• Sharp-edged ridges of volcanic rock shaped the bays of the Marquesas Islands in Polynesia. • For ages, invaders from the west came in boats to attack the people living on one of the islands, killing their men and capturing the women and children. The islanders prayed to their god long and hard. Turning their gaze toward the ragged line of the ridge, they asked for protection. In answer to those pleas and supplications, a great red-colored dragon descended from the mountain and laid himself down in the bay to guard the shore against this alien invasion.