A Dragon And A Monk

Sean Murphy

Chapter One

Abaris ran toward the tall doors. The giant glass doors protected the treasure inside: a modern glass dragon hired by the library. It was hired to guard and protect the treasure hidden inside. A smooth stone walkway led into the doors.

The smooth walkway was made of a stone that was poured in place. Abaris was amazed at the stone. It was smooth and hard. The stone was cool in the shade and warm in the sun.

In the stone, there were patches of color. Red and yellow squares marked the entrance to the walkway near the road. The yellow squares had bumps on them. The red squares were smooth. The stone was amazing to him.

The people who lived here called this stone concrete. It was made by mixing specific materials together. To make concrete you had to follow a recipe. Just like making cookies. Concrete was made from different ingredients.

The most important thing in a recipe is to have all the ingredients in the right amounts. If the amounts were wrong, then the concrete would be wrong. It could be soft. It might not ever dry. It could be full of air pockets. It could be brittle instead of hard. If it was brittle, it could break like glass. It would not make a good walkway if it broke like glass.

Amazed by the stone that man had learned to make and pour, Abaris walked up to the glass doors. There was a button on the side of the doors with a picture on it. The picture looked like a person sitting in a chair. The chair had wheels.

The blue square was on the wall next to the giant glass doors. The square used electricity to open the doors for people.

Abaris carried a heavy pack. His black backpack was filled with notebooks and papers. Pencils were crowded in the pockets, waiting to be chosen to write or draw. Inside the pencils was a thin stick of graphite. The graphite held hidden wonders inside.

Inside the pencils, there was potential. They could be anything.

Abaris could draw with a pencil. He really loved triangles. He filled pages with triangles and squares. Abaris could write with a pencil. With paper and a pencil, he could make new worlds full of amazing things. Anything he wanted was waiting inside those worlds.

The black backpack was heavy. It swung back and forth as he walked. He walked with a set of crutches. The crutches helped him walk. He left four footprints behind in the snow.

With the long crutch in his right hand, he touched the blue square. Abaris always felt like a magician when he used the button. The doors swung open as if by magic. Giant glass doors swinging open with a sweep of his hand. Magic.

The smell of old paper drifted over him as he entered. The trees in the front room smelled like summer. Beyond the small turnstile at the entrance, there stood shelves full of books.

Hallways were made between shelves. The shelves were very tall. They were filled with books. Books gathered on tall shelves to create corridors. Corridors made a maze through the books of knowledge.

There were many kinds of books. Some tall, some fat, some short, some skinny. There were red ones and green ones. Blue ones and yellow ones and grey ones.

There were books wrapped in plastic. There were books wrapped in cloth. There were books wrapped in glossy paper.

Some books stood out and caught his attention. There was a tall, grand, purple book with a spine of gold letters. An old, black, leather-bound book was wider than his hand. Inside this old book were secrets discovered in the past.

Inside all of the books were hidden secrets. Every one of them was trying to say something. All Abaris had to do was read and listen. The secrets would be his.

Abaris had gathered a stack of books around him at the table. He looked like he was building a castle, building the walls taller and stronger to defend himself. The piles of books made a small, roofless cave. Inside his cave, he looked at the books.

He opened a grand old book on the history of dragons. He was pulled inside in a flood of light, like sunrise.

Abaris was pulled into the book. He was drawn into the pages. Abaris became part of the story.

If only he had chosen a nicer story, he might have been safer. But he chose a story about dragons and knights.

Chapter Two

The metal clashed as the knights' swords met. There was a tournament. A tournament was a contest to see who the best warrior was.

Some knights had flags of blue, some of red, others of white and gold. They all wore metal armor. Heavy plates of steel protected their bodies from the swords and axes. The weapons were deadly in their perfection.

Each knight fought with a different style. The winner of the tournament would be granted a dance with the princess. She was lovely. She would someday be queen.

Princess Aphrodite had a voice as sweet as spring rain. It was a calming and soothing voice. Her songs could calm lions when she played the harp on cold nights by the fire. She had a magic voice.

Abaris watched the scene in front of him. The knights swung swords at each other. There was a red knight and a blue knight. They rolled in the dust and fought.

The king was watching with tired amusement. There were only so many fights a king could watch in a day. They had been fighting all day. The red and blue never seemed to give up.

With her white dress flowing in the wind, the princess watched without caring. She thought the whole thing was foolish. Fighting for her, they only made themselves look silly.

The red knight had a fine, long sword. The red knight was quick and fast.

The blue knight fought with an axe. It was a great battle axe that was taller than he was. The blue knight swung this giant axe in great, sweeping arcs. The battle axe spun in a deadly circle around the blue knight. The blue knight was strong and honorable.

