Alonzo relaxed from his stately posture and leaned casually on one of the larger crates. 

“Over the years the historians of The Nation have been working to discover and reveal the true history of the Earth, that has not been distorted, corrupted or outright falsified by the oppressor. During this time, we have found many fantastic theories about how certain things came to be, especially right here in the City-State.” He leaned closer to Marty and Ana slightly, a gleam appeared in his eye, and the slight wrinkle of crow’s feet appeared at the sides of them. What Alonzo was about to say, Marty could tell he was eager to say it. “The prevailing theory is that in October of 1869 there was a war in the Midwestern skies between at least two great inhuman creatures. This battle lasted three years. We’ve found many accounts of mysterious auroras appearing around that time, and what people thought were shooting stars appearing in the sky. According to some people who were more supernaturally inclined, they referred to this as the War Of The Sky, and it involved at least one giant, firebreathing lizard that scorched the sky with fire in a battle that raged far above the clouds.

“Our experts described it as an epic battle for rulership of the earth that left all but one of them vaporized. The lone survivor flew away into seclusion, resting and rebuilding its strength for the day it would rise to claim dominion over this world.”

Marty couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Oh really? And what proof do we have of this conflict?”

“The fact that you two are here asking to see my proof.” Marty squinted. That made absolutely no sense. Alonzo ignored his expression and continued. “You see, this battle happened long before humans could fly via airplanes, so the battle only appeared as an aurora in the sky. But the conflict caused major disturbances in the weather. In November 1869 there was a massive thunderstorm that happened over the nearest of our Great Lakes. Unnaturally large gusts of wind flew down the Mackinaw straits, stirring up gale forces no sailor could handle. It stranded 97 ships and destroyed another 35, including two propellers, two barks, four brigs, 19 schooners, six scows and two barges.”

“Those are all types of boats?” Marty felt like a moron for asking.

Alonzo grinned. “Yes, they are all types of boats. The accumulated weight of the destroyed ships was upwards of 16,000 tons.”

Alonzo fidgeted even in his reclined position. He was really into this! “Over the course of the two-year battle, some of the flames from the beasts flew downwards. Since it was magical fire, it could not easily be put out, and it consumed everything where it landed. 

“In 1871, the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin was utterly destroyed by this fire, killing thousands. And at the same time, some of that fire hit a barn here in the south side, which sparked the greatest wildfire this city has ever seen. People described the fire as almost magically finding the perfect sources to keep itself burning, until it eventually consumed most of our City-State. It took years to repair all of the damage.”

Marty looked at Ana, who looked back at him with the same expression he knew he was wearing. She obviously was thinking the same thing he was thinking. He slowly turned back to the man and narrowed his eyes. “So you’re saying the great fire of 1871 was caused by….”

He looked them both in the eye, nodded and smugly smirked. “Dragons.”