"I refuse," the girl bluntly
stated. She crossed her arms and jutted her chin out stubbornly.
"But my child," the village elder
explained, "there is no alternative. You must do this for the good of our
people." He shifted uncomfortably in his chair to avoid the girl's piercing
blue eyes.
"So, you think it's going to help
our village if I sit on a hill and let the Black Dragoon eat me? That's
going to help? Sacrificing my life will only make the Dragoon come back
for more. No, I am not doing this, and no one can make me." She abruptly
turned, and started towards the door.
The old man wrinkled his forehead,
deep in thought. "Maeg, my dear. Either you do this alive - or dead. Unless
the Black Dragoon is miraculously killed, we have to have to feed him."
Maeg turned around, her wild hair
flying everywhere. "Well then," she replied, "I guess I'll have to kill
him." She smiled at the elder's gaping mouth and walked out of the room.
*******************************
Maeg sat down amidst the heather
and peered up at the sky. Her auburn hair shone like fire in the bright
rays of the sun. Great, she thought, how can I get myself out of this mess?
"Maeg, what's wrong? You seem troubled."
Rihen had walked up behind her while she was lost in her worries. He plopped
down beside her, a concerned look on his face.
"Oh, nothing, Rihen," she replied
sarcastically. "Just that I told the village elder I'm going to kill the
Dragoon."
"W-w-hat?" Rihen spluttered.
"How do I kill something that isn't
even alive?"
"Maeg, you and your big mouth. Sometimes
I really wonder why I fell in love with you in the first place."
"Because, my dear friend, I am the
best. No one could possibly not like me." She laughed and he joined her.
"Perhaps that old hag - Patha, I
think her name is - maybe she could help."
Maeg jumped up at the suggestion
and with Rihen in tow, she set off towards Patha's shabby, ill-kept hut.
**************************************
Patha shook her head at Maeg, and
sighed. Even she couldn't believe what Maeg had done. Patha handed her
a book, with one page marked, gave her a hug, and smiled as the girl walked
out of her hut.
**************************************
"I can barely make out what this
writing says," mumbled Maeg to Rihen, "but here goes: It states that in
order to destroy a being that is 'undead', the being must be overthrown
by the six essences of life: anger, happiness, friendship, jealousy, sadness,
and harmony." She squinted at the black scrawl on the page. "It also says
that these essences may be represented by an object. Hmmm. How can I do
that?"
Suddenly, a gust of wind rustled
the flowers and heather of the field in which Maeg and Rihen were sitting.
The poorly bound pages of the book were blown back and forth, in mock-indecision,
until they fell open at a section describing how to create a flower.
Maeg shouted with excitement, "I
know! I'll make a flower of the six essences. There will be five petals
plus the stem - which makes six. Each petal will be a different color,
and different from the stem, which will be green." She paused for a moment.
"To represent jealousy, of course," she added.
"Maeg, that's perfect! And we hold
some of the essences now, it shouldn't be hard for you to gather the others."
"Right Rihen," she agreed, "friendship
and harmony can both come from us."
And so after a hasty goodbye, Maeg
set off to find the parts she needed to create her flower.
****************************************
As she walked down an old dirt path,
Maeg heard children giggling. She walked into the forest, and saw two young
girls playing by a stream. They held yellow rose petals, and were trying
to make fish come up to eat them.
"You two look so happy," Maeg said
to the young girls, who looked up as they heard her approaching.
"We're very happy, thank you m'lady,"
one girl politely stated.
"Yes, this is a lot of fun," said
the other.
Maeg smiled. "Do you think I could
have one of those lovely yellow petals, please? So I can remember your
happiness?"
"Surely," replied the first girl,
handing a petal to Maeg.
"Thank you my dear." Maeg returned
to the path. That meant she now had yellow (happiness), orange (friendship),
and purple (harmony) petals. Only three more left, she thought.
Maeg left the forest and continued
on, now passing between a number of farms. As she approached one, she heard
a mournful wail. Following the sound, Maeg ventured out across a field
to a small building. Inside, an adolescent boy stood staring at a small
creature lying lifeless on the floor.
He turned around. "Morning Glory's
dead, Miss. Why did she have to die? I always cared for her." He pointed
to a calf, presumably 'Morning Glory', judging from the ring of flowers
around her neck.
"Boy, I cannot say why your dear
calf died. Perhaps it was just her time."
The boy sniffed. "Yes, maybe. But
I'm still full of sadness."
Maeg bent down over the calf, and
took the ring of flowers gently in her hands. As Maeg handed the blue Morning
Glories to the boy, she slipped one out of the loop and added it to her
collection. Thus adding the essence of sadness.
************************************
Maeg walked along the packed dirt
road, on her way back to her village. But instead of going back through
the forest, she chose to walk through the market-land. As she neared the
brightly colored stalls, Maeg heard shrill voices engaged in a heated argument.
By the time she came to the food stalls, where the noise had originated
from, the confrontation had dissolved.
"Hey, Miss, don't go over to Trilly's
stand. Her treats may be okay, but she'll rob you blind. Stay here and
buy from me." The plain peasant woman pointed to a shifty-eyed shrewish
woman two stalls down, then gestured towards her stall.
