Once upon an old forgotten time there was a mythic bird that could change shapes to become a unicorn to gallop across water, become a dragon and spit fire, become a dinosaur and feed on animals. It would nest on cloud, dance on fire, swim into the seas, fly faster than wind and higher than heavens.
One day, it sheltered a demon under its wing in the bright sun. The demon was so impressed that he granted invincibility to this bird. The bird knew no bounds, and played havoc across the world with its notoriety. Even the Gods couldn’t help much. The weather God brought in an apocalypse, but couldn’t slain the bird!
A warrior king who ruled the deserts was angered because the apocalypse brought in vegetation to his region, and he feared that he’d be formidable now. So he thought of a deceit. He disguised himself as the demon, and went to the bird. While the bird was shooting arrows on the seas, the warrior king instructed the bird to visit the sun and rule a larger world. The bird in its greed and folly flew across the universe, only to be burnt alive. But it didn’t die. All the skin, feathers and body parts were burnt, but because of invincibility, it stayed alive as a skeleton.
It returned to the warrior king and requested for mercy. The king advised that he could bring the beauty back to the bird but stick the bird to a monument as a beautiful piece of art. Nobody would get to know it’s alive as the bird wouldn’t have any movement, expression or sound. The bird didn’t have any other option, and over the course of centuries it was stuck from one monument to another, looking at the world with sad eyes. People looking at it wondered how expressive the eyes were, as if it were real!
