“Oh, Geez! Oh boy, it’s everywhere!”
Water seeps out from the crack below Finn’s front door right as you approach. You can hear the little splashing on its other side in a minor panic. You slowly knock on the round wooden door. As Finn opens the door, a gush of water pours out. Your shoes and feet are soaked in the cascading water dumping over the threshold. Then standing before you find the small dragon who looks like he had taken an unplanned bath.
“Well, I’m sorry about that…” You see a giant tipped-over cauldron behind Finn’s back. It still has water dripping from its open top. It is clearly the source of the recent flash flood.
For some time, Finn tries to mop up the water and evaporate it with his dragon breath. In the meantime, you pull off your shoes and socks, hoping they will dry out in the warm den. Soon, Finn breaks the busied silence with a sigh of satisfaction. His work stood complete, or at least something more interesting had captured his attention.
Raising a finger as though he had thought of something, Finn proclaims one of his favorite statements. “This reminds me of a story.” Springing to the back window of his house, he attempts not to slip. There beside the window is a small tank of water. In it, a book magically swims around the tank’s fishy inhabitants. To and fro it swims like a curious fish. It is surprisingly elegant for a book. Using a net, designed specifically for this purpose, Finn scoops the white and blue book out of the water. He exercises extreme care not to spill more water in his already wet home.
“I’m going to tell you the founding story of Seahaven.” Taking a seat on his favorite storytelling throne, Finn the dragon began the story.
—
After the long conflict with the Gloom, the great king sent out his children to create their own kingdoms. They were charged with bringing order and prosperity to the Realm, which was in broken disarray following the great war.
To each child, the king gifted a great relic. The third child, Albinus twin to Aerias, received the relic spear. Its tip was harsh and jagged, like onyx or black steel. Though similar its material was something wholly unique. Extending out from the tip was a wooden shaft. Made of ancient dark wood, it was engraved with branches, leaves, and simple oval-shaped fruit.
Albinus had been one of the fiercest warriors in the resistance against the Gloom, but his father spoke to him of a greater need in ruling a kingdom. “Your entire life, all you have known is war. You will no longer only be punishing evil. There is far more important to role as a king.”
As he handed Albinus the spear, he continued, “This spear possesses two ends. And you must learn their purposes. If you misuse either, it shall be as though you were merely a child swinging a stick. Until you rise above the simple ways of a warrior, you will not be ready to rule.”
His father’s cryptic statement still confused Albinus. “Of course, every spear has two ends. And am very good at using them. Especially the point end,” he thought to himself. But still, he was grateful for his Father’s gift and advice.
Before departing, he said his farewells to his father and brothers. His twin sister and he shared a sad goodbye. She called him Alby. But for the first time, he didn’t get annoyed at the childish nickname. Albinus didn’t know when he would see his twin again. And so, he departed.
Exiting the great kingdom of the Centerlands, Albinus clutched his ancient spear, determined to discover his new home. Through the formless wilds, he wandered. He followed the waterways, streams, and rivers. The presence of water had always brought him enjoyment as a child.
In his travels, he encountered many strange and new sights. Jackalopes, rabbits with antlers, bounded through forest trails. Small people, barely bigger than mice, who carved houses out of mushrooms. Despite these exciting new experiences, Albinus was becoming uncertain of where his kingdom would be founded. He at least knew for sure that he was too big to live in a mushroom.
Going to sleep one night a giant white stag came to him in a dream. Speaking like a human, the two of them began talking. Eventually, Albinus found the creature to be very wise, so he asked it where he would found his new kingdom.
So it spoke in a voice as though carried by the wind:
With the words, the vision of the stag drifted away. Befuddled Albinus awoke. “Not even talking animals makes sense in this place,” he muttered in frustration.
So he continued wandering following the waters’ winding paths. He focused on the third line of the stag’s riddle. “When you strike the enemy’s glare.” The Gloom had been defeated. Who was his enemy now? Unsure, Albinus would occasionally poke at something with his spear, hoping something magical would occur. But nothing ever did.
After days of traveling the streams and rivers became a murky swamp. For lack of any better ideas, Albinus maintained the direction he was walking.
