The lair which Thabeng had created for Ryuhiko was big enough for two or three dragons Ryuhiko's size. Ryuhiko was only about eight feet tall from the tip of his tail to his nose. The main chamber of the lair was at least twenty feet high and went a good thirty to forty feet back into the mountain. The floor was the natural stone of the mountain. At the far end was a bed of straw covered with beautiful Persian rugs.
The human area of the lair had much lower ceilings but will still quite spacious. It reminded Shinmasa of pictures he had seen of a desert sheikh's pavilion. The floor was covered with beautiful Persian carpets. There was a large oval area that was ringed with over-stuffed sofas that were very low to the floor. A number of low wooded tables were scatter within the oval and there was an abundance of pillows. The walls were covered with Persian rugs. An enormous fireplace with thick wooden mantel dominated one wall, and cooking utensils were hanging near the stone hearth. There was a middle aged woman bent over the fire cooking. She stood up and bowed deeply toward Shinmasa and Moru as the two approached. They returned her greeting.
"This is Catherine," Thabeng said as she continued to dance around the lair.
"Very nice to meet you," said Shinmasa.
"It is an honor to serve the dragon prince," replied Catherine, again bowing very low.
"How did you . . . ."
"Oh," Thabeng interrupted. "Catherine's brother was Ryuyasu. Lefu killed him several years ago. I asked her if she'd like to be your housekeeper while you're here."
"I gladly accepted," added Catherine. "Anything I can do to help bring Lefu's reign of terror to an end."
"Thank you so much." Shinmasa smiled. "The food smells delicious."
"Thank you," Catherine turned toward the fireplace where a black Dutch oven hung above the fire. "My brother had a lair like this and I learned to cook over an open fire. I actually like it. I became Ryuyasu's housekeeper after Lefu killed my husband and child."
"I am so sorry," both Shinmasa and Moru said simultaneously.
"I try to let it go as much as possible. I know that anger and hatred only hurt me, and that Lefu gains power from our anger and rage. It isn't easy." Catherine focused her attention on the Dutch oven.
Moru and Shinmasa looked into the two rooms that opened off the human area. One was Catherine's room and the other Shinmasa's. The were both dominated by a large pile of straw covered with beautiful rugs, blankets and pillows.
Catherine made a delicious vegetable soup for dinner with homemade bread. Thabeng left after dinner and Catherine excused herself and went to her room after she had cleaned up her kitchen. Moru and Shinmasa sat in the comfortable living area sipping on still steaming cups of Aborvitae tea as they watched the fire. They sat quietly for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts.
It was Shinmasa who finally broke the silence. "Why am I the last of the dragons? Did Lefu kill them all?"
"No," Moru didn't move. She just stared at the fire as she spoke. "Lefu killed several but most just disappeared over time."
"Why was that?"
"The life of a magical creature is dependent upon people either believing in their existence or accepting the possibility of their existence. The Kawizate Dragon is the exception but there were always very few Kawizate. For a long time before human written history dragons were an integral part of human life and interacted with humans frequently. They were protectors and the humans often looked to dragons for help."
"About 5,000 years ago an evil king named Zli ruled a war-like tribe from a mountain, Grintovec, in what is today Slovenia. From his mountain perch he could swoop down on villages in what is today Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia and Hungary. He raped, murdered, plundered and enslaved the people. There seemed to be no stopping him. These were the people of the Urnfield culture and were mostly early Celts. Zli was so evil that the High King of Dragons, Leholo, decided that the dragons must help the humans."
"But if the dragons were helping the people in Europe," asked Shinmasa, "how did they get the reputation of being evil creatures?"
"Like humans, not all dragons are good, nor are all dragons evil," replied Moru rolling onto her side and looking at Shinmasa. "Zli knew that he couldn't defeat the dragons so he bribed some greedy dragons with treasure to join him."
"So that's how the European dragon got the reputation of liking treasure," exclaimed Shinmasa. It was beginning to make sense.
"Yes. After many years of fierce struggle Zli was killed in battle and the mercenary dragons fled. There was no reason to stick around when the source of their wealth was dead."
"Why were they the ones everyone remembered? Why aren't there stories about Leholo and the good dragons?"
"Homo sapiens have always been story tellers, and they unfortunately will save and repeat the stories that get the best reaction from the crowd. Your modern news media has proven that it's bad new and violence that sells. The story tellers knew that before recorded time. So over time people forgot about how most of the dragons helped."
Shinmasa shook his head sadly.
"After all," Moru explained, "the people of 1930s and 1940s Germany were called Nazis, right?"
"Yes," Shinmasa gave Moru a curious look.
"Did you know that only seven percent of the German people during World War II were actually members of the Nazi Party?"
"No, I didn't." Shinmasa gave that some thought.
