The Knight and the Dragon

There was once a city named Non Colpevole, it was a large city and a very prosperous city as well. It was part of an immense kingdom, named Anamaria, which had limitless power throughout the entire world. It was ruled though, by a knight, an odd monarchy admittedly because of that. But never the less, even if the kingdom was ruled by a knight, this did not make the other kingdoms laugh at it. And you see, the city named Non Colpevole was no ordinary city, it was the largest and most populous city in the kingdom. For hundreds, nay, thousands of years, people had flocked to it just to see its many wonders. But you see, the people didn’t come to see just anything in that city, they came to see the Vantaggioso Towers. They were one of the tallest structures in the world. Every day thousands of merchants would sell their wares in the towers to strong and powerful buyers who all jostled for a chance at riches beyond their wildest dreams as the commoners looked out from the top of the towers awestricken.

This was truly a land of wealth, prosperity and dreams. But you see, this was not so in other parts of the world, there was no wealth or prosperity in these regions and dreams of a better life were shattered upon their making. These were the lands where the Dragons lived. Many times Anamaria kept a careful watch on these Dragons, but for some reason, they missed one. This Dragon’s name was Osama and he lived in the land called Medio Oriente. The Dragon had been slumbering, growing larger day by day as evil does that goes unnoticed. But one day, this dragon awoke and the devastation it wrought would be as unforgettable as the day man was cast out of Eden.

As the days went by, the city of Non Colpevole went about its business, tending to affairs, unaware of the danger that was about to descend upon them. When one fine morning, just as everyone was settling into their shops and businesses a roar was heard. The city awoke from its slumber and its inhabitants poured out onto the streets gazing up at a fireball hundreds of feet up consuming one of the Vantaggioso towers. The dragon whipped its tail and one of the great towers fell. It roared again, spewing more fire onto the other tower, melting it in two with the intensity of its heat and watching with gleeful madness as it crumbled to the ground. Osama then turned and charged with dizzying speed, faster and faster until it reached Anamaria’s military headquarters at which it then sliced open with its cruel claws, bounding away when no more fire could be brought forth on its breath.

The citizens of Non Colpevole and Anmaria were left in shock and mourning the loss of their loved ones. But at this time, the news had reached Sir Bush who was furious and immediately demanded that all cities should be made dragon-proof to prevent another such tragedy from happening. After this, Sir Bush wasted no time in strapping on his armor and declaring war against all evil dragons in the world. “Osama!” he shouted. “You will regret the day you struck my kingdom! I will not rest until I have your head!”

From that day forth he struck out with a massive army at his heels waiting at his beck and call. He traversed the world, sailing the seven seas like Sinbad the sailor, never once deterred from his quest of justice. He traveled across deserts full of rolling sands and across jungles so thick he had no choice but to cut his way through by sword. Sir Bush forded rivers miles wide and climbed up mountains that went above the clouds. He cared not for the opinions of the countries he traveled across, he was focused on his mission, his crusade to free his people from their fear of Osama.

One day Sir Bush came across a cave, a cave he knew well, the cave in which was another dragon. This was a dragon Sir Bush knew well, the very same that his father fought and lost. Sir Bush ventured into the cave thinking that the dragon might’ve spawned a fearsome brood of man killers. All of a sudden the dragon thrust his snout into Sir Bush’s stomach throwing him against the wall. Before the dragon could damage him further however Sir Bush’s soldiers rushed in stabbing and thrusting at the dragon until it lay on the cave floor, dead. The soldiers cheered in relief and they were merry. When they walked out of the cave together a group of people were gathered outside, cheering and shouting with joy to the heavens because they were now free from fear of being eaten by the dragon. But it wasn’t long until smaller dragons began popping up from under the rocks and crevices in that land ambushing Sir Bush and his soldiers from all directions. The soldiers fought harder and harder but the more Dragons they slew the more Dragons there were and so Bush had to leave his army behind and set out on his own still searching for Osama.

Many days and nights passed when Sir Bush thought he couldn’t go one step further, but somehow he always managed to continue on even though the inhabitants of those lands weren’t always kind to him. At last he reached the edge of a dry lake in the midday of his 12th day of travel. He sat down exhausted and looked out at the heat seared wasteland. Between the heat waves he saw what looked to be a black shape on the dry lakebed. At first he thought it might be a mirage but at a second glance he was sure that it was a huge object on the lakebed and not a mirage. So, Sir Bush started towards it and when he reached it he realized it was the carcass of Osama. After all the years of searching he never got the chance to lay a blow on the hide of Osama in revenge of his country. He then knelt down by the carcass and cut off its head to show his people on his return.

Upon his return, the people of his country rejoiced. They celebrated at the sight of Osama’s head and slowly but surely began to rebuild their country upon their hopes and dreams of a more peaceful world.