The Dragon's Way

The beautiful lavender colored leaf softly floated to the ground. One by one, the leaves of the sifan tree withdrew themselves from the branch to which they were attached, then gracefully arched downward. Each delicate spiral heralded the beginning of the end.

"Every leaf has its own predestined time to fall and never will two leaves descend at the same time." Said Tistle. Her vibrant pink toes tapped against the stone her daughter stood upon.

"Momma, what does the sifan tree mean when it says that?" Asked Lalla, Tistle's daughter.

"Don't be a silly noddy, the sifan tree doesn't actually speak, but all creatures of magic know this truth." The pink toes quit tapping upon the rock, but a flick of her long orange barbed tail caught Lalla's interest once more.

"But, how do they know?" The young dragon, inquisitive by nature and intelligent in the extreme, twirled her knobby blue-green tail around her recently trimmed claws.

"They know because their parents told them, as I am telling you." Delicate brown eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, one raised slightly above the other in quiet mirth.

"But who told the first parents?" Lalla abandoned her tail twirling for sketching as her manicured claw drew lines in the dirt.

"They were told by the one who brought the magic and planted the sifan tree." Tistle, amused by her daughter's never-ending questions, turned around to face the beautiful, brilliant yellow branches of the sifan.

"Oh."

"Just, 'Oh?'" The heady scent of the lavender leaves, slightly minty with a hint of citrus, made Tistle's delicate nose twitch. "I give you the secret behind the lavender leaves of the sifan and all you can say is 'Oh?'" Tistle twitched her tail in slight agitation.

"Well, noooooo, but, what happens when the last one falls?" Lalla, done drawing, dismounted from the stone and ambled toward her mother.

"Lalla, I told you, they don't really fall, they jump. There's a difference. Each leaf is a year in time for the Water Planet, and every single leaf has its own very special number and..."

"And when its number is up, it jumps! Yeah I know, you told me, Momma! But what about the last one? I mean the really last one? What happens then?" Orange eyes peered into baby blues, wondering what was behind this line of questioning.

"Well, then that is the end." Tistle shrugged one shoulder, as if it cemented her statement.

"But the end of what?" The little green and blue dragon found a weed growing near the decaying carpet of sifan leaves and pounced on it with glee, all but smashing it into the brown dirt.

"The end of their world, Lalla."

"Oh." Lalla flexed one wing, then the other. "Momma?"

"Yes, Lalla?" Tistle rolled her orange eyes heavenward, looking for respite from her curious offspring.

"Where is our sifan tree?" Smashed weed forgotten, she looked around for something else to entertain herself.

"What do you mean, it is right in front of you." Tistle began to wonder if maybe Lalla needed more naps during the day.

"No, this is the Water Planet's sifan, Momma. We are the guardians of their tree, so, who watches over our sifan tree?" Lalla spread both wings out wide, allowing one of the lavender sifan leaves to rest on the silky softness momentarily before continuing on its journey to the ground.

"That is a very good question, Lalla; you should ask your father." Tistle thwumped her tail down briskly in front of Lalla. "How many times have I told you not to do that? You can not impede the sifan! Every leaf has a predestined course, some fall faster than others, some do not, but never are you to interfere in the sifan's purpose! Enough questions for today, go and find your uncle Riffah, it is his turn to watch the tree." The dust stirred up by her tail caused Tistle to vent a small sneeze as her daughter turned away.

"Okay, Momma!" Lalla briskly folded her pretty green wings back against her light blue body, then saucily swinging her tail, headed down the gentle slope to the dense forest below. "A blessing on you!"

"Don't you swing your tail at me!" Tistle looked overhead at the accumulating cloud formations. Today would be a good day for flight. She hadn't felt the wind in her wings for many days now and it was one place Lalla, and her underdeveloped wings, could not follow.

"Okay, Momma!"

Riffah, a large golden male, ambled out of the copse of trees just as Lalla reached them.

"Uncle!" Lalla rushed to Riffah then the two gently rubbed noses.

"How's my girl, today?" The golden dragon moved with a finesse which belied his size and continued his brisk climb up the slope.

Lalla turned without hesitation and followed gleefully. "Momma says I have to ask Daddy a question, Uncle."

"Really? And what would that question be?" Riffah paused momentarily to rub noses with Tistle, then assumed his position under the sifan's canopy.

"If we watch the Water Planet's sifan tree, then who watches ours, Uncle?" Lalla sat her back legs comfortably down, then rested her front ones as well. Soon, she was sprawled out on the grassy green slope while she waited for Uncle to answer.

