convince me. Even if I wanted to believe, I would not for it takes all the fun out of life. And what does it gain its adherents but an ascetic life and yet they are still victims to the whims of nature and men.”
The green dragon laughed deeply, “you are no skeptic, you plainly deny the Master any influence in your life! You delight in your debauchery and would not make such a sacrifice even to ransom your soul. It is no dull and dreary life, but one that is at last whole and full of purpose and meaning. Keep your fickle amusements, but I shall not deny him who makes me whole.” The black dragon laughed menacingly before lea
ping into the air and vanishing like a black rain cloud into the distance.
“You really believe all that?” asked the skeptical man once the monster had disappeared beyond sight, “why then are such as she allowed to suffer?”
The dragon looked at him firmly and said, “because men have chosen evil over good and much suffering is the result. There will come a time when all wrongs are righted and all injustices cease, but the Master wishes that all have a chance to come to him willingly thus he allows men to live on for a time as they choose hoping they will turn their hearts to him. We do not understand why some innocents suffer and some evil men prosper, but we must trust that all will one day be set aright.”
The man’s eyes were wide as he asked, “and if they do not choose the Master?”
Snorg said grimly, “those that deny him spend all eternity without him. If he is the source of all that is good and wonderful, think what it must be like without the source of all light and joy. It would be far worse than life without the sun!”
“But if he loves us that much,” said another man, “how can he allow any to perish?”
“He would not,” said the dragon, “but yet he allows us the freedom to choose our eternal destiny. If he took that choice away, again we would be nothing but unthinking brutes.”
“It all seems so strange,” said a third man, “but at the same time wonderful.”
“I do not have time for such flights of fancy,” scoffed a fourth and a fifth nodded.
“I still do not understand,” said the last man, “but I am certainly intrigued. What of the child?”
“I am going to live with Snog!” proclaimed the girl ecstatically.
The men looked stunned but before they could offer a protest, the sound of approaching feet and breaking branches announced visitors from the direction of the forest. All were silent a moment in astonishment when the little girl shrieked in pure joy, “mama!”
She left Snorg’s protective custody and ran to her rather astonished mother’s arms. Her father stood at his wife’s shoulder and held the infamous brother by the hand. They all looked with a combination of fear and awe upon the great dragon that towered over the farmstead and their nearest neighbors.
“What happened?” gasped the first man in some amazement and with no little joy, “we were certain brigands had torched the house and murdered the entire family.”
The woman sighed but joy at the return of her daughter tinged her voice, “it has been a very strange day. First the horses broke loose and we spent the better part of the morning chasing them around the yard. In the meantime, the girl went missing and we abandoned the horses to find the missing child, but in my haste I left the washing a bit too close to the hearth and the boy pushed it even closer. It caught fire and it was all I could do to escape the house with my son before the whole thing went up in flames. There was nothing to be done for the house so we continued to look for the child. We returned to find a dragon sitting in the yard but thankfully our daughter as well.”
The first man said, “that is quite a tale of tragedy yet not half so tragic as we had all assumed. We shall certainly help you rebuild, you lost nothing that cannot be replaced.”
The girl looked smilingly at her mother and said of Snorg, “can I keep him?”
The woman looked at the dragon and then at her errant child and said, “no, but I think he may visit from time to time, will that suffice you?”
The girl sighed, “it is hard being a good girl but I suppose it will have to do.”
Her mother eyed her suspiciously and the dragon laughed. She bowed deeply to the dragon, “thank you for returning my child, we are forever in your debt.”
The dragon shook his head, “certainly not dear lady. It was my honor and privilege to escort her home. I shall certainly drop by from time to time just to see how things are going with you and yours as you have so kindly given me permission. I am glad to see that no greater harm has come to you than the loss of material possessions.”
The woman laughed, “and we can truly thank the Master for that. I would offer everyone tea but my pot is lost amongst the ruins of the house!” They all shared her relief and joy and soon enough, with the help of the entire community, the house was soon replaced. The dragon became a favorite among the locals and a frequent visitor to the area. The black dragon watched and laughed scornfully, awaiting the day when he would be big enough to challenge the green dragon and perhaps win. Then he could safely destroy the entire community just for the sheer joy of destruction. His heart was not touched in the least by the green’s tale, but many of the folk in the vicinity were moved and many gave their hearts joyfully to the Master.
The Sampler Platter: A Little Bit of Everything Page 69