Turandot

There once was a Kingdom, deep within the domain of Light, which was a land of plenty. The trees bore fruit all year round, the fields were abundant with game, the forests scuttled with plump insects and the rivers overflowed with lazy, bright-scaled fish. Despite this, however, the residents of the Kingdom were unhappy, for they had to live under the rule of a most cruel and tyrannical King.



The King was a prideful and greedy dragon, who longed to hoard all that was valuable and gorgeous. He believed himself the most beautiful being in the world, declaring that it granted him the right to rule over all. And so, he took every trinket and glittering coin from his people, and stripped their lairs of all art, even tearing painted bricks from their walls and sealing them all away in his castle. And so the dragons of his Kingdom were left with empty, squalid dens, and were forced to trade amongst each other with rough rocks and bones, cutting them off from all merchants outside the Kingdom. The King's guard, blindly loyal, carried out his every word and regularly burst into the homes of unexpecting citizens, punishing any who would dare to oppose the King, both in action and in word.



This was not, however, the most horrible of the King's decrees. Each year he would hold a contest to see which of the Kingdom's dragonesses were the most beautiful. All of them would be corralled onto the plaza before the castle, where the King would make two choices. The second most beautiful he would take as his wife. No one yearned for this prize, however, for the king always grew quickly bored of his wives and would exile, or worse yet - execute, his bethrothed after only a year, just in time for the next contest. The first most beautiful would face an ever worse fate. The King, in his jealousy, would order the winner stripped of her scales, feathers and manes, for no one could be more beautiful than him.



And so, every year, when the time of the contest came, the streets of the Kingdom would be filled with cries of anguish as wives, daughters and sisters were wrenched from their homes by the King's soldiers and forced onto the castle plaza. Some caked their scales with dirt and grime, cut their manes and blunted their horns to dissuade the king from picking them. One year, however, something unexpected happened. One of the contestants, a poor grub farmer's daughter, showed up with her black scales finely polished, her horns and claws sharp and her golden eyes full of confidence. Everyone who saw her whispered in hushed terror. Had she gone mad? Was she sacrificing herself to save a loved one from the fate of being picked by the King? But there was no time for questions as all dragonesses were lined up, and the King was already walking along, regarding each and every one with his cold gaze.



Finally, he finished his patrol and stood upon the stairs leading to the castle. He first pointed at a dragoness whose disguise of dirt had been washed off on her way to the plaza, revealing glittering, golden feathers underneath. She cried out in anguish and tried to fight for her freedom, but five of the King's soldiers leapt upon her, holding down her limbs until she tired of the struggle and was brutally dragged off into the castle. After that, the King paused for a moment, and all eyes turned to the beautiful ridgeback with the polished black scales, who still stood proud and confident among the crowd, her neck stretched out tall. The King's face first showed admiration, then jealousy, then finally rage as it dawned on him that his beauty was matched by this strange dragoness. He pointed his gold-tipped claw at her and shouted at the top of his lungs, ordering his men to execute this one. But as he did so, the ridgeback spread her black wings, revealing a surface so sleek, shiny and polished, that it reflected all light upon itself like a mirror.



The guards, thoughtless in their loyalty, saw the King's visage reflected in her wings. So clear was the reflection, that they turned and descended upon him, thinking he ordered himself executed. As they tore into him, clarity started returning to their eyes, the King's evil spell lifting from them. And as the cruel monarch breathed his last, the citizens began shouting out in relief and happiness, praising the clever ridgeback who saved them from his tyrannical rule. Turandot, for that was her name, lead them all to the castle, where they broke the vaults and took back their gold, trinkets and all manner of art. They all returned home to their overjoyed families, carrying their lost wealth. They soon began buidling their lairs up again, and in every home there was a depiction of a ridgeback with scales black as night, reflecting all the beauty in the world, returning it to those that most deserved it - everyone.



As for Turandot, she returned to her father and brother, bringing them a stash of gold, and bidding them farewell. She set out into the world, along with the second dragoness which had been picked that day, seeking kingdoms, towns and hamlets governed by cruel monarchs, helping them all break free from their tyrannical rule. She became known as Turandot, the Black Mirror, which reflected all the beauty in the world worth protecting and setting free.

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