DRAGON LONGZE STRANDED PRO TEM AT THE KINGDOM OF AVARKAN (BY BOST, 2026) PART 2

Davos’s implications was clear; hence, inconsolable fear and dread took hold of everyone’s chests; and they quaked right to their toes—in unison they then asked, "Tell us, we want to know; what is to be done, what is the key (vital) solution?"

01- DAVOS (12)JP

Now that he had them in his palm, Davos said: "Tomorrow is the dragon's birthday. He is demanding to have a present on his birthday. If he gets a nice present, he will be in a hurry to take it away and show it to his friends, and he will fly off and never come back."

Now how did he know it was the dragon’s birthday? But frightened minds are rarely logical.

The crowd had instead readily accepted Devos’s claim and cheered wildly—even the naïve, pure hearted Princess, participating from her balcony, excitedly clapped her hands.

"The present the dragon expects," said Devos, when the clamor died down a little, cheerfully, "is rather an expensive one. But, when we give, it should not be in a grudging spirit, especially to visitors. What every dragon ever wants is a Princess. We have only one Princess, it is true: but far be it for us to display a miserly temper at such a moment. And the gift is worthless that costs the giver nothing. Your readiness to give up your Princess will only show how generous you are."

A shocked silence now permeated in the air. Many stood frozen with gaping mouths, considering the alternative. Some of the crowd began to shed silent tears, for they loved their Princess, though they quite knew that their first duty was to their nation; unfortunately, this required them to be bighearted (charitable, unstinting) and give the dreadful dragon what it wanted. No one considered asking the Dragon, if that was true… Then again, they could not communicate with him, not really, so how could they?

The Princess was devastated as everyone else but desisted shedding tears, for she was brave; she had a terrible foreboding that she might be scorched then eaten, still, she was willing to sacrifice self to save the kingdom. If only there was a way to avert this catastrophe.

Stevor, meanwhile, had stood perfectly still, then sullenly (broodingly) looked away; after a time, he quickly pushed aside all worrisome thoughts and his ire checked (contained), being a pragmatist even at that young age, he next wracked his brains for an apt solution. He could not believe the Dragon was that evil; moreover, his senses pricked (jabbed), as if alerting him to an impending malevolent ploy. He was still too young to discern (comprehend) the ambitious, cunning workings of (Devos’s) an adult mind. Eventually, he went home to ponder more on the plausible solution. He was idly standing by at the back yard when the wolf cup came up to him; Stevor in a gush relayed to him his deep concern. 

02- WOLF CUB TANSAN (5)

Tansan lowered his head, dourly (resolutely) thought for a while, then questioningly looking up and growled: “Are you certain this was the dragon’s wish?”

Stevor understood his meaning, especially when Tansan, gripped his sleeve and tugged at it (pulled): making it clear he wanted to go see the dragon along with Stevor and get some explanation or truth of this matter.

Though humans, save for magicians like Devos, could not really communicate with a dragon, perhaps a wolf might, Stevor thought.

 True enough, Tansan breached the gap of vernacular difficulty and then successfully communicated with the dragon.  It was then that he learned of the dragon’s name being Longze, and his true dragon age. Longze in turn, learned how Tansan once had lived within a dense forest of a far off continent; though unfortunately, where hunting was a desired sport. One day Tansan was carefree and happy living with his parents and two other siblings, and the next moment, all had been destroyed. He’d witnessed the traumatic, harrowing death of his parents and his siblings; his life was spared, because of the aristocratic little boy who’d accompanied his father on this hunt, wanted the white wolf-cub as his pet. The little boy wasn’t entirely cruel, but Tansan detested being held captive; then one day, he’d made good his escape, and later still, after much suffering, he’d snuck into the luggage of a passenger boarding a ship, bound for far away lands and so came to be on this island. At the end of his narration, Tansan was surprised to note the dragon Longze’s eyes tearing up and understood that this dragon was a sensitive sentient being.

 Tansan and Longze spent many more hours communicating, sharing their likes and dislikes and in the course of it, becoming fast friends.  Stevor had waited patiently at first, then, not wishing to intrude, waved a hand and returned home. No pressure: he’d done this to allow them privacy of this rare bonding, knowing Tansan would appraise him of the facts later. Stevor was a thoughtful, kind and tolerant friend that way.

At the end of their long, intense exchange, when all that needed to be heard was communicated, Tansan nodded his head with understanding and promised that he would somehow find a way to relay (impart) all this to Stevor and in doing so, clear Longze from all false accusations.

Longze was elated to long at last be able to convey true facts; for being brilliant, he had grasped the persecution that had lately, permeated the air along with the false belief that had deemed him a monster to the apprehensive, trusting (gullible) people. He had been puzzled by the sudden change in those once affectionate pupils directed at him, which lately bore such fretful disdain (contempt); furthermore, the innocent children had lost that wonder glint (sparkle) in their eyes and instead, glared at him with chariness (suspicion) and scorn. This had made Longze so very unhappy; now however, he had hope, that the misunderstanding might soon be cleared up.

03- LONGZE MALIGNED

It took some doing, in fact, it took the entire night, but clever as Tansan was eventually successful and so Stevor was appraised of the true facts. That Longze had no wish to harm anyone, least of all the princess Juyin. He’d rather hoped to befriend everyone and take his leave of the island, which he intended to do pretty soon, now that his injury was almost healed (mended), carrying in his heart and mind fond memories.  More importantly, his birthday was still many months away.

Subsequent morning, Stevor rising at dawn, he went straight to the palace and then he gathered white roses and threw them at the Princess's window till she woke up and looked out.

