Pat was puzzling over his dream and why he was now remembering this strange dragon flight through a magical cloud to a cavern in China. And then he remembered the Chinese captors in his dream. There was some connection, he knew it! He was glad that he had taken the time on his return from the Dragon's lair to write it all down, while it was still fresh in his mind; and he had it all on his smart phone.
He took the escalators up into the shopping area of Zurich Airport and headed for the passport control. People of many nationalities were weaving their way in all directions, some with impossible amounts of luggage. The Christmas rush was on. Listening and watching people as he made his way along long corridors, escalators and more corridors, Pat heard what he suspected was Russian, African, Indian, and some Arab. One oversized middle-aged man in a suit was pushing a trolley piled high with suitcases, accompanied by four women veiled in black. He couldn't see their faces and Pat wondered if they were his wives. Not far away was a hustling family with five children, boys and father all wearing brimmed hats with locks of hair dangling from each side. How ironic, thought Pat, ultra-orthodox Arabs and ultra-orthodox Jews probably traveling on the same plane.
There were many others that Pat couldn't identify. 'Africa' just wasn't sufficient enough to describe the origins of the people dressed in various costumes from that continent, all as colourful as the next. He passed groups of tourists who looked like they were Japanese or Chinese. This thought made Pat take a second look and he found himself scanning all the Asian faces for anything suspicious. He quickened his pace.
Passport control was quick. Odd how he could travel all over Europe with no passport, yet to the UK he still had to show his passport. Pat never understood borders much, and even less the fights over their legitimacy. Yes, of course, it was taught to be the core of global economics, but Pat had studied other alternative global economic plans which made much more sense to him and which excluded borders. But he had learned, as most do, to adapt to and use the system, and he had learned to make it work for him. And it would still be working if it hadn't been for his false friend, Jonathan. Thinking of that awful day earlier in the year when he went to his office only to find the authorities waiting to take his keys, his office and his business, because Jonathan had seemingly disappeared with both the company and clients' assets, including Pat's investment into the company which was practically all of his savings, made his blood boil.
He was still scanning faces when he reached the gate to board the plane to London. No Chinese faces! Pat was comforted and settled down to wait the thirty minutes until boarding. He liked being early. Taking out his phone he turned to his notes of the day with the dragons.
After the song, Rich and the other two dragons nearby came over and explained the song to him. A long time ago the Dragon Nation, as they called themselves, enjoyed the freedom of the air, land and sea. They lived in harmony with humans, killing only wild beasts for food. Occasionally the Dragons would be offered a sheep in exchange for chasing away a lion. The Earth was plentiful and gave space and food for all. But when populations grew, the strain of their relationship grew weak, yet all remained manageable. Until, that is, the Serpent people interfered.
Pat learned that a race of serpent-like humanoids emerged from the depths of the Earth, from where they had been imprisoned eons before. This happened when dragons and serpents were still alike, both being descended from the reptile family. But in the old days, many thousands of years ago, the serpent people had committed the forbidden act of mating with humans and created a mixed breed. Humans didn't change much in appearance, although many speculate that some human races were created as a result of serpentine interference. It was the change to the human psyche which troubled the dragons the most. After a time the more aggressive and greedy traits of the Serpent had become human traits. As a result the Dragon Nation had banned the Serpents to the depths of the earth. Pat found all of this fascinating, but treated it as mere fable, just another story of how life began on Earth. He read on.
