The Night We Almost Lost the Moon

Did you know that we almost lost the moon?


In a time where the land was filled with elves, wizards and dragons, there lived a peaceful kingdom ruled by a Queen.  The people of Loongia worshiped the land, the sea and the sky.  They believed that the sun was the driving force that made the land flourish, but it was the moon that they appreciated most. It was the moon that drew out people’s emotions and feelings of happiness. Without the moon and its mystical powers, the seas would destroy the lands and cast the land into complete darkness, causing fear and chaos.  It was the way of the people to honor the moon every year on the evening when the moon was out the longest, the solstice.  The people would go down to the shores and release homemade wreaths with a single candle lit within its center into the tides of the ocean.  The wreath was a present from the heart to celebrate the moon, and the lit candle was to give the moon strength to shine brightly over their lands for the coming year.  Queen Laria, led the ceremony every year. 
It was the year of the Blessed Rose, a year that would be remembered by all in the village for generations to come.  It was the year that the moon was almost lost to all. The celebration started, just like all the previous solstice celebrations. Queen Laria, was dressed in a white gown that flowed down to her bare feet. Her black hair, as dark as the night itself, hung loose on her shoulders. Gracefully, Queen Laria led the parade of villagers down to the shore, a homemade wreath in her hands.  She walked into the water, the waves washing over her calves, and released her wreath.  As it floated out, she began to sing in a deep rich voice, a song thanking the moon for the past year.  From the shore, the people watched as the Queen, arms outstretched, sang and called down the moon’s rays.  Slowly, the moonbeams floated down to the water’s edge, where small water sprites sprang up from the glistening sands and danced to her song. The beams bathed the Queen in their warm glow of appreciation for her gift of song.
It was then, when the moonbeams reached the sands, that the evil wizard Gastomar, came from the darkened shadows and cried out a spell to draw the moon’s rays toward his opal topped staff.  You see, Gastomar wanted the power that the moon held and the loyalty of the people that was bestowed upon it.  As the rays were drawn into the orb on top of Gastomar’s staff, the Queen turned and countered with her own spell. Queen Laria held part of the moon’s strength when the beams came down to earth, something Gastomar didn’t know.  A battle broke out between the two, and as they fought, the light of the moon began to dim as its power was drawn down and absorbed.  Soon the land was thrown into darkness and Gastomar believed he had won.  While he basked in his victory, Queen Laria began to glow from within.  Beams of light flowed from her as her body began to shine and her eyes irradiated like stars from above. Gastomar believed that his opal orb held the strength of the moon, but in reality the moon’s strength was within the Queen.  With this power, she called down Draco, the dragon constellation, which came down in living form. With it’s fiery red crest, outshone only by it’s gleaming blue eyes, the serpent like body, covered in hard dry scales soared down from the night sky. The creature swung its tail and knocked Gastomar from his feet. The wizard’s staff went flying and shattered against the trees from which he had hidden behind earlier.  With one terrifying bite, Gastomar was swallowed up by Draco.  The fiery dragon flew back up into the sky and released the wizard up into the stars of the southern hemisphere, far from the village skies. There, Gastomar would be trapped forever, as the faintest star in the faintest constellation in the furthest part of the night sky. Draco flew back to his place among the stars and again stood guard and ever ready to protect the moon.
The people of the village came out from hiding and watched as moonlight glowed from Queen Laria. She reached out to the blackened sky, returning the light and power where it truly belonged, giving it back to the moon so it could enlighten the world once more.  The people rejoiced and continued their celebration with even more spirit, as the water sprites returned to dance upon the sands.