Free Releasing the Dragon: Myths and Legends, Book One by Stacie Simpson Page B

in
comfort.
    At first, the victims on stage were clearly
human. But as the vampire attacks became more brutal their prey
changed shape from man to beast. The transformations looked so real
I had to applaud Solomon's ability to create spectacular illusions.
One minute a man stood fighting and the next a snarling wolf lunged
in his place. The shapeshifters in beast form held their own
fighting with tooth and claw against the bloodthirsty vampires.
Battle after battle raged, each one ending when the sun forced the
vampires to flee in search of darkness.
    A series of short battles showed that every
night the vampires attacked different shapeshifter clans moving
from prey animals to predators leaving the dragons for last. The
dragons were the most fearsome fighters among the shapeshifters,
ravaging their enemies, leaving destruction in their wake. But even
their ferocity wasn't enough. In a moment that seemed to last
forever, the Master vampire ripped the Dragon King's head from his
body and held it high in the air for all to see. The dragons could
hardly breathe through their grief. If not for sunrise, the entire
dragon clan would have been obliterated while still in shock from
the loss of their monarch.
    Watching the battle scenes play out I
couldn't help but think of the timing and planning that had to have
gone into a production of this magnitude. The choreography and
musical score alone were phenomenal. But the special effects, or
magic, were mind-blowing. The backgrounds came to life as if
someone had pulled a real life battle scene through time and
dropped it on the stage below. I couldn't wait for a chance to work
with Solomon.
    Yet even as I sat in awe of Solomon's
brilliance, the tragedy of the story gripped me, pulled me into its
sorrow. When I saw the death of the Dragon King and the
grief-stricken faces of his clansmen I couldn't stop the tears from
sliding down my face. As I wept for the fallen king, Dragon reached
over and wiped the tears away with a soft cloth. The sadness in his
own heart was evident by his solemn expression.
    Solomon spoke again as act three began to
unfold. "With the death of his father, the Dragon Prince was
crowned as Dragon King. The young Dragon King had seen enough to
know the vampires could not be defeated by one clan alone. He
called upon the other clan leaders and together they drove their
enemies back."
    Onstage a man who looked like a younger
version of his father rallied his troops and prepared for war. When
the two sides clashed in battle the overwhelming numbers of the
shapeshifters forced the vampires into hiding. The shapeshifters
hunted the vampires relentlessly, finding them during the day when
they were most vulnerable. Trapped by the sun the vampires had
nowhere to run when the dragons unleashed their angry fire on
them.
    Solomon began to narrate again with the
dancers on stage acting out the scenes as he described them. "Just
when it seemed victory was within their grasp the unthinkable
happened. The shapeshifters were betrayed by one of their own. With
the help of a traitorous wolf shifter, a sorcerer working for the
Master vampire cast a spell over the unsuspecting Dragon King. The
magic wove its way into his soul and forced his dragon to sleep.
The spell then reached out to every shapeshifter who was loyal to
the Dragon King. Without their beasts the shapeshifters could
barely withstand the vampire attacks when they came.
    Instead of killing the weakened
shapeshifters, the vampires changed them into bloodsucking fiends
like themselves. Acts of cruelty meant to demoralize the ruined
shapeshifters, making them even easier prey. But rage burned
through the newly turned vampires giving them unexpected strength
and speed. What the vampires thought would be the end of the
shapeshifter clans turned out to be their only hope for survival.
When all but a few vampires had been slaughtered, the hordes
finally retreated to the south, back to the lands they had left
behind."
    In the