Well Ty was a patriotic kid,and so he transformed himself
and all the other underage teenagers on the block so that they all
looked like fit blonde haired boys.They all joined the army and were
sent over to the Persian Gulf .The old regime had been toppled in
Iraq and Ty and the boys of Company B were whooping it up in the wild
town of Baghdad.They'd had one too many to drink and Ty was careening
wildly down the streets in the humvee,the boys tossing beer bottles
and curses out of the back as they sang rowdy songs.On the top of
the vehicle lay the lifeless body of the bengal tiger they'd just
killed at their night visit to the zoo,bouncing and twitching with
each pothole in the dusty filth strewn streets.
A thousand miles away in Jaffa,Lebanon,Aachmed was trying to
catch a stray komodo dragon that some German tourist had released
months earlier.The lizard had evaded capture despite the best efforts
of the civil authorities.They'd tried poisoned meat,flamed out its
burrow and tried all sorts of clever traps,all to no avail.Aachmed
was assistant janitor to the Baghdad Zoo,and what with bombs exploding
all over Baghdad his boss had suggested he might be better off going
to Lebanon and try to catch the lizard,it had seemed like a good idea
at the time.
So here Aachmed sat beside the burrow of the dragon,holding
a dead cat by it's tail,which he hoped to lure out the lizard.He heard
the soft padding of feet and the 12 foot long komodo slowly crept out
of the lair.It was nighttime,and the stars of the Draco constellation
could be seen glittering in the velvet tapestry of the sky.Off in the
distance could be heard the crash of waves as the Mediterranean
washed upon Andromeda's rock.Further down the coast a dhow sailed by
St Georges tomb,which the sailors used as a navigation aid.
Suddenly the komodo leapt upon Aachmed,pinning him to the
ground.The dead cat went spinning through the air,and as it struck the
ground it leapt away,alive and yowling.Aachmed thought" Crickey,I'm
in deep shit now"
The weight on his chest seemed to increase and the lizard above him
seemed to swell and grow into a new shape.The sky and the stars above
the zoo janitor was blotted out by the shadow of the creature above
him.The creature stood on its him legs,and reared sixty feet above
him.It had the wings of a eagle,the head of a jackal and the body
of a lion.Aachmed knew he was looking upon Tiamat,the ancient assyrian
goddess,and croaked as he tried to find his voice.
Tiamat politely lifted her clawed left hind foot off the
human and began her speech."At last,I have found one with the ancient
bloodline still within him.Aachmed,the land needs a hero,a protector.
Aachmed,arise,and be my champion!"