The Dragons Grief

The Book Version

Athilea Majiri

    In an ancient city built into the side of the mountains of Airien, lived a strange sort of people. These were a people that looked very much like their human counter parts, with a few distinct differences. One of the main differences was in their gigantic wings that protruded from their shoulder blades. Their noses were sharp and ok like, giving the appearance of a bird like beak. Their finger and toe nails were long, sharp, and thick like talons. They had hair that tended to be soft, like the downy feathers of a snow owl, and their voices were like a birds' song.

     These bird people, The Enaret, lived in building carved from the living rock of the mountain. They had several cities that spanned across the range of mountains. Milak, the capital city, was not only the largest but the oldest of the Naloran range. A great many of the buildings were well worn, the rock smoothed down from years of enduring the elements. Some of the oldest buildings were no longer habitable, great chunks of rock had fallen from them. Still others had cracks throughout them yet managed no to shatter into millions of shards of rock. There were soon to be renovations done on these buildings because they were ancient reminders of the Enarets beginnings.

     The Enaret were a simple people, peaceful in their quiet ways. Aelit was the chosen goddess of these people, a creature even more bird like then the people she watched over, her children. She was seen by all of her people at least once in their lifetime, though she appeared as more of an apparition than an ancient and all powerful being. It was for this reason that most of her people didn't stray from their worship of her. She was a fair god, but she was sometimes power hungry. This hunger would often lead her to do extreme things to her people. At the top of the tallest peak, which lay just outside of Milak, was her temple and supposed home.

      The ruler of this land, Niron, would often visit Aelits temple and stay for days. It was said that he was the goddesses’ lover and hat their child would bring a new age into being. The problem was that no one knew if this would be a good thing, or if it would bring about their destruction. For the time being, however, things were prosper. Al things seemed to be right in the world. Sunny, yet chill days made it feel as though nothing could go wrong.

     As a people, they had very quiet ways. Rarely did any venture into the lands at the foot of their mountains. Only a few knew what kind of people lived there, the wingless ones. A people that were primitive and seemed bent on their own destruction. The few reports they gave were of fighting and then of a new religion. These people had begun to worship their winged friends. They had begun to see the rare visits as spiritual thing that only a select few of their people could experience. The last visitors reported temples and statues erected to the Enaret.

     After the last report they stopped even those rare visits, believing it to be dangerous to go any longer. They told their children what they could about their neighbors, and then warned them against visiting the humans themselves. They knew that this would stop most, but not all exploration into those unknown lands. Unfortunately, this did not have quite the effect expected. Their people are a curious people.

     Their wingless neighbors waited for countless years for a sighting, but there were to be none. The amount of anger produced by the simple lack of a sighting was unbelievable. These people could not believe that their gods had abandoned them completely. Many thought that perhaps they had done something wrong, maybe they were angry with them. For a while they tried to amend for it by leaving offerings, but there was no sign of them. The leader of this tribe finally decided to act.

     The leader tore down the temples and statues, but left their ruins for all to see. He was, in a way, trying to anger their past gods with the hopes that they may show up. The Enaret did not visit them again, however, but another being did. He was a creature that was so strong, majestic, and power hungry that Aelit would be in awe of him. He was golden as the morning sun with eyes that burned as fire. From his hide protruded the leathery wings of a bat that, when spread, shed a golden hue over everything around him.

    He looked over these people when they accepted him, a dragon in the truest form. The people began to worship him but, unlike the Enaret, he did not turn away from it. He did not try to convince them that he was anything but a god. They would never be able to prove otherwise so why not let the humans believe that he would be their savior. That he would bring the rains when needed, that he would ensure their survival, for a small price of course.


©2006 Pamela "Athilea" Johnson All Rights Reserved