Improving in Dystopian Valley

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. In fact, people believed that these creatures only existed in folklore, unable to fly out of the stories they lived in. But how wrong and foolish humanity was to think that way. A few centuries ago, humanity lived and prospered as selfless beings, willing to help one another with simple everyday tasks. The concept of currency did not exist at that time. Humans were ingrained the ethics of reciprocity where they traded food, clothing, and other essentials for living in return for laborious acts.

One morning, humans were gathered in an open field, plowing it to help grow additional crops for the community. A fine young man was diligently working on the task given to him. All of sudden, his pick axe got stuck in the ground. Desperately struggling to get the axe out, he pulled with all of his might until the axe came out causing him to lose his balance. When he regained himself, he noticed that the pick axe loosened a sizable stone. As he removed the stone from the ground, the dirt crumbled off and with the sun out, the stone began to shine like the sun. The young man was amazed as this was the first stone he had ever seen that could do such a thing! As the stone dazzled in the field, other workers began to notice this mesmerizing light. Not one person could resist staring at this incredible stone. The day continued with hardly any labor being done on the field. As the sun began to set, the light of the stone became dimmer and the workers returned to their village. This is where gold introduced itself to humanity.

Rumors spread in the community about this dazzling stone, many wanting to see it for themselves. They suggested to the young man to leave the gold in the center of the village for all to see. As he pondered that thought, he realized that this stone was found only by him! Why should he have to share its brilliance with others in the village? He refused the idea and took the gold home. The people in the village were astonished with his decision! Seeing that the young man did not want to share his prize with the village, people decided to find and procure their own gold. The next morning came, and everyone except the young man went to the open field. Everyone dug and plowed the field looking for that desired ore. Many did find gold but compared to what the young man found; the difference was noticeable. The size of gold ranged from marbles to the size of one’s palm. Not one person’s gold matched the young man’s. This treasure hunt continued for days until the village realized that the food and water supply were running short.

The cooks and the water procurers went back to doing what they do best. They gathered what was essential for the village’s survival, for a price of course… The cooks and procurers began to monopolize their goods, gold for the essentials. Soon after, everyone followed this suit; seamstresses, blacksmiths, labor workers. Even the young man had to follow this new law but, he did not trade his sizable ore. He dug for gold that was necessary for his survival, to continue living with his prized possession. Greed, envy, and desire began to spread throughout the village and eventually, other communities were affected. Soon after, the young man’s precious gold was stolen from his home. He confronted the people of the village in anger, accusing anyone who he thought was suspicious. The people in turn began to accuse one another of this terrible act. Unable to determine the culprit, he lashed out and struck the person nearest to him, ending that person’s life.

The people revolted! Fear and violence consumed them, causing everyone to attack one another! All these unjust actions, these negative emotions, lingered in that village. That is when it all started; winds picked up loose debris, the sky darkened with lightning running across the sky, the ground trembled causing houses to collapse into themselves. The villagers were frightened and confused by these events. Then all of a sudden, hundreds of dragons emerged from the ground, varying in size and taking to the sky. The villagers panicked and before anyone could act, the dragons flew over their village, scorching the area with their tremendous fiery breath! Only a few people managed to survive but the village was destroyed. Neighboring communities saw this event as well and took swift action to hide from these incredible beasts.

In the folklore, it is said that dragons will roam the earth once there is enough negative energy to cover the land. They will continue roam to earth until the negative energy has been expelled from the Earth. But with all the greed, corruptive habits, and violence that humans exude from their bodies, who knows how long it be until that happens… Or if it ever will. The folklore mentions that dragons fear their opposing element, water. So at least humans, were smart enough to rebuild their communities close to bodies of water. But that doesn’t mean the dragons don’t know where they are. The dragons just wait until humans are far away from said body of water.

Our story starts in a village called Dystopian Valley. Yes, such an optimistic sounding place to live! But the bright side is that the village is next to a running waterfall, so dragons won’t bother the townspeople. The downside, the village is full of humans divided by their way of thinking; one side has selfish, inconsiderate, angry people who steal and/or harm others to get what they want. The other side is those who continue to try to live a virtuous life, but on the inside are just tired of living the same old way, doing the same old thing day after day. Who can really blame them? They can’t explore the world without running into an unknown number of dragons. Fear keeps them alive but it also keeps them from leaving the village as well. The story begins with Rena, a young woman desperate to travel and see the world. Her journey will involve hardships, struggles, and overcoming obstacles set in her path!