“What brings you out this early?”  The princes peering down, from her balcony, asked; “It must be important; all right, come up and tell me, “She said.

Stevor was an athletic boy, and so, he nimbly climbed up the pink rosebush; once seated in her room, he then quietly relayed to her all the pertinent data that he’d acquired from Tansan. Then leaning forward, he kissed the Princess on the cheek and said: "Before I forget: Many happy returns of the day."

Juyin’s eyes teared; “I wish it was a happy day!” She heaved a sigh; suspecting her uncle Davos would not be persuaded to change his mind that easily, if he was set on sacrificing her. 

"Don’t be sad," said Stevor. "Why, Juyin, my precious Princess—things aren’t as hopeless as you might think. Tansan is a clever little wolf cub, together we have devised a plausible plan, the Dragon, innocent as he is, is also a willing participant. After he’d carefully imparted all the relevant details he said: “All is arranged now.  You just pretend to go along; and leave the rest to us. We got your back. I promise you, no harm will come to you, or anyone innocent. “

For good reason Stevor did not disclose to Juyin, what he’d additionally suspected about her uncle, Sovereign Davos. Why should he unnecessarily worry her.

04- DAVOS (13)JP

That afternoon, Davos exited his palatial quarters, decked out in his official regalia, wearing a special crown, his brocade garments embroidered with the golden symbolic images on it, and arriving in posh carriage, he called on the Princess. His intent was to first deliver the princess to her doom, then going to court, before the assembled officials, summoned there already, announce his rightful claim to the throne.

"Come, little birthday present," he said acerbically (sarcastically). "You look so lovely, my dear; the dragon will be so pleased to have you. And I'm glad to see you're not crying. You know, my child, we cannot begin too young to learn to think of the happiness of others rather than our own. Nation’s welfare always supersedes personal one. I should not like my dear little niece to be selfish, or to wish to deny a trivial pleasure to that, albeit unreasonable dragon, desperate to return to where he belongs, his home and friends."

Princess Juyin acquiescently nodded, her face exhibited no fear and sorrow; she stockily and obediently climbed into his carriage, and soon they were on their way to meet the dragon.

 

Subsequently, the state carriage stopped at acceptable distance from the pillar, and there was the white dragon, poised to take custody of the princess and, in his pseudo anticipation of devouring a delectable morsal, his massive mouth already a gap (half open).

Davos approached him cautiously and said: "Good morning, sir. We have brought you a small present for your birthday. We do not like to let such an anniversary go by without some suitable testimonial, especially to one who is a stranger in our midst. Our means are small, but our hearts are large. We have but one Princess, but we give her freely—do we not, my child?"

The Princess said she supposed so, and the dragon came a little nearer.

05-- HEROIC STEVOR TO THE RESCUE

Suddenly a concealed figure emerging from behind the thick bushes, a voice cried: "Run!" and there was Stevor. 

Princess at once took to her heels, to reach Stevor and Tansan. Tansan taking up defensive position up front, bearing his fangs and growling at Devos.

Davos was furious. "What do you mean, by this?" he cried, "Such impudence; by your rude intrusion on a state matter with your brazen attitude and your antagonistic wolf-cub, are you not afraid of dire punishment?" His meaning was clear, he threatened Stevor with certain death.

But while he was speaking all her precious pets, including the fox, had emerged from concealment (behind cluster of trees), to encircle Davos, so that he was buried way over his head in their thick animal fur that almost choked his lungs.

The Princess, meantime, had run to the other side of the pillar and was peeping around it to see what was going on. It goes without saying, a curious crowd had followed the carriage out of the town; now having reached the scene of the "State Function"—in unison, they all cried out: "Fair play—play fair! Princess has a right to choice, to defend herself.

But some of Devos’s supporters also voiced their discontent: “We can't go back on our word like this. Shame, shame! To give a thing and take a thing? Why, it's never been done. Let the poor dragon have his birthday present." And they also tried to get at Stevor who fended them off with a stick he was holding; meanwhile, the wolf bearing his fangs, growling fiercely stood defensively, ready to launch, to sink those fangs at the first one that would be brazen enough to sneak-attack, from the flanks (sides).

While this was going on, Juyin looked around the big pillar and called to the dragon: "Here’s your chance to clear your name; defend the innocent and punish the culprit!” Strangely enough the dragon understood the princess’s vernacular. As it were, dragons in fairy tales, had always wanted the sacrifice of princesses for friendship’s sake, someone to talk to, not to consume (eat) them.

The Sovereign-wizard Davos, however, could not be restrained (fenced) for long; getting clear of the furballs, he invoked a powerful incantation that forced the dragon to act contrary and to attack the princess.  But the princess was fast on her feet and she fled. She ran and ran, with dragon Longze in hot pursuit, without him not understanding why he was behaving antagonistically; for it was not in his nature to be so belligerent, so violent!

Stevor noting this change in plan, let Tanzan to deal with Davos’s hostile gang (horde), and looped the loose end of  the rope that was attached to the pole, on the dragon’s tale, at the very point the dragon had spread his wings to create greater momentum for speed as he run after Juyin. Stevor’s action was to impede dragon’s run; instead, this pulled Longze’s tail, and pulled it very hard, so hard that as he pulled, the pillar had to come around with the tail, and the island had to come around with the pillar, and in another minute the tail was loose, and the island was spinning around the top, exactly like that toy children often play. It spun so fast that everyone on the island fell flat on their faces and held on tight to themselves, because they felt something was going to happen.

