A mythical tale (Ætas ab Brian)
From Alternative History
History of Rome-After Ætas ab Brian
In the beginning, there was the eagle,
And for a time, it was good
The eagle was intelligent, but she was alone
Speaking of all she knew to the animals of her lands, she sought to impress the witless with her knowledge
To awe them or make them fear her power
For knowledge is power
But the eagle was alone
Without an equal to befriend, the eagle thought she could make a friend from those around her
But the eagle was of the air, different from the animals of the land and ground
But the eagle was intelligent if not wise
She believed if she chose an animal, she could give it knowledge and make it her companion
She chose the bear
But the bear had no interest in the wide views the eagle told him of
The big picture of the world above him was no more tangible than the words coming from the eagle’s beak
And he had no need to know what lay beyond his own tight horizons
In fact, the eagle’s constant discourse irritated the bear, for now he knew of the greater world
A world weighed down with troubles greater than his own
His life was made complex by the eagle, and thus he hated her and the knowledge she gave him
One day, the bear would not be found by the eagle, for he had went to his den to slumber, hoping he could sleep through this complicated time as he slept through the winters
The eagle was saddened by the bear’s disappearance, but she would not stand to be alone again
She flew higher than she ever had before, heading for lands she had yet to explore
In the sky she ran into the dragon
The dragon, as intelligent and alone as herself, the eagle befriended the dragon
The dragon and the eagle were of the same element
In common with each other, they saw the wider world and its problems
Soaring in the sky, they shared the gazes of the animals who awed, envied, or hated their power
And yet they were not the same, the eagle and the dragon
Where the eagle could out speed any being and see great distances, the dragon could summon fire from his own snout for what ever purpose he required
The eagle, intrigued by this power, implored the dragon to use its ability for the eagle’s own edification
The dragon was the eagle’s friend, and so did as she requested, but the eagle’s interest in the flame would prove to be dangerous
Over the many years of friendship, the eagle helped the dragon numerous times
Whether aiding in the fight against the great horse, or nursing the dragon in its time of sickness, the eagle would not deny her friend support, and the dragon in return offered the same
But one day the dragon and eagle began one fire they could not put out, and it spread
Along the ground, into the trees, and into the sky
Until the eagle and dragon were separated and seared and blinded
Only the bear, still slumbering in fitful dreams, was spared
But the fires had created something
Their heat had reached into the ground at one place, and found a metal, inert and dead
The flames stirred the metal, giving it life
The metal, as its first though, wanted strength to protect its newfound life
Using the flames around it, it formed itself into a blade, the sword
Thus the dragon was the architect of its own demise
The sword was different more so than the eagle and the bear from each other
For it was not of the land or air, but the ground deep beneath it
The bear, dragon, and eagle were animal
The sword was mineral
And it could see the alien life around it as only a threat to its own existence
The sword then saw the dragon flying disorientated and injured as the blazes died down
With its breath of flame, the sword feared the dragon and it was determined to end the dragon’s life
But as the sword prepared to fight the dragon, the eagle returned
Scarred as the dragon was
And the friends were re-united
The sword saw the eagle’s speed, and feared her pulling it into a whirlwind, smashing it to pieces
The sword was stronger against the eagle than the dragon though, and as soon as the eagle was without the dragon’s company, the sword struck
The eagle. Fast. Observant, dodged the sword and started the fight
The sword was not animal
It was different
The mineral was stoat, it would not bend, it would not be cut
It would shatter wood, stone, and bone as easily as the eagle’s wings slashed the air
The eagle found her own claws and beak could not kill the sword
For the first time in their friendship, the eagle needed the dragon’s help
The dragon was busy protecting his land from one of the sons of the great horse defeated long ago
But hearing the eagle’s cries, the dragon took flight immediately to the eagle’s side, determined to repay the
eagle’s own kindness in the past
The sword was mineral, it was different
Although strong and sure, the sword was weak to the animals
Animals when injured heal themselves
But the sword’s life had sacrificed repair for strength
After a long while, the sword had gathered enough insignificant wounds that it could no longer stand the attacks of the dragon and eagle
The sword was shattered into four mere shards
The sword’s life, strong, but brittle, was ended
The shards of the sword contained the poison of the sword’s insecurity and aggression, and the shards flew in every direction
Two shards bored their way into the hides of the sons of the great horse
One shard awoke the bear
The final shard pierced the dragon
The dragon now lain in pain of the infection spread by the shard, the eagle’s knowledge now to no avail against the poison
The bear awoke, no longer irritated, but livid, at both being awoken without any improvement in the world
And the pain of the shard in its side
The infection spreading throughout the bear’s body told him of the eagle’s doings, forcing the bear to feel as the sword once felt
The shards wanted to be reunited
The horses were easily swayed by the infection
After a long while, the dragon too had succumbed and left the eagle to find the other shards
And the eagle was alone again
The shards were brought together in their animal bodies
They schemed the downing of the eagle for once and for all
The eagle would fight to retrieve her friend and destroy the evil of the shards
Many years and battles followed, until the great flood came
it greatly affected the shards, causing them to rust and further poison their hosts
The bear, horses, and dragon became desperate from the rusts' burns, but also weakened
Then came a winter colder and longer than any before it
The floods receded, only to be replaced by ice, preventing even snow from falling
With all the world's water locked as ice, it seemed the world would soon flicker out
It was only with the arrival of the star, having seen the pain being caused, that saved the animals
Only by working together, the star taught, could the eagle, horses, bear, dragon, and all the others live through the winter
For the star was wise
And she knew that all things eventually come to an end, for better or worse
