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As he tramped along through the woods, the Reader couldn’t help but feel like he had made a mistake. “Are we there yet?” piped up a high pitched voice. Why, oh why had he thought it would be a good idea to bring his daughter along? “Not yet.” “When will we be there?” she asked for the hundredth time. “Only a little while, Gezel.” he answered patiently. A furry little head poked out of his pouch. “Well what’s taking so long?” the young griffon asked. That’s right his beloved adopted daughter is a blue griffon cub, got a problem with that? “We don’t want to startle him, remember.” he said, “Thieves can be awfully grumpy when surprised by retrieval experts.” “Well I don’t see why he should get the special treatment.” The griffon child growled petulantly. “It is because he has an impressive reputation and a family history that goes back twenty generations, or is that not a good reason?” said the scholar. The griffon, whose ancestral memory went back 25 generations, said nothing and lay back in the pouch to sulk. The young man reached his long dexterous fingers into the bag to smooth her ruffled feathers. He looked around at the greenery of the forest as he walked. It was beautiful, but there had been a disturbing lack of animal life for the past several miles, as well as a growing smell of charcoal. He thought back to the events that had brought him here.
He had been in his Lab working on a cure for Emo’s Disease while beakers and cauldrons bubbled around him when the bell rang in the foyer three floors up. One hand was already on the doorknob so he opened the front door and couldn’t stop himself from saying, “You rang?” A young woman stood there, hand still raised to the buzzer, seemingly nervous about the speed with which he had answered the door. “Er, yes, my name is Essa Norgrym and I need some help. I heard that there was someone at this address who could help someone with my particular problem.” He studied her for a moment. Her dark hair was tied in a braid that fell to her waist and she had bright green eyes. She wore a simple, light green dress and sandals with a few small items of jewelry. Not that he was worried about receiving a fee, but it wouldn’t do to get a reputation for being cheap. “Very well miss,” he said kindly,” Come inside and tell me what I can do for you.” She stood a moment as though taken aback at the idea that this soft spoken young man in a lab coat with his chemically stained fingers and glasses could be the person she was looking for, but finally followed him to the study and sat in a chair he offered. “A thief stole an item of great value to me and I would like to have it retrieved.” she said.
“Well,” said the Reader, “that sounds simple. But what is the item and who stole it?” “It is a spherical gem, clear, about a foot across, and has the magical property of allowing me to watch events from far away.” said the girl, “It was my mothers.” “And do you have any idea why the thief took that particular item?” he asked. “Yes,” she said, “he is my half brother. He was jealous of the amount of attention mother gave me and stole the heirloom when she died to spite me. Maybe I shouldn’t say so, but I believe he would willingly kill to keep it.” The man said nothing but his mind was active. <Well?> <She is telling the truth as she sees it.> said a disembodied voice in his mind, <She spends significant effort to hide something however.> <Don’t they all.> he thought, <Thank you Procell.> “Very well,” he said, “I will be happy to look into it for you.” “Um, yes, thank you.” she said, still unsure about the way the strange man had starred off into space at the end of her explanation, “Here are directions to the place my brother now calls home.” she handed him a sheet of paper. “I can’t pay much, but my mother collected many treasures in her lifetime and left several other magic artifacts. I would let you have your choice of any two to get the gem back.” “That is very generous.” The mildly amused young man said while perusing the instructions, “I accept your offer. Come back in two days and I’ll have something for you.” She stood, “Good, I look forward to seeing you again.” she said as he lead her to the front door. He closed the door behind her and turned back to his workbench to clean up. <This should be interesting.> he thought.
