Obstacle of Cliches

The Chief looked to the board of directors, his helmet was as tightly worn as possible. A part of him was convinced it was too tight, but given firsthand accounts he chose to be thoroughly careful. It was the least of his problems anyway, as he was quite unsure what to say. He thought of all he could, any excuse that could possibly help his case, and they were all for nought.

“Well Chief, may you PLEASE tell us why you delayed festival preparations, threw this fine place into a panic, and all without consulting US?”

Each annunciation was a finely tuned strike, telling the Chief just how bad this situation truly was.

“Ah well- You see it’s actually kinda funny-”

“Oh do cut it out with the dilly dallying? I’ll have you know that this is beyond unprofessional behavior… in fact many members of this board are already considering your termination.”

“Well… men and women of the board, I’m afraid there was actually little I COULD do… It has just come to my attention just a few hours ago, that our fine home is in great and terrible danger.”

Another board member spoke up.

“Oh well isn’t that positively horrid? Do tell what this ‘great and terrible danger’ is? Oh don’t bother too much, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“Why… why not?”

Yet another spoke.

“Because you went behind our backs, good sir, great and terrible or no. You have gone against us quite thoroughly.”

“Ah well, I can tell you NOW. Wouldn’t that make things better?”

“No, you dolt. You have handled things terribly!”

“But-but you don’t even know what the danger IS! How could you know?!”

“Going beyond our backs is worthy of punishment enough.”

Oh by all the… if I saved people would you punish me for doing it without asking?!

“Well hold on now, before we dig the Chiefs grave, we may as well hear him out.”

“Oh why should we? It’s not as though it matters?”

“The Chief has served us well for years, loath as I am to say it, we owe him.”

Loath… LOATH?! You lot go behind my back all the time! You owe me more than just- Calm down. Calm down calm down calm down. Maybe If I spook ‘em enough they’ll understand?

“Thank you very much, sir!”

“Well, go on, tell us why you decided on such a roundabout method of quitting.”

Gah, guess no matter what I lose my job after this…

“The great and terrible danger I speak of… is… the Dragon!”

A silence filled the room. One could hear the flapping of wings in such a silent atmosphere.

“What?”

“The Dragon? You know…? Big, scaly, flies, breathes fire-”

“We are all aware of what dragons are, thank you very much.”

“Ah well… uhhh, It’s coming back you know? It’s gonna escape confinement in a couple days at most.”

The silence became far more profound. What on earth was to happen next?

“Which dragon?”

“Huh?”

“Well you called it ‘the dragon’ but that's not exactly specific you know? Is it Fafnir, Echidna, Tiamat?”

A discreet sound could now be heard throughout the board, though the Chief could not quite make it out.

“We don’t uhhh, know its name. It’s just kinda always been… the Dragon, You know?”

“Oh well isn’t that terrible? How on earth can we identify it with such a vague title? Nonfans will be left so confused when they read the summary!”

The sound could now be identified with some degree of clarity… chuckling.

“Ladies and Gentlemen of the board, I ASSURE you, the dragon is very real!”

This only served to change the chuckles to full blown laughter.

“Oh no no no! Don’t you see! It’s the ‘definitive’ dragon! One hundred percent true quality guaranteed!”

The laughter exploded to even greater heights.

“It’s true! Don’t you know?! The old order was fighting it for decades if not centuries?!”

“Oh please, those buffoons? They couldn’t clean a clock, much less slay a dragon!”

“Well… they didn’t technically SLAY it…”

“All the more reason not to believe them! So useless, so pathetic even their own propaganda shows them failing.”

“I have proof! Plenty of proof!”

“Oh do you? Like what?”

“Well we have this butterfly-”

The laughter was at this point uproarious, different members of the board trading jokes as though it were going out of style.

“CLEARLY, my fellow members of the board, this man has been completely and utterly driven mad.”

“Oh obviously, I feel embarrassed just listening to him.”

“In this case, I think he shall be subject to immediate termination?”

“Listen-”

“Oh quite, just like that old order he loves so much.”

“What of the quarantine he set up? That should obviously be canceled immediately.”

“Please listen-”

“But of course! And preparations for the festival must begin in ernest. A dragon…? Bah!”

“I beg you please don’t-”

“Oh do shut up would you? Leave now before we have you arrested for breach of contract.”

Undeterred, the Chief continued speaking.

“I have witnesses! People who know more than I ever could! Surely you must hear them out! I could even bring you to the cave! We KNOW where the Dragon IS!”

“Oh? And who are these witnesses?”

“Well, one of them is actually an officer! He was hurt badly by the butterfly, so he can probably speak to how they operate! I actually have him currently guarding one of my other witnesses, who found the Dragon in the first place!”

It took the Chief a moment to read the expressions on the board members, and a moment more to feel deep regret.

“You don’t plan to believe them, do you?”

“Officers, please take your former Chief away.”

The other officers in the room looked nervously between themselves and the Chief, who now donned a furious expression.

If they don’t arrest me… then they’ll likely be fired and arrested too…

In essence the board had just taken these officers as hostages, if the Chief did not stand down, and did not tell his officers to stand down. All of them would be placed in contempt of the board and put under harsh conditions, potentially for the rest of their lives. If they even lived that much longer.

I could effectively rebel if I can keep the loyalty of enough of my fellow officers… and then what? If the Dragon escapes in these conditions… What sort of damage can it do to a town already fighting itself? Could we even respond properly?

He considered his options, as carefully as he possibly could.

I mean in a state of civil war, most civilians WOULD be kept safe…ish in their homes to avoid the fighting. But that wouldn’t be worth it… no it would absolutely not be worth it. It would make responding to that disaster a mess at best.

“It’s cool, ya both know the drill don’tcha? Hurry this up nice and quick.”

Besides, there's not even a guarantee that I’d HAVE enough officers to properly keep control, even for a short time and… well frankly as a man of the law I can’t really stomach the idea of breaking it so cleanly.

He chuckled a bit as he was handcuffed, and was led away from the laughing chorus of the boardroom.

“You know, believe it or not I think I know what Dragon he’s referring to.”

As the laughter began to subside, one board member spoke out.

“Oh really…? Don’t tell me you believe him?”

“Bwahaha… of course not my friend! Of course not! I just remember hearing some stories about it is all! When I was young.”

“Haven’t we all?”

“I suppose we have? I mean stories of dragons are as old as time itself! Or at least as old as the Babylonians.”

“Yes yes… isn’t there a theory about that…? The story of the Chaoskampf in indo-european mythology?”

“Well I know nothing about that! My point being I do vaguely remember this region having its own dragon story is all. I remember my parents using it as an excuse to tuck me into bed early!”

“Oh aren’t they all? Those stories I mean? They serve no real purpose and have no actual attachment to reality apart from whatever people pretend they have. This ‘Dragon’ did not exist my friend, it was only propaganda or boredom which propelled it forward.”

“Quite right! The only true trouble the Dragon ever caused was its shadow spooking the former chief to the point of madness, and although it was quite the enjoyable spectacle, I believe the damage he caused will not be so humorous. Now lets put this story to bed hmmm? Alongside all the woes that ever annoying thrall of the past has brought us.”

“I suppose we are fortunate this is no mere tale? Because if this WAS, the cliche result of this exchange would be our comeuppance for not believing.”

Another round of laughter ensued, none in the room noticing the rainbow colored butterfly, which flew from a discreet place in the rafters through the window.