The Legend of the Dragon Child

by Cheryl Rush Cowperthwait

  In his lair, Zelspar was busy packing his concoctions for the Cleansing ceremony. He reached into a nook behind his nest to extract the Draga Crystal. It was a round, highly polished crystal with blue flames caught inside that had been passed down from his Ancestors, until at last, it rested in Zelspar’s possession.

  He placed it on top of his walking stick and twisted the metal prongs until it was secured. One of the crystal’s greatest assets was that it is used to reduce the size of objects. It should make traveling with all the Stone Tears much more manageable.

  As the leaders of each Hail brought their packets to Zelspar, he placed them on his granite slab and aimed his Draga Crystal at them, reducing their size and weight to the very smallest for transport.

  He realized he could perform the Cleansing ceremony where he was, but there was always a chance for lingering residue to cling onto the surroundings. Some may even call him superstitious, but he didn’t care about others’ thoughts. His only concern was to assure that the Hails were protected.

  He bid his goodbyes to Starleira and Rynik at the entrance to the cave and promised to return by the evening’s meal. A light drizzle met him as he lifted off of the rocky ledge.

  Off in a Northerly direction he flew. The drizzle turned into a light rain. Even for the period of Harvest, the air took on a chill that pierced down to his aged bones. He sought a cave near the top of the mountains and, at last, he spotted one with easy access for a Dragon’s landing.

  Rain droplets clung onto his scales as he entered the darkened cave. He shook them off as he swished his long tail free of them. Zelspar immediately prepared a fire, adding both warmth and illumination. Peering outside at the pelting rain, he shivered. It is too soon for such cold. His old, scaly hide hunkered closer to the first issues of warmth. Flickering flames cast dancing shadows against the inner haven. He placed a small cauldron above the fire.

  Zelspar untied his bag and slowly added the herbs to the pot to start the Cleansing ceremony. He looked towards the back edge of the cave and discovered a well-placed ledge, wide enough to place the parcels of tears. Opening his satchel, he withdrew them and gingerly placed them on the rock surface. He held his small packet in his hand, wrapped around his walking stick. The pot had come to a boil. It was now ready to place nearby. Weaving his arms through the air he dispersed the vapors throughout the cave, adding the pungent aroma to the already dank cave.

  He chanted to the Ancestor to attend the Cleansing ceremony and prepared his walking stick. He already knew the Ancestor would not come. Their anger with him had left him unaided. One never realized what help the Ancestors actually brought until they remove themselves from you. He could not help but to issue a heavy sigh. Weaving the Draga Crystal high in the air, it pulled in the Cleansing energy and started the inner blue flames dancing. He swirled the air with his walking stick and began repeating the magic of the Cleansing.

  As he reached into his satchels to sprinkle the ground herbs over the Stone Tears, a spine-tingling sound broke through the entrance of the cave.

  “Zelspar, Elder of the Qyrdrom Hail. We meet!”

  In shock, Zelspar jerked his head around. He knew without asking, who stood in the entrance. Dargenoin-- The vile creature of Deception and Chaos. He slowly ambled closer into the cave.

  “The mighty Zelspar,” Dargenoin roared then laughed. “Such a shame you will die here unprotected and alone.”

  “Dargenoin, why did you poison the Hails? Why ruin the history of Galdean by having me bind his spirit to his flesh? What do you gain by all of this? an angry Zelspar bellowed.

  Dargenoin’s sinister laughter filled the cavity of the cave, rattling the walls. “This has all worked out better than even I could have planned. Imagine! Destroying both the mighty Warrior Galdean and the greatest Healer with one small act of deception. How delightful! Oh, what entertainment I’ve had, watching you and the Hails scurrying around to save your scrawny, leathery hides,” he chortled. “You can do nothing to save yourselves!” His roar exploded in Zelspar’s ears, causing him to involuntarily tremble.

  “I have made sure your kind will be defeated. I’ve seen your mediocre magic and your inadequate potions. Do you think any of your trite concoctions can stand up to me? You fool yourself. I have been and shall always be.” His self-confidence bellowed through the cave.

  “Answer me, Dargenoin! Why do you want the Dragons to die?” Zelspar spat the words through his clenched jaw, as smoke billowed from his snout.

