The barrier

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

That's not to say they weren't everywhere else. And yet, in their greed, they wanted the one thing they couldn't have.

When Prim created the world, all the other Gods showered him with praise and marvelled at the beauty of his creation. He gained even more admiration upon creating creatures that would inhabit his world. Animals to populate and take care of the land, and humans to take care of animals. What made them even more special was the fact that they were able to think for themselves and create even more beauty. Prim has granted them so much of his own abilities and characteristics, partly due to curiosity, partly vanity. To see what they will be able to do. It was meant to be a massive project and even though he wouldn't have direct influence over their creations, it would elevate Prim even higher in the eyes of other Gods.

And then there was Secundo.

He was envious of Prim's accomplishments. And so he set to create his own beings. In his blindness, he decided not to create his own world, but to let them live in Prim's. He thought it to be the best way to highlight how superior his own creatures were over the pathetic, weak humans. A direct comparison, for all Gods to see.

Since humans were small, his creatures were big. Since humans had soft skin and were earth-bound, his were covered with hard scales and could roam freely across the skies. He poured his heart out to create them, filling them with his own greed, envy and jealousy. And so the dragons were born.

Sneaking them down into this lush, beautiful world wasn't easy, as Prim spent so much time among his creation, perfecting it and teaching humans how to take care of both the world and all its inhabitants.

So Secundo, upon careful consideration, decided on the most straightforward approach – to challenge Prim in front of other Gods. He knew the challenge won't be refused. Prim was too proud a God to do so.

'Let us see whose skills are superior, whose creation best' he said.

Failure to see that both Gods had a different standard of what makes the creation 'better' only caused harm to the beings they claimed to love.

The people welcomed dragons with curiosity and wariness. But soon they noticed that the dragons were smart and capable of speech, so they taught them their language. Both races realised that they had a lot to learn from each other and despite their God's animosity towards one another, they managed to live in peace.

After a while Secundo had the dragons report their findings and found himself enraged upon discovering that 'Prim' meant 'first' in human language, and 'Secundo' – second. And to think that the dragons have adopted this language as their own?! Blasphemy! Betrayal!

He recalled all of his children and got to work on perfecting them because it seemed to him that they have been compromised due to exposure to people. The first thing he did was getting rid of free will. Nothing good comes out of that, he reasoned. Secundo then filled them to the brim with the need to become the best and the one and only living thing in Prim's world. Greed, envy and hatred were his main purpose and now so was theirs.

Poor, unsuspecting people welcomed the dragons back with open arms. What followed was a massacre. The world that hasn't known death and was untainted by spilled blood, was now drowning in it. Prim was testing and creating new beings when he heard the news. He hurried to his world and for the first time in his existence, Prim wept.

He stopped the time, leaving everything as if frozen in place and set about to confront Secundo.

The two Gods appealed before the council. The rules of the game never forbade such an outcome – on the contrary, it was almost expected. Since Prim was favoured by the Gods, the decision was made to reverse the time before the attack happened, and let both Gods prepare for the inevitable battle.

Both Gods were forbidden to physically modify their children, only their character. Prim taught humans magic, he explained to them the rules and laws of the world in order to allow them to manipulate it at will. Secundo did nothing. The dragons were perfect just the way they were.

And once again, the humans stood no chance against them. And the world tasted blood once again and now it hungered for it.

Prim has made one last desperate attempt to save humanity. Secundo's monsters were stronger, but his children were made for beauty, for creation. And it was his world after all. No one could really stop him. And so Prim gathered the survivors into a beautiful valley, untainted by the battle. This valley was the first part of the world that he created and he loved it deeply. He surrounded it with a barrier that stopped the dragons from entering and even coming near it. It became a sanctuary where people could live freely and without fear.

There was only one thing that Prim asked of them in order to keep the barrier standing – to never forget their creator, to always worship him and pray to him.

But that was centuries ago.

Who would believe old, silly tales like this, right?

And now the barrier has begun to fade...