Riffah watched as Tistle stretched her wings out before flight. He had not flown himself for a month, but with the rains departing, blue skies called to all dragon-kind.

"Lalla, come home before the first moon rises or you'll get no breakfast tomorrow." Tistle threw that last comment over her shoulder, then headed into the breeze.

"Okay, Momma."

Riffah and Lalla watched as the vibrant pink and orange dragon spread her satiny wings wide once more, then gave a mighty leap into the sky and ascended through the clouds.

"Whoa, I can't wait to fly!" Lalla's eyes followed her mother's shape until it was enveloped by the high cloud. Remembering her question, she continued. "Uncle, tell me about the Water Planet?"

"All right, no interruptions this time?" Bronze head lowered to green, looking for agreement.

"Um, I'll try." Lalla relaxed her wings and unwrapped her tail from around her legs as Riffah began his story.

"In the time before time was kept, a world came to be in which many creatures, both magical and non-magical, lived together in peace." Riffah took in a long breath to continue.

"How long ago was that?" One scaly paw covered her mouth too late, for she had already forgotten not to interrupt.

"Lalla! You were going to try!" Riffah's horned head raised tall above his niece, initially for intimidation, but he also perused the surrounding area; after all, it was his watch.

"Yes, Uncle, but, how long ago was the time before time was kept?" Innocent mother-of-pearl-blue eyes stared inquisitively at the golden dragon in full sincerity.

"That would depend upon the measurement you use, child. For instance, how much time passes when the sifan leaf jumps?"

"About a minute?"

"That is correct, when the lavender leaf's number is up, it removes itself from the branch whence it was born. Once removed, its leap to the ground below lasts about a minute of our time on average. But, Lalla, how much time passes for the Water Planet during the leap?"

"A year." Lalla had gone back to twirling her tail again, and began looking around for something else with which to play.

"Also, correct. Ten minutes of our time here, is ten years to the Water Planet there." Riffah twitched his long, barbed tail out of the path of a leaping leaf as it slowly twirled to the ground. "How much time passes for us in the expanse of the creator?"

"I know, I know!" Lalla said excitedly. "It is, um, it is a thousand years, no wait." Claws were held up in front of her as she counted them, then put them back on the ground. "It is ten thousand years for each hour!"

"You are right again. Very good, I am glad to see you have paid attention in your schooling, Niece." Lalla beamed a toothy smile up at him. "Now, if the time was in the Blue Planet's sphere of influence, it would be millennium. If the time was in our world, it would be centuries. But, if the time was in the creator's world, it would only be minutes. So, the time before time was kept is relative, understand?"

"I think so. Uh, huh! Okay, go ahead!" At the bottom of the hill, two Pegasus emerged into the sun's light, garnering her attention away from her patient uncle.

"As you ask. The creatures which inhabited the Water Planet worked very well together. Many alliances were made and long-standing friendships existed within the magical realm and outside of it as well.

"Magnificent creatures abounded! Large, swimming vertebrates, small, scaly cold bloods, creatures with exoskeletons and creatures without bones at all. Life showed wondrous promise in the diversity of its residents. There are whales on the Blue Planet which rival the largest dragon in size!"

That got Lalla's attention once more. She swiveled her head back around, gazing at her uncle's large, golden body.

"There came a point in evolution though, when some of the unicorn's lost their horns, some of dragon-kind lost their wings, and the two-legs lost their fur. Many other changes took place as well, the non-magical creatures began to fear the magical ones and so the creator made the places separate from one another." Riffah saw Lalla beginning to speak again and rushed onward with the tale.

"The two-legs became the dominants in their world, and it has been thus ever since. We know, from our forays into that realm, they no longer understand or accept the ways of magic in which we live and so they can not communicate with us any longer." Story completed, he began to relax, but the animated squeal emitted by his niece warned him to stay alert.

"Uncle! Look!" Lalla jumped up excitedly and pointed toward the sifan tree.

Riffah moved quickly out from under the canopy where he had been resting and saw with horror what Lalla pointed at. The sifan leaves were falling faster! They no longer waited for their predecessor to lay upon the ground before taking their leap, but instead were leaping at double and triple the pace!

"Lalla, stay back! This sifan is the tree of life for that world, and if the creator has seen fit to shake its branches, we must not interfere." Riffah breathed in deeply, then let loose a mighty roar. The sound wave traveled many miles into the surrounding forests and as creatures heard the distress call, they began to gather around the sifan in muted horror and agony.

Several dragons landed a few yards away from the gathering, along with a griffin. Many unicorns and a pegasus also arrived at the ailing sifan tree.