All but the magician Davos, who was seriously engaged and choking between the brave Belgian hares that had pressed forward and strategically positioned themselves to contain or stop Davos’s next aggressive aim.

06- LONGZE FLIES HOME

The dragon Longze, meanwhile, had sent the island, with the established kingdom of Avarkan, spinning the way it ought to have gone at the beginning of the creation of the world and the incidental (chance) materialization (manifestation) of this magic island.  

As the island spun around, all the animals on it began to change sizes. And the men and women and all the children would have changed sizes too, if they had not had the sense to hold on to themselves, very tight indeed, with both hands, which, of course, the animals could not be expected to know how to do.

Princess Juyin, Stevor and Tansan had all huddled together, arms fastening on each other to form one uninterrupted circle, so they were spared also.  Davos had been thrown on the ground, and with his focus spinning, seeing stars in his eyes, he’d forgotten to hold onto himself; therefore, he did change, his height shrunk to two inches.

The spell the wizard had spun (cast) on the dragon Longze, meanwhile, was broken also, and the dragon felt his old self again. Longze was instantly consumed with seething rage for being prior maligned and, for being manipulated presently in this way, forcing him to act contrary to his will. His eyes, hence, searched till he pinpointed the whereabouts of the wizard Davos, who’d done his best to hide behind a small bush.

Longze, however, was far too young to have a fiery breath, only a steam and puff of cloud would come out of his mouth.  He was only three years old in dragon years, remember. But he was still fuming and he desired apt retribution (vengeance) on the very culprit; so, he simply approached Daves, slow and deliberate, then lifted one of his feet and let it come down plump over Devos, to squash him like a pancake. And so, permanently rid Avarkan of this conniving, heartless evil.

He then shook his head; let out a shrilling cry and then opened his wings wide and next instant took to the skies. He’d recovered well enough, so that he could now return home, and when he got home, he would have a tale to tell, to whoever listened.

07 - STEVOR AND JUYIN GET MARRIED

So now the dragon gone, and all the animals were normal sizes—and at first it seemed very strange to everyone to have great lumbering elephants and a tiny little dormouse, but in time they got used to it and thought no more of this change. 

After the culprit Davos was no more, conscientious, loyal officials and brave generals ensured that law and order, as well as the lasting peace was restored to the kingdom of Avarkan. Princess Juyin received the best counsel, best education, by loyal ministers, tutors and such, preparing her well for the time she would be crowned their ruling Queen. Some time passed, in that lasting peace, all the young children grew up normal and contented.

Several years ago, there was an announcement on the Avarkan Times, an account of the wedding of the Princess Juyin with Lord Stevor, who was then the newly appointed Prime Minister. Naturally, she could not have married anyone but Stevor, so I suppose they made him a Lord on purpose for the wedding; even though he’d grown up to be a most competent prime minister, well respected and loved by all.

The union of Princess Juyin and Stever had met no opposition from any official or the powerful nobility (aristocracy) and besides, all the citizens (inhabitants) of Avarkan Kingdom, including the animals, both adored and loved them. From thence, the abundant blessing was constantly showered on the loving couple. Avarkan had already thrived under Stevor’s brilliantly implemented policies and all the nobles, officials, military and common citizens alike, lived in eternal bliss. 

Tansan (to ripe old age) was a constant companion to Lord Stevor; even though, soon as Stevor had secured his position of Prime Minister, he’d arranged to have a ship transport willing several wolf packs to comfortably settle on the island. Tansan, as their newly proclaimed alfa king of all the packs, ruled justly and wisely. And eventually, happily married to his chosen, destined alfa mate, and thereon, sired many alfas, his lineage secured.

08- TANSAN'S FAMILY

Few years later, Juyin was crowned the rightful Queen of Avarkan, and she ruled the kingdom wisely, with her trusted adviser, her devoted husband, always by her side, still holding onto his post as the Prime Minister of Avarkan. They had three lovely children born to them, two princes and a lovely princess.

All was well in the island and within Avarkan kingdom and everyone, men or beast, lived happily ever after.

Few times there was a sighting of dragons, charting a course in the sky, towards the North. Longze wanted very much to visit his old friend Tansan, but he was never given the permission to do so; moreover, he was discouraged from having any contact with the moral world, while his movements were severely and rigorously restricted by then more obdurate (inflexible, hard-hearted, stony) guardians.

Citizens of Avarkan, nevertheless, constantly cast their eyes to the sky, in search of dragons; and few times, some claimed sightings of one white dragon in particular, one that looked exactly like the one depicted in beloved folk-tale, which was constantly read to children at bedtime, but unfortunately, no dragon had ever set foot on the island ever again.

Fin.

 DRAGON LONGZE STRANDED PRO TEM AT THE KINGDOM OF AVARKAN (BY BOST, 2026) PART 1

 

The Princess Juyin and the (grounds’ keeper’s) gardener's boy Stevor had always gotten  along famously and since very little, were very good friends; having rich imaginations, they often played in the backyard garden, creating adventurous scenarios where the princess was always saved by a dashing, heroic warrior, after Stevor  slayed the bad monster with his wooden sword. At noon, they would take brief respite under the huge elm tree, sipping pretend tea, eating tiny cucumber sandwiches and conversing.

 

01- TEA PARTY BETW FRIENDS JP

"What will you do when you grow up, Princess?" One day asked Stevor, the gardener’s only son.

"I should like to marry you, Stevor," said the Princess. "Would you mind?"

