Nisa was tied to the altar, a sacrifice for the Dragon, that terrorised the world of Gideon. She was a follower of the Most High Gibeon, who was believed by the many Gibeonites to be the creator of the world of Gideon. Netherless, the believers of Gideon had lost their faith in their Most High, after not having seen any miracles for more than a thousand year. They followed Gibeon out of a routine, reading from His Holy Book, acts of wonder He did in the world of Gideon, which they now considered as myths. The worship rituals of Gibeon were seen as a kind of tradition, which the Gibeonites blindly followed.

At the other end, there were the followers of the Dragon. They were increasing in numbers day after day. Unlike the Gibeonites, they believed in the power of the Dragon. They had travelled to the cave of Darkness, where he dwelt, and seen his power at work. They had seen his magic spells manifesting in their world, and they knew that if they followed the Dragon, they could be leaders in the world of Gibeon, and they loved their power. They had to sacrifice sons and daughters to gain favor from the Dragon, and they had no qualm about doing so.

Nisa was the daughter of a Dragonite, a follower of the Dragon, that was held in high esteem among the Dragonites. Nisa's mother had purposely kept apart her daughter from the sacrifice, not out of maternal love, but out of a desire for greater power. It was believed that a sacrifice to the Dragon would gain the parent of the sacrifice the most power if the child reached the age of 7, and Matina, Nisa's mother had persuaded the other Dragonites to sacrifice their sons and daughters while she waited for her own daughter to reach the age of 7. All the years when she had been the mother of Nisa, she had lied to the child that she loved her when in reality, she was merely waiting for the right opportunity to sacrifice her. Tears dripped down Nisa's eyes as she awaited what she knew would be her death. It was not the death that frightened her, but it was her mother's cruelty that saddened her young heart. Nisa always knew that her mother was an evil Dragonite, but she thought that her mother genuinely love her and she never expected that all the love her mother showed her was merely a pretense. Unknown to her mother, Nisa believed in the stories of the Most High, and even as young as the age of 5, she chose to follow and call on the name of the Most High in times of her troubles. But this time, she was too sad to call on the name of the Most High. Her mother Matina's acts hurt her heart so deeply that she lost all her will to live.

"Most beloved Dragon, I bring to you my child, Nisa." Matina chanted.
"Grrrr..."
"Most beloved Dragon, she is of age, of the perfect age." Matina declared loudly.
"Grrr..."
Matina took out her knife and went to Nisa, intending to slice out her heart.
"Most High, save my mama." Nisa whispered. That was her last words.
There was a puff of smoke, and the Dragon appeared. He took the heart with his furry hands and consumed the heart.
"Grrr..." He grunted in satisfaction. "Matina, I am most well pleased with you. Not only had you sacrificed your only daughter, but you had sacrificed her when she is at the perfect age. Grrr...furthermore, she is of the follower of the Most High Gibeon, that foolish coward who created this world and banished me to the cave of darkness, denying me of my freedom, simply because I dared to suggest to Him that He let me rule the world in His place. I was being most polite, wanting to relieve Him of His burdens. He did always mention to me that He was tired of the unbeliefs of His creation, and out of my goodwill, I offered to take His place as the new ruler of the world. For my kindness, He banished me to the cave of darkness, where I now had to dwell in. I could not leave that sickening dark place, except on occassions when you, my worthy followers summoned me."
"Most beloved Dragon, Gibeon had not appeared in this world for a thousand year. Most likely, He had met with some kind of mishap. You will be the new ruler over us, and I am glad to be of service to you." Matina said, without feeling a sense of remorse over the death of her daughter.
"Yes, the time for me to be free from the cave had come. That fool Gibeon had told me that if his follower ever died as a sacrifice to me, the spell of the cave would be broken and I would be free to move in the world. Grrr..." Dragon laughed.
"Oh, that means we can be with you now, our master, and share in your joys of being the new ruler of this world?"
"Yes, Matina, and for your reward, I will let you have the honor to be my first meal, who I could eat of my own free accord, without the need of stupid mortals like you. Grrr. Grrr. Grrr."
Dragon uttered a series of words and Matina was transformed into a cooked chicken, which Dragon devoured with a great hint of satisfaction.

