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.
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| 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.
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| 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?"
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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).
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| 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.
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| 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!"
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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)
