Myth and legend

Prologue






Phobia:(fo-be-e)n.(Gk -phobia, fr. phobos fear) An unreasonable persistent fear of a particular thing.





The note burned in her hand swiftly and thoroughly, Reducing the paper to ash in seconds. Alex was such a jerk. He found it entertaining to leave notes like this one in her locker. She wasn't amused.
Blowing the ash off her palm, Chelsea stood up. Her rear was numb from sitting on the bench for so long. Walking down the path, kicking at the leaves strewn across it, she headed home.
Lost in thought, Chelsea was startled to hear a separate set of footsteps behind her. Turning, she spotted a girl older than her slowly making her way along the same path. Chelsea smiled. It was Emma, her friend. She seemed to be as lost in thought as Chelsea had been. She didn't even notice the bench she was headed toward. She ran into it painfully and fell over, not really caring that she'd bruised her shins.
Chelsea turned and walked the rest of the way toward the fifteen -year old girl and knelt beside her. “Are you all right?” she asked.
“I'm fine,” Emma said quietly. “I really don't want to talk right now, Chelsea.” She seemed really upset over something. “My problems don't concern a fire-lady,” she added.
“Maybe I want to know why you are snarling at me.” Chelsea replied. “After all, I'm not the one being rude.”
“You'd be upset too if you found out that you were a Storm-maker.” Chelsea was startled, then nodded to herself. Storm-maker's were rare. They were also known to have nasty tempers, which made people fear them. Chelsea also knew that it didn't run in the Emma's family. Her mother had been a mid-witch(a mage that deals with healing others). Emma's father had been a metal-smith.
“I've been there,” Chelsea murmured. “My family are all water sprites or ice-mages. Where does a fire-lady fit in?” Emma looked up at her.
“But you're not a storm-maker!” she cried. “People never have anything good to say about them!”
“Emma, you're almost sixteen. What is such a big deal about what others think?” Chelsea stated, exasperated.
“Who are you to tell me I shouldn't worry?” Emma snapped. “Just because you think being a fire-lady is so fun, little miss thirteen-year old.”
“Heavens! You're in a nasty mood. You've been all over the world with your parents before they died. I've never been anywhere but Touslebrook.” Chelsea shrugged. “You shouldn't complain is all I meant. Sheesh! Charles hasn't even got his magic yet.”
“What's that?” Emma said, pointing to the bench that Chelsea had been sitting on. There was a large dark blue book lying on it. Chelsea jumped for the bench.
“I found it in the library two weeks ago. The librarian said it didn't belong to the library and nobody claimed it from the lost and found, so it's mine now,” she explained, coming back. “I completely forgot about it. Alex left another annoying note in my locker again.” She held it out to Emma.
Emma took it and glanced at the spine. “Myth and Legend: A Guide to Fantasy” it read. “There's no author. Why is that?” Emma mused.
“I don't know. I haven't had a chance to read it yet.” Chelsea shrugged and took the book back.
“Hey! Chelsea! Emma! Over here!” Chelsea and Emma jerked around toward the shout. Across the street, waving frantically at the girls, was Chelsea's younger brother, Charles. Standing next to him, looking relieved, was Emma's guardian, Griffon.
“Hay is for horses, straw is cheaper, grass is free, buy a farm and you'll get all three,” Chelsea called back. Charles glared at her as he and Griffon crossed the street to join them.
“Emma, you had me worried. I couldn't find you or Chelsea.” Griffon said. “We should be getting home. Chelsea, your parents want you home by dark.”
“Fire-lady or not, you're still only my older sister,” Charles muttered at Chelsea. She smiled in reply.
