"No," said the Stevor smiling. "I shouldn't mind it at all. I'll marry you if you like—that is, if I have time." For Stevor meant, as soon as he was a grown up and became a general, a mighty warrior, a scholar, or perhaps a high official like the Prime Minister. Meanwhile, he was brilliant in mind and was brave and good at fighting and on top, excelled in all his lessons, getting top marks in the school. Naturally, a great future lay ahead for him.

As for the Princess Juyin, she was a very good little girl, and everyone loved her. She was always kind and polite, even to her Uncle Davos and to other people whom she did not like very much; and though she was not very clever, for a Princess, she always tried to do her best in school. Even if you know perfectly well that you can't do your lessons, you may as well try, and sometimes you find that by some fortunate accident they really are done.

Besides being very pretty, Princess Juyin had a truly good heart; most of all, she loved and deeply cared for all types of animals. Suffice it to say, she had many pets; she was always, without fail, very considerate of all her pets and they were always well cared for, spoiled even. She never was cross at her playful puppy Fido, when it broke her delicate glass figurines in its playful gambols, and she never forgot to feed her bunnies in their little hutch in the backyard. She often rode her white pony right up to the edge of the forest; the dense forest with ancient trees and supposedly inhabited by the fairies, therefore, she was cautioned never to trespass. Being a good girl, she never did. But she wasn’t always good, sometimes Juyin made her nurse quite cross by smuggling to her bedroom little abandoned or forsaken wayward (unruly, willful) animals, like the dear little red fox, which afterwards, she would even let him sleep all curled up under the covers and at the foot of her bed.

02- PRINCESS AND LITTLE RED FOXJP

Thursday mornings were reserved for lovely tea parties with her little aristocratic friends, when the little dukes and duchesses and marquises and countesses all dressed up in their fineries, pretending to be mature adults like their parents. Seated at tiny tables, with soft music wafting through the air, they would have polite conversations, as they partook of the tiny cucumber sandwiches, delectable morsels (tidbits) of pastries, cupcakes and of course tea. Kingdom was well run so life was good for everyone and all the days passed without much variance (dissent).

Avarkan was a beautiful peaceful kingdom indeed, for everybody was kind—except one.

Now that you have read as far as this you know, of course, that the Kingdom of Avarkan was a very remarkable place; and if you are a thoughtful child—as of course you are—you will not need me to tell you what the most remarkable thing about it was. But in case you are not a thoughtful child—and it is just possible of course that you are not—I will tell you at once what that most remarkable thing was. There were some abnormalities, more specifically, animals on this island kingdom that were the wrong sizes! And this was how it had happened.

In most ancient times, when all the  world was just loose earth and air and fire and water mixed up anyhow like a pudding, and spinning around like mad trying to get the different things to settle into their proper places, a round piece of earth got loose and went spinning away by itself across the water, which was just beginning to try to get spread out smooth into a real sea. And as the great round piece of earth flew away, going around and around as hard as it could, it met a long piece of hard rock (which resembled a pole) that had got loose from another part of the pudding mixture, and the rock was so hard, and was going so fast, that it ran its point through the round piece of earth and stuck out on the other side of it, so that the two together were like a very-very-much-too-big spinning top.

Well, when the pointed rock smashed into the round bit of earth the shock was so great that it set them spinning together through the air—which was just getting into its proper place, like all the rest of the things—only, as luck would have it, they forgot which way around they had been going, and began to spin around the wrong way. In other words, instead of clockwise, it spun counterclockwise. Presently Center of Gravity—a great giant who was managing the whole business—woke up in the middle of the earth and began to grumble.

"Hurry up," he said. "Settle down and lie still, can't you?"

03- THE GIANT - JP

So, the rock with the round piece of earth fell into the sea, and the point of the rock went into a hole that just fitted it in the stony sea bottom, and there it spun around the wrong way (counterclockwise) seven times and then lay still. And that round piece of land became, after millions of years, a mysterious island in the middle of the vast ocean, which later became the Kingdom of Avarkan.

Of course, the consequence of the island having spun around the wrong way was that when the animals began to grow on the island, some grew to be the wrong sizes. The guinea pig, for instance, became as big as an elephant, and the elephant—was the size of the silly, tiny mouse. Well, you get the gist of it. But luckily, few of the animals, such as rabbits, dogs, sheep, oxen, horses and foxes, fortunately had remained the normal sizes.

Oh, but because of the reverse polarity, some unusual animals and entities, particularly supernatural ones, also came to be existent, such as dragons, pixies (fairies, elves, sprites) and goblins (trolls) that were typically absent in the usual mortal world. Most of these, nevertheless, were believed to be persisting (living) in high peaks of the snow-capped mountains or in that forbidden dense forest where ancient trees reached up to the sky, though no one had ever seen them.  But we are getting bit ahead of ourselves.

The men and women and children which at present inhabits (populates, dwells in) this magic island, meanwhile, are all quite the right size, why? Because their ancestors had come over in huge ships, with the Conqueror Tonzaq, who was the little princes Juyin’s great, great grandfather, long after the island had formed (rocks and soil settled down) and the woods and fauna (wildlife, animals, creatures and beasts) thrived on it.

04- CONQUEROR TONZAQ - JUYIN'S GREAT GRANDFATHER

Now the natural history lesson is over, and if you have been attending, you know more about Avarkan than anyone there did, except three people: the Lord Chief Schoolmaster, the Princess's uncle Davos—who was a magician, and knew everything without learning it—and of course, diligent Stevor, the gardener's son.