  “I don’t despise all Dragons, but since the Mursei Hail rounded up all you weaklings and brought you here, it has made for... how should I put it? A very dismal future for my entertainment. Before you banded together, life was as it should be. The Urthe was filled with Dragons torching the peoples and those tiny helpless things ran around in such a flurry. A sheer joy to watch! Occasionally, they would even kill a Dragon with a well-placed arrow and I would applaud. But you and the rest, have decided to change all of it. That just will not do. You seek to alter the normal way of life here. I cannot allow any of you to do that.”

  Zelspar threw back his head and roared, shaking even the ground beneath Dargenoin’s feet. “You toy with us as a game? You vile vomit! As long as any one of us survive, we will fight against you!”

  Dargenoin’s nefarious laughter oozed his thick venom. “I will take great pleasure in killing all of you, one by one if I have too. I had fondly hoped of watching your great mass dying quickly. It is so captivating to imagine each struggling against the other, fighting inner turmoil until the poison turned your flesh into a rotting mass. I imagined being riveted to the edge of my seat, guessing which Dragon would be the last to fall. Oh well, one by one has its advantages also. A prolonged show,” he sneered.

  "You do not frighten me; you repulse me. You will not and cannot win. We are Dragons! We are and always will be. You know the oath given to us and yet you think you can change it? You are petty and small, Dargenoin. You are the weakling, not our Dragons. I will make you rue the day you decided to dabble in Dragon affairs,” Zelspar thundered with his jaws open wide, his yellowed and sharp teeth glinting in Dargenoin’s eyes.

  Thunder clustered and rippled from the outside, doing nothing to diminish the thunderous roars inside the cave. Dargenoin bellowed, “I am weary of your idle threats. Prepare to die. You scrap of hide, you will die alone, a mere smudge on a page the Historian keeps!”

  “He is NOT alone,” roared all the Ancestors, including the Great White Ancestor of all Dragons.

  Dargenoin’s jaw dropped as he swirled his attention to the sudden intrusion. Zelspar did not waste a moment as he turned the Draga Crystal towards Dargenoin and engaged its full force to his body, sending so much energy even his walking stick glowed. The blue flames erupted and ricocheted through the Crystal and then stilled.

  The Ancestors filled the room, looking for Dargenoin.

  “Where did he go?” Zelspar cried out

  “You used the Draga Crystal. You have made him small. We must search him out,” the Ancestors shouted as their vapors slid through all the crevices.

  Zelspar was shaken and released his chokehold on his walking stick. A small packet slid to the floor. He had forgotten about holding his packet of tears through all of the sudden chaos. His hand felt burned, and he noticed the packet also was singed in an odd manner. He carefully opened it up and looked at the Stone Tears. He held up the one in the center still glowing. Dargenoin was trapped inside.

  “Ancestors, look. Behold the great Dargenoin!” Zelspar shouted with sudden joy.

  The Ancestors engulfed him, swirling and spinning their vapors around and through him. Each grabbed at the stone, watching the captive scream silently within. An explosion of rambunctious laughter infused the air.

  The Ancestors gathered around Zelspar, once known as the Great Healer, the Elder of the Qyrdrom Hail and gave him a new name. Zelspar, the Enslaver of Dargenoin. Even the Ancestors had a small amount of pity for the trapped Dargenoin as they w
atched him bang around inside the transparent stone. They gathered their breaths and blew over the stone causing Dargenoin to freeze in place, forever locked in his prison.

  “Did you kill him?” Zelspar asked in awe.

  “No, Mighty Zelspar, the Enslaver of Dargenoin. He cannot be killed. He is Immortal. But he is forever trapped and stripped of his abilities of causing chaos and deception. We only stilled him. Now he can no longer even move within his small confines. He is now in your keeping. Complete your Cleansing ceremony and drain the last of Dargenoin’s power.”

  Zelspar laid his singed packet of tears in front of the rest as he placed the Dargenoin trapped inside, in front of those. He returned to his satchels and took handfuls of the herbs and placed them over all the packets. The Ancestors joined in the final chant of Cleansing.

  It was done.