The swamp over time became ominous, a gray and a muddy green. Slipping and falling into deep pools of water, Albinus was becoming frustrated. "I should have moved in with the mushroom people. It would be better than this.” He thought to himself as he trudged forward. The muck and the mire never ended, but something there was something new. He could smell salt in the air and then he saw it. Ahead of him, the swamp turned into a cliff, and beyond its edge a great ocean.
“What! I have come to the very end of the Realm, and I have yet to find my new home.” Trying not to despair, he slumped down onto a nearby log.
Only it wasn’t a log.
It began to shift and move! A long neck and head, belonging to a giant scaly creature, rose from the sloppy waters. The rising creature threw Albinus backward. Quick and agile, Albinus recovered and stood to his feet. The creature looked down at him. Its teeth peered out from an open mouth. Unblinking it looked down at him.
“Now that’s an ‘enemy’s glare!’” Albinus spoke excitedly. His hands gripped tight the spear from his father.
Carefully he circled the creature, looking for its weak points. Its head circled around following his movements. Seeing an opportunity, he thrust out with the spear. The jagged spear's tip plunged forward toward the creature’s heart. His aim was perfect.
Pulling the spear back, Albinus looked at the wound. But there wasn’t a wound, not even a mark! Again he stabbed at the creature, but nothing happened. At most, it seemed to tickle the creature.
Bouncing and sloshing through the water, the scaly dinosaur-like creature knocked Albinus back with its gargantuan weight. Again it looked at him with its big toothy mouth. Albinus determined struck out over and over. But the spear was useless! And this time he was struck by the creature's massive swinging tail.
“Am I going to be defeated by a grinning monster!” Albinus gritted his teeth. Mud smeared across his face.
Still, the dopey creature grinned at him. Confused, Albinus stepped back and took a moment to think. “Perhaps, this is not my enemy. If it really wished harm, it could easily crush me.” And so, he stepped further away from the creature. From this perspective, he no longer saw a gargantuan monster. Instead, it was a large, playful dinosaur. The creature smiled as looked over at Albinus and his “tickling stick.”
“But if that’s the ‘unlikely friend’, who is my enemy?” Albinus stared down into the murky water. He saw a face glaring back. A face shaped by war and hardship. A face that only knew how to punish and fight the enemy. It was a stern face, which did not know how to uphold good.
A soft white glow appeared in the corner of his eye. It was the stag. Albinus looked at the creature, and it nodded in approval at what Albinus was thinking.
Albinus gathered every ounce of his strength. And with a great thrust of the spear, he plunged it deep into his own reflection. Past the water, the spear dug deep into the rocking ground below. Finally, the spear acted as the weapon it was designed to be.
Grmmuud craiawk cthuunk
The ground groaned and shook. Albinus fell back away from the spear which was now stuck in the swampy earth.
With a groan, stones climbed from the swampy earth and began turning the purist of whites. The waters of the swamp gathered themselves into beautiful pure streams. And the murky waters on the ocean’s cliff edge crashed forth and became a massive waterfall.
And still following the massive shifting, the spear stood resolute at the center. The carved wooden shaft then began to grow. Branches and leaves sprung up from its wood. Soon it no longer resembled a spear. Instead, it had become an elegant, spiraling tree. As the waters and stones finally stood firm in their new places, the tree began sprouting cream-white olives. An uncommon peace had overtaken the entire space.
Plucking some olives, Albinus offered them to the grinning dinosaur. Without losing its smile, it ate the olives. And with a wave of its flipper, it swam away off towards the ocean.
Sitting beneath the newly sprouted tree, Albinus gazed across the white rocks towards the ocean. “This shall be my land, my kingdom.” And looking at the tree and its fruit, and then to the pierced earth. “Every spear has two ends. Such will be the foundation of my kingdom.”
—
Finn closes the book and flips it back into its water tank. The book leaps in and out of the water as if to say that it was happy to be back in its home.
“I’ve always wanted to see one of those big water dinosaurs. Some people even say that we dragons are distantly related. I’m not sure.” He looks down at his scaly claws. “I’ve never been a very good swimmer.”
Seeing the puddles on his floor, Finn is reminded that he still needs to clean up the mess. “Well, that will have to be it for this week. Thanks for joining me again. Unless you want to help me clean this mess up?”
You head out the door before Finn can find a mop for you. And off you go. Through the clearing and then the forest, you make your way home.