Stevor had a natural inclination to books, and he had read all kinds, pouring over them in the library, till there were no books left unread. His knowledge was far superior to anyone else’s in his classroom.  At the upcoming annual autumn festival, there would be a contest, wherefore a prize was offered to the most learned pupil (student). He was preparing for this event. Wanting to win the coveted prize, which this year happened to be, a beautifully bound book with the Royal arms on the back, titled: The History of Avarkan. After that day, however, when the Princess had said she meant to marry Stevor, the gardener's boy thought it over, and he decided that the best prize in the world would be the Princess’s hand, and this was the prize Stevor meant to take when he grew up; and when you are a gardener's son and have decided to marry a Princess, you will find that the more you learn at school the better.

The Princess always played with Stevor on the days when the little dukes and marquises did not come for tea—and when he told her he was almost sure of the first prize, she clapped her hands and said: "Dear Stevor, dear good, clever Stevor, you deserve all the prizes. And I will give you my pet puppy Fido—and you can keep him till we're married."

The pet puppy Fido had existed on the island way before the settlement of humans, and way before princess found and adapted him; therefore, Fido was a miniature canine about three inches in scale, compared to other normal size dogs that were owned by citizens and aristocrats living on this very island. Anyway, he was quite adorable, and immediately taking to Stevor, he’d reached up and licked his hand. This tickled Stevor, so he giggled and then affectionately, using his pinkie (little finger), gently stroked the puppy’s head. From that moment on they became good friends.

05- FIDO

Stevor took Fido away in his coat pocket. He was the dearest little puppy you ever saw and he was very, very wise. He lay down comfortably in Stevor's pocket, and when Stevor put in his hand, Fido always licked or sucked Stevor's forefinger, with an affectionate confidence, making the boy's heart always soothed or elated with glee. What with the puppy, and the Princess's affection, and the knowledge that the very next day he would receive the History of Avarkan, beautifully bound, with the Royal arms on the cover, Stevor that night could hardly sleep a wink. And, besides, the wolf howled all night, perhaps the wolf cub was jealous, so terribly.

There was only one wolf unfortunately in Avarkan and wolves are pack animals, so he was lonely; unfortunately, for some mysterious reason, there was no other. The wolf as pup, had taken a ride in one of the early settler human’s luggage, and that’s how he came to be on the island.  His independent nature would not let him be domesticated and so he lived and run free at the edge of the woods; in time however, gradually, he came to trust Stevor, as Stevor from time to time, fed him and talked to the lonely wolf cub.  Only one problem; when the wolf cub was lonely, especially during full moon, he would howl with yearning, and the sound revibrated in the air all night long, allowing no one any respite, let alone dreams.  Though annoyed, the people put up with this for they never harmed the animals; moreover, some even pitied the wolf cub, knowing he was all alone, had no pack, no siblings, no mate nothing but humans, and only one solitary friend Stevor.  He was good most of the time though, so no one complained of this rare disturbance during the period of the full moon.

But on this night, he howled long and with excited zeal—and the Princess said, "Oh dear, oh dear, I wish he wouldn't do this all night long, I am so sleepy."

Some ways distance, Stevor reclined in his own warm bed said to himself, "I wonder whatever is the matter with Tansan; as soon as it's light I'll go and see him."  Yes, he’d named the wolf cup that, when first time he’d befriended him, and the wolf had accepted that name.  

06- WOLF-CUB TANSAN

At first daylight, when the sky was painted in pink-and-yellow hue, Stevor got up, quickly washed and breakfasted, then hastened outside, to visit his lonesome friend.

"I'll go to the pillar," thought Stevor, as he went through the town. The pillar, of course, was the top of the piece of rock that had stuck itself through Avarkan millions of years before, and made it spin around the wrong way. It was quite in the middle of the island, and stuck up ever so far, and when you were at the top you could see a great deal farther than when you were not.

As Stevor went out from the town and across the fields, he thought what a pretty sight it was to see the rabbits in the bright, dewy morning, frisking with their young ones by the mouths of their burrows. So Stevor lingered on the spot for a while, watching the family of rabbits, till the morning light grow increasingly red and golden. All this while the wolf Tansan, howled, and howled, till the church bells tinkled, and the chimney of the apple factory rocked again.

But when Stevor got to the pillar, he saw that he would not need to climb to the top to find out what the wolf ‘s howl was about. For there, by the pillar, lay a white dragon. And it was a child dragon, a toddler, no more than three dragon years. Though he was not a full-grown dragon, comparatively, he was still immense in size. His wings were like big umbrellas, with some crumpling, as though soggy, and much rained on, and his eyes were brilliant blue which was unusual for a dragon, and his tail was very, very, very long and thin and tight, like the lash of a carriage whip.

It was licking one of its seemingly injured umbrella-y wings, and every now and then it moaned and leaned its head back against the rocky pillar as though it felt faint. Stevor saw at once what had happened. A flight of dragons must have crossed over the island during the night, and this poor one, flying lower than the rest, must have knocked its wing and tore or broken it against the pillar. And so, injured, unable to fly, he was stranded now on the island.

Stevor had guessed it right.  Previous night, a group of dragons were in flight, going over the island, anxious to reach their destination in the northern hemisphere. The top of the world, peaks reaching up to the Heaven, were permanently shrouded in fog; a most desolate land of immortals, the icy peaks where dragons sometimes visited. This time however, among the adult dragons was the tiny, little, orphaned dragon Longze.  His custodian Torek had reluctantly taken him along, as he was assigned this charge by the Heavenly God, to keep an eye on him. Longze had always been a handful to manage, and this time being no different, he had flown closer to the pole, to satisfy his curious nature; unfortunately, in that storm, destructed by the lightening, his wing had struck the pole, (part of it being impaled,) got injured and so he’d plummeted to the ground.  His absence was at once noted, however, Torek allowed it to be, as a lesson to the wayward (unruly) Longze, knowing Longze would eventually catch up to them at the North pole; once he recovered from his ordeal, and in the meantime, gained some new experience (or understanding).

