True History of the World, part Dragon

By Katia Ritch

This book is a parting gift from dragons. It's a collection of stories about the legendary figures that shaped our civilization from the Stone Age to the sixteenth century. You know their names. You thought you knew their history. I thought so, too, until dragons proved me wrong. Granted, I had my share of doubts about the veracity of those tales, but living amongst the dragons, I've learned that this magical species is incapable of forgetting or lying. This volume is, indeed, a true history of the world. And if you're reading these lines, it means dragon blood is still calling to you though they are gone forever. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Katia Ritch
• Release date: Feb 4, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224291045

Katia Ritch

Locked behind the Iron Curtain, Katia Ritch worked as a political journalist and escaped into fantasy books at night. Once the Curtain rusted through, she embarked on an adventure to explore the world, taking on board her passion for reading and weaving stories. Katia traveled through time and space until one day, she stepped out of the plane into the skinny shade of Southern California palm trees, and a small voice inside whispered, 'You are home.' She has resided there ever since with her husband, a red-headed dog, and two gray cats. Katia loves talking to rain and wind, perfectly aware that she would be burned at the stake during medieval times.

Book preview

True History of the World, part Dragon

Katia Ritch

The human characters in this book, except the caveman, are real historical figures. All the events in this book represent the dragons’ point of view.

© 2024 by Katia Ritch

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the author except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.

Book Cover by Katografik

Copy Editing by Kimberly Dawn

Dedicated to dragons who unstuck me when I was down.

Acknowledgements

Dragons came into my life with one of the MAC cards during the life coaching session with my friend Natalia. The stories followed. Many people helped me along the way, especially the one listed below. I’m eternally grateful to my husband for his bottomless patience, my kids, who worked as my first editors, and my best friend Irka, who found the time to read them all despite her being the busiest person I’ve ever met. My critique group was forced to listen to those stories over and over again and didn’t complain even once. Terry, Elizabetta, Jerry, JD, Monica, I wouldn’t publish this book without you. Spiritual classes with Alena let me move past my fears. My wonderful, shy friend N created a miracle of a title page, but she is not ready to share her name. I’m blessed to be surrounded by this Universe’s best people and dragons.

Contents

Prologue

Fire

Stone Age, 10,000 BC

Wisdom

Ancient Israel, 930 BCE

Music

Samos, Ancient Greece, 530 BC

Medicine

Kos, Ancient Greece, 451 BC

Poetry

England, 1589 AD

About the Author

Prologue

I’m the only human living on the barren southern slopes of the Himachal Ridge. My contract states that I’m recruited until my employer leaves the planet or until I die, whichever comes first. My pay is charred meat and a straw bed in the corner of a cave that is scorching hot during summer and piercing cold during winter. Nobody considers me an equal, nor do I hope to be treated as such. Still, I feel happier here than in my penthouse past, with all the comfort of a memory foam mattress, filtered air, and purified water. I have a purpose now; I’m recording chronicles hidden from the world for thousands of years.

If you haven’t guessed yet, my patrons are dragons. The magical lizards decided to move their extended family onto an exoplanet 42 Draconis B three hundred light-years away from the Earth. Even for such experienced space travelers as them, it’s a long and perilous journey of no return.

Being a practical race, they approached the migration thoughtfully. Mountain storage caves are filled with containers that hold dried food, enormous books written in draconian, various seeds, crystals, oils for polishing scales, and brews that support the fiery breath needed for navigating the vacuum of space. I’m just one check in the long list of things they planned to tidy up before leaving.

The dragons severed their ties with Western civilization around the fifteenth century, after hundreds of years of systemic dragoncide. Still, they hired me to record their interactions with Homo sapiens, which proved pivotal for human civilization. Why did they finally decide to spill the coal? I came up with two theories.

Theory one: with our recent space travels, the masters of fire and wisdom agreed that some people could comprehend advanced concepts of the universal balance and, thus, deserved to learn them. Theory two: they accepted that they’d lost this planet to a greedy race that put life on the brink of extinction and felt partially responsible for it because they gave us the knowledge we weren’t ready to handle. Both theories can be galaxies away from reality; your guess would be as good as mine.

So, why me? I am lucky to possess one trait that I considered my curse my entire life: I can’t lie even if my life depends on it. I told a robber who stopped me in Central Park that he was fat and had lost all my girlfriends, answering their questions about their dresses and shapes. Then I explained to my boss how he could improve his temperament and ended up unemployed, lonely, and depressed.

Staring at the ceiling, I repeatedly exclaimed, Why doesn’t anyone want to hear the truth? until a dark-blue dragon materialized beside me. It stepped out of the air so casually that I didn’t have a chance to get scared.

We do, it said, looming over my bed.

"Pity that you only