Chapter one



Arachnophobia:( ). Fear of spiders


“I have to find a bathroom,” Charles whined as they stopped in a clearing, panting.
“We're in the middle of a forest being chased by trolls, and you're worried about finding a bathroom?!” Griffon cried. He swung his arm at the undergrowth. “Use a tree for heavens sake!”
“WHAT?! And get eaten by man-eater insects or something?” Charles yelled.
With a thud, an angry, giant brown/black spider landed behind Griffon. It ran toward them hungrily.
“SEE?” Charles shouted as they took off running again.
“Giant spiders are not insects!” Chelsea called.
“They count as insects!” Charles retorted.
“They count as arachnids! Not insects!” Chelsea shot back.
“We're being chased by a giant, hungry, angry spider and they're arguing about whether or not a spider counts as an insect?” Emma commented to Griffon.
“It sounds pointless to me,” Griffon replied.
“Spiders are bugs!”
“Spiders are not insects!”
“Yes they are! They're bugs!”
“Are not!”
`Emma and Griffon rolled their eyes as they ran deeper into the trees.
. . . .
“I hope you're happy, Griffon,” Charles growled. “I TOLD you I needed to go.”
“It's your own fault, not mine,” Griffon stretched. “If you hadn't knocked that boulder on to the troll's heads, they wouldn't have awakened and chased us. And you annoyed that spider that chased us.”
“If Chelsea had been nicer, those vampires wouldn't have got us here in the first place.” Charles grumbled.
“I had nothing to do with the vampires capturing us, and you know it, Charles,” Chelsea called from the entrance to the cave where they were hiding. “I think we're safe for the night,” she added as she came back to join them at the fire.
“It has been a very interesting night, hasn't it?” Emma was poking at the logs in the fire with a stick. “First, vampires capture us and drop us in the forest; Devil knows why, then we get lost running from them; Charles doesn't watch where he is going and knocks a boulder onto some sleeping trolls; then the vampires show up again and start arguing with the trolls; half the trolls chase us even deeper in the woods; Charles annoys a giant, hungry spider, which chases us even farther; and now we're stuck in a cave hoping that's it for now. Not a normal night by any standards.”
“Yeah.” Charles lay down on the cave floor. “I still think the spider is a big bug.” He shifted around, trying to get comfortable. “And I hope nothing bothers us till morning, because I want some sleep.”
Nobody argued with that.

























Chapter two


Myth:('mith)n.(Gk mythos) A usu. legendary narrative that presents part of the beliefs of a people or explains a practice, belief, or natural phenomenon/ Parable allegory/ A person or thing having only an imaginary existence(the griffon is a myth)/ A belief that supports the practices and institutions of a group and is held uncritically by it's members(a myth of racial superiority)/a belief concerning a visionary ideal(the myth of a classless society)/the whole body of myths.


“Hey! What's this doing here?!” Chelsea's cry woke everyone up.
“Sis, what're you up to now? I'm trying to sleep!” Charles groaned. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “What is what doing here?” Chelsea scooted over to him.
“This. I could have sworn I lost it in the forest. How did it get here?” Charles looked at the book she was holding out. He took it.
“'Myth and Legend: a guide to Fantasy.'” He read off the cover. “Weird title. What's a guide?”
“It means it tells you about mythical and legendary beasts used commonly in fantasy.” Griffon said, and groaned from his spot on the ground.
“Cool. Hmmmm....Let's see... Aha! Vampires.” Charles said, opening the book and scanning the table of contents. Chelsea leaned over his shoulder as he turned to the page listed. At the top of the page there was a drawing of a coffin with the lid lifting up. A hand groped through the crack.
The page read:

Vampires

Definition: (vam-pir)n. In folklore and popular superstition, a corpse that becomes reanimated and leaves its grave at night to suck the blood of sleeping persons.

The legend of vampires is believed to have begun with Count Vlad Dracula(Dracula: son of the dragon) who was eventually murdered by Jonathon Harker, his wife, Mina, and several others. (see Dracula) Count Dracula is said to have made a pact with the devil in order to remain alive after he was first murdered. This granted him immortal life, but it had to be sustained by drinking the blood of others.
Vampires cannot withstand daylight. The sun is repulsed by them and they can die by it's light if they remain in it too long. They also cannot feed upon their own, so to share the blood of a vampire is to be protected from them, but it also means that whoever does also becomes a vampire. This method is therefore not advised.
Vampires despise Garlic although the exact reason is unknown(some believe that garlic is a holy plant-this would explain why). They will avoid it after catching the smallest whiff of it. A wooden or silver stake through their hearts will end their undead lives.
As the undead are evil, holy water, a crucifix, or any blessed object will be an effective guard against them. As before mentioned, garlic will work just as well if such holy objects are unavailable.(be forewarned-a crucifix will not kill a vampire-do not attempt to do so).




