The Guardians of the Sky

Each demigod hit the ground one by one with a thud that echoed through the valley. The villagers gathered around to see what had happened.

“Why is this happening?” asked one of the children.

“I bet they got tired of having to watch over everything, so they decided to commit mass suicide.” Joked his father.

“Don’t be ridiculous!” shouted one of the elders. “It’s sunset fever.”

“What is sunset fever?” the villagers asked in unison.

“Sunset fever is what happens when a demigod comes to earth. Demigods are too human for Valhalla but are too god for the earth. Their bodies can’t handle the complexities of earth.” Explained the elder.

“So, what do we do now?” asked one of the villagers.

“Well, they did not survive that fall that’s for sure.” The elder said.

“First, we must gather their bodies and then we will have a proper funeral for them. They protected us for all our lives, we cannot disrespect them now.”

The villagers grabbed their shovels and started digging the graves for the demigods at the edge of the valley. The children took mashed-up berries and created paint to decorate gravestones for the demigods.

When the villagers finished digging, they gently lowered the demigods bodies into the freshly dug graves and covered them with dirt, sticks, and leaves. The children then placed the gravestones on top.

Once they were all done, they took a step back and bowed down to pay respects to the demigods; the ones who protected them for centuries. As they stood up a loud screeching sound erupted from the clouds. They looked up and saw the dragons circle from far above.

The dragons slowly made their way to earth.

They landed among the villagers, towering fifteen feet over. The dragons walked to the graves and bowed their heads in unison, all was quiet except for whimpering coming from the dragons. The demigods took care of the dragons, it was all they had known. What were the dragons supposed to do now?

The villagers watched as the dragons mourned their gods.

“Why don’t they stay on earth with us daddy?” a small child asked his father.

“That can’t happen! Dragons are not allowed on earth!” spat one of the elders.

“Actually” said the child’s father. “That’s not a horrible idea.”

The other villages looked at the man with disbelief.

“Is he crazy?” someone murmured.

“He has to be to have a thought like that” someone else replied.

“Hear me out, it’s not that crazy if you think about it. The demigods have lived in the sky and taken care of us and given us everything we needed. They took care of the dragons so they wouldn’t disturb us. I think we owe it to them to take care of the dragons. Clearly, they aren’t as dangerous as we thought.”

“What do you mean that they aren’t as dangerous as we thought? Look at them! They are giant, they could kill us!” the elder yelled.

“Well, they aren’t attacking us, or spitting fire at us, or trying to eat any of us. They are mourning the only family they have ever had; they are just like us… but you know fifteen feet tall and covered in scales.”

“Maybe… just maybe we should give it a try….” One of the other elders whispered. “Maybe it won’t be as bad as we are all thinking; besides, I think he’s right. We do owe it to the demigods; we owe it to them for all those years they protected us, sent us healthy crops, and sent us medicine, they did it and expected nothing back. We couldn’t do anything for them while they were alive… but we can do something for them now. I say we do it, we let the dragons stay here. We can build stables right over there by the forest, we can all take turns feeding and bathing and doing whatever else they need”

Now that my friend is how dragons came to the Valley.