The valleys of Negros were once green and filled with happy people. Until one day, a dragon appeared on the mountain of the island. The dragon had yellow eyes and upon its back were ghastly spines, its face had sixteen nostrils and the scales of the dragon were caked in hot carbon char. From its seven cavernous mouths, it breathed deadly fire.
The dragon would burn the crops, whole towns and kill many in its wake. The people feared the dragon, so they tried to find something to appease the dragon.
Eventually, they discovered that if a beautiful woman was offered to the dragon, it would not become violent for a whole year. At the beginning of each year, the leaders would choose the fairest maiden in Negros. They dressed her in black and took her to the slopes of the mountain. They would do a ceremony to offer her to the dragon, and she was left there alone. No one would hear from the offered maiden after this. Everyone knew without saying that she would be devoured by this horrible dragon and peace would follow for twelve months.
This went on year after year. But every father had learned to make ugly marks on their baby girls, so they would not have to offer her to the dragon. Soon, no beautiful maiden could be found to appease the dragon.
Eventually, only the king’s daughter remained. She was lovely like the radiant sun, sweet like the song of the coleto, and wise like ancient ones herself. No one had the heart to give her an ugly mark. And with no other maiden in the realm, she would become the one for the dragon to devour.
Bursts of smoke and flame started to descend upon the mountain, so the king cried out, “What shall we do?”
Just as the princess dressed herself in black to offer herself to the dark dragon, a handsome young prince from India appeared. He spoke to the king, “I’ve heard about the troubles of your kingdom and I want to help you all.”
“Slay the dragon or even drive it away, and you shall be rewarded with all the gold you can carry and my daughter shall be yours,” the king offered.
The stranger left silently. He climbed the slopes of the mountain with no fear. Unbeknownst to the people, this stranger was the great god Laon. He was skilled in talking with creatures of the earth. He spoke to the ants, bees, and eagles to speak with their king and told them to bring all their people to the top of the mountain.
Meanwhile as the animals did this, a great eagle allowed Laon to ride upon his back to the mountain top. At the top of the mountain, they descended into a great caldera. Within it the earth moved. Laon realized the movement was the great dragon. As soon as the dragon saw him, he began to spew flame and smoke billowed from the mountain. Laon landed before the great beast and held up his sword.
The people grew alarmed at the sight of the mountain, upset that Laon had caused the dragon to be wrathful. The princess fretted and moaned to herself, “He will get killed, he will get killed!”
The monster moved towards Laon, but he was ready, and he moved further back, outside of what he had hoped was striking reach. In a few short seconds, the dragon found him and coiled itself for its strike. Laon let the fear of being prey wash over him. Laon could almost see the energy, burning in him and in the plants around him—in everything except the monster.
The dragon struck the earth, just where he had been standing, and Laon fell back, unharmed. Laon touched at the earth, and ants erupted from their nests in the decaying earth beneath, clicking in an angry swarm, covering the serpent. The ants distracted the dragon enough for him to get close. The dragon thrashed wildly from the ants biting on its skin. At the same time, the bees had arrived and started to sting the several eyes of the dragon, blinding him. In a burst of wings and powerful calls, the eagles appeared to tear the eyes right out of the monster.
Blind and clawing at air, Laon cut each terrible head of the dragon off. As soon as he took the biggest head off, the cursed creature exploded in a storm of ash. Laon returned to the kingdom with the head of the dragon. Rejoiced, the people named the mountain Khan Laon, which means Lord Laon.
The Princess and Khan Laon married and became the ancestors of the people of Negros.