A Tale of Two Tragedies Read online

A TALE OF TWO TRAGEDIES

  KEVIN HOFSAS

  MmWp

  Copyright © 2011 by Kevin Hofsas

  MmWp

  Mark My Words Publishing

  Post Office Box 771

  Strasburg, CO 80136

  www.MarkMyWordsPublishing.com

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, whether electronic, mechanical, photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in articles or reviews.

  All scripture quotations in this book are from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)

  A Tale of Two Tragedies

  It wasn’t often that dragons and angels got to commune. As a matter of fact, it was so rare, it hadn’t actually happened before. That could be chalked up to what some might call, ‘red-tape.’ If one could overlook the fact the delay had been, for all intents and purposes, interminable, one might even say things were coming along fine. Of course another way to see it would be to treat the occasion as a privileged and sacred event to be cherished as long as possible. Which is exactly what the angel and dragon were doing.

  “I offer my condolences for your mate, Ackseekcelong-Sayessa,” Hannah said.

  —Thank you, Hannah. Though this is twice that Teleannie-Teleena has been mentioned without once speaking of the loss surrounding her.

  Contemplating the dragon’s comment, a cloud seemed to cover and dim the brilliance of Hannah’s countenance. When it passed, it was obvious that beneath her beauty lay a number of years that surpassed even a dragon’s age. “Please tell me what happened.”

  The golden hued dream-sphere, motionless in the ethereal pocket of safety the angel kept about her paused in remembrance. When he spoke, it was with sorrow.

  —There really isn’t any good reason for it to have happened.

  A tone of somberness saturated the pair. When Hannah spoke, it was very soft.

  “I assume you’re saying it could have been avoided?”

  As if Ace were nodding, a moment elapsed before he went on. —We think it could have, though that doesn’t describe the trickery that was involved. When Teleannie-Teleena was slain, she was ambushed.

  Shocked, Hannah said, “Didn’t she know violent men roamed the earth?”

  Again it seemed as if Ace had nodded. —She knew, well enough. But the group of people she tutored didn’t know deadly machines had been hidden to ambush her. They gathered in their weekly spot without knowing the peril they would draw her into.

  “Who did it?”

  A moment elapsed before Ace could reply, —Those who obeyed the false religion that arose after the flood.

  “Baal.”

  —That was one of them. Those she tutored, she tutored in the way of the Lord.

  “Because you had lived before the flood.” It was more statement than question.

  As if reliving memories from those days, Ace lingered before answering.

  —Exactly. The religious leaders felt threatened by those relearning the old truths. So they prepared a trap.

  “Couldn’t Teleannie-Teleena detect their thoughts and avoid them?”

  As if the question wrung his heart, Ace labored to answer. —The trap functioned automatically. The humans call it a booby trap. They weren’t even there when they killed her.

  Grieving with him, Hannah said, “Again I offer my condolences.”

  —Thank you, Hannah. It is felt and appreciated. I only wish we had immediately gone into the overlap after Teleannie-Teleena died.

  “Because of the other deaths?”

  Pained by the answer, Ace said, —Of course.

  Empathy flowed from the angel. It was easy to see she didn’t enjoy drawing the answers out of him. “Who else died, Ackseekcelong-Sayessa?”

  As if the dragon took a deep breath, a pause transpired. When he spoke, he was distant and resigned.

  —Phillylanor-Falonday was ambushed not one month after Teleannie-Teleena, and then couldn’t go on.

  “Oh my friend, I am so sorry.” Hannah reached over her hand and rested it upon the dream-sphere. She stood there lending her compassion for an extended amount of time.

  The dragon was in a deep a state of mourning. But after a while, as the mood of the dragon lifted from those terrible depths, she was willing to ask, “How did it happen?”

  Mustering his strength, Ace was able to say, —Those that sought truth were persecuted. She tried to help them escape—to rescue some of them . . .

  Again he couldn’t continue. It was easy to imagine he’d be crying if he were human. Patiently Hannah supported Ace as he grieved. Eventually he continued explaining what had happened.

  —Phillylanor-Falonday thought nothing of herself and dove into the storm of arrows the heathen were killing the believers with. She thought the arrows wouldn’t hurt her, because they were so small. But this too was a trick. The small arrows were meant to look harmless to a dragon. Too late, she learned she was poisoned.

  Quietness and sorrow settled over them as Hannah tearfully shared Ace’s grief. Again she said, “Ackseekcelong-Sayessa, I am so sorry.”

  —I receive all of your compassion, angel Hannah. When I return to the other dragons, I will share with them your empathy.

  “Thank you, my friend.”

  —It is we who thank you. Our mourning has been long and grievous.

  “Because the dragons may never complete their population circle with even one dragon gone, let alone . . .”

  —Three . . .

  “Three!” Hannah said, and shook her head in sadness, as a grief fortified by the ages piled up on the dragon. By the way Ace carried the burden, plainly the dragons had suffered long and catastrophic loss.

  “It must be unbearable, having your species future denied its full expression.”

  —Yet how can we not accept it? Has not God suffered even greater loss?

  Tears again welled up in the angel’s eyes. “Oh, Ackseekcelong-Sayessa, truly you honor him! Multitudes of angels will hear of your unwavering love of God.”

  —It is the only right thing to do. Satan is ultimately responsible for all evil. If it wasn’t for his rebellion, it’s easy to say, none of this would have ever happened.

  Sagely nodding, she paused before asking, “How is it that Phillylanor-Falonday didn’t detect the poison on the arrows?”

  —Another trick. The soldiers shooting the arrows didn’t know they were poisonous. That truth got lost through the chain of command. By the time soldiers used them in the field, no knowledge of the poison was in any of their minds.

  Hannah was shaking her head again. “The treachery of it is almost unbelievable.”

  —Only the Devil’s treachery against God seems worse to us.

  “That is quite understandable.”

  Hannah and Ace held their peace for some time, the angel lending her support and compassion to the dragon. After a while, Ace continued.

  —It was Phillylanor-Falonday’s death which ultimately brought the wrath of Wisearlyon-Ozooka upon the land.

  “How did that happen, my friend?”

  —Phillylanor-Falonday was his mate. After she died, he went berserk.

  “There was nothing you could do to stop him?”

  As if the dragon bowed his head, the dream-sphere imperceptibly moved.

  —We tried to the very end to convince Wisearlyon-Ozooka to cease and desist, but it was no avail. He was overwhelmed by her loss. Nothing we could do would comfort him. His grief kept building until it drove him beyond himself. Then he attacked the men who did it.

  “How did he know who was responsible?”

  —It was obvious the soldiers had come from the temple of the great city. Before he attacked, he did reconnaissance in his dream-sphere, to spy on them. He told us as much. It is also where he learned what enraged him.

  “What was it?”

  —He would never tell us. But I think they were mocking Phillylanor-Falonday, because they’d been able to kill her.

  “And it pushed him over the edge.”

  —He attacked the temple the same night.

  “How?”

  —He found out they had devised many weapons of war, and wanted to use them. So he carried large boulders high in the air, and dropped them on the temple.

  “Did the temple get destroyed?”

  —Certainly. Along with many of the weapons of war within it. But it turned out to be only the first stroke of a long and protracted war. When they realized battle was joined, they turned all of their energies to fighting him.

  “During all this time you tried to dissuade him of his actions?”

  —Absolutely. Because of our telepathy, it was impossible for us to avoid knowing what he was doing. But it was also impossible for him to avoid us.

  “Would he not listen to reason?”

  —He could not accept the fact that Phillylanor-Falonday was