  They gathered their vapors and drifted towards the entrance of the cave calling back to Zelspar, “Long live you Zelspar, and all your descendants! Your Spirit shall always be. When your flesh gives up its life, your spirit shall join another. It is too strong to return as an Ancestor. You must always continue on. You will become Legend, Zelspar, in this life and many more lives to come. We are honored by you.” They departed and took with them the thunderous clouds that hid their appearance.

  Zelspar folded to the ground, the immensity of the day ultimately setting in. Clear tears of joy rolled softly to the dust, leaving only watermarks behind. The Ancestors returned to him and were pleased. It was almost more than his heart could hold.

  Taking flight into the cleansed air from the sudden storm, Zelspar flew with a light heart. The good and the bad, tightly stitched together, bound forever in his mind. All of the Ancestors had returned. His thoughts swirled, the Ancestors were well pleased with him and ready to render aid when he would be in need! The rest of what they said, he could not even fathom yet.

  The bad. Dargenoin. The Deceiver and Chaos-Maker was defeated. A battle he did not know he was prepared to fight and with a Dragon’s thanks to his Ancestors, he had the proof in the very stones he set out to Cleanse.

  He would take great joy in sharing a look at the trapped Dargenoin with Galdean, as well as Starleira and Rynik. He would guard the stone until his last breath to make sure Dargenoin would never be released to do his damage again. Before his days would end, he would have to think of a place to hide the stone. Perhaps deep within the bowels of the Urthe, never again to see the light of day.

  Circling low for landing, he caught the ledge and made a hop into the cave, yellow eyes gleaming with success. The Queen of Mursei was close by and felt the warmth of his joy spreading into the cave.

  “You have returned, my old friend,” she spoke as she wove through the cave to join him.

  His brows lifted, “You had a doubt?” He smiled as he asked the question.

  “Doubt the Wise One? Not once, you weather-worn friend.” Starleira said as she fondly squeezed his hand.

  “We need to gather Galdean and Rynik. I have stories to share with you three before I return the cleansed Stone Tears.”

  “I’ll go get them. Meet you back here?” the Queen asked.

  “No, no. If it is not too much trouble, I would prefer to join you in your Lair.”

  “No trouble at all,” she replied. “We will join you presently.” Off she hurried in search of the other two.

  Zelspar made his way into her lair and eased himself on a seat by the jewel encrusted table. The now-sealed portal gave off ample light from overhead. He prepared to open his satchel as he heard the approach of many feet. He paused. He only wanted to expose the stone to those three he trusted the most.

  “The Queen brought us here,” Galdean was saying, “but I must confess Zelspar, every time I am summoned by you, a shard of fear pierces my scales. What is it this time?”

  “No worries Galdean. Quite the opposite is true. Now hold that breath of yours so I can explain.”

  The Queen stifled a chuckle as Galdean imitated the actual gesture of gathering his breath.

  Zelspar’s quick lift of one shaggy eyebrow drew Galdean’s attention.

  The King asked, “Zelspar, did all go well at the Cleansing ceremony?”

  “That is the precise reason I have asked you to come. You cannot begin to imagine what has taken place,” he replied.

  And of course, they could not. Zelspar held rapt their attention as he went into great detail of the ceremony and the sudden appearance of Dargenoin.

  The three sat riveted to their spots as the story unfolded. He explained the sudden return of the Ancestors and how it turned the battle in his favor. His spellbound audience held onto each word, amazed. They slipped in soft mutterings of “by all that is Dragon” between the words they heard from Zelspar.

  He reached into his opened satchel and withdrew his packet of Stone Tears. A smile began at the corner of his mouth and spread quickly to envelope his entire face.

  He reached the climax of his story. “When the Ancestors drew the attention of Dargenoin, I quickly turned the Draga Stone against him.” Shocked gasps paused his story.

  “I wanted to diminish him and his power but had no thought at what would actually occur. I had forgotten the packet of my tears still clutched tightly in my hand holding my walking stick. The power from the Draga Stone shot out, but also through my hand. The result was a power of Magic I have never known or witnessed. When the power of the Draga Stone shot through my hands, it transferred through my packet at the same time.”

  He slowly pulled his special stone from his packet. As he rotated the cleansed Stone Tear to show what, or who, was inside. The sudden silence in the lair was quickly exchanged with gasps, seeing for the first time, Dargenoin-- trapped, frozen in the stone.