07- INJURED YOUNG DRAGONLONGZE 2

 Tansun had come across the injured dragon and was doing his best to comfort him; wanting to help, but not wishing to leave his site yet, in case he would fare worse, from his injury. His inability to help, was the cause for his night’s disturbance, hoping someone would respond, and come to offer assistance (help).  But weary humans needed their respite, and no one had shown up, till now that is.

Tansun was overjoyed to see Stevor there and ran up to him, to lick his hand, first time ever. For he was not domesticated.

Everyone is kind to everyone in Avarkan, and so, Stevor was not afraid of the dragon; he had often watched them flying across the sea, but he had never expected to get to know one personally.  Furthermore, he was concerned about the dragon’s apparent condition.  

He tentatively drew near and spoke to him gently:  "I can see that you have suffered an injury; is there anything I can do to help?"

The dragon shook his head. He could not speak human dialect (language), but like all mystical animals, he could understand well enough what was being said.

"Can I get you anything?" Stevor ejected insistently, with deep concern registering in his eyes.

The dragon Longze opened his eyelid and gazed questioningly for a long time at this kind boy. He’d always been warned not to trust humans and to stay clear of them. But this boy seemed genuinely concerned. He had the kindest eyes.

"I bet you are hungry; a bun or two, now," said Stevor, coaxingly. "There's a beautiful bun tree quite close by."

The dragon looked at the direction the boy had indicated, then opened wide his mouth and licked his lips.  Stevor smiled with understanding and nodded his head, then ran up to the bun tree and shook the laden branches.  He returned shortly after with an armful of fresh currant buns, and as he approached, noting something else, he veered his steps to a spot where he picked a few additional strawberry kind pastries, tarts, that had grown on the low bushes someways- off to the pillar. Because, of course, another consequence of the island's having spun the wrong way is that all the things we have to make—buns and cakes and shortbread—grow on trees and bushes, but in Avarkan they must make their cauliflowers and cabbages and carrots and apples and onions, just as our cooks make puddings and turnovers.

Stevor gave all the buns and the strawberry tarts (pastries) to the dragon Longze, saying: "Here, try to eat a little; these buns and tarts area highly nutritious, they will give you the strength you’ll need to perhaps, speedily rejuvenate (fix) that injury.” He was only guessing of course, for what did he know about dragon’s physiology, or tending to Dragons.

08- LONGZE EATS BUNS

The dragon Longze was famished and so, he promptly ate up all the buns, while keeping a (vigilant, alert) watchful eye on this unusual human being; when he had his fill, he nodded rather appreciatively and then began to lick his wing again. Stevor left him and went back to the town with the news, and everyone was so excited at a real live dragon's being on the island—a thing that had never happened before—that they all went out in droves to look at it.

Lord Chief Schoolmaster, instead of going to the prize-giving soiree (event), he, too, went with the rest; moreover, he had Stevor’s prize, the History of Avarkan, in his wide pocket—the one bound in calf, with the Royal arms on the cover—and when he leaned forward to take a closer look,  it happened to drop out, and the dragon ate it, so Stevor never got the prize after all. But the dragon, when he had wolfed (gobbled) it, did not like it.

"Perhaps it's all for the best," said Stevor. "I might not have liked that prize either, if I had gotten it."

It happened to be a Thursday, so when the Princess's friends were asked what they would like to do, all the little dukes and marquises and earls said, "Let's go and see the dragon." But the little duchesses and marchionesses and countesses said they were afraid. Then Princess Juyin spoke up royally, and said, "Don't be silly, because it's only in fairy tales that dragons are depicted as evil and mean.  Dragon’s been here for a while, and I haven’t heard of him hurting anyone. Stevor, each time got quite close in proximity to the dragon, and he wasn’t harmed in the least. We may never get such a chance, aren’t you all curious?  Let's all go and see the dragon. We might take him some acid drops." So, they went. And all the titled children took it in turns to feed the dragon with acid drops, and he seemed pleased and flattered, and wagged as much of his big tail as he could get at conveniently; for it was a very, very long tail indeed. But when it came to the Princess's turn to give an acid drop to the dragon, he smiled a very wide smile and wagged his tail to the very last long inch of it, as much as to say, "Oh, you are so very interesting and pretty!"

09- LONGZE LIKES THE PRINCESS

Longze could not rightly explain it, for he had never had this sort of strange fluttering in his chest before; moreover, he was drawn to her intriguing and unique features, like her porcelain white skin, big wide almond eyes and long locks of hair, she was quite beautiful for a human that is. In his later years, Longze would learn to shapeshift and even assume human form, but at this young age of three those abilities had not yet manifested. He ejected some sounds, but of course, nobody understood his vernacular, except the Princess's uncle Davos, and he, being a magician, was able to decipher this strange lingo (speech, argot, dialect, jargon) of the dragon.  He did not know of Longze’s age, of his innocence, his virtuous (noble and decent) and purely platonic fascination with the princess. Supposing quite the opposite, he suddenly struck on an idea.

Now, you will remember that I told you there was one wicked person in Avarkan, and I cannot conceal from you any longer that this nasty, evil person was non other than the Princess's Uncle Davos. Magicians could sometimes be bad, and some uncles are nasty, as they are at times depicted in some fairy tales.