He decided to break the news about the trip to his daughter. “I am coming with you, father.” the little griffon said stubbornly, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” He said worriedly, “I might not be able to watch out for you all the time.” “I am a griffon and a member of royalty, I can take care of myself just fine thank you. Better than most humans in fact.” the five year old cub stated, “I will pack and be ready in a few minutes.” She started jerking at a blanket stuck under a pile of pillows with her beak, flapping her wings for more pull. The Reader smiled down at her struggling form as he turned to get his things. He supposed it might be a good idea to get her out of the castle for a while anyway. And he loved her too much to deny her the chance to spend time with him. He walked to his room and collected his usual kit, adding a few weapons just in case. His Dimensional Bag™ held almost everything. The rest went into pockets and sheaths about his person. When he finally returned to Gezel’s room he was prepared to help her finish packing, but to his astonishment, found her waiting with a cloth bag on her back, the ends of which had been used to tie across her front. <How? Never mind.>, “Ok then, ready to go? Do you want to ride in the bag?” he asked. “I can walk on my own just fine, thank you.” She claimed haughtily and she trotted over to grasp his pant leg with her front claw. “Ok then.” the Reader said, and looked around at the forest that now surrounded them, “It’s about two hours hike to where we’re going so let’s get started” “What?” Gezel screeched, “Why?” “What’s the matter?” asked the man, grinning, “Can’t handle it?” She fluffed her feathers and glared at him, “Just watch me.”
Twenty minutes later he had placed her pack in his bag. Thirty minutes after that she was riding in the bag herself. She stuck her head out frequently to inspect the surroundings for enemy ninja, robots, zombies, and pirates. So far they had avoided her keen eye, but she remained vigilant. And that brings us to the current situation. Admittedly the smoke and rumbling noises coming from the cliff face ahead were worrisome. He hoped nothing had happened to her brother or the orb. Pushing through a stand of charred bushes he beheld a large area, at least one hundred feet across, before the cliff face that had been burned clear as if by a flamethrower. A few leftover stumps stood amongst the ashes. At the focal point of the destruction was a cave mouth set into the cliff. There was a low grinding coming from within. Gezel sniffed at the air. “I smell something familiar, something I don’t like, but I can’t remember what it is.” “I think I know what it is.” said the Reader, “Stay out of sight for now.” He strode toward the cave entrance with mixed feelings. This was one of those minor details it would be nice to receive from the occasional client. It was as though they expected him to refuse the challenge. He intoned a small spell to make his footsteps silent and slipped into the cave. The walls, floor, and ceiling were caked in layers of soot. It appeared nothing had passed this way in some time. As he moved deeper into the cave he reached past Gezel and pulled a glowstone from the depths of the bag. The wall felt warm where he touched it with his bare hand. This was looking to be an interesting encounter.
After walking a hundred yards or so with only a few twists and turns he began to notice a reddish glow getting stronger from within the cavern. He replaced back the glowstone and tiptoed to the next corner to peer into what he had begun to suspect was a lair. The main room which he now saw was a good eighty feet high and two hundred yards across, and in the center; Yep, there it was; a gargantuan dragon sitting on a pile of gold and gems, just like in a story book. <Funny, that wasn’t in the briefing.>. It had reddish scales, some of the ones on the body being the size of a car door. Spines trailed from the brow, across the back, and down to the tip of the almost prehensile seeming tail. The great wings, capable of sheltering dozens; even folded; shook as if preparing for flight. Ropes of muscle drove hard black claws into the bedrock as the beast stirred in a dream. Its long sharp teeth were fortunately mostly hidden except for occasional sleepy snarls which revealed the blacked sword-like shapes. Well there was no help for it. He had already seen the girl’s spherical gem sitting on the hoard near the monsters head. Why it needed a magic seeing stone that was half the size of its pupil he couldn’t fathom. The Reader stepped out boldly and gave a whistle. The dragon’s head shot up as it gave out a roar “Thieves!” The massive wings extended, one snapping a stalactite from the ceiling which smashed against the floor, and the bat-like membranes covered the width of the cavern while echoes bounded off the walls. The reader stood his ground in the buffeting winds, hands behind his back, “Hello, sir dragon.” he said after a moment, “I am not a thief but am here on business.”
The dragon, just awoken and confused by the little human just stared. The man continued,”I am here on behalf of a woman named Essa who says that Orb you have belongs to her.” At this the dragon’s massive claw closed around the gem protectively and a huge, bloodshot, green eye focused on the human. “It’s mine.” said the dragon with a trace of heat, flames literally licking his teeth, “Mother always wanted me to have it, whatever the Will said.” “I’m sorry but I’m afraid that is not up to me to decide.” said the Reader firmly, “I’ll have to take it back for now and later you can go through the courts to decide proper ownership.” “NO!” roared the dragon, “I’ll see you both dead first.” And aligning his muzzle he sent an enormous gout of flame blasting across the cavern. The man dove for cover behind an oversize stalagmite as fire engulfed the area. “Come out and die like the fool you are, man who would challenge a drake in his own den.” growled the dragon.
