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The Lair of the Blue Dragon
The dragon lived in a mountain, a high mountain that the dragon had split in two with its hot breath. Through the canyon a small brook ran, and the cave of the dragon was on the right bank. Only once in a bisunjane4 Lukarna would shine into the cave, and on those nights, the dragon would fly through the dark, silver shining sky. The dragon ate splinters and collected anything precious to mankind. It also terrorised the castle of King Un, that was build on the high mountain, on the left bank of the brook, high above the cave of the dragon. But as long as the King offered enough splinters and gold to the dragon, the castle would be unharmed. A lot of people were thrown into the canyon, their splinters were eaten by the blue dragon, and their bodies were never found again. King Un happened to have a very pretty daughter. She was the most gorgeous girl on Airtha in those times, and everyone who saw her, fell in love with her, and kept gazing at her gracious beauty. She knew well enough what all those gazers wanted, but she refused any one who asked to marry her. She would go walking and attract the gazers, but she kept away from them. She thought none of them was worth her beauty or love. She was the daughter of a king, and she wanted at least a prince to get married to. She wanted a rich man, someone powerful and beautiful. So she stayed in the castle on the mountain and waited till a perfect man would turn up. No one is perfect, no man is perfect. The princess loathed every one who came and asked to marry her. Her father was disappointed, and was afraid of what would happen. The not-perfect men were rather mad at the princess, who had insulted them, but when they left the castle, they were still very attracted to her beauty. It was said they never slept well and quiet again after a meeting with the princess. So it did not take long for the first of the gazers to get his horse and to go back again to the castle of King Un, this time with the idea to return with the princess. When the first one appeared again at the doors of the castle, the King had talked to his daughter. “Why don’t you take one of these men?” he asked her, “Why won’t you marry any of them?” But she stayed silent and bend her head. “When one comes up, why don’t you put them to a test?” King Un said. And the princess said: “All right, I will ask them to give me the gold the blue dragons hides in his cave.” The King doubted if there would be a man brave enough to go into the dragons lair, but he agreed. And so, when the man entered the castle to ask the princess to marry him, he was sent to the lair of the blue dragon, deep down on the other side of the brook. The man had come from far away. He had been on his horse all day, and now he was asked to go into the dragons lair, it was dusk. The cold shadows of the night touched the skin of this brave man. He shivered, but felt no true fear. It was love that made him go down into the canyon, it was the memory of the princess that lightened his way down, down below. There was no braveness in his veins, there was no sword in his hands, no shield on his arm. He felt a coward or a fool to go down at the orders of King Un and his daughter alone, but still, he climbed down the damp rocks of the canyon, and the cloak of Nox5 spread out above him. The smell of the canyon was awful. It smelled like death itself, death, and sickness, and loath. It was hard to see anything in the dark, and the man realised he had to go to the source of the smell to find the dragons lair. The pretty flowers he had seen in the hair of the princess faded away. Her smile turned vague, her eyes did not see him anymore. Why had he go down, now the memory of her was leaving him? The beating of his heart slowed down, and fear crept in. He was down in the dark, she was up to the light. How would he ever come back up again? Then, a ray of light fell into the canyon. It was like silver on the brook. The world was suddenly bright and vivid. Night birds flew over, small creatures ran over the rocks. The light got stronger as it passed over the edge of the cliff. Lukarna was bright and full in the sky. The cave lay gloomy before the man. He could see it, smell it. He hesitated a bit, trying to find a way to pass the brook and go into the cave without too much effort. Soon, he saw a ford in the brook, a little further away. He walked towards it, but as soon as he had turned his back to the cave, he heard a sound like thunder. He turned back, to face the dragon. It was huge. It was awful. And it was in a way very gracious. Its large wings, shiny like steel shields, flapped against the night. Its enormous head reared, surprised eyes filled with fire punctured the dark. Its fangs, like war veteran swords, stood out of its mouth to attack. The claws, big as barrels, banged on the banks of the brook. It was slow, and like in a dream, the man was slower, as if glued to the rocks. He could not even move and felt naked - there was nothing to protect him. Man and dragon stared at each other, caught in each others eyes. Way up, bathing in the light of Lukarna, the castle was peaceful and quiet. Only in the room of the princess a noise was to be heard. The princess had another argument with her father, King Un. “He will probably be dead by now,” the King mourned. “He who is stupid enough to go for the dragons gold is not worth living, let alone marrying”, the princess said, combing her hair in front of a silver mirror. “It was cruel of you to ask such a test,” the King said. The princess just laughed at her own reflection. “But why did you put him to the test when you think of him like that?” the King asked. She laughed again. “It is good to get rid off these idiots this way!” The King shook his head and left his daughters rooms. “So what are you doing down here?” the dragon asked. Its voice was like the banging of rocks on the mans skull. The voice was truly in his head, for he did not really hear the dragon talk, nor see its mouths form the words. “I came here to get your gold,” the man said. “You won’t get it,” the dragon said and it was like he was laughing aloud in the mans head. “Why on Airtha would you want to have my gold?” His laughing had become more of a giggling. “I want to marry King Uns daughter. She asked me to get the gold. I really want her, every vein in my body is longing for her, so I need the gold.” “I do not part with my gold,” the dragon said in its thunderous voice. It was hard to believe no one in the castle could hear the conversation. The man needed little time to come up with a cunning plan. “If you do not want to part from your gold, you will have to come with me, or I’ll have to kill you. I’ll have the gold either way.” The King was mourning. If his daughter refused to marry, what would become of the Kingdom? There would be no heirs, there would be no future. And now she had killed the brave man who had come back for her. The pile of bones in the dragons lair, the King imagined, would grow bigger and bigger, with the useless leftover of once brave men. Then he heard a strange sound outside his rooms. He walked to the open doors to his balcony, where the curtains swung in a cold wind that was not common for the season. The sound of thunder came from the outside, and Lukarna’s light had gone. As the king stood on his balcony, he had to held the wall. The sight he saw made him gasp for his breath. Over the towers of King Uns castle, a dragon flew. On his back was a man, holding a bag filled with gold and the splinters of those who died on the fangs of the dragon. “Sire! I have come to bring you the gold and to take the princess,” the man said. “I hope you don’t mind me taking the dragon with me!” “I don’t mind,” the King muttered and then, he yelled “I will get you my daughter!” The daughter had to go to the balcony, where her fresh husband waited for her on the back of the dragon. Servants helped her up, onto the dragon. Then, the dragon flapped his wings, and they left the castle. As the dragon flew away with the man and the princess, the bag of gold and splinters was hit by the highest tower of the castle. The gold fell down in a long area near Unvar, in the White Mountains. The splinters turned up in the night sky in a similar long, light area. The dragon with its passengers headed to the Black Mountains, and they were never seen again. The laughing of the dragon however, can be heard every now and then in the valleys of the Black Mountains. This was the story of the Lair of the Blue Dragon. The Lair can be visited, it is in the canyon of Unvar. Unvar is named after King Uns Castle, and the ruins of this castle are still buried under the castle of Unvar we know so well. 1 Airtha, see Time [Back] 2Lukarna, see Time [Back] 3 Splinters, see Elemental religion [Back] 4 Bisunjane, see Time [Back] 5 Nox, see Myths [Back] Related topics: |