Beyond The Dragon's Lair

Once upon a time, there was a plain, peasant girl, born to an ordinary family. However, the family no longer remained ordinary when shortly after the girl's birth, she was taken by a lonely, evil dragon. The parents were devastated yet unable to save the poor girl from the dragon's clutches. Soon after the girl's disappearance, her parents passed away, rumoured to have died from their sorrow and grief. The location of the dragon's lair was unknown to the citizens of the small village. Search parties were sent out to find the baby and destroy the beast that had cast its shadow over their once lively village, yet each effort was met with no success. For years and years, brave men set out, only to return hungry and defeated. As time passed on, the girl became the village's treasure. Rumours spread from house to house of how the girl was a beautiful and sensuous maiden, locked up in a cave guarded by the dragon far, far away, waiting patiently for the day to come when a handsome and brave knight would save her. Because of these rumours, every young gentleman was eager to be the one to rescue her. Her return to the village would bring the rescuer great honour and glory.

However, as she grew up, locked up within a cave far away, the girl became neither as beautiful or sensuous as the villagers imagined. She was plain and ordinary, just as her own family had been. As the days passed by, she lived under the eyes of the dragon who both educated her and cared for her. She knew of no one else beyond the cave and believed that this was the way life was supposed to be. Her only connection to the outside world was through a hole in the side of a hill, protected with thick, criss-crossing iron bars, which served as a window that overlooked a beautiful shoreline. Each day, she did as she was asked by the dragon, but as she grew older, she began questioning her way of life. Of course, she did not complain to the dragon because, although the dragon appeared to sincerely care for her, she was deeply terrified of it. It was only when she was alone that she would sit and wonder if perhaps someday she would be free to walk along the shoreline and truly be apart of the beauty she saw through her window.

Meanwhile, as the years passed on, the young gentlemen of the village continued to pursue their efforts. Eventually, one young man came upon the dragon's lair, quite by accident. However, he turned out to be a fool when, in the middle of his excitement of having found the dragon, he charged ahead and attempted to defeat the dragon on his own. He irrationally drew his sword and, just before the dragon scorched him in a breath of fire, he got the first and only glimpse of the girl of any of the villagers in twelve years. It just so happens that the girl also got a glimpse of the foolish young man before he perished under her guardian, the dragon, and that is exactly when she realized that there were others out there in the world who were like her. Her dream of someday escaping grew from this glimmer of hope. However, as the next couple of years passed without any sign of another rescuer, she became downhearted.

Then, one day, another young man came upon the dragon's lair. Fortunately, he was much smarter than the last one. Before the dragon could get a glimpse of him, he hurried back to the village and rallied an army of other young men together in order to fight off the dragon and rescue the peasant girl. The men put up a good fight, yet none were able to bring down the barrier and soon, each brave man was barbecued to a crisp. The young girl watched in horror and realized how she had lived a sheltered life in the protection of a demon. For a split second, she was tempted to come out and give the dragon of a piece of her mind, yet she was smart enough to know that doing so would only result in a severe punishment. Therefore, she sat back and waited for the one day that someone would beat the dragon she had begun to despise.

Many more young men approached the cave and attempted to achieve their glory. However, none succeeded. Several were too caught up in their fight for fame that they failed to come up with a strategy and attacked without a second thought. After all, there wasn't time for a second thought when the flames came shooting out of the dragon's mouth. Others were cautious and took the time to come up with a plan of attack, yet they too were burned before they had the chance to drive in their swords. Although the villagers became discouraged, they didn't give up. Even as the population decreased drastically, the men fought on.