The red knight lunged with his sword. The battle axe batted it away with a spark. The red knight spun around and stabbed again. The blue knight stepped aside and swept the feet of the red knight with his great battle axe. The red knight jumped over the axe.

The pair was caught in a deadly dance of death. They were both old masters. They had a lot of skill and talent. They had practiced daily with their weapons and learned control. They were patient.

With a shudder, a billowing flame erupted from the sky. The stands beside Abaris collapsed. The benches had fallen down in a heap on the ground. The pile of boards and banners was a jumble. In the place where the viewing stands had been, there now stood a dragon.

It was a giant dragon. Red scales made its skin into armor. Large talons dug at the earth under massive paws. Leather wings spread out like red canvas, blotting out the sun.

The thin skin of the dragon's wings let some sunlight through. The filter of the red wings cast an eerie glow on the whole square. The town center was now covered in a deathly red glow.

The knights had stopped fighting when the blast of wind and fire knocked them down. They raced for the tool shed. The dragon watched them run.

They ran like mice before a cat. The knights grabbed tall shields and ran together back to the center of the square. They propped the shields in front of themselves like a wall. They stood their ground.

The dragon stood above the red glow. He was a tower of scales and flames. His nose leaked black smoke. The smoke drifted from his nostrils like twin chimneys. The red scales of the dragon glinted in the sun. Shiny and metallic, the plates looked like metal armor.

With a laugh, the dragon breathed fire onto the two knights. The two knights stood behind their shields. The flame surrounded them and consumed them. The flame ate them.

The flame ate away at the shield.

All that was left in the center of the square was a molten mass of metal. The dragon swung his great weight around. His long tail smashed through houses in the village behind. The red beast grabbed the white-laced princess in his talons.

Princess Aphrodite screamed. It was a scream that seemed to pierce eardrums. With wings that made a hurricane, the dragon flew off. The white dress of the princess fluttered in the wind. Clutched inside the dragon's talons, the princess screamed.

The terrible sound grew quiet as they flew away. Soon, the only sound was the crackle of fire as it snapped and popped. The bubbling mass of metal at the center of the square hissed as it cooled. The sounds of sobbing could be heard.

King Zeus cried the loudest of all. Great torrents of tears fell from his eyes. The tears were so many that they flooded the square. The flood covered the melted metal mass with a sizzle. The heat of the melted pile was taken by the liquid flood.

Instantly, there was a salty lake in the square. The salt water pooled in the square and then ran out through the broken bleachers. The crushed viewing stands became rocks in a river and the tears flowed.

The tears flowed through town and put out the fires. With a hiss, the smoke of the fires was replaced with steam. The coals popped and gurgled as they drowned in the king's tears. The sounds were loud and could be heard across the village.

"Aphrodite! Where are you?" the king cried. "Oh, sweet springtime angel. My daughter!"

The king knew where the dragon cave was on the mountain. He would find it. He would find the dragon. He would find his daughter.

There was only one problem. Zeus could not leave his kingdom. He was trapped inside his own lands. As king, Zeus only had power over his lands. He could not travel past his walls. If he wanted to go further, he had to send his army.

They could conquer new land in his name. Then he could go there. Until then, he was trapped.

His two best generals were melted and gone. They could no longer help. Zeus needed a plan.

"Friends. Countrymen. Gather around. Listen," he commanded.

Chapter Three

"We shall have a new contest," the king went on. "The first to conquer the mountain in my name will be prince. I will send the last general and the army to follow, but they will take one week to gather supplies. The first to reach the town of Humble will have access to the Plains of Golden Insight. The first to reach the plain will be able to reach the town of Talon Toe, at the mountain's foot."

Zeus pointed toward the mountain. "The first to reach the town of Talon Toe will be able to climb the path of least resistance," he said. "There, they will find the common denominator. The common denominator will lead the way up the mountain. If you do not find the common denominator, you will lose your path. Good luck to you all. I hope there are still some heroes alive. The fate of the world relies on you." Zeus finished speaking with eyes like ice and fire.

Abaris felt around in his pack and checked his supplies. He had one pencil. He had one piece of paper. The paper was rolled around itself in a scroll. The yellow-white, aged paper scroll was tied with a red ribbon string.

Under the knot of the string was a wax seal. On the seal was a picture of a dragon. It seemed almost like the dragon picture made of wax was looking at him. Abaris thought he saw the wax dragon move inside the seal.

With wide eyes, he stared at the wax dragon. It did not move. Abaris shook his head, confused. He was not sure what he had seen. He wondered what the scroll said.

Abaris untied the bow of the string. He kept the string and placed it in his bag. You never knew when a little string would be useful.

The only thing holding the scroll together was the wax seal with the little dragon picture on it. Abaris pried the wax seal off the paper of the scroll. The wax popped off the paper cleanly.