“Cool.” Charles said. He turned back to the table of contents. “Hey, I wonder if....hmm...yes, trolls!” He flipped to the page. Griffon and Emma, now interested, had joined them. There was a sketch of a troll bearing an over sized club.
It read:

Trolls

Definition:(trol)vt. any of a race of supernatural beings, variously conceived of as giants or dwarfs, living underground or in caves.

As Trolls are generally not very smart, (this is believed to have come from generations of trolls hitting each other on the head with rocks or logs) it is relatively easy to escape from one. While trolls are easily angered, they are also easily distracted.
If when encountering a sleeping troll, however, the troll is woken up, it is much harder to get away, as a grouchy troll will not appreciate being woken up, and thus having done so, whoever is believed(whether or not they did) to have done so, the troll will decide what horrible punishment will suffice for the offense and then attempt to capture the offender and deliver it. It is very difficult to distract a grouchy troll.
Trolls have very sensitive noses, so aiming for a troll's nose may succeed in distracting it. Unfortunately, if one does not escape notice quickly enough, the injured troll may become as determined as a grouchy troll(not advised for already grouchy trolls-this will only further aggravate them). So this method of distracting a troll is not advised unless the situation is desperate.(and one has a decent head start towards cover-do not attempt if in any way hampered).

“No wonder the trolls were so mad!” Emma remarked. “Nobody likes having a rock dropped on their heads while their trying to sleep.”she nudged Charles. “See if there's anything on giant spiders.” He flipped back to the table of contents.
“Giant spiders....Giant spiders,” He muttered, running his finger down the list.
“There! Right under Giants,” Chelsea pointed.
“Probably alphabetized,” Griffon pointed out as Charles started flipping pages again. Chelsea glared at him.
“Here it is, Giant spiders.”
There was a crude but detailed picture of a spider followed by the heading:

Giant Spiders


Definition: ('ji-ent 'spid-er) n.

While one may be familiar with regular spiders, giant spiders range from two feet in height to as much as ten feet.(whereas regular spiders vary from one centimeter to two/four inches). Their enormous size makes them extremely hungry and they will seek anything from rabbits and small monkeys to small elephants and humans.
Despite their appearance, Giant spiders do not eat their prey. As with regular spiders, they instead capture their prey live and drink its blood. Scavengers will follow a Giant Spider to devour the discarded bodies of victims.
Giant spiders fear one thing most of all. Large amounts of water, especially rapidly moving water, such as in rivers. This is a very effective means of escaping giant spiders, as they will not cross them.(be advised, it needs to be a large deep river or the spider will try to cross).
If a river or large body of water is not available, thick forests will prevent the spider from moving as quickly or following at all.(do not fear, because giant spiders live in forests so there will be one or both nearby).

“That's why the spider didn't follow us across the river!” Emma exclaimed. “Its afraid of running water!”
“Hey, Chelsea are you okay?” Charles peered at her. “Whats wrong?” She was looking behind them, her face white. He followed her gazed and froze. “Um, I think we need to leave.” Griffon glanced back, blanched, grabbed Emma's arm, then Charles's and ran out of the cave, Chelsea right behind them.
“What is it?” Emma yelled as she ran.
“It's a-”Chelsea began when a roar interrupted her.
“DRAGON!” Charles screamed as a twenty foot green and black dragon stormed out of the cave. “What next, dwarves?!”
The furious creature watched them run for a second, then lept into the air after them. Before they could reach the safety of the trees, the dragon cut them off, landing right in front of them-almost on top of them.
“So ready to leave, trespassers?” It hissed in a gravely voice. “But you must stay. After all, you forgot your fascinating book.” It reached out one of it's four clawed feet and grabbed Chelsea. “Lets see how well you burn, shall we?” It blew a long stream of fire at her while she struggled in it's grip. To the dragon's surprise, it parted to either side, not touching her. “Oho, I've caught a fire-lady, hmm? How would you like to cool off?” It took a deep breath, and prepared to spit ice at her.
“Leave my sister alone!” Charles yelled, pulling free of Griffon and running at the dragon. Everyone started shouting at him.
“Charles, get back here!”
“Get back bro, you don't have your power yet!”
“Foolish boy, how do you hope to stop me?”
“Stay back, you idiot!”




















