Tuesday

Part One...

Dirus the dragon was the monster high on the mountains who kept the villagers of Cornville shuddering in their beds at night. His roars shook the buildings on the main street. His giant flames firing from his nostrils crackling and snapping in the stained night sky so loudly that the townsfolk had taken to wearing ear muffs after 6pm.

Every five years the village would call on heroes far and wide to come and attempt to slay the dragon; if they were to succeed their bravery would win them a life of luxury in the castle on the mountain that lay dormant as it was too close to the mouth of the dragons lair. The palatial dwelling shone in the moonlight as the marble swarm above the village- an untouchable halo.  For fifty years it lay in wait for a new master, as the village waited for its king and hero.

The Dragon battle took place every five years, on the shortest day of the year. The 21st of December was blisteringly cold, howling winds, grey dark skies- which made the sun seem like a fable the towns children read about in school. And every five years 35 men fought and failed to succeed in slaying the dragon.

One by one they met their end, and with the bones of the fallen soldiers the Dragon cleaned, shaped and moulded the bones to fit a macabre keyboard for his grand piano which stood proudly on the mossy banks of the cliff overlooking the village. He played it in triumph and mocked each soul as he laughingly tapped the bone keys he had created. For hours his music swam around the air, haunting the inhabitants of Cornville, even after he had long since finished playing.

One child, Matthew, watched from his bedroom window while the dragon taunted people with the death song for the tenth time that night and he wondered, if his father- who had fought the beast when Matthew was a baby was part of the terrible sound drowning out dreams for at least 50 miles.

He swore that some day he would fight and win. And the first thing he would do would be burn the dragons body on top of that cursed piano.

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