Once upon a time, there lived a young warrior in a small quaint village in the valley of a great big mountain. Legend has it every so many years a ferocious dragon would come down from the mountain and destroy the village. The dragon lived in a cave on the mountain and protected a most valuable treasure.
Each night the young warrior would have nightmares about two dragons fighting; a good dragon and an evil one. They would battle back and forth in his nightmare and he would wake up in a cold sweat each night. Not knowing if the good or evil dragon will win.
The villagers grew anxious thinking they were due to be attacked again and thought of sacrificing a villager to appease the dragon. The young warrior shook his head in disgust at the thought of his fellow villagers sacrificing one of their own. As the talk amongst the villagers grew louder and became argumentative the young warrior had enough and said ‘I will go and slay this dragon’. The crowd grew silent, you couldn’t hear a pin drop.
Then suddenly all at once they all burst out laughing at the young warrior. Embarrassed he skulked away. As he passed an old shop keeper with his small cart full of herbs and ointments the old man spoke, ‘Young man if you are serious about slaying this dragon you’d better consult the old wizard who lives in the forest. He might be of help’
Thanking the old shop keeper and thinking that was a good idea the young warrior set out to find the Wizard of the Forest.
He followed the path out of town, down the road to where it branched off into the edge of the forest. The trees seem to almost form an archway over the path that led into the misty woods. He nervously start whistling a tune to calm his nerves.
A little while later he came upon a small humble cabin. Light was cutting through the small spaces in the trees making magical beams of light where dust twinkled and danced within it.
He politely knocked on the door and to his surprise off to his right a voice said ‘Can I help you?’. The young warrior was startled he didn’t notice the old wizard sitting in a chair on the porch. He was so still that he almost became part of the background until he spoke. He had a long white beard which he thoughtfully stroked and was dressed in a gray robe and pointed hat with a large brim.
“Ah yes” said the young warrior. “Rumor has it you can advise me on how to slay the dragon that lives up in the mountain”.
“Hmm.” said the old wizard as he blew out a perfect smoke ring from his long thin pipe. “Why would you want to pick a fight with a dragon?’ asked the wizard.
‘Well’ said the young warrior. “Legend has it that every so many years the dragon comes down out of its cave and destroys the village.”
“Why don’t the villagers move?” asked the wizard.
“Move! They don’t want to!” said the surprised young warrior.
“Well I guess I can teach you a few spells that can help you. First let’s have some tea.” said the wizard.
“Tea! Why?” said the young warrior.
“Because I’m thirsty.” chuckled the old wizard.
So, inside the old cabin they went. Full old books, scrolls, potions pretty much what you’d expect in an old wizards cabin. It smelled of herbs and roots. There was an comfortable old bed and a small table with two chairs near a small fireplace that just so happened to be boiling a pot of tea hanging on a hook above the fire.
The old wizard poured his guest a cup of tea. The young warrior patiently waited for the wizard to pour himself one thinking this was some sort of test. When the old wizard filled his own cup the young warrior lifted his and began to take a sip when suddenly the old wizards walking stick flashed out and knocked the cup from the young warriors hand.
“What the heck!” exclaimed the young warrior angered by all the tea he was now wearing. The old wizard said “Why did you spill the tea?” Incredulous the young warrior angrily exclaimed ‘Because you knocked the cup out of my hand!”
“Wrong answer.” said the wizard. “You spilled tea because TEA was in your cup.”
“That’s pretty obvious!” exclaimed the young warrior.
“If you had mead in your cup you would have spilled that too” As the wizard lifted his bushy white eyebrows and sipped his own tea.
“Your wisdom knows no bounds” mocked the young warrior with a snort.
“What I mean..” patiently spoke the wizard, “was whatever is in your cup will spill out. Therefore whatever is INSIDE you..” as he tapped the young warrior on the forehead with his staff. “will spill out too. See life will shake you and whatever is inside you will come out. Many fake it but when they get rattled it always comes out.”
“So anger just came out of you. What do you think will come out when you face the dragon? Fear, Anger, Despair?”
“You need to fill your cup with the qualities you will need on your quest”
The young warrior was gobsmacked and sat speechless. The old wizard was right.
“So how do we begin?” the young warrior said softly. Embarrassed by his loss of self control.
“With the first spell of course.” said the wizard. Who then waved his hand with a magical gesture and an old spell book appeared on the table.