"When the Dragon is freed, and the world is in darkness, cry out to me and I will send you my annoited servant, and He will defeat the Dragon and free you from his malice forever." Gimeon read out from the Holy Book, with zeal and excitement. The reddish brown hair which marked Him out as unique among the youngster in the Academy of Gibeon flew as the wind blew. He was a most beautiful youngster, not beautiful because of his physical appearance, but beautiful because he always respond to the mockeries of his peer around him with kindness. At such, he won his initial enemies over to his cause, and they became his friend. The other youngsters who formerly mocked and made fun of Gimeon were now his best friends, always eagered to be with him and listened to his sharing from the Holy Book. Unlike the other mortals in the world of Gideon, Gimeon believed with all his heart in the existence of Gibeon, and he actively seek to learn more about the ways of Gibeon and he actively shared the way of Gibeon with his peers and the people around him.
"But Gimeon, the Dragon has been freed, and he is now the world's new king, and yet the annoited servant of Gibeon has not come to us." Yafu, one of his youngster friend mumbled as he listened to Gimeon.
"I am sure the Most High had foreseen that Dragon will be freed, and that even now, His annoited servant walked among us." Gimeon smiled.
"But Dragon said that he is the maker of the world, and we all could see his powers, clearly. The Most High, on the other hand, is most silent when we suffered under the cruel rule of Dragon. Why don't we give up on believing in the Most High and followed Dragon? Most people in the world are doing that, now. Only our town, the town of Faith, still chooses to believe in the Most High, and Dragon merely allowed us to exist, because he regarded us, the followers of Gibeon as his trophies." Tafa, another Gimeon's youngster friend mumbled.
"Do you actually believed that Dragon is our maker, when hs is merciless and cruel? Yet, in our hearts, we retain our conscience, and we know through our conscience that when we kill people with no regard like the way Dragon did, it is very wrong. I believer our maker must be kind hearted, because we are born with the desire to be kind hearted. Therefore Gibeon, whose moral law is holy and pure, must indeed be our true maker. "Gimeon answered with a laugh.
"Why haven't His anointed servant come, then, in response to our cries?" Yafu asked.
"Perhaps He had come and is in your midst. You just do not recognize him," Gimeon replied.
"Well, let's not think about Gibeon or Dragon. Let's go to the pool and have a swim." Tafa muttered.
"Sure, let's have a swim." Gimeon replied, with a laugh.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Servant, I had read in the Holy Book that the annoited servant will arrive when I am freed. It had been ten years since I had reigned in this world of Gideon, and all I had seen of Gibeon's servants are fools and cowards. To challenge Him who had the audacity to lock me in the cave of darkness for so many, so many years, I had preserved the town of Faith, hoping to see the day when I can match power with His annoited servant. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... bur none of his servants had dared to challenge me to a duel. My challenge, dedicated to all adults above the age of 17, posted in the town hall of the town of Faith remained unheeded for years. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr..." Dragon laughed.
"That is because... most beloved master... Gibeon is afraid of you." Nata declared, as he massaged the back of Dragon.
"What a disappointment. These ten years had been a boredom to me. None of the mortals is my challenge or my match. By my incantations and spells, I can turn them into every things I desire, and they are not able to resist me. Grrr... Grrr... they all cowered in fear before me... even the so called followers of Gibeon all cowered in fear before me. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... I am so bored."
"Most beloved Master, none can ever be your match. Not Gibeon and definitely not his annoited servant. You will reigned in this world for a thousand year." Nata declared.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... a thousand year is a long time. I had already begun to get bored of being the ruler of this world. I really hope for a challenge, for something that will take away my boredom." Dragon yawned.
At this point, a woman ran towards Dragon in excitement.
"Most beloved Master, the challenge... the challenge... someone had finally dared to challenge you."
"Grrr... Grrr... finally. And who is this fool?" Dragon laughed.
"He is called Gimeon, and he is 18 years old, and he lives in the town of faith." the woman replied.
"This should be fun and interesting," Dragon laughed. "Tell this fool to meet me in the cave of darkness, and sent a notice to the entire world that all the leaders I had appointed to watch over my world for me are to gather in the cave of darkness. I want them to watch how I made a fool of this stupid Gimeon."

