Fantasy

“There weren't always dragons in the Valley. Long ago, this land was as flat as the stream that ran through it."

“Are you gonna tell me the story of how dragons came to the valley Pappy?”

“Are you?” Moria looked up into her grandpa's weathered face, eager to hear the tale.

Pappy chuckled"I reckon so, but we got to get these tatters gathered up fur supper. Alright?”

Moria smiled at him shaking her head in agreement.

Pappy loved to tell the old stories about long ago. They had been passed down from one family member to the next. His family had been in the valley for many years and had made peace with the dragons when they first came there to live. The old man was tall with big hands that had become hard and rough, his face was wrinkled, from the many years working in the sun.

Pappy was kind, always was ready to help someone in need and was very gentle around his grandchildren. Moria, his youngest grandchild never saw him as anything but her beloved grandpa.

Together they walked out of the old house at the base of the mountain.

It was a glorious day in the valley. The sun shined down on the river which sparkled as if were covered in diamonds. The farm had gotten larger than ever before while Pappy had been the leader of the family. What once consisted of one house was now five, family members had to grow up, started their own families, and built homes on the land. He was proud of his family and the life they were able to live.

Moira heard the low moan of a dragon and looked up to see which ones were in the sky. The blue above was only interrupted by the many dragons passing over the valley. Some were small, in the sky they looked no bigger than a buzzard circling while trying to find its next meal. There were other dragons that were quite big and they would cast a large shadow as they flew over the valley. Their colors could be a combination of everything from the brightest blues and greens to the darkest purples and some were black as the night. She always marveled at their beauty.

As Pappy and Moria walked out to the fields to gather potatoes for that night's dinner. He began telling her one of his favorite tales of long ago.

Many years ago Galina had a low and a high land. Quite and gentle was the lower, a green fertile place where the first farmers grew crops, and made a good life for themselves. The shepards tended their herds and grew small gardens. Water came into the land threw a small stream and yet the land was rich, and the people felt happy there.

Above this ordinary land lived another world hidden from the low land people. This high land was ruled by a race of giants. The giants had been arrogant and jealous, they often fought with each other over who among them was the strongest and possessed the greatest power in the high land. Giants had the power to create life and made many different creatures. Among them were the low land people, there animals of the land and water, but the creature they cherished the most was the dragon.

The first dragons were rather small in size, but there ability to create fire was strong. The giants valued this power over all else. They wanted to control this power for there own benefit.

Soon, giants began to create dragons that were large, strong and had the greatest ability to make fire. The giants began take dragons for there own desires. Dragons were held captive and made to obey the giants. They would be used in war, one giant fighting against another.

Great battles were fought in the sky over the low world. Fire rained down from the sky on the low land folk, the battles in the sky would destroy the land below and the homes they held so dear, and they suffered.

After years of fighting only three giants remainded in the upper world. Still, greed possessed them and they fought each to have everything in the land. The dragons were abused from being used in battle and some became sick, others rebelled against their masters. The dragons did not like fighting and killing one another, they would get revenge.

One day, the last giants met in what would be the last battle. Upon meeting in the sky the dragons where called upon to fight, instead they turned on the giants and killed them.

The bodies of the last giants fell to lower earth and made huge dents in the ground, pushing the land higher on each side of where the bodies fell. This caused the upper and lower lands to join and the mountains that surround us now rose from the ground. As the bodies faded into the earth, water began to flow in their place and created the river.

The people, who lived in the valley at first feared the dragons would destroy them also. However, the dragons only wanted to live in peace, and chose to live away from the people, in the caves on the mountainside. They asked only that a share the food the valley provided be given to them. Ever since, the people of the valley bring a share of food to the caves so that people and the dragons can live together in peace.