Princess Juyin’s uncle Davos, the present regent ruler (sovereign) of Avarkan, furthermore was obsessed with his current immense power and privilege that would all end, when Juyin reached the age of consent, for she was the rightful successor (heir), and the throne had always passed down from Sovereign to his offspring, one with direct royal bloodline. Davos, despite his pseudo nice demeanor, secretly hated his niece for this and so, when he smiled at Juyin, his smile never reached his eyes; furthermore, he had no intention of ever surrendering the throne to Juyin. I say this, because she prior had two elder brothers, whom both were now deceased; one had expired due to some mysterious ailment and the other because of some freak accident shortly thereafter. 

Aside from the rule of law, she was too well liked and astutely cared for, so Davos could not as easily dispose of her. He did not like many things—but securing the throne was his top priority.  Now, however, Uncle Davos thought there might be a chance for him to effectively navigate his evil intent—because he knew that he could utilize the old, prejudiced beliefs about dragons, for his own benefit.  He’d noted the dragon’s instant infatuation with the princess; furthermore, he also knew that dragons were pure and gullible, if one knew how to deceive them, and that he did.  For the time being, he had said nothing, but he exchanged a meaningful glance with the dragon, before everyone went home for tea. Now, no one had seen the meaningful glance, except Stevor.

10- DAVOS

Stevor went home and told Fido all about it. The intelligent little creature listened carefully, and then climbed from Stevor's knee to the table, on which stood an ornamental calendar that the Princess had given Stevor for a Christmas present. With its tiny paw, he pointed out a date—the fifteenth of August, the Princess's birthday, and looked anxiously at its master.

"What is it, Fido—good little puppy—then?" said Stevor, and the sagacious animal repeated its former gesture. Then Stevor understood.

11- FIDO  WARNS

"Oh, something is going to happen on her birthday; all right. I'll be on the lookout for it." And he was.

Meanwhile, at first the citizens of Avarkan were quite pleased with the dragon, who’d stayed by the pillar and fed himself from the bun trees, but by-and-by he began to wander. He would creep into the burrows made by the excursionists, sporting on the downs, would see his long, tight, whiplike tail wriggling down a burrow and out of sight, and before they had time to say, "There he goes," his head would come poking out from another tunnel,-hole—perhaps just behind them—or laugh softly to itself just in their ears. And the dragon's laugh was a strange one. This sort of hide-and-seek amused people at first, but by-and-by it began to get on their nerves: and if you don't know what that means, ask Mother to tell you next time you are playing blind man's buff when she has a headache. Then the dragon got into the habit of cracking his tail, as people crack whips, and this also got on people's nerves. Then, too, some of the livestock such as sheep, pigs, or poultry, a chicken here, rooster there (including other sorts of fowl) began to be missed. For he needed real sustenance which the buns lacked.  The nourishment was a necessity for his recovery and for building his strength so he could take flight and return home. The things that went missing were nothing much at first—but it still made people feel uncomfortable. Then one day a favorite rabbit of the Princess's, called Sedrick, mysteriously disappeared, and subsequently her pony was nowhere to be seen. Then came a terrible morning when Fido had gone missing.

Fido was allowed to freely roam, moreover, he had frequently barked ever since the dragon came to the island, and for such a little puppy, he had a real loud bark. People had grown quite accustomed to the noise emanating from here (near) and yonder (far); so, when his barking suddenly ceased and was absent for a long duration, it gave cause for worry to many people, especially Stevor. Unfortunately, after an intensive search, Fido was deemed permanently gone; but I’ll let you in on a secret, the culprit was other than what you might expect.  

Now, would Longze the dragon be that heartless to eat such a small thing? If they thought long and hard, they would have arrived at a different conclusion. As it were, many of the mysterious disappearances could be attributed to one other probable person... But for now, to prolong the suspense, we won’t reveal precisely who that could be.

A boy was sent to wake the army, so that they could affect a more detailed, wide birth search for the latest missing bunch. But the army was gone too! And now the people became more terrified.

12 MONARCH DAVOS GIVES A SPEACH

Monarch Davos, seizing this chance, came out onto the terrace of the palace, and he made the people a speech. He said: "Friends—fellow citizens—I cannot disguise from myself or from you that this dragon we’ve welcomed into our midst, is a terrible menace, a voracious (insatiable, ravenous) beast, as it was foretold by the ancients. This, I’ve read it in the stars…he would be portended (presaged, foretold) ruin of Avarkan, if not appeased and then rid off."

If you haven’t guessed it already, Davos was the real culprit behind these mass disappearances; the dragon Longze had been very good and only took bare minimum sustenance; however, he still got the full blame.

The people thought of the dragon's tail and said, "Hear, hear."

Davos went on: "Something has happened to a gentle and defenseless member of our community. We don't know what has happened."

Everyone thought of the rabbit named Sedrick and groaned.

"The defenses of our country have been swallowed up," said Davos. For literally, it had happened. Devos had ceased this opportunity to rid himself of the opposing generals and portion of the army that had staunch (unwavering) loyalty to the old regime and therefore, posed certain future difficulties.  Two days prior, he had issued orders, launching a secret campaign, supposedly against an offending Dragon, to defend the perimeter of the northern sector, whereas in fact, with his magic, he’d set up traps, quicksand, that had swallowed, the entire dispatched force.

Oblivious crowd, meanwhile, shook their heads, some pointing the finger of blame on the dragon, while (grieving) many mourned the loss of the army.