"But, Uncle, what does this mean?" Lalla asked again, more insistently. Her small body trembled, for she knew instinctively this was no ordinary occurrence.

"It means, Little One," said Deeda, Lalla's father, "The world of our brethren is breathing its last." He had come from the far side of the forest quickly, knowing it was trouble for his brother would not have called otherwise.

Deeda gathered Lalla under his magnificent red and black wing, cradling her close to his heart. "You are safe, my pet, tremble no more."

"But why?" Lalla saw the layers of lavender carpet growing beneath the sifan quickly. The strong, pungent scent, usually light and pleasant, now became obscene in its abundance. She looked above and saw many yellow branches were now bare of leaves and stood out starkly against the setting sun.

"It is the way of things, daughter." He touched her nose reassuringly.

"Yes, it is the way of things, Lalla." Said a silver unicorn which stood beside Deeda. "Only one other time have I seen this happen; the Red Planet."

Several creatures nodded in agreement, but all eyes continued to watch in sadness as the leaves leaped faster and faster to their deaths.

"Can we do anything to help them?" Lalla's eyes began to tear up as she looked around her and witnessed the sincere mourning of the magical animals which lived in her world.

A phoenix which had arrived moments ago, lay its head down and wept openly. Tistle, also newly arrived, patted it gently before responding to her daughter's plea.

"We can not interfere, just as our guardians would not interfere in our lives, Lalla." Tistle touched her daughter's nose, then wiped away the tears. "It is a sad loss of life, true, but if they are unworthy of the gift of life which they have been given then we cannot intercede for them."

"How come, Momma?" Small sniffles began to replace the trembling in the young dragon's body.

"Well, because eventually their world would take over ours and we would become the victims of their misuses."

Once again, the surrounding animals agreed. Murmurs and low comments of support for Lalla also ran through the crowded hill top.

The silver unicorn spoke up once again. "Look, everyone, only one branch left with leaves, and they are leaping even faster yet."

It was true. The sifan tree, covered in thousands of spiraling lavender leaves only hours ago, now held but a paltry twenty leaves. The animals gathered close, the unicorns and dragons, the phoenix and the griffins. Side by side, large and small, the animals openly wept for the lives which were rapidly winding down. The bright yellow branches slowly faded to a creamy beige, then to brown.

The lavender leaves were down to ten in numbers when at last the pace slowed. The sifan tree, so healthy and sturdy the day earlier, seemed to sway in a non-existent breeze. Then there were seven leaves, and then three. Each creature, in its own way began to mourn the loss of the habitants of the Water Planet.

"Oh! Look, everybody, look!" Lalla left the comfort of her father's side and rushed to the sifan tree. "A bud! It is a bud! What does it mean?" In her excitement, she trampled over the thickly carpeted leaves.

A silent moment passed without a single leaf falling, then another minute more as well. The crowd remained hushed; hopeful. One leaf leaped to its final sleep, but floated ever so lightly down, slowly twirling and circling, lazily, delicately, until three minutes later it finally touched the ground.

Riffah let loose a spellbound breath. "It means the inhabitants of the Water Planet have learned the value of life, child. They have been given a chance."

The next leaf reluctantly leaped from its perch. It, too, took its time reaching the ground, at one point, the leaf appeared to float upward, gaining altitude, before once more resuming its downward course. This leaf took almost five minutes to reach its destination.

The last leaf took its leap, and the collective gasp of the animals watching the leaf, taking its time, leisurely riding the breeze as its brother had. The animals all held their breaths in silence, hoping and praying for a miracle to occur. But seven minutes later, it too, rested.

"What happens now, Momma?" Lalla whispered.

"There is nothing that can happen now, child. That world is dead, nothing remains as it did minutes ago. All the inhabitants are gone to meet their destinies." Tistle's voice was also lowered, not from respect for the dead, but in sadness. Sadness that her daughter had witnessed such horrific destruction, and sadness for the Blue Planet which had held such promise in its early beginnings.

"But, there is a bud, one little, teeny, tiny lavender bud. What about that?" Hopeful, pleading blue eyes glanced from face to face, looking for someone with an answer.

"That is hope, Lalla. The creator has given us all hope."

The animals, now numbered in hundreds, slowly departed. Most with heads low in sadness for the Water Planet, which was no more. Some, with the thought of hope in their hearts, went much more quickly than others.

Lalla, Tistle, and Deeda departed for their home as well, for tomorrow was still a certainty in this world, if not in the other.

Riffah remained behind at the sifan tree, tall and golden his scales glowed in the moonlight. It was his turn as guardian and he would not abandon his responsibility, nor the bud of hope.

~ The End ~

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