"Why do you say that? Why are her
goods better than yours?"
"Okay, I admit I'm angry. I'm also
very jealous of her. Trilly's husband is the miller, so she gets the best
flour. I however, do not have a lot of money, let alone a prominent partner.
So my food is lower-quality, but made with care and sincerity."
"Well, my friend. Perhaps I could
purchase one of your sweet-buns, and have that beautiful red flower that's
lying
on your shelf?"
"Why certainly, Miss." The woman
took Maeg's money and gave her the flower and the sweet-bun.
Maeg took one of the red petals,
and the stem, from the flower, and set them with the rest of her collection.
She set off to find Rihen, back at her village.
***********************************
"Rihen! I have all the essences!
Do you have the book?"
"Yes! Right here. Come on, let's
get to the field." After a quick hug, Rihen and Maeg made their way to
the field where they had first read about the flower.
Maeg set the petals and stem on the
diagram in the book. She then recited the incantation written on the page.
Immediately after she uttered the last word, the flower parts began to
glow with a magickal brilliance. Both Rihen and Maeg shielded their eyes
from the bright light. When they took their hands away from their faces,
the petals and the stem were gone!
In their place lay an exotic-looking
flower. Each petal was either red, yellow, orange, blue or purple. The
stem and leaves were a beautiful emerald green.
****************************************
"Maeg, we had better get this over
with," Rihen sighed regretfully.
"You're right. Let's go."
They hiked through the forest, past
the sacrificial offering grounds, to the mouth of the Black Dragoon's cave.
"Rihen," Maeg said, "stay here. Don't
come in, because I don't want you hurt - or dead."
Rihen smiled weakly, and wished her
luck.
Maeg approached the ominous cavern.
Ever the arrogant girl, she walked
into the cave fully confident in what she was about to do. The stalagmites
and stalactites cast a phosphorescent glow, dimly lighting her way through
the darkness.
*******************************************
"So little child, you have come to
oppose me? How pitiful you are. Do you really think you could defeat me?"
His deep, rough voice full of hatred rumbled through the cavern. A chill
ran through Maeg, but she refused to turn and run. No! Not when she had
come this far.
The Black Dragoon slithered it's
great wyrm body forward.
"I can, Dragoon, and I will!" Maeg
spat in the direction of the creature, obviously overstepping her boundaries.
The Black Dragoon lunged at Maeg, roaring threats of torture and death
to her.
Maeg, being an excellent actor, said,
"You can't do this to me! Please! I beg of you, have mercy on this pitiful
creature!" Maeg hesitatingly took a few steps back towards the wall of
the cave. Slipping one hand behind her back, she reached into her pouch,
and pulled out the magickal flower.
The mighty creature roared and swiped
at Maeg, but she, being as agile as a cat, deftly dodged out of his line
of attack.
"My Goddess," cried Maeg, reciting
the last part of the magick incantation, "I call upon all the might of
your power in this time of need! Hear me and aid me, for your people are
suffering. With your help, I can stop the deaths of your innocent people.
Hear me, O Greatness, HELP ME!"
Maeg took a deep breath and raised
the flower high above her head. A surge of power flowed through her; making
her tingle. The flower trembled, then shot forth a multi-color light, aimed
directly at the Black Dragoon, bathing him in it's purity.
The Dragoon began to dissolve, flesh
falling off his bones, splattering on the cold stone below. He cried out:
"But my powerful mouse, you have forgotten one key item that follows each
and every life... even yours - death!" He roared in pain and triumph, lifted
his hands, and sent a bolt of darkness straight to Maeg's heart. The Black
Dragoon crashed to the ground..
Maeg stumbled to the entrance of
the cave, still clutching the flower in her hand, and collapsed.
******************************************
"No!" Rihen cried. He ran to where
Maeg lie crumpled in a heap. His eyes filled with tears as he looked down
at Maeg. Her face had an oddly peaceful expression on it. Clutched tightly,
even in death, the magick flower remained in her hand. He took it gently
from her.
You said that you weren't going to
sacrifice your life for the Black Dragoon. Why did you have to leave me
here all alone? The tears rolled down off his cheeks, sparkling in the
sunlight, and landed on the petals of Maeg's flower. To Rihen's surprise,
the tears disappeared, as if being absorbed, and the flower started to
glow.
After but a few seconds (that seemed
an hour), the flower burst open, and a blinding light shot forth. He dropped
the flower in amazement and shock. The flower soared high above where Rihen
still knelt by Maeg.
Wiping his eyes, Rihen followed the
path of the light. Each part of the flower emanated a separate color which
then twisted and wove together in the slight breeze, forming a colorful
arc of light. The arc found it's place in the sky; the colors of life -
the six essences - red for Anger, yellow as Happiness, orange for Friendship,
green for Jealousy, blue as Sadness and purple as Harmony.
Whenever it rained and the sun was
out at the same time, Maeg would be remembered, for this arc of light would
appear.
The rain falls to mark Rihen's sadness
over Maeg's death; the sun shines to remind us of the love they shared.
And the arc of color - a rainbow, it was named - is to let everyone know
Maeg died for a cause, and did so of her own choice.