Lao, the first of the ghost squirrel dragon riders, and the ghost dragon Patience have flown from one end of the land and back again many times.

One day, looking over the Great Sea that rolls endlessly to the horizon, Lao gets a quizzical look …

 

“What lies beyond this?” he asks.

Patience is quiet, then replies, “Why don’t we find out?”

The ghost squirrel begins to wonder if he asked the wrong question.

Horizon to horizon there are only rolling waves and wandering storms.

Patience senses Lao’s uneasiness.

“Have I ever told you why I chose you as my rider?” she asks. “no…” he replies in a quiet voice, then, filling with curiosity, “NO! You haven’t! Will you now?!?!” Before telling the story, she asks another question, “And do you know WHY dragons need riders?” After a moment of thought, he answers, “I never considered it.” She gives him a look, then begins, “It’s not a matter of control or navigation. It’s companionship…someone to keep you grounded, to balance out that dragon urge to keep climbing until you’re one with the universe.”

“Our natural first choice was man. But men … and women … proved more susceptible to delusions of grandeur than even we were.

“None of the birds were willing to let someone else do the flying.

“Dogs and cats were too busy keeping man grounded. There was no working with the monkeys and apes.

“None of us could warm up to the wolves, coyotes or foxes. Raccoons either.

“Bears were too set in their ways. Then one day, I found you.”

“You were doing your t’ai chi high on a branch of an old oak tree.”

“Yes,” Lao replies, “It’s one of my favorite spots, overlooking the Eastern Mountains.”

“I watched you,” Patience continues, “Just watching you gave me a sense of being grounded … connected to the earth … yet, you were high in a tree.” “That’s t’ai chi,” he says. She smiles, “Yes, it is. But it’s also you. You and your kind. Ghost squirrels and ghost dragons … it makes sense, I suppose.”

“Of course it does! I have a feeling this is the beginning of something great,” he says, then something in the distance catches his eye.

“Oh! Look! Mountains!”

“Are those turtles?,” Lao asks.

“Yes. I’ve never seen anything like them,” answers Patience.

“Are they dangerous?” he asks. “I don’t know, but we should proceed cautiously,” is her reply.

“Welcome, strange ones,” rasps the turtle leader, “What brings you here?”

“We are from the Great Land to the west, and we …” Lao begins to explain.

“STOP! You are mistaken … OR you are lying … as there is NOTHING to the west except the edge of the world.”

Lao pauses, wondering how to answer this interesting response. He feels the dragon’s eyebrows furrow beneath his feet. Finally, he says, “Yesss … Yes. I am most likely mistaken about that. As to why we are here … I am Lao the ghost squirrel and this is Patience the ghost dragon, and we are simple travelers out to explore the world.”

The turtle calms a bit and replies, “Traveling without purpose seems a bit FRIVOLOUS, don’t you think?”

“Do YOU travel much?”

“EVERYTHING we need is right here in the Blessed Kingdom.”

“Don’t you visit and trade with any of your neighbors?”

“WHAT do you know of our neighbors?!?”

“We know nothing of your neighbors. Or of you. We’d enjoy visiting your kingdom to learn more,”

“but if that makes you too uncomfortable, we can simply move on. What do YOU advise?”

“Before you ‘visit’ OR ‘go’ anywhere, you must FIRST tell us the TRUTH about what you know of us and our neighbors.”

The turtles pulse with an angry red light.

In the blink of an eye Patience coils up and shoots skyward.

The turtles blast the spot once occupied by the travelers.

Finally, in a soft, sad voice, Patience says, “There are times when just getting out of the way is all you can do.”

Lao and Patience fly east at a high altitude above the Blessed Kingdom.

A telltale line of floating turtles lets them know they’re crossing the border.

Across the border, horizon to horizon, there is nothing but ashes and dust where there were once cities, farms and forests. 

The silent screams of this devastated land fill the hearts of the two travelers. Patience whispers, “Here lies the fruit of the turtles’ fear.

After a long journey over the devastated lands, the pair comes to a place with green grass, forests and farmlands.

The citizens run away in a panic.

“We should let them know we mean them no harm,” says Lao.

“Maybe,” Patience says, “and then again, maybe not.”

 “…wwwwhiiirrrrr…”

Instinctively, the ghost dragon makes another dash straight up …

… and out of the line of fire …

…disappointing several of the citizens.

“Maybe we should just go home,” says a shaken Lao.

“NO,” Patience responds emphatically, “We should continue east. I’m  curious about this.”

“But we should blend in a bit,” she says as she disguises herself as a cloud.

“Yes, this should help considerably,” Lao says approvingly.

Patience and Lao move slowly from town to town, listening and observing.

The Blessed Kingdom – the “land of the fire turtles” – is feared and hated for having destroyed the land and people east of the mountains.

The turtles claimed their neighbors were harboring terrorists. No one believes this, and now all energies are flowing into defensive … AND offensive weapons. And there is talk of revenge.

Ghost squirrel and ghost dragon share a moment of grief for these beings ruled by fear and war … then continue their journey east. They come to a large lake and prepare themselves for another crossing over a large body of water. Join them in Issue #2 as they discover The Secret of the Seven Towers!