"There is only one single solution to all this, only one thing to be done!" Davos’s voice swelling (in crescendo, building up), ejected next. "Could we ever forgive ourselves if by neglecting a simple precaution we lost more rabbits, more men—or even, perhaps, our navy, our constables, and our fire brigade? For I warn you that the dragon will respect nothing, especially when he’s fully grown."

 

 

(END OF PART 1)

(STAY TUNED FOR PART 2 - THE CONCLUSION)  

 

 

STORY OF DARKNESS (BY BOST, 2025)

Many cultures have a creation myth; it so happens that Chinese culture has incorporated the dragons in their creation myths.

How wonderful is that?

01- LONGZE READS THE CREATION  STORY OF DARKNESS

A Brief History:

The Book “Epic of Darkness”, compiled in primeval China, is a collection of folklore and legend relayed in epic poetry. Preserved by the inhabitants of the Shennongjia mountain area in Hubei Province, it includes accounts from the birth of Pangu till the historical era.

In August 1982 an old local farmer submitted a rare songbook to Hu Chongjun. The booklet (leaflet), written in brush and ink with about 3,000 lines of seven Chinese characters each, was split into four sections. These sections were: a) The beginnings of the Universe; b) The Birth of Pangu; c) The Great Flood; d) The birth of mankind up until the beginnings of the Three Sovereigns and The Five Emperors. Believing “The Epic of Darkness” to be finest written representation of the oral Han creation myth, Hu went on to study and compile more manuscripts as well as the oral accounts from the elderly living in Shennongjia. It took him 9 years to eventually finish the documentation. Hu had to sort through more than 30, 000 lines of collected manuscript to compile a 5,500-line summary.

 

Here’s a brief retelling (with some liberties taken) of the Han Chinese creation myth:

In the beginning of time, all that was manifest was a cloud of gas, chaos and darkness. A Deity called Jiang Ku, after expending vast effort, created the first drop of water. Another God, Lang Da Zi, swallowed that drop of water and expired. Immediately his body was split into the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth. From these elements Pan Gu came into being.

02- PAN GU

The Legend of Pan Gu:

In the primeval Universe there was nothing but a vast formless chaos which, after 18,000 years, merged to form a giant cosmic egg. Inside the egg, the perfectly opposed principles of Yin and Yang eventually balanced, and Pan Gu formed as a primitive, horned, hairy giant, clad in furs. As soon as he emerged from the egg Pan Gu set about the task of creating the world. With a swing of his giant axe, he separated the Yin from the Yang and created the Earth (murky Yin) and the Sky (clear Yang). In order to maintain this separation, Pan Gu stood between them and pushed up the Sky. This task took another 18,000 years; as each day the sky grew ten feet (three meters) higher, the Earth ten feet wider and Pan Gu ten feet taller.

03 - THE CREATION

Pan Gu was aided in this task by the four most prominent beasts: the Turtle, the Qilin, the Phoenix, and of course, the Dragon. After the 18,000 years it took to separate earth and sky Pan Gu passed away. His breath then became the wind; his voice became thunder, his left eye transformed into Sun, his right eye transformed into the Moon and his facial hair turned into brilliant stars and the Milky Way.

His body, his four limbs turned into the mountains and other of the extremities that marked the four corners of the world. (This account bears a strange similarity to Norse myth of the Giant Ymir, and also of the Babylonian tale of Tiamat.) His fur turned into bushes and forests; his blood formed the rivers; his muscles turned into fertile lands; his teeth and nails became metals; his bones became rocks and valuable minerals while his bone marrow transformed into sacred diamonds. Mankind was yet to be created at this point. His sweat fell as rain and the fleas on his fur carried by the wind became the fish and animals throughout the land.

From the five elements and animals were born demons and gods who fought each other until a great flood overcame the land. From this great flood, emerged two mighty dragons, one black and one yellow, which fought a mighty battle.

04- BLACK AND YELLOW DRAGON FIGHT

A goddess, the Sacred Mother Wu Tien, helped the yellow dragon defeat the black dragon. In gratitude, the yellow dragon laid three eggs which the Sacred Mother swallowed and gave birth to three gods: Heaven, Earth and Hell.

Later still, five dragons emerged from the flood, and they discovered a gourd across the Eastern Sea. Wu Tien opened the Gourd and found two humans within. Fuxi and Nuwa, who were ordered by Wu Tien to copulate and thus the human race came into being after the flood waters receded.

05- THE GOURD

In a different version it states: A brother and sister became the only survivors of the prehistoric Deluge by crouching in a gourd that floated on water. The two got married afterwards, and a mass of flesh in shape of a whetstone was born. They chopped it and the pieces turned into large crowds of people, who began to reproduce again. The couple were named “Pan” and “Gou” in the Zhuang ethnic language which stands for whetstone and gourd respectively.

In another version:  Nuwa, the Goddess, supposedly had used the mud of the waterbed to form the shape of humans. These humans were very smart since they were individually crafted. Nuwa then became bored of individually making every human, so she started putting a rope in the waterbed and letting the drops of mud that fell from it become new humans. These small drops became new humans, not as smart at the first.

06 CREATION OF NEW HUMANS

Another interesting note:

When the earth had thus been shaped from the body of Pan Gu, ostensibly the three great rivers formed from his blood, then successively governed the world: as first the celestial, then the terrestrial, and finally the human sovereign.

They were followed by Yung-Ch’eng and Sui-Jen (fireman) who brought the fire down from heaven and taught man its various uses. The Prometheus myth, which by the way is not indigenous to Greece but also known in Mesopotamia and India, is another expression of this theme. There is a slight possibility therefore that the figure Sui-Jen has been derived from the same archetype as the Greek Prometheus.

 

Fin