He held the wax ball in his hand. The wax was warm and soft. It was a dark red color. It had very fine detail in the picture and grooves. The fine details in the picture showed it was made with care. He placed the ball of wax in his pocket and it sank to the bottom.

Abaris was fascinated by the old paper scroll. He unrolled the pages slowly. The old, weathered paper was curled at the edges.

On the paper was a message. The message read:

Welcome, Dragon Knight. Test your skill and might, young one. You must save the princess. If you fail, you will be trapped here forever. Have fun. Yours truly, Zeus

Yours truly! Trapped forever! What a jerk! Abaris thought with disgust.

"Well, it's not like I have much choice now, do I?" Abaris complained out loud.

"Seems not," a booming voice said from above and all around.

Abaris wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Zeus laughing.

"Ok. Here we go," Abaris said. "The gods and their games."

He searched the rest of the bag. There was a sack lunch. Sandwich. Apples. Cheese. Even a slice of carrot cake. A glass flask held a liter of water.

There was a climbing rope and a small hatchet on a belt. Abaris put on the belt. He put the rope over his head and worked it across his chest. The purple climbing rope was bright against his white shirt.

Inside the bag, there was a coupon for a store. The only armory in town was called The Mortal Art.

At The Mortal Art, there were tools and weapons. Abaris had no money. He had coupons. Abaris traded the coupons for a longbow and arrows. He also had a choice between a long sword and a battle axe.

Then he saw the hammer. It was almost three feet long and glowed with power. The hammer seemed to call to him. The shopkeeper saw the glow catch his eye. The fat old man grabbed the hammer down with a grunt. The weight of the weapon was almost too much for the shopkeeper to hold.

The kind shopkeeper handed the hammer to Abaris. In his hands, Abaris thought the hammer was light. It was no heavier than a feather. The hammer seemed to fit his hand. The grooves in the handle fit his fingers.

Without waiting, the shopkeeper took the sword coupon for the hammer. Abaris had only two coupons left.

One coupon was for a robe and a cloak. The other was for armor.

There were two kinds of armor. There was heavy metal armor like the knights in the square had worn. There was also padded leather armor. The leather was soft to wear. The leather acted like a second skin. Unlike the metal armor, the leather armor could not stop a blade.

The leather armor might stop an arrow if it was a sideways shot. Not a direct shot. But the leather was light. This made movement easy.

The robes would act as a tent and a cover. The cloak would act as a blanket and carpet.

There were only two colors: white and black. At first, both colors had no symbols or pictures on them. But when Abaris touched them, pictures appeared. The white clothes were covered with black writings and symbols. The black clothes showed white writings and symbols.

As the robes hung on the wall, they had no pictures. Only Abaris could bring them alive.

Which would he choose?

He knew he needed to stay rested on the journey. The leather armor would be easy to travel in. It was also the only way to use the bow and arrow. The steel gloves of the metal armor would make the bow too hard to use.

He chose the leather armor.

Would he choose a black robe and have the stealth of the night? Or would he choose the white and carry a symbol of light in his quest?

He chose the white robes over the black robes. He would show the world how a paladin would behave. A knight of honor and virtue, a paladin always did the right thing, or at least tried. A paladin had the magic powers of light. Their good nature made all feel calm when they were near. They had a presence that made everyone feel at peace.

Abaris walked out of the shop with his new gear. In his white robes, he seemed to shine.

He took the last coupon to the stables. The stables were the home of the best horses. They were horses that lived to run. The faster they ran, the better they were. Here, he would find his ride.

He walked down the stone street toward the stables. The stable floor was covered with straw. It seemed empty. All the warhorses had been at the contest.

There was only one horse left. A spotted white horse stood chewing an apple. The horse seemed surprised at being interrupted, like she felt it was rude to intrude on her meal.

The old mare was covered in grey blotches and black spots. Abaris could tell how old she was. The old horse's nose was a dry, pale pink. Half of the pink nose was black. All of these splotches gave the old lady lots of character.

She stood in the stables, surprised but still chewing her apple under her pink nose. The grey hairs of her nose twitched. She snorted.

"Um... Hi," Abaris said.

He began to talk to the horse. Soon, he learned that the horse was named Mrs. Crane. She was a gangly old lady of a horse. Sweet as could be, she wanted to help. But she had a bad knee and couldn't run anymore. She wasn't sure what she could do.

Abaris asked her if she would like to carry his pack and she agreed. She seemed to think it would be nice to go for a long walk.

The old mare was also worried about the princess. What if she was hurt? Mrs. Crane knew she was scared. This, she could not live with. No mother could live while knowing there was a scared child. Mrs. Crane was the mother of ten foals, herself. Each had become a beautiful horse.

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A Dragon And A Monk

Sean Murphy

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