The Mystrie Dragons

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Samueld had visited this valley with his father when he was a small boy. Then it was lush with flowering grasses and a sparkling clear brook ran through it. Along its banks, willows dipped their branches and fig trees gave fruit for a large variety of birds and animals. His father thought it was a place to think and renew his spirit. Samueld had not been to this valley for a very long time. When the darkness came and the elders fled into exile, all the land became desolate, and the valley was no exception. No vegetation or life survived, or it had hidden itself. The brook had dried up and nothing bloomed.

Samueld had live a sheltered life with his old guardians, Luniera and Jecaro, at the old hacienda on the South Rim. It had magic woven around it and Samueld did not realize this until he discovered that he had a special gift and if he used it, things changed, and he was in great danger. He had used it one evening and the wind had blown, and a soft rain had fallen, and the trees and flowers had revived. He had been spending his time learning as much as he could about the world that his parents had ruled and what had happened to cause the exile. His friend Andriana had convinced him that they should run away on a quest to find their parents who were members of the elders and try to bring the elders back and also return light and life to the world. Andriana also had a special gift. She could change shape and disappear at will. She seemed to have an empathy with nature which protected her and whomever or whatever she chose to take with her.

Samueld and Andriana had left one morning on their adventure, not telling Luniera and Jecaro that they were going. So far, they had travelled through rather barren and treacherous places. They had been travelling for days, always heading North towards the purple mountains. This morning, they had been heading along a path on a ledge walled on one side by steep rocky crags that slanted upward. When Samueld came to the top of the ridge, his black horse came to a sudden halt. Andriana and her horse were almost on top of them before they could stop. The horses were alarmed at something the young people could not see or sense, yet. They blew their breath, stomped their feet, and looked suspiciously at the valley that spread out before them. Below them spread a vast sea of waving green grasses with yellow, blue, and purple flowers. A brook meandered through this sea and trees of various kinds grew along its banks. “It is the Valley of Mystrie,” Andriana whispered. Samueld realized that this was the valley that he had visited with his father many years ago and it now looked the same or nearly so. How had it been returned to its previous state?

As they sat watching, a shiny sapphire and emerald-green head lifted from the grasses. Diamond shaped patterns faceted its face and neck surrounding large golden eyes. As it rose from the grasses, its body was covered in the same jewel-like tones and patterns. It began to sniff the air and make soft grunting noises. Suddenly, a large group of similar creatures raised their heads and peered into the distance as if searching out the invaders. They began to focus their gazes on the ledge where Smaueld and Andriana sat as still as they could on their horses. They barely breathed. “They are the guardians of the valley,” Andriana said, “We are getting nearer. Hopefully, they will help us.” To his astonishment, Samueld remembered his father’s stories of the mighty dragons that had protected this valley and had vanished with everything else. There had to be some way that Samueld could signal to them who he was and ask for their assistance. If only he could remember the spells and greetings from the books that were hidden in the carved chest in his room at the hacienda. He closed his eyes and began to sign the chant he had first sung to call the wind. The dragons suddenly joined him and came forward slowly to meet the two young people whom they now knew belonged to the Masters of Mystrie. The dragons of Mystrie had returned.