A New Beginning…
Musa Khan
This tale I am about to engulf you with is no ordinary tale…it is a tale that will divulge to you the truth about Nogard’s life. Nogard was a conventional boy until the day he was abandoned by all his kinfolk. (Now, why he was abandoned is another story of which I may write another day). Wandering about all alone in his murky, but peaceful, dwelling he came across a scrap of parchment one day which read:
Hail Nogard the dragon hoard,
The living boy,
Join me on board,
When the night is right,
At ends Lord,
Drolas…
Nogard was a clever lad who actually paid attention at school, and soon figured out the gist of the riddle; the first sentence he did not know nor the third but the second, fourth, fifth and sixth all simply meant that he was all alone in the world, ‘the right night’ was at full moon and ‘Drolas’ he decoded to mean Salord backwards, a famous place.
He set off for Salord the following day and took with him a sword of his father’s, for he would have to venture through an enchanted forest. Nogard dozed off after a time under a hollow tree. When he awoke he was unarmed. He was most confused by this but, unfortunately, had to continue this way through the forest.
After a while he discovered that not far off there lay a dragon deep asleep with his sword under its belly!
Nogard accidently awoke it (by violently sneezing) but was surprised that the dragon was not provoked. Instead, it began to speak… ‘Nogard, I have been waiting a long time for your visit, but now that you are here let me tell you this. It is quite a deadly path from this point on so deep in the wood; werewolves and giants and all sorts lurk here and they are not so easy for a man such as young as yourself to deal with. It would not be wise to carry on unless you would want to risk your life.’
‘Where am I?’ asked Nogard
‘No time to tell now but did you decode my letter?’
‘Yes,’ replied Nogard.
‘Thought you would but did you realise that your name Nogard is actually Dragon spelt backwards?’ ‘That is why you did not anger me when I awoke. You are a descendant of dragons!! But enough of this chat. Let me show you the real world Nogard; the world where you belong. You belong to us, in the world of dragons,’ and with a WOOSH of his wing, the scene automatically transformed into a brightly coloured area full of greenery; like a picture from a story book. However, this was no story and Nogard knew that deep inside him as they flew off together into the distance!