Chapter 3


Legend:('lej-end)n.(ML legenda, fr. L, fem. of legendus to be read,fr. legere to read.) a story coming down from the past and popularly regarded as historical although not verifiable/ a popular myth of recent origin/ a person or thing that inspires legends/ an inscription or title on an object/ CAPTION / an explanatory list of the symbols on a map or chart.

“I think he's waking up.”
“Really? Charles, Charles can you hear me?”
“Back up, don't crowd him. He's never done that before.”
“I've never seen one that powerful before.”
“No kidding, that was huge!”
“Well, at least we know what he can do now. Kinda useful, don't you think?”
“Kinda scary you mean. He doesn't have a lot of control right now. We need to be extra careful.”
Done what? Charles thought, trying to get through the fog in his mind. Control over what? He struggled to open his eyes. Powerful? He tried to focus on the blur in front of him. I don't get it... Chelsea's worried face came into view.
“He's awake!” she cried. She leaned closer. “How are you feeling, Bro?”
“What happened?”
Emma's face joined Chelsea's. “Don't you remember?”
“Where am I?” He started to sit up, but Griffon's hand settled on his shoulder and pushed him back down.
“Take it easy, Charles. You'll be a bit disoriented for a while. It was your first time doing that after all.”
“First time doing what?”
All three of them looked up at each other. “he really doesn't remember.” Emma whispered.
“Well, I can't say I blame him. After all, that was a surprise for him as well.”
“Will someone please tell me whats going on?”
Griffon and Emma pointed at Chelsea. “You're his sister, you should tell him.” They chorused. She gave both of them a dirty look.
“I was being held by that stupid dragon, I didn't see it very well.” She retorted. “One of you should.”
“Fine,I'll tell him, you scaredy cats.” Emma decided.”But you owe me. I don't want to do this.”She turned to Charles. “You cast an illusion of a bigger dragon and used it to scare the one holding Chelsea.”
“You're kidding right?” He sat up. “I don't have my power yet.”
“Didn't.” Chelsea replied. “Although I will admit, it is unusual. I guess it looked like a dragon he'd had a bad encounter with, because he(like a big coward) dropped me and ran. You released the illusion and collapsed.”
“Is that why my head's all fuzzy?”
“Well, you did strain yourself, after all, and that is a rare gift. You're good at it though.” Griffon mused. “You should feel better in a few days.”
“Okay, one last question.”
“Fire away.”
“Where are we?”
They were startled for a second, then they all began to laugh.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
As he found out rather quickly, they had pulled him back into the dragon's cave until he woke up. The dragon had disappeared(rather quickly, in fact) so they had decided that it was available for the time being.
The choice might have been better, if the dragon hadn't come back to see if his
foe was gone.
“So, little trespassers, you try to steal my cave after scaring me away. Well, I shall have to do something about this.” It hissed at them, furious.
Charles, despite his aching head, confronted the dragon. “So you will admit to being a scaredy-cat. I never would have guessed that a dragon would be such a coward.”
“I am no coward, boy!” It replied. “I simply do not compete with fellow dragons.”
“Seems to me that you're scared of them. You ran away from my illusion pretty fast. Is that your definition of not competing with your fellow dragons?”
“So, it was illusion, yes? Well, then. Yes, that is how I put it.”
Griffon stood behind Charles. He cocked his head, considering the dragon. Then he turned to Charles. “It would be just our luck, wouldn't it, to run into a cowardly dragon?”
“I am no coward!”
“Yes, it would. Huh.” Charles turned to Chelsea and Emma. “Don't you think?”
They nodded, watching the dragon. It roared, furious. Griffon grinned. “Say, I have an idea. What if you come with us, and we'll help you get over your fear?”
The dragon stopped roaring and stared at them, mouth open. It was rather amusing to see. Charles suppressed a giggle.
“Wh-what? I'm a dragon. I can't be seen with humans. If anyone saw me, I'd be banished, rejected, or whatever you call it.” It sounded desperate. “I'd never be able to be seen as a respectable dragon.”
Charles glanced at Griffon, confused. “I don't get it.”
“You mean to say, if another dragon saw you with us, by their rules, you are no longer a dragon?” Griffon quired.
“Oh, no! Nothing that extreme. But I'll never be able to hold my head up in council if they found out. It's frowned upon.”
Chelsea spoke up. “So, you're saying it would be humiliating.”
“Of course! Dragons should not be affiliated with humans. They are so small and helpless.”
Emma looked at Charles. “That logic sounds extremely stupid. Especially coming from a dragon thats afraid of illusions.”
“I'm not afraid of illusions!”
“It sure looked like it, the way you turned tail and ran.” Charles stated.
“It looked like..” the dragon squirmed. “It looked like Griptail. He's really mean to me.”
Charles tipped his head to one side. “How old are you, anyway?”
“That's none of your business! My age is irrelevant to this conversation.”
“He's got a short temper, for a coward.” Emma observed.
“I'm not a coward!” It sounded like a whine.
“Well, if you weren't, you wouldn't be talking with humans, would you?” Charles pointed out.
The dragon looked ashamed. “I'm only half a century old. The others pick on me all the time.”
“For being young, afraid, or inexperienced?” Chelsea wondered.
“For all three, most of the time. I don't like picking fights....alright, I am a coward. Don't rub it in.”
“Who's rubbing it in? We're just making an observation.” Griffon yawned. “So, do you want to come or not?”
“Alright, alright, but I'm not a bodyguard, okay?” It sighed.
“What's you're name?” Charles quired.
The dragon hunched it's shoulders. “Promise you won't laugh?” It pleaded.
They glanced at each other and nodded. “Yes,” Emma replied.
“It's...Moonlight.”
“What does moonlight have to do with your name?” Chelsea asked, confused.
“It is my name! You promised! You promised!”
“We're not laughing.” They weren't.











