The flawless limestone walls of the sacred temple cracked and toppled like glass windows in a tornado. Grand ivory statues of the twelve olympians crashed boisterously onto the tiled floor. As heavy and grande as an iron anvil, the marble roof dislocated from the towering Corinthian columns and descended from the sky, a horrific harbinger of death and doom that would kill anyone that it crushed under it.

Visitors, clerics, priests and priestesses all froze in utter terror as an unexpected earthquake, a result from another one of Poseidon’s many temper tantrums, struck their holy temple. The temple was dedicated to the mighty king of the gods, Zeus, and was filled with people honoring and worshiping him. People blindly dashed around the falling structure, randomly flailing their arms around and hoping to reach the walls. Unfortunate denizens screamed in pain as rubble and debris from above flattened them like a character in some hideous child cartoon. Several priests and priestesses that were outside when the accident occurred stood at the entrance, wildly waving their arms and shouting at the top of their lungs to get the attention of the people still stuck inside. All of their effort, however, were in vain, for the calamitous mayhem inside was so loud all the people could hear was blood-curdling screeches of the dying and the thundering rumble of the trembling earth.

At one point, people regained control and decided to stay still and calmly look for the exit. Soon, a mob of fleeing citizens rushed out the temple, and only a few remained inside. After one observant priestess carefully counted all the people that had evacuated, she had realized with a cold shiver that the head priest was still inside!

Suddenly, out of the blue, the mighty winged wyvern swooped magnificently out of the cerulean sky and glided majestically down to the chaos. With a forceful flap of his leathery wings and a powerful blow from his mouth, he created a forceful gust that charged its way through the demolishing temple, taking most of the falling wreckage with it. Then he gently descended into the open temple and found the head priest, perfectly still and unbudging in the mess around him. The old man cautiously ascended the dragon’s scaly back and clung on his neck. The wyvern lifted into the sky once more and cautiously deposited his passenger onto the grassy hill outside the temple, safe and sound. Without a word, it swooshed back into the clouds and disappeared from sight.

Zeus, the mighty god of thunderbolts and the sky, was harshly admonishing Poseidon, his brother and the god of the sea and earthquakes. He was furious because the destroyed temple had offered him plentiful offerings and attracted many worshippers for him before, and he was very close with some of the priests and priestesses there. Zeus was particularly fond of the head priest, who had served in that temple since his birth. It greatly saddened him to know that he had died in a disaster caused by his own brother.

Hermes arose into the room from earth below and awkwardly bowed before the two gods. Then he looked at her father, the awesome Zeus, and spoke, “Father, a mortal had sent you a message.”

With one knee on the ground and his head lowered, Hermes carefully handed Zeus a papyrus scroll bounded with a crimson wax seal. The god of thunder refused to accept it, waving his hand at Hermes and gesturing for him to take it away.

“I am too upset about my temple to receive a message. The thought of my worshippers dead is just too great to bear. It will also be best for the sender --- I do not think that he or she would want me to reply without a calm mind,” Zeus responded, his godly voice booming over his son.

Hermes hesitated, then reluctantly stood up, tucking the scroll back into his pocket.

“If you do not have any other matters to discuss with us, Hermes, you are dismissed,” His father added, then turned back to Poseidon and resumed his scolding.

“It is from the lad at your favorite temple; I think he is the head priest now.”

Zeus spun around suddenly. Snatching the scroll away, he disintegrated the seal with one touch and unraveled the message. It was a simple letter, a thank-you note in ink that expressed the head priest’s gratitude. In puzzlement, Zeus read the priest’s description of the events that took place:

Like a heroic savior, the powerful beast flew out of nowhere and descended upon us. He blew the rubble away from the fleeing people and rescued me to safety. It is you, oh mighty Zeus, that I thank for sending this wondrous creature and saving many lives, including mine. I want you to know that all of us are extremely thankful. Thank you.

Delighted to see that the head priest was still alive and so was many of his other worshippers, Zeus ended his lecture and merrily dismissed Poseidon back into Mediterranean Sea. In a cheerful mood, he immediately demanded to see the being that had accomplished the good deed.

Hermes quickly left, the wings on his sandals flapping rapidly as he descended from the mountain. After asking all around, he discovered that it was a powerful wyvern that had saved the temple. He was a mighty winged dragon named Long, his name decided on his lengthy and graceful body.

Long was swiftly escorted by Hermes to Mount Olympus, where Zeus complimented the winged beast abundantly. The king of the gods inquired for one wish that the dragon had, and he implied that he would make it true.

“I would like to see the future, so I could help more people in need or even stop disasters from occurring,” The wyvern responded after a long moment of pondering. Instantly anxious, Zeus gestured for Hermes to come near, and they chatted in quiet, quick murmurs until it seemed like they’ve came to some sort of consent.

“I am extremely sorry, dear dragon; I truly am. However, only the three Fates holds knowledge of the events in the future. Even I, the greatest of the great, cannot tell what will happen a minute, a year, or an eon later from now,” Zeus replied. Then, seeing the disappointed expression Long donned, he quickly added on, “However, I can definite give you something just slightly inferior than that: I shall reward you with the ability to see miles away, but only in one eye, so you will not be invincible to mankind.”

The olympian flicked his wrist, and a golden light shone upon the left eye of the wyvern. There was a slight hiss, a fairy-like gold-speckled puff, and Long blinked back his eyelids to reveal a gleaming eyeball on the left.

Bowing his head politely in thankfulness, Long uttered several grateful thank-you’s and excused himself from the room. From Mount Olympus, he drifted slowly with wings wide open, enjoying his marvelous nre ability. However, the imbalance between the range of sight of his two eyeballs made his head woozy, and he felt a dizzy headache entering his brain, and so he decided to return to his cave and rest for the day.

The next day, Long awoke bright and early, excited and thrilled to tell everyone he saw --- which, with his new eye, was practically almost everyone in a city --- about his new amazing power. He blinked twice, jubilous with his well-deserved prize, and swooped into the crystal sky.