The Magical Gardens of the Dragons
O nce upon a time, sixty-six million years ago, in the Cretaceous geological period, there had been a Magical Garden. At the dawn of time, twelve oak trees had stood at the sacred place, which is now known as the Garden’s nucleus. The twelve tree-brothers hadn’t been ordinary, indeed, the Sun had blessed them with magical protecting powers. They had been the servants of a glorious purpose, since they offered shelter for the smallest and most vulnerable beings. The expansion of the Garden had demanded a high price: as more and more species – common and magical – had settled down in the Garden, the power of the Oak Brotherhood had started to fade, since an increasing amount of territory had needed coverage. The twelve eldest brothers had made a sacrifice; they had channeled their magic into the soil, and had transferred their tremendous knowledge onto their youngest brother – now known as Father Oak. Thus, the magic, having spread over the ground, had protected a vast area. The task to sustain the Garden with knowledge, whenever needed, fell upon the Last Ancient Oak. He bears the sign of his brothers’ sacrifice on his tree bark in the form of eleven safeguarding eyes.
As all the magic had flowed into Father Oak, the latter spoke with the collective voice of the Ancient Trees:
The sweet oaks of the holy, beloved oaks of the time of the voice,
every twelfth turning of the sacred year,
open the garden gates, regal and ecstatic,
and magic pours enchantment into the vast.
When the clock strikes midnight, in a diaphanous dance,
their silhouettes bathe in countless lights,
and from the deep sky, a fairy song, mysterious,
the whole world in wonder, enchanted.
So, honor, venerate the holy oaks, heralds
of a magical time, which in their unchanging leaves,
keep millenary mysteries in their leaves, buzzing
in us, divine songs, which the ages have crowned them.
Ever since, every twelve years, the Garden opens up its gates for anyone in need fleeing from the horrors of the outside world: huge dinosaurs had ruled everything outside of the Garden. Although some of them had been calm herbivores, many predators had been created by the devil. Peace ruled within the Garden’s borders among its one thousand and three hundred species, which varied from the tiniest insects through lovely fairies, productive dwarfs and mischievous elves to actual giants. Truth to be told, the trolls had sometimes initiated conflicts, nevertheless the everydays of the inhabitants had been tranquil. The soil blessed by the Oak Trees had granted magical abilities to every dweller, but the balance had to be maintained. This is why Father Oak had named the Supreme Magician the Keeper of the Garden. He travelled through every neighbourhood each day in order to collect the magic powder of every creature. In a cauldron placed in the centre of his hut, he transforms the powder into actual magic, which in the form of smoke billows out of his chimney into the air, from where it falls back onto the earth with the rain and the cycle starts again.
This is how it happened one day, that Bell, the flowerchild, fell through the Supreme Magician’s doorstep. The boy was horrified when he told him the terrible news he had heard from the angels whereby a meteor was approaching the planet. In order to confirm the validity of the news, Bell and the Magician paid a visit to Father Oak. The thousand years old tree, turning his face in his trunk three times, spoke a prophecy:
I see a comet
Nearing our planet.
When the curse hits
Oh, there will be crisis.
Our Garden survives
Only due to magic,
But those lacking in it
Meet their ends with agony.
The dinos’ song of death
Will rattle the skies,
No one is left to stand
All is swallowed ground.
Their ashes will be covered
By another, world-ruling kind,
Day by day increasing in number,
Our new enemy: the humankind.
Kind words leave their mouths,
Guilty souls buried inside,
Their minds are growing,
But only leave destruction behind.
Our Garden becomes a target,
Flora and fauna mere tools for them,
Only magic seethes their thirst,
They will get it, if need be, with weapons.
But don’t worry, Nation of the Garden!
Hope is floating on the Horizon.
Take in the newcomer
And care for it at all cost.
His path is guided by the Sun,
The Emperor of All.
He will save the Magic Garden,
Ending all shadows with his fire.
You see, I am getting sleepy I need to close my eyes,
This science is tiring, It is time to say goodbye.
Keep your eyes open And see clearly
Everything you now don’t want! You will need it!