Chapter four?

Fable (fa-bel)n(MF, fr. L fabula conversation, story, fr. fari to speak) a fictitious narrative or statement; as/ a legendary story of supernatural happenings/ a narration intended to teach a lesson; esp/one in which animals speak and act like human beings/falsehood/ lie.


Moonlight had excellent suggestions for helping Charles master his illusions. As they made their way through the less dense part of the forest Charles began to do more complex illusions, such as groups or large creatures(Dragons or giant spiders for example).
Griffon became increasingly edgy. His nervousness translated to Emma, who also became more alert as they pressed on. Charles and Moonlight were oblivious, but Chelsea caught his nervousness as well.
“Is it just me, or is someone following us?” She whispered. Charles heard, and fell silent, followed by Moonlight.
They stopped, listening. The trees to their right rustled, then parted to reveal
a pair of ogres, full grown at well over two stories high. One carried a club, the other, a recently uprooted tree. Upon sighting Moonlight, they roared in a way that sounded like mocking laughter.
“The fearful Moonlight! Cowardly Dragon! The one who will not fight those equal or greater than he!” They exclaimed. “With humans no less! He turns to the mortals for protection!” Moonlight shrank back, as if ashamed. Chelsea gave him a considering look, then stepped between him and the still roaring ogres.
“Hey, don't make fun of our friend! Especially when you're so cowardly that you need to travel in pairs in order to feel brave against a single dragon.” She mocked.