THE PLAN

There weren't always dragons in the Valley.

However, since the beginning of time, the Komoto dragons resided on Anu Mountain in Indonesia. At least, that's what the villagers believed and thought. Often, the villagers exaggerated and voiced their stories about the Komoto dragons and the tigers.

While some villagers recounted their stories, a few made a living from the animals. Helpfully, Joyo assisted his uncle, Ismaya, in the trade of tigers and Komoto dragons. It wasn't unusual to ship tigers and Komoto dragons to zoos. On a few occasions, they shipped tigers to circuses around the world.

Shipping a tiger to Cleveland & Clarke Circus's Florida Winter headquarters, that's what was intended. That's what they thought took place.

****

Months earlier.

Wintering in Florida, the circus clowns were having their usual fun playing practical jokes on each other. High in the sky, the Flying Fordmens were practicing their new trapeze routines. Developing and choreographing a new trick, the circus' famous star, Jules, invented a new and amazing high wire program.

Anguishing over the budget, Jon Cleveland owned the Cleveland & Clarke Circus. Years ago, Clarke sold out his share of the circus and retired, but Jon never changed the name. Naturally, Jon realized a good while ago that the circus was in financial difficulty. Knowing a plan was needed, Jon called in his animal trainer Jax.

Unfortunately, Jax had more bad news. Jon didn't know that Legi, their old tiger was terminally ill. Legi was a crowd pleaser and loved by the whole circus family.

Walking into Jon's office, Jax cheerfully asked, "What's up?"

"Jax, we are looking at some discouraging financial numbers," nervously declared Jon.

Jax hung his head. Sadly, Jax exclaimed, "Legi is dying!"

Questionably, "Is there any other bad news?" sighed Jon.

Scratching his head, Jax shrieked, "Nothing that I know of Jon!"

Knowingly, tightening their belts wouldn't be easy; indeed, if the circus was going to continue, a tiger was needed. Reaching out to his contact in Indonesia, Jon ordered a replacement tiger from Ismaya.

Reassuringly, Ismaya promised, "The tiger would be shipped immediately."

Guaranteeing receipt within five weeks, the tiger will be delivered to the circus' winter headquarters in Florida.

Gratefully and thankfully, the circus family was comfortable at their winter headquarters. Jon thought, "At least, it would cut down on travel expenses."

***

Quickly, five weeks went by. Excitedly, the shipment arrived. Anticipating a tiger to be inside the cargo container. Boy were they surprised! Shockingly, they discovered a young Komoto dragon that was five feet long and over a hundred pounds that could grow to be ten feet long and weigh over 300 pounds.

At first, they didn't know what type of animal was in the cage. Immediately, they did some research. Discovering that the Komoto dragon needed to be feed meat, rodents, and rabbits was highly recommended. As long as they were fed, the dragon would not attack humans.

This gave Jax an idea. Jax had a plan. Training the Komoto dragon to do some tricks and rewarding the dragon with rodents, would definitely draw a crowd.

***

Around that time.

On planet Snogard, the governing body was holding a meeting. It was facing a difficult problem and a major one to boot. The rodents were taking over the planet. The council suggested sending their transformer, Oreh, who could temporarily change into any form. Putting it to a vote, the council responded unanimously, deciding that Oreh should be sent to the planet Earth.

Intercepting messages from Florida, the council learned that the Cleveland & Clarke Circus had a Komoto dragon that ate rodents. Their plan was to have Oreh teleported to Florida, returning to Snogard with the rodent-eating Komoto dragon.

***

A few months later.

While watching the sunrise over the Nile River, Lyle, who was a deranged and mad scientist, daydreamed about his plan. Today, Lyle would be traveling to the Valley of the Queens. Carrying his liter of water, Lyle made sure he stayed hydrated. Heat exhaustion was a real thing. He did not want to deal with dehydration and he definitely wanted to avoid it.

A few days earlier, Lyle had traveled from Central Florida to Cairo, Egypt, and boarded the train at the Cairo station traveling to Luxor. Lyle made his base camp in Luxor, Egypt. He had researched the area, discovering that several of the pharaohs' wives were buried with dragon eggs. Lyle's plan was to retrieve as many dragon eggs as possible.

Utilizing the eggs' genetic material with the Komoto Dragon, Lyle would create an aggressive and dangerous dragon or so he thought.

Furthermore, upon his return to Florida, Lyle planned to befriend the Cleveland & Clarke Circus. Nefariously, planning to clone the Komoto dragon, Lyle would insert the genetic material from the dragon eggs from the Valley of the Queens into the clones

Lyle's plan was to control the world with his genetically altered dragons, returning aggressive and dangerous dragons into all the valleys.

***

Will Jax's plan to train the Komoto dragon to do circus tricks make the circus lucrative again? What happens to Oreh? Will Lyle's plan fail or will he control the world?