"So, because of the story-tellers, European people started thinking of all dragons as evil treasure hoarders."
"That doesn't explain why people can't see dragons anymore."
"Humans were gatherers, then hunters, then farmers. They were always close to their nature. They could see the dragons because they were close to nature and could believe that the dragon existed. Modern humans say that ancient people believing in dragons was superstition and mythology. As technology grew the human's ability to see all that is around them diminished. They could not see the dragons any more because they were sure they didn't exist."
"Another example of that mind filtration we've talked about," said Shinmasa.
"Partially," replied Moru. "But a lot of it is because humans don't believe that anything can be true or exist unless they have 'discovered' it themselves. They do that to one another. I bet you didn't know that tuberculosis could have been contained decades earlier if the medical community had not ignored the discoveries of Robert Koch and the work of Edward Trudeau. They were certain that there was no way consumption could be caused by a bacteria so they ignored the evidence for a quarter of a century."
"We are indeed an arrogant breed."
"There is also the problem that as humans have evolved they no longer see themselves as a part of nature. From there it was an easy step to 'I don't like nature' and 'I don't need nature.' As they mindlessly destroy the nature around themselves in the name of progress they are, in fact, destroying their very being."
"You're preaching to the choir," said Shinmasa.
"Doing what to what?"
"I already agree with that," Shinmasa smiled. "You don't need to sell me."
"I get so upset," Moru turned back toward the fireplace. "Lefu is using them and they are going to help him destroy the world."
"Guess that's where I come in," also turning his attention back to the dying fire.
"Yes," Moru said softly.
They fell into silence watching the glowing embers. Each pondering what the morrow would bring. Moru struggled with the knowledge that the young Ryuhiko did not have the magic experience to battle Lefu. She wondered if she was just uselessly sending the young dragon prince to his death. There didn't seem to be any options and Lefu definitely wanted to hurt the two of them emotionally as well as physically. Shinmasa also worried about learning enough magic before he had to confront Lefu. He had met Lefu and stood his ground when he really wanted so much to run and hide. He knew that he was no match for the mighty spirit, but he had to try. For the sake of the world and all he loved, he had to try even though he knew, down deep inside, that he was going to die trying.
Finally Moru excused herself. She was not going to stay with Shinmasa that night. He would be safe. She had to go and prepare for his training. Strangely Shinmasa was neither upset nor worried that Moru was leaving him alone. He knew that Lefu wasn't going to kill him in his sleep. Lefu was going to make his death a spectacle.
He walked with Moru to the mouth of the lair. After she had left, he stood looking out over the mountain. They were dark and cold, but he felt their strength. As he stood staring at nothing at all, he thought about his parents and his ancestry. His parents were predominantly Buddhist but had retained a lot of Shinto out of respect for their native land. In the 18th century it was called Shinbutsu. Shinmasa always considered himself more of a Buddhist. Buddhism is 99% philosophy of life and 1% religion. Shinmasa considered himself 99% Buddhist. He had noticed the difference between his parent's approach. His Mother practiced walking meditation at least twice a day, moving slowing around her garden. His Father had practiced the tradition sitting meditation. Shinmasa had been taught about meditation but he had always 'thought on his feet'. Driven by an unseen forced Shinmasa sat down on the stone ledge, crossed his legs in the traditional lotus position, and meditated.
"Breathing in. I know that I am breathing in. Breathing out. I know that I am breathing out." Whenever he caught his thoughts drifting away from his breath he would gently remind himself and return to focusing on his breath. He would see snippets of experiences and events. Looking and letting them go, he would return to his breath. The memory of Lefu looming over him and threatening him returned time and time again. Shinmasa remembered being taught about making friends with your pain, but the best he could do was to let the image go and return to his breathing.
In Buddhism we are a part of a oneness. Nichiren, born in 1222, wrote "Life at each moment encompasses ... both self and environment of all sentient beings in every condition of life as well as insentient beings --plants, sky and earth, on down to the most minute particles of dust." In Buddhism life is a unity of the physical and the spiritual, with the two aspects of our lives being the a manifestation of the same universal law, totally inseparable and of equal importance. This means that the duality we perceive; i.e. things around us as being separate from us; is an illusion. We are one with the universe. At the most fundamental level of life there is no separation between what we perceive as "me" and the environment.
The same is true in quantum physics. In quantum physics there is no real physical barrier between the atoms which are a part of what we call "us" and the atoms which are a part of another object. This means that, in essence, the entire universe in one enormous connected oneness.
Shinmasa found that he didn't really want to get up. He sat allowing thoughts to pass by him like a river. Looking and considering each thought, each snippet of memory he sometimes had a difficult time letting go, but he did and they passed along. As the sky went from the blue-grey of pre-dawn to the first rays of the sun, Shinmasa still sat. He was a peace.
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