The Knights and the Dragon Fashoom

Fashoom was no ordinary dragon. According to chronicles kept in ancient monasteries, he was of colossal size – his wings spanned trees, his tail could flatten a house. His scales were harder than steel, gleaming like molten gold in sunlight.

The dragon had built his lair in the caves near Emines, deep holes in the earth where a river flowed and mist hung eternally. From this hideout, he launched nightly raids on the surrounding villages.

First, livestock and sheep disappeared. Farms were plundered. Huts caught fire. Entire harvests were destroyed. It was not hunger that drove Fashoom – it was pure malice, the lust of a monster to destroy.

After years of suffering, the leaders of La Bruyère and neighboring villages finally gave in: they had to call for help. Messengers were sent to every corner of the land with an urgent cry that a dragon was destroying their region.

The call reached castles and cities. Knights, inspired by honor and the possibility of glory, assembled. They came from everywhere – from the banks of the Meuse, from Hainaut, even from distant counties. In all, over a hundred knights marched to Emines, each with horse, sword, and determination.

The first night, as soon as Fashoom appeared, the sky exploded in fire. The dragon hurled himself at the knights with devastating fury. His claws swept away villages, his tail broke trees like kindling.

But the knights were prepared. Instead of random charges, they followed a careful strategy under the leadership of Godfried the Bold: they slowly drove the dragon toward the caves, cutting off his escape routes.

Fighting raged for three full days. Knights fell, their blood coloring the earth red. But more pressed on. On the third day, exhausted and wounded, the dragon finally stood still. Godfried himself drove his sword deep into the monster’s heart. With a scream that shook the earth, Fashoom collapsed.

When Fashoom moved no more, freedom flowed through the valley. What was once a land of fear became a place of hope again. The knights were received as heroes. In Emines, the people built a chapel in honor of Godfried the Bold and in memory of all the brave warriors who fought the dragon.

Place names in the region recall the epic. ”Dragonhealth” and ”Knightsfield” are two names that scholars say derive directly from this legend. Older maps even show ”Fall of Fashoom” as the designation for the caves where the dragon spent his final days.