“Time for the final ingredient.” stated the wizard.
Excited the young warrior asked “What is it?”
“By now you’ve come to realize that the ingredients of the Dragon Slaying Spell are in alphabetical order.” said the wizard.
“Yes, I noticed.” replied the young warrior. “So next is ‘G’ what does that stand for?” he asked.
“A couple of things. First what is your goal?” asked the wizard.
“To slay the dragon and save the village.” said the young warrior matter of factly.
“And then?” followed the wizard.
“Hmm… I didn’t think past that step.” said the young warrior.
“See..” said the wizard. “we need to always keep the big picture or Great Goal in mind.”
“Ah, there’s a couple of ‘G’s” pointed out the young warrior.
“Yup.” nodded the wizard. “The Great goal is what we are meant to be. Our calling. What we are destined to do. You’re destined for bigger things than slaying dragons.” said the wizard with authority.
“You see the Great goal is always made up of smaller steps along the way.” the wizard continued.
“Smaller goals.” observed the young warrior.
“Yes.” agreed the wizard. “Small steps might not seem like much but many drops or water make an ocean. That’s why we built off the previous steps like discipline. You need that key ingredient to make this work and reach your goal.”
“What do you think my Great Goal is?” asked the young warrior.
“Ahh.. Where would the fun be if I told you that. It’s not just about the destination but about the journey. You learn along the way and the journey changes you. So you’ll have to figure that out on your own. No shortcuts. Don’t confuse a more effective way of doing things with a shortcut. Shortcuts are temptations, doing things more efficiently is just often smarter.”
Without realizing it they were walking for awhile. The wizard then said ‘Here we are.”
The young warrior just realized they walked all the way to the mouth of the Dragons cave.
“Wait! What? I’m not ready.” said the young warrior.
“That’s the fear dragon speaking.” pointed out the wizard.
“You must slay your inner dragons before you can deal with the real ones.” The wizard then entered the cave.
The darkness of the caves mouth soon engulfed him. It was dead silence for what seemed an eternity. Then he heard the wizards voice boom from within the cave “Begone Dragon from whence you came. Return to the source!” he then heard a mighty roar and electrical sound like bolts of lightening he assumed came from the wizard. Then suddenly the mouth of the cave burst into flame and the singed burnt wizards hat came rolling out of the mouth of the cave.
He felt despair. His heart sank. Although the wizard was only his mentor for such a short time he felt like he knew him forever. “Old man!” he cried out. ‘Wizard!” once again.
Just silence and the breathing of what must be the dragon.
The young warrior felt rage begin to boil in his chest. He pulled out his sword and let our a war cry running into the mouth of the cave.
The cave was cold and damp. He tried to sense where the dragon was when suddenly a burst of flame fired toward him. He barely moved out of the way when a second stream of fire singed his cape and lit it afire. Taking it off he quickly wrapped it around his sword as a makeshift torch.
The cave was full of shadows. He thought he could make out the outline of a huge dragon towering in front of him.
“You killed my friend dragon prepare to die!” said the young warrior through clenched teeth. Another volley of fire came from the head of the outline of the great beast this one stronger than the last.
Doubt began to creep in the young warriors mind. “If a mighty and wise wizard could not defeat the dragon what chance do I have?” he thought. Another blast of fire even stronger.
The young warrior then remembered what the old wizard taught him. Doubt, fear, anger they are all inner dragons. He became aware of his feelings. He took a deep breath and centered himself. He moved forward not with fear but with a centered resolve. Everything has strengths and weaknesses he remember the old man moving the giant bolder. His fear was gone and replaced by a confident resolve.
Each step he took toward the huge dragon echoed in the chamber. He did not allow fear creep in. Dodging fireballs. He stayed focused and centered and his courage grew with each step.
Then he realized the fire stopped. He got to what he thought was the dragon and it was nothing but a big oddly shaped stone. Atop it sat the wizard straddling what he imagined would be the head of the dragon.
“You did it!” smiled the wizard.
“Did what? There is no dragon.” said the confused young warrior.
“Never was.” said the old wizard smuggly.
“But the fire.” questioned the young warrior.
The old wizards hand started to glow and he threw a fireball at the feet of the young warrior whom dodged away with a yelp.
“The roars?” questioned the young warrior.
“Caves got some echo” the wizard said then he let out a roar.
The young warrior looked confused.
“You slayed YOUR inner dragon.” congratulated the wizard.
“You felt despair, fear, anger and doubt. But you centered yourself and overcame your inner negative emotional dragons. You showed courage and wisdom.” said the wizard proudly.
“But where is the real dragon?” asked the still confused young warrior.
“Ah. That was just a rumor started by a bunch of afraid townsfolk. I’ve lived 125 years and never saw one around here.” dismissed the wizard.
“But I thought you were dead.” the young warrior said as he choked back his emotions.
“I know.” the wizard said gently. “Sometimes getting to the next level is easy but sometimes it’s painful too. It was the only way to get you to break through. In time.”
“But on the bright side. I’m still here and you now know how to slay dragons!” said the wizard proudly as he swung his feet around the rock he was straddling and hopped down dusting himself off.
They walked back to the cabin in silence. The young warrior still trying to sort out his feelings and absorb everything that happened. Then the old wizard started to poorly whistle that tune the young warrior taught him the other day. They young warrior looked over at the old wizard who was staring straight ahead then turned to look at him and wiggled his bushy white eye brows, winked and smiled and continued to practice his whistling.
A couple hours later the sun began to set and they got back to the cabin. The old wizard stopped on the path to the cabin and put his hand on the young warriors shoulder. With a low almost sad tone he gently said “Listen kiddo, I’m sorry that you had to learn that the hard way. My time is over here and the source is calling me away. I’ve known this for a while. I was ready to leave but then you came along. I didn’t have enough time to teach you any other way.” He paused then said “I want you to have my cabin. It’s yours now.”
The young warrior got that pang of sadness in his heart again and lowered his eyes to the ground below.
“Don’t be sad. Well see each other again. We are two drops of water from the same source.” The old wizard let that sink in and continued “Take good care of Betty the broom. Remember she loves to dance. The spell book will continue to teach you when you need it. And there are more lessons to learn.” The old wizard lifted the young warriors chin.
Then the young warrior suddenly hugged the old wizard. No more words were needed.
The old wizard said “When you need me just close your eyes and remember.” and he gently put his finger to the young warriors forehead once last time and when the young warrior opened his eyes the old wizard was gone.