The cave of darkness were filled with people who surrounded the two men that were facing each other. One of the man was a youngster with reddish brown hair. The other man was a handsome man in his middle age, with furry hands. The crowd that surrounded them was cheering the man with furry hands and mocking the youngster.
"So you are the one that dared to challenge me?" Dragon sneered.
"I come to you in the name of the Most High Gibeon," Gimeon replied, calmly.
"Gibeon is a fool, and so are you. Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... " Dragon laughed.
"I trust in Gibeon, that He will never fail me." Gimeon answered.
"Very well, name your challenge. I will defeat you no matter what challenge you may raise. Magic, wisdom, power, you can name any form of challenge you want. And if you defeat me, I will give you all my powers and teach you all my incantations and spells and let you rule over the world." Dragon declared.
"I do not need your spells or incantations, all you have to do is this: Vomit out all the hearts you had eaten and all the people you had consumed if you lose the battle," Gimeon declared.
"Very well, then. Name your challenge." Dragon replied.
"Your magic is your pride and strength. Using your magic, do what you will with me, except the taking of my life. If I call you master, you will win the battle. If I still hold onto Gibeon in spite of what you had done, then you lose." Gimeon replied.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... very well, then, you fool. Be prepared to regret challenging the source of my strength. If I cannot defeat you after five tries, I will admit defeat." Dragon declared.
"I will take you on," replied Gimeon.
"Fire appears and burns Gimeon, but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Fire began to consume the body of Gimeon. Gimeon screamed in pain.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"I love Gibeon and Gibeon alone," Gimeon replied.
"Fire vanishes. Frost-bites appear. Frost-bites, surround Gimeon but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Frost-bites began to appear all over the body of Gimeon. Gimeon screamed in pain.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Gibeon is my only master. I delight to follow Him." Gimeon replied.
"Frost-bites disappear. Itches of all kinds, terrorize Gimeon with your power but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Gimeon began to scratch his body, unable to bear with the itch that surrounded him.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Trust in Gibeon and His powers will come to this world, again." Gimeon replied.
"Itches disappear. You are tough. I will show you no mercy. Fire, frost bites and itches of all kinds. Terrorise Gimeon with your power but do not take his life." Dragon chanted.
Gimeon felt like he was in the greatest of agony. But he looked on the faces of the mockers who were there to cheer Dragon on and he thought of all the oppressions they suffered under the power of Dragon, and he endured his ordeal.
"Do you acknowledge me as your master?" Dragon hissed.
"Dragon, oh Dragon, my most beloved creation. You are always so eager to rule over everyone as their master, but tell me honestly, in all these ten years, when I had let you ruled over the mortals, had you truly experienced joy? Worship your maker, and turn from your evil ways, and then you will know the joy you lost the instant you desired power over being my humble servant." Gimeon replied.
"You... you are Gibeon. You are that stupid creator of mine who trapped me in the cave of darkness! You had come down in the form of man. How is that possible?" Dragon exclaimed.
"I am the creator. All things are possible for me. You still have one more chance to use your magic, or are you ready to admit defeat?" Gimeon replied.
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... my change of vengeance is at hand. All these years... you banished me into the cave of darkness... simply because of my desire to rule over these foolish mortals you had created. You denied me of my freedom, you forgot about all the years when I had been your most faithful servant, and refused to show your love to me. All because of my desire to rule in place of you. I could never hurt you when you are still the Most High Creator. But now that you are a mere mortal, I can hurt you. I can actually hurt you. And I will see for myself now if you really love these mortals or if you are in fact the universe greatest hypocrite. I will show you no mercy this time." Dragon shouted in anger.
"I know what you have in mind. Indeed, it is the hardest of all tests, but I will accept your challenge." Gimeon replied.
"Mortals that surround me, be filled with hatred for this Gimeon that you see. Do to Him anything and everything you will, including the removal of his very life." Dragon exclaimed.
The crowd was filled with a wild hatred for Gimeon and they began to hit him, spit on him and beat him.
"If you acknowledge me as your master, I will stop your ordeal and spare your life." Dragon hissed.
Tears fell from the eyes of Gimeon. It was not the blows of his creation that pained him, but it was the madness that filled their hearts that made him endured an agony which no physical blow could ever bring. Like wild beasts, they had forgotten the images He had created them to be. They had traded away His glories, His righteousness for hatred, evil, greed, power, like what his servant Dragon had done. It was this evilness that was in the people that ultimately pained him.
"Dragon, Dragon, you can never take my life. I willingly surrender my power, and I willingly give out my life." Gimeon uttered and he fell to the ground and died.
Dragon stared at the dead form before him. Gibeon, the creator God, he could use his magic to defend himself before his creation. For it was Gibeon who has given to Dragon his magic. Yet, Gibeon, when he was in the form of the mortal man Gimeon, did not make use of His magic to defend His own life but chose to give out his life in love for his creation.
"I have no doubt, my master, that you are true love. I admit my defeat. Do to me as you will." Dragon replied. "If you can come back to life."
"If? Oh Dragon, oh Dragon, you had been with me all these thousands of years before I created the mortals, and you can still doubt my power. Is there anything too difficult for me?" Gimeon laughed as he rose from the ground.
"You cheater. You never truly died." Dragon laughed.
"And you Dragon, you do not truly wish that I died. Keep your promise to me and vomit out all the hearsts and people that you had eaten." Gimeon laughed.
Dragon vomited out all the hearts and people he had eaten.
"Return to life!" Gimeon commanded the hearts and pieces of mortals that had been vomited out by Dragon.
Nisa opened her eyes and saw that she was alive. Not only that, she saw her mother Matina, and she was in tears.
"My daughter Nisa, forgive me. I had been a cruel mother." Matina cried. Nisa looked at Gimeon and she laughed.
"Thank you, Most High, for saving my mother."
Gibeon laughed. "My precious child, it is not me, but your faith in me, that saves your mother."
"Master," Dragon muttered. "What shall we do with these evil beings who trample on your most holy body." He pointed at the crowd that had beaten Gimeon to death, that was now staring at Gimeon in bewilderment.
Gimeon laughed, "Oh Dragon, none of these evil being had trampled on my body like the way you did. Yet, in spite of what you did, I had not lost my love for you. Go and teach them my ways, that they may learn to trust me even in times when I am not there to show them my powers and wonders."
"I humbly obey, my master," Dragon replied. "Thank you for being so patient with me and with all of your creations."
"'To quote my other form in another world, in that world known as earth, where I am known by another name and another body, I had not come to save the righteous but to save the sinners. And you, my beloved Dragon, is the chief of the sinners, and all your trials and tests are there to turn you away from your evilness, so that you can follow again my path of righteousness."
"Grrr... Grrr... Grrr... what is your name in that other world, my master?" Dragon asked.
"That is a mystery, my precious servant, reserved for those who can truly discern."

