The First Legend

        The little dragon boy hopped into bed, and snuggled himself under the covers. He impatiently waited for his mother to come in, to give him his goodnight kiss and story.

         She soon followed, and sat on the side of his bed.

         “Mommy,” he said, “tell me a bedtime story. And not the one about Aeron. Daddy tells me that one way too much.” He wrinkled his nose and his mother laughed.

         “Oh, not Aeron tonight, huh? Alright, then I have the perfect story. Now snuggle in tight, and listen, because it’s a story about us.”

         The little boy stopped squirming and focused, curiosity rising. He snuggled under the covers, and was ready to hear this new story.

         “Long ago” she began, “when Draconae was still peeling off the scabs of it’s creation wounds, two powerful creatures appeared to bring life to the land. Unicorn and Dragon, who had been friends since time began, looked over the new, bare landscape, and decided they were willing to help the land be fruitful.

         Dragon flew up into the sky and called down to the fires to calm, so that they could harden into rock and earth. And when the fires heard him, they calmed and receded and slept in the belly of the earth. Then he spoke to the sooty sky, and called down water to fill the holes and smooth out the sharpness of the earth. And when the sky heard him, the rain fell and purified the dark clouds and filled the craters and gashes, making them smooth. And then Dragon looked around, and was pleased with what he had made.

         Unicorn then ran across the land, embedding it with all the love-magic he had in himself, and told it to use the gifts of earth and water to create life and more magic. In doing so, he gave up nearly all his magic and became a mortal creature. New creatures and plants and magic appeared, and populated the now plentiful land, sea, and air. And then Unicorn looked around, and was pleased with what he had made.

         Then Dragon and Unicorn looked around, and decided to live in this new world with the animals and plants. One day, people arrived, looking for a safe place to live and raise their young. Dragon and Unicorn agreed to let them live there, and in exchange, the people promised love and devotion to the creators and their creations. Different families paid homage to different creatures, with the two leading families bowing to the two creators.

         Soon, due to Unicorn’s love-magic still being strong in the land, the different families became more similar with their creatures. Although they were still themselves, the men’s love of the animals allowed them to become them and look like them, while the women’s love of the animal’s hearts gave them magic and abilities.

         Eventually, despite what Dragon and Unicorn told them, the people stopped believing that such a small creature like Unicorn, who had no more magic, in comparison to huge Dragon, who was still very magical, could be responsible for something so wonderful. So they prayed to Dragon more. Dragon tried to make the humans understand, but they believed he was just trying to be kind to Unicorn, his weakling friend. Eventually, even Unicorn’s followers abandoned him for Dragon.

         Unicorn was very hurt, knowing that his love-magic which he gave freely for the land was now being called Dragon’s. He had offered something so powerful and deep to the land that had been nothing, sacrificed himself, and was now being ridiculed for not being Dragon’s equal anymore.

         Well, Unicorn was now mortal, and lived much longer then most creatures, but still had to die eventually. When the time came, many, many generations after the people appeared, Dragon was beside him. The two had stayed friends despite not being able to make the humans understand. Unicorn told Dragon that he had stored the last of his magic in a different world, but only had enough to last for a short while. And on that world, there was a very small group of people that loved him for what he had been and was now. He asked Dragon to leave that world be, let it be his world since Dragon had gotten this one, and Dragon agreed.          

         Then Unicorn passed, not strong enough to return to his other world, and although the people were sad for a while, soon even they forgot that something as wonderful as Unicorn once gave the land life, and only called him a legend. Dragon stayed the ruling figurehead, entrusted the King with the magic he believed the people would need to protect themselves with, and left to go rest and mourn Unicorn. The people waited, and waited, and eventually, realized Dragon wasn’t coming back. The King became the new dragon, entrusted with the safety of the land and people, and all of his decedents were entrusted with protecting and guiding all the other races. So the two greatest creatures to ever walk the lands disappeared, and that’s why little dragon boys were given their wings. As a gift and a reminder of what and who they must be when they grow up.”

         The little boy’s mother looked at him, smiled, and kissed his sleeping forehead. Then she turned off his lights, and quietly closed the door on her little dragon son.