Finally, one day, in a neighbouring village, there was a young man who ventured out on his horse. He had heard nothing of this girl who had been captured by the evil dragon. Unknowingly, he headed off in the direction of the dragon's cave. As he approached, he saw the huge dragon from afar and began to veer off in the opposite direction when suddenly he caught a glimpse of a girl through the door to the cave. Up until this day, none of the men had ever gotten a glimpse of the girl and survived to tell about it. However, this young man was lucky enough to have seen her at such a far distance. The curiosity got the better of him. Unlike the men of the other village, he knew not of the glory and honour rescuing the girl would bring him. Therefore, his thoughts weren't clouded with the idea of fame and fortune as he turned his horse around and trotted off in a new direction to scout out the surroundings of the cave. It so happens that he made his way around to the backside of the cave where the girl's window looked out onto the shoreline. Slowly, he made his way toward the window and the girl almost fainted in surprise. Never had any human being ever come anywhere near that side of the cave before. Her eyes wide with her amazement, she was about to cry out when the young man motioned for her to keep quiet as he moved even closer.

The dragon had fallen asleep at the door to the cave and therefore, it was easy for the two of them to carry on a conversation in a whisper, so as not to wake the dragon. She, never having contact with anyone besides the dragon, fired questions at him about anything and everything in hopes of learning more about that mysterious world. He, in return, asked her questions about herself and why she was trapped in this cave, guarded by a dragon. She told him of how others had failed to save her and how she had pretty much given up on ever being saved. Within the hour that they spoke, he realized that it would be impossible to defeat the dragon. The dragon was way too clever and evil to be tricked, no matter how hard anyone tried and no matter how many people tried. As the dragon was waking, she asked him to return the next day when the dragon would be sleeping once more. He agreed and trotted back home, puzzling over the existence of such a girl.

The young man told no one of the girl who lived in the cave. For one thing, she had insisted, in fear more men would perish under the dragon, that he would say nothing to the people of his village. Every evening following their first meeting, he secretly made his way towards the backside of the cave where the two of them would talk anywhere from a few minutes to a couple of hours. They both looked forward to the meetings. Amazingly, the dragon never had a clue of what was going on behind its back. For once in her life, the girl experienced a certain happiness that had never been known to her. At first, she didn't know how much she could trust the young man. After all, she had never known of this kindness that he expressed towards her. Eventually, she came to put all her faith and her hopes in him. There was also something about him that seemed to touch her heart. Perhaps it was the way that he listened to her and tried so hard to answer her every inquiring question. Perhaps it was the way that he appeared to trust her and wasn't afraid to talk on and on about whatever concerned him. Perhaps it was the way she felt she could see the pureness of his heart through her eyes. She didn't know for sure. Coincidentally, he felt the exact same way as she did. There was something about her that drew him back each and every evening. Never had a girl captivated him as much as she. Perhaps he was even falling in love with the girl in the cave...

Time passed on and the young man was determined to find a way to rescue the girl from the cave. He knew that there was no way for him to defeat the dragon on his own, nor could he enlist the help of others to accomplish such a daring deed. It was an impossible task. In his own home, when he lay in bed at night, he attempted to come up with the perfect plan. However, no matter how hard he thought, none of his plans proved worthy of being of any use. Finally, one day, he told the girl of his wishes to conjure up a plan. However, she insisted that he not concern himself with such a thing; it would only result in failure. Frustrated, looking straight into her eyes, he asked her why she wouldn't let him rescue her and why she was so reluctant in letting him find a way to protect her from any pain the dragon could inflict on her.

There were tears in her eyes as she stared right back into his. Immediately, he wanted to drive a knife through his heart for having caused her such sadness by his own words. However, a smile appeared on her face as one by one, the tears rolled down her cheek. She reached out one hand to grasp his in hers and gave it a tight squeeze. Then, gently, she explained to him that he had already rescued her -- her soul and her heart -- from the dragon long, long ago. In his own way, he had protected her from any pain the dragon could ever have inflicted on her. Simply by being there for her, to listen and to understand, nothing could ever hurt her anymore. He had done more than any brave knight could ever do with a sword.

The girl's words brought tears to the young man's eyes. Although he still wished to be able to hold her close to him and live his life happily ever after with her right beside him, he realized that he need not slay the dragon in order to bring her the happiness and freedom she deserved. Instead, all he needed was to support her and be there for her whenever she needed him, just as he knew she would always be there for him, too, through thick and thin. Perhaps she would never be free of the cave, but for now, even the iron bars or the evil dragon couldn't keep them apart. As long as she loved him and as long as he loved her, anything was possible...