In order to decode the poem given by Father Oak, the Supreme Magician gathered the Garden’s Assembly, the legislative and governing body of the magical place, where every species represented itself. The stakes affected the fate of the whole Garden, since Father Oak predicted the arrival of a stranger. Since the founding of the Garden, the Garden had never accepted anyone from the outside, despite the fact that every twelve years the gates have opened up. This was the only sign that nothing worthy dwelled outside the Garden. The Ancient Oak’s warning, however, provided enough proof to call the Garden’s Assembly together. Arriving at a decision was not easy. As per usual, the trolls objected to every proposal to accept this “somebody”.
While the heated discussion has still ongoing, the Chief of the Dwarf Unit strolled in through the Supreme Magician’s front door. Fighting for air, he announced that some creature had breached the borders, and is now unconsciously lying by the nearest woods. As the Assembly left the hut, the chaos became reality. The sky was burning in a hundred shades of red, and an enormous stone, seemingly engulfed in fire, neared the periphery of the Garden’s wards. Smaller pieces of stone breaking off vanished against it. Like they have never existed. Against Father Oak’s every warning, the Garden’s inhabitants went mad.
The Supreme Magician tapped his cane on the ground, thereby winning the attention of the representatives and leaders, and they all headed for the forest to identify the intruder. Reaching the border, to their surprise, they found a Transylvanosaurus platycephalus, which could enter the Garden due to it being the twelfth year. The youngling’s grey-and brown-striped body lay unconscious in the shadows. Although the trolls tried to sabotage the Magician, he managed to convince the other leaders to welcome the baby dinosaur.
The dino’s comatose state lasted for seven days. The Magician, true to his word, gave home to the newcomer, who was supervised by Bell as well.
On the seventh day, the Transylvanosaurus cub opened his eyes. Then the Supreme Magician shared with him all that had happened, including the destruction to the outside world, which meant that he had to say with them. This, however, required adjusting from the greenie’s part to the Way of the Garden, which had to start with getting familiar with a new magical diet. Bell has helped all throughout, which relieved some duties from the Magician.
As the dinosaur got used to his new menu, which mostly consisted of magical leaves and fruits, changes occurred. First, the youngling grew wings. It was not an easy job learning to use them! In this task he was assisted by fairies and various winged insects. Soon, an even bigger problem showed up: the Transylvanosaurus began breathing fire. This scared both the cub and the inhabitants of the Garden to death, but with a bit of practice he mastered this ability.
Bell, in light of the changes, felt the need to rename the dinosaur to dragon. The Supreme Magician laughed under his breath on Bell’s idea, but in the end decided to grant him the title Draco Primus – first dragon – and made the twelfth sacred year the Year of the Dragon, worshipping the day, when the Sun gifted the dino-dragon to the Garden – the Magical Garden of the Dragons.
After accommodating to the changes, peace again entered the realm. Due to magic, the dragons increased in number and became a foundational element of the chain. As time passed, the dragons founded families, which settled down in different regions of the Garden, forming nations.
This state proved to be only temporary, as the prophecy continued. After the dinosaurs’ extinction, the nature surrounding the Garden awakened from the ashes, and humans appeared. Soon, they proved their greediness, their everlasting dissatisfaction, being led by their own, selfish reasons. When the Magical Garden stood the way of their conquest, their primary goal became stealing magic for themselves. They looked at the magical abilities of the Garden with jealousy.
The conflict, which lasted for years, drove the humans to unite their forces against the Magical Garden and the dragons warding it. As an answer, the Supreme Magician resorted to a new method, which prevented a war which would have otherwise led to bloodshed. He founded the Order of the Dragon, and appointed every dragon as a member. In order to blend in, each of them received shape-shifting powers from the Magician. He, thus, made it possible for the different nations to be able to guide humans towards the right path, by taking a humanoid form. This operated in secret in several parts of the world.
The nation, which stayed to protect the Garden, was named the Dracul Nation. Its first member was Vlad Dracul II, who had to face a threat even bigger than the humans. The Crescent Moon, under the dominion of the Scarlet Wizard, had been conquering the areas previously inhabited by humans. Surpassing the latter in monstrosity, the purpose of the Dark Empire was total annihilation, above all that of the Magical Garden, whose magic would have provided them with a boost.