This story is meant to be posted on Christmas Day but as I am not free during Christmas Day, I post it now.

Merry Christmas, everybody! May God bless you abundantly. It is my habit and custom, to write a story to honor Jesus, whom I love and adore during every Christmas. About a few years back, I wrote a science fiction story for my Lord and then I backslide from Him, and so I had not been writing stories to celebrate Christmas and remember His love. You can read the science fiction story here at .. It is called The Christmas of AD5000.

Having come back again to my Lord Jesus this year, I also want to write a story to celebrate His birth. This time, I want to write a fantasy story that truly honors Him.

Now, it is really difficult to write a fantasy story, but with the help of the Holy Spirit, I am able to produce this story, which I hope you enjoy. Do feel free to share with anybody you want this story, as the copyright to this story belongs to Him and not me. This story is after-all, my dedication to my beloved Lord Jesus Christ, and my labor of love for Him.

I will tell you some of the basis behind this story. Dragon, in this story, represents the most evil man in the world. He is so evil that he is entirely hopeless. Yet, Jesus comes down for such a man, and He comes down to die for all men, including the most evil of men, that they may see the errors of their ways and turn from their evil deeds. Jesus dies for all of us, for even the most hopeless and worthless being among us. And in my story, I want to portray this endless love that my Creator and my God has for his beloved children.

So, no matter where you are in life, no matter what evil you had done, Jesus will forgive you, for He loves you. He died on the cross for you, that if you believe in Him, and receive Him into your life as your savior, your many sins will be forgotten and you will be able to go to heaven.

Here is how you can be a Christian.

Say to God: God, I repent of my sins. I want to receive Jesus into my life as my savior. Please come and change me.

If you say the lines above to God, you had become a Christian, who will enter into heaven on the day you died.

Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy the story.

To God be all glories, honors and praises for this story. You are free to use the story for non-profit purpose in anyway you want so long as it is for the purpose of glorifying God. 
To read more short stories like this from me, visit https://curiousaboutgod.42web.io/