A feathered head popped out of the man’s bag. “Nobody threatens my father.” said Gezel as she jumped from the pouch and, leaping clear of his grasping hands, ran toward the center of the room. She faced the dragon, anger overriding common sense, her wings raised and tail thrashing, “You leave him alone you evil monster!” she screeched. Her little body shook with rage and her eyes glowed red as the battle instinct started to take over. The dragon looked surprised for just a moment, but then became even angrier. “How dare one of your kind enter my home after my banishment. I will never forgive you!” he boomed. Gezel looked confused as the statement pulled her out of the trance and stood frozen as the dragon prepared to fire again. The Reader began to stand and prepared to sacrifice himself for his daughter. There was a sudden pop as of displaced air. “Ooooooh, a dragon’s lair, this is definitely more interesting than usual.” said the pixie hovering in front of the dragon, her back to the monster. The dragon stared at the tiny figure that had materialized in front of its nose. “What’s this?” it blurted, stifling its fire, “A fairy, in my cave?” He snapped out his free claw to enclose the tiny pixie. <Oops.> thought the man grimly. “I’m no *** ****** fairy!” said the muffled voice from within the dragon’s hand. “OW!” roared the dragon in pain as the pixie grabbed a hold of the skin of his palm. The humongous body suddenly rose and spun, its tail scrapping the rock of the ceiling as Pix performed a perfect judo throw. The dragon slammed into the ground hard, just missing the griffon as she scrambled for safety. The Reader rushed out and scooped up his child and turned to cover her from the flying debris as the dragon’s impact shattered rocks, bones, and other trash; along with its own wings and the spines on its back. By the time the dust settled and the man looked up, it was to see the dragon lying senseless and Pix over in the treasure pile, rooting around and making happy noises. “Oh well, ‘all’s well that ends well’ I guess.” The bemused young man strolled over to the pile holding Gezel in his arms.
The pixie had collected a few items including something that looked similar to a string of pearls except for a slight orange tint. “Next time you get to be the entertainment.” said the little woman, “I mean it.” And with that she flew upwards and vanished with another pop. “Thank you very much Pix.” said the reader belatedly while picking up the orb, “And thank you also Gezel, I’m proud of the way you stood up to a full grown dragon.” Well of course.” she said smugly, “We griffons have much stronger constitutions than most and are well equipped to handle such stress.” Her father chuckled. By this time they were back at the entrance of the cave having left the dragon sleeping. But, just as he stepped out into the sunlight there was a gust of wind and a massive shadow blotted it out again.
The two of them looked up to see another dragon that looked exactly like the one they had left behind. However, the readers trained eye could tell that this one was female. It landed hard, smashing the few remaining stumps in the clearing. “Give me the orb.” she told the man forgoing preliminaries. He grinned, “I was wondering how long it would take you to get here.” he said, “Though it would have been nice if you had told me about your brother.” Essa was taken aback, confusion evident even on her huge, reptilian face. “You knew? But I… how?” “It wasn’t difficult; I would have to be an idiot not to have figured it out by now, though the biggest clue was the talk of the treasure gathered by your mother. Before that I only had a suspicion based on certain giveaways that transformed dragons always forget.” She just stared, obviously unsure of what to say. “Ok, well… can I have the gem then?” “Sure, here it is.” he said reaching up with the treasure in his hand, “I’ll be by for my payment later, till then, enjoy your seeing stone.” And the Reader and his daughter were gone. Essa stared at the spot thinking it was some kind of camera trick without cameras. <That was the strangest kind of teleport, if that’s what it was.> she thought. Though slightly worried about the choices the human might make of her hoard, the dragon gazed happily at the jewel in her claw. He had done what she asked after all. It was well worth it. Powerful muscles flung the great form into the air, whereupon gigantic wings snapped open, catching the wind and bearing her towards home.
 Cedric Igor · Sat Jun 28, 2008 @ 08:24pm · 2 Comments |
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