The Dragon and the Stars.

  The dragon was infinitely old.  When the universe began, it had been
there, nurturing, gently helping the recently created chaos become order.
It was immortal, the guardian of the universe and all which lay within.  A
never-ending task that was, for it had a whole universe to explore, an
ever-changing panorama of galaxies, stars and planets.  Even in the
millennium it had already known, it had only seen two arms of a single
galaxy.  Its strong wings carried it easily and swiftly through the solar
systems as it noted everything.  Many planets the dragon spared barely a
glance.  Some it traversed quickly, enjoying the landscape.  And a few it
actually stopped at, the ones with life, or the potential for life, even a
couple which not only had life, but the possibility for intelligence.  All
was remembered.
  The planet it was heading for now was one of the latter.  Or at least, it
had been at the time of the dragon^Òs last visit.  It enjoyed returning to
these planets, to see whether anything had come of the former possibility.
Nearing its destination, it passed a gas planet of size to rival its own.
It had fond memories of this planet.  Taking a brief detour, it circled down
around the planet, searching until it found a huge storm of swirling gas and
clouds.  Here the dragon had played, dancing gracefully in the howling
maelstrom.  Later.... it silently promised the storm, later we can play
again....when I return....
  Beyond the gas planet was a place where meteors constantly shot through
space, orbiting the sun in their own way.  They did not worry the dragon.
Being immortal meant being untouchable.  A single downward thrust of its
wings took it speeding into the hurtling lumps of rock, which passed through
it as though it was not there, and then towards, and past, a much smaller
red planet.  This one did not interest it.  Then it was circling the planet
it sought once, to lose momentum, and manoeuvring carefully to enter the
world^Òs orbit.  The effect of being so close to a small planet, small enough
to be enclosed easily in the dragon^Òs immense wings, caused the dragon
itself to become smaller.  It finished at roughly the size of the planet^Òs
largest mountain and orbited quietly, watching.  With pleasure it noted that
the land had shifted and settled down to a gentle drift.  Casually, the
dragon began to flow down through the atmosphere.
  The atmosphere had changed.  This was noticed, at first casually, but with
increasing concern.  There was much more of one gas, and much less of
another, and the dragon^Òs infinitely powerful senses told it that this world
was heating up, if slowly, due to this change.  Never before had it found
anything like this, and it couldn^Òt think what disaster might be responsible.
    A second later, emerging from the clouds, the dragon found its answer.
Huge grey holes belched smoke into the sky.  Strange metal creatures raced
around the flattened land, constantly breathing out fumes.  Everything was
false, unnatural.  The dragon cried out soundlessly in protest, and below it
a small tremor shook the land.
  Gliding down closer to see what kind of creatures had caused this chaos,
it discovered very different animals to those of its last visit.  It
remembered large, thick-skinned, reptilian beasts who inhabited the land and
the sea, and even the air.  It had loved them, these creatures who were
closer physically to it than anything it had found before or since.  They
had cowered and run from the dragon, but they had seen it!  Very few species
had ever been able to see their guardian. Now there were small, pale,
fragile creatures who seemed to be ashamed of their own skin, for they
covered it with the skins of others.  They stared blindly through the
dragon.  Desperately, it soared over the planet, but they were everywhere, a
plague of destroyers.  Never before had the dragon seen anything like it, a
whole planet reduced to a chaos rock by a single, insignificant race.
  Driven by the need to find any sign of its loved ones, it searched the
planet slowly, continent by continent, and finally it came upon a huge
crater.  Settling to the ground at the edge of it, ignoring the buildings
standing solidly in its ghostly body, the dragon gazed down at the great
hole, reading the story of death it told.  The meteorite which had caused
that crater had destroyed its beloved creatures, and now a new species had
evolved and taken over. The dragon, having never cried and having no idea
how to, threw back its head in silent mourning, and every creature on the
planet shivered suddenly for no reason.
  Heartbroken, the dragon continued mourning, but now it did not know
whether its sorrow was for the sad, broken planet or for the creatures who
had devastated it.  It was the nurturer of life and it did not kill, but if
these destroyers did not die, their world surely would. 
  Indecisive for the first time in its long life, the dragon heaved itself
into the air, heading out to sea.  It had no real plan, no idea where it was
going, but as it got over the ocean a sense of rightness came over it.
Investigating, it slowed down and flew close to the water.  Cold waves
slapped through it, with no effect.
  Then, abruptly, it was not alone.  Small, grey creatures, air breathers
living in the water, surged around it.  Playfully they hurled themselves out
of the water, leaping around the dragon, over it and through it.  They
skimmed along beside it, keeping pace with it, staring it straight in the
eye and seeing it, unafraid.  Needing no air of any kind to breathe, the
dragon dived into the water and swam side by side with the creatures.  A new
hope began to blossom.
  The dragon listened as its new friends spoke to each other in a language
which was simple, yet said everything they needed to say.  It watched two of
them supporting another, injured member of the family.  It observed as a
group of them worked in a team to catch fish.  Looking inside them, it noted
that they had once been creatures of the land, could even be again if they
had reason to, if they had a chance.  It saw the miracle of a mother giving
birth, and encouraging her new child up for its first breath.   Sensing the
intelligence of these beautiful creatures, its eternal heart filled with
love, and it finally decided.  Have joy.... it murmured in silence.
  Leaving the joyful ones behind, the dragon flew swiftly back to land,
seeking the destroyers.  One of them stood impatiently outside a building,
waiting for the metal beast that would come to take it where it wanted to
go.  The dragon came to rest beside the creature, and curled one huge,
unseen hand around its body.  The creature continued waiting, unaware of the
hand, able to walk through it at any time.  Suddenly it appeared so
vulnerable to the guardian watching through its own insubstantial claws.
Looking down, the dragon tried to remember all the poison caused by this
race, but it could only see the fragile spark of life inside, so easy to
extinguish.  As a nurturer of life, the dragon had never killed, had never
needed to.  It did not even know if it was capable, insubstantial as it was.
It did not want to do it.  There had to be another way....
  A strange new feeling grew in the dragon^Òs heart, a tight, painful
feeling.  Like the most delicate droplet of crystal, a single tear formed in
one eye, growing larger.  When the glistening drop of oblivion was even
bigger than the creature it was poised above, it finally fell.
  The dragon screamed in agony.  As the gentle vapour which had so recently
been a living creature drifted away from it, the dragon flung itself
upwards.  The nurturer of life flew straight at the sun, tears streamed from
its eyes as it came to terms with having killed.  The huge dragon-tears hit
the planet it was fleeing, and with the force of their landing they splashed
everywhere, covering the whole planet.  Somehow, all other creatures were
unharmed.  Only one species was wiped out.
  Floating amongst the stars, the dragon felt a soft, sad sort of peace
begin to surround it.  The joyful ones were still there.  It was their world
now.  Have joy.... it told them again, knowing they couldn^Òt hear, perhaps I
will return to you at another time....my friends....
  Turning, the dragon gazed out towards the third arm of the galaxy.  I have
much to see before that time, though....much to do....

© Copyright Hespa.
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