A long time ago before television was ever invented, there lived a lonely hermit who wanted to be a knight. This hermit was a young but sad little man who would surely amount to nothing, yet it was his dream to become the noblest knight in King Arthur’s court. The hermit’s name was Taranis, nothing special, just Taranis. He lived on the street, on the corner of Willow and Misery, in the great land of Camelot, with all the other lonely hermits who did not have a shilling to their name. Little did he know that his life would change forever, throwing him into a whirlwind of adventure.

The day was another dreary, cloudy, rainy, depressing morning and Taranis was out looking for any type of work. He did not have any taxes to pay since he lived on a street corner, but he still had to get money for food. Usually there was always some work to be done, but today nobody was offering any opportunities. Taranis ended up simply sitting on his corner waiting for something to come his way. Only a few moments later King Arthur's squire came running into the town square.

"Hear ye, hear ye! I have a message from his Royal Majesty, King Arthur," the squire shouted getting everyone's attention, including Taranis. "A wicked dragon, sent by an evil necromancer, has begun to wreak havoc among the citizens of his majesty's land. King Arthur has decided to call forth any brave, young man willing to kill the dragon and save everyone. Is there anyone here who would rise up to the challenge of defeating the dragon and bring honor to his family and town?"

At first no one knew what to think. A dragon? Here? Destroying the land? Who would ever be brave enough to go up against a dragon? Taranis had all the answers. He believed that this was his opportunity to become a knight and bring honor to his street corner.

"I'll go!" he shouted above the chatter that had risen in light of the dragon. Everyone turned to see who had risen up to the challenge of fighting the wicked dragon. They had hoped to find someone strong and confident, instead they were greeted by small Taranis.

Again, everyone was aghast and did not know what to say. How could little Taranis defeat a mighty dragon? This had to be impossible. Yet Taranis held to his word and did not back down when everyone told him to turn around and go back to his street corner. And so the squire gave Taranis armor and a sword, and sent him on his way.

Taranis was told that the dragon lived in the mountains, guarding its treasure, and waiting for the next hero to come and battle him. The journey to the dragon's lair was long and dangerous, so Taranis was given a horse to make the trip faster. Without wasting any time or risking a change of heart, Taranis set out to kill the dragon. Within the next few days Taranis was met by many people who told him to turn around and forget his quest, but not once did he even think of giving up. Taranis knew that if he wanted to be a true knight that he would have to kill the dragon with bravery.

Finally, on the fifth day of his traveling, Taranis reached the dragon's lair. It was a dark cave that extended deep into the mountain where there would not be any light. Taranis grabbed a fallen tree branch, tore off a piece of his clothing and lit it to make a torch that would light his way down into the cave. Every footstep was met with its echo, and every breath broke the silence like a huge crash.

Eventually, Taranis began to hear a low rumble, as if a giant creature was snoring. As he went deeper into the cave the snoring became louder and louder until it felt as if the ground were shaking. After a few more steps Taranis came upon the dragon. It was bigger than Taranis had expected, but just as majestic. With its red, ruby scales, and its bright, gold horns, the beast almost looked too beautiful to kill. The dragon was lying upon a mountain of gold and jewels that glittered in the torch's light. Suddenly the dragon began to wake up from its slumber. Taranis knew that any other man would have run away in fear, but he also knew that if he ran away now he could never become a knight.

"Who dares disturb me?" the dragon growled. The beast's massive head then turned to look down at Taranis who had propped up his torch and drawn out his sword.

"I have, dragon," Taranis said trying to hide his ever growing fear.

"And does my disturber have a name?" the dragon asked.

"Taranis," the man answered.

"And why, Taranis, have you come to disturb me?" The dragon leaned his head forward so that it was only a few feet from Taranis.

"To defeat you so that I will become a knight and bring honor to my people," Taranis explained after swallowing his fear.

"So the young Taranis is not a knight yet, and he has decided to kill a dragon as his passage into knighthood? Well, isn't this interesting? Tell me Taranis, have you ever held a sword before?" Taranis felt as if the dragon thought this was all a joke.

"Dragon, I have no time to talk. If you think I am so untrained and easy to kill, then why are you wasting time? Let us fight instead of making this idle chitchat." Taranis commanded.

"Fine, but I have one last question." the dragon said with a long sigh.

"I will allow one last question," Taranis said.

"What was it that made you decide to come find me? I know you want to be a knight, but who told you of my existence, and where to find me?" the dragon asked.

"King Arthur sent out messengers to tell his people that a dragon was destroying his land. He needed someone to come slay you so that you would stop your rampage," Taranis explained.

"Well, that is very interesting, very interesting indeed," the dragon mused.

"And why is that so interesting?" Taranis asked, becoming intrigued by the mysterious dragon.

"Well, the only reason why I am destroying your king's land is because he has destroyed mine, but no one ever cares about a dragon." The dragon did not act angry when he explained this to Taranis; he was only sad.

"Could you explain more of this to me, dragon, so that I might understand more about your predicament?" Taranis asked while lowering his sword.

When the dragon heard this, a wave of confusion crossed his face. "Would you really want to hear my explanation, Taranis?"

"Yes, I would. I believe that if you have a good reason for destroying my king's land, I might be able to help you," Taranis said while leaning on the hilt of his sword to appear less hostile towards to dragon.

After a moment of hesitation the dragon began to speak. "I used to live in a forest not far away from here, that is until your king began to destroy it. I lived in peace with all the other animals in the forest, only eating when I needed to, but never gorging myself on all the creatures. A few months ago some men began to cut down the forest and kill the other animals. I was forced to flee, leaving my old home behind. All the other creatures called out for my help, but I could not save them, and from that moment on I vowed to gain my vengeance on the one who was responsible. And that is your king. This is why I have been destroying the land. I am doing this only so your king and his people will feel the same pain I did. Now you know my story. I am alone and lonely." The dragon heaved a long sigh of depression before saying, "I'm better off dead. I'll be less of a burden that way. Go ahead Taranis, you can kill me and become a noble knight."

"But dragon, I cannot kill you now, not after that story. I would much rather help you than hurt you," Taranis said.

"Oh Taranis, you are so foolish. You do not understand that no one will ever want to help a dragon. My kind is not trusted by your people. Who would ever listen to you?" the dragon moaned.

"That is a problem," Taranis pondered, "but what if I tell everyone that we should stop destroying the forest, because by doing so we are taking the homes away from so many creatures. This way I won't have to tell anybody about you. They will want to restore the forest because they can relate to the animals whose land has been destroyed."

"Taranis, if you do this for me, I will promise to never destroy your king's land again. I will simply hide in my forest and live like I used to," the dragon said with a smile.

Taranis then said goodbye to the dragon and rode back to Camelot. When he arrived back at his home many people asked if he killed the dragon, but Taranis only gave them a knowing smile and told them about restoring the forest. At first the people did not know what to think, but as Taranis continued to explain his plan, the people became more and more excited about bringing back the forest. Soon King Arthur heard of his people wanting to restore the forest. He immediately told his men to stop cutting down the trees and to start planting new ones. Within a year the forest was back to its former glory and all the animals returned to their homes. One day Taranis, now a knight for starting the forest revolution, decided to take a walk through the forest. He told everyone that he was only going on a walk, but his true intention was to find the dragon and see if he was pleased with his work. It was almost sundown, and Taranis was about to give up, when he saw the mighty dragon step out of the trees. They did not say a word, for Taranis knew the dragon was happy and that he would never destroy King Arthur's land again.