  Zelspar let out a well-deserved sneering laugh. “Look closer, even his last vile threats were gathered from his vomitus mouth and cast forever as a frozen pebble in front of him. By all that is Dragon, I could not be happier! He will have to stare at his own powerless words for all time. Look at him, stuck upside down at the bottom of my Stone Dragon Tear.” Zelspar let loose a bellowing laugh which quickly was joined by the three.

  “Zelspar, I would never have believed such magic could occur. You are one amazing old Dragon, you hairy hide!” exclaimed Galdean.

  He endured the claps to his back and affectionate words of his friends, but most of all, he relished in looking at the trapped Dargenoin. His eyes danced happily as they gazed upon his captor.

  After they all had a chance to talk through his story, Zelspar excused himself to rest before preparing to attend the evening meal. Once in his abode, he removed the Draga Stone and returned it to its hiding place. He removed the top of his walking stick and slid his Dargenoin Stone inside before replacing the well-concealed top on his staff. He gave off a glowing smile as he patted the stick twice. “There, I’ve got you,” he said as he reclined in his nest, stick drawn in tightly as his eyes closed.

  Awaking from his brief, dreamless sleep, he made his way to the already clustered Dragons sharing the evening meal. He had been quickly spotted by Galdean who rose and chanted his name, starting a growing tidal wave of Dragons rising and applauding the renowned White Dragon. A warm flush tinted his otherwise pale hide. He was not given to such forms of public acknowledgement, and it made him rather flustered.

  “Good Eve, all Dragon Hails. As you may have already heard, the Cleansing ceremony was a success.” Zelspar said.

  Thunderous roars bounced across the inner room. Zelspar tried to quiet the group but they continued applauding and Dragons tried to out-bellow the Dragon next to them. Finally, they had reached their fill and quieted to a low rumble.

  A shout from the middle of the group reached Zelspar’s ears. “Tell us how it went? Were there any problems?”

  Zelspar saw the crooked grin Galdean displayed and hoped he had not spoken to the others. Zelspar replied by simply saying, “The ceremony was a complete success with the added aid of the Ancestors. Afte
r I have my meal,” he stared at the crowd to make his point, “I will turn over the cleansed tears to the leader of each of your Hails. You will be able to retrieve them later.”

  “You may wonder as to why worry with such nonsense. It is because I believe that the Stone Tears, our very own Dragon Tears, will bring you very strong Protection. They were exposed to a powerful Magic unseen before now. You will notice that even their appearance has changed, proof that the Cleansing and magic both have melded into the Stones. Keep them.”

  He continued by saying, “If there are any members of your Hail who didn’t experience the Dragon Stone Tears, share with them. I believe we are in a time of great change. Powers are growing stronger. Magic is heightened. Use the gift of your changed tears for your benefit. You may never know when you will need its Protection and assistance. Thank each of you for your warm welcome home... Now, may I please eat?”

  A roar of laughter once again swirled through the room and met his ears as he found his place by Galdean and Queen and King of Mursei. He was glad to be away from the staring eyes of the many around him. He did not want to start the story of Dargenoin. He preferred to keep that to those he chose to tell, but he would assure the others there will be no future meddling by Dargenoin.

  After his meal, he dispatched his packets of Dragon Tears to each Hail’s leader. All except his and those belonging to Kaida. He would need to get them to Zlemtec, he thought. He was quite sure Zlemtec would not mind taking the time to return them to their owner. A smile crept up to his face at the thought.

  “Zlemtec,” the old White Dragon called loudly, peering around the room.

  “Over here, Zelspar,” he said, waving his arms with his wings flapping his companion in his face.

  “Watch it, Zlemtec!” his hatchling buddy Ofslergar said, pushing his wing away.

  “Excuse me, Ofslergar,” Zlemtec offered as he made his way towards Zelspar.

  “Zlemtec,” Zelspar started before the brash hatchling could start bombarding him with questions, “I need you to come to my lair at first light. I have the packet Kaida’s Teacher gave to you. You may return them with every confidence they have not only been cleansed, as you heard if you were listening…” he raised his eyebrow towards Zlemtec. “But they also have the strength of powerful Magic infused into each Dragon Tear.”