The Scarlet Wizard was also an ancient creature, who knew the legends about the origins of the Garden, the twelve wise trees and the Supreme Magician. The Wizard had been hesitant about the expansion of his empire, beings terrified of the forces of the Garden. This led to the decision, that the Crescent Moon instantly had to cease its operations as soon as the Darkness had reached the wards of the Magical Garden.
In the meantime, Father Oak came forward with a new prophecy about the son of Vlad II, Vlad Dracul III, born in 1431:
A child was born, Hope’s ray of light!
He will be our champion and reigning knight!
Blessed with the Sun’s fire
He will lead with mighty power.
He will bring demise to the Crescent
Take him to Sighișoara in this instant!
There he will become the Prince
Growing up among the human race.
Do as I say and you will see,
The Sun will rise again,
Follow him, our Chosen Prince,
Glory will fall upon the man.
As the fir-tree in the fall, beautiful and fruitful,
so shall the valiant, proud and valiant,
grow up, desired by all the world, clothed in greatness,
the burden of hard times will know how to bear it with strength!
Like an eagle soaring on high, his eyes will shine,
lighting the path of those who will follow him with holiness,
his heart of steel will be a shield and pavement,
overcoming every danger that will come his way.
Vlad’s mother, resigned the fate of her son, took him to Sighișoara at only three days old, where he ruled as Prince Vlad.
As Shadow befell the land, the Supreme Magician call upon the young Vlad, who, by then, had made a quite a reputation for himself: the bards sang about his bravery, kind heart, and modesty. Knowing about his notoriously clever moves, the Magician entrusted him with protecting the Garden at all cost. Interpreting the Supreme’s words, Vlad realised that the only way out of the Darkness is through an alliance between the humans and magical beings.
The bloodiest fight of the conflict happened soon after, between the Crescent Moon’s wicked hordes and the Prince’s Army. Despite the alliance, the enemy outnumbered Vlad’s forces. To save the remaining soldiers, Vlad had to take his dragon form. This way he could decimate his opponents. After scorching every scarlet soldier with the fire he bore as a blessing from the Sun, the Crescent Moon grunts ran as wounded animals fleeing the battlefield.
However, it soon became known that Vlad and the whole Dracul Nation were in fact dragons, which caused the revolt of the lords. The Scarlet Wizard put a bounty on Vlad’s head offering gold as reward. Some of the greedy lords were successful in betraying Vlad, captured him, and sent his head to the Scarlet Wizard in the capital of the Dark Empire. Even so, they could not get rid of the Dracul Nation, since Vlad’s wife and born-to-be child fled with the help of some flower ladies and fairies. The Supreme Magician, keeping his promise made before Vlad’s death, offered shelter in the Garden for the wife of the former Prince. The son of the couple has already been born within the wards of the Magical Garden inheriting his father’s sanctity.
The descendants of Vlad III, throughout generations, found home in the Garden, further carrying the Sun’s blessing in their blood, endeavouring to transmit the story of the once glorious hero to the contemporary society, since humans shadowed Vlad’s legacy with their false accusations, obscuring the truth. The Garden’s mission is to bring to light the forgotten facts for every visitor. Although the inhabitants returned to their peaceful lifestyle, the Dracul Nation is trying to clear his name until this day. The more visit the Garden, the brighter can the glory of Vlad Dracul III, the dragon blessed with the Sun’s fire, glow. This is also reinforced by Father Oak’s latest prophecy:
2024, the Dragon’s Year has come!
Worthy of the Garden’s welcome.
As the gates open, people flow inside,
And witness Vlad’s glorious times!
Twelfth year, the Year of the Awakening,
Reminder of the Dragon’s glory,
Fairies whisper it into listening ears
If you are worthy of hearing it.
The earth awaits this return,
millennial powers will be unleashed,
our ancestors are calling us, to join
the battle that the heavenly Dragon is waging.
Legendary protagonists
Father Oak
Forest Conservation Expert
High Wizard
Magical Projects Manager
Bell
Botanical Research Assistant
The First Dragon
Civil Protection Specialist
Vlad III.
Military Strategy Consultant
