A Dragon’s Tale

Taloni shook her head.  ”Seriously Prayla, what were you thinking?”

”Oh come on Tee.”  Her friend replied as she flopped down on her cot.  ”It was a fight between dragons.  How could I not watch?” 

Taloni shook her head again.  ”You do know dragons are attracted to gold mines like this one, right?”  She gestured to the small room around them, which was placed near the top of the gold mine’s shaft.  Several cots were spread around the room for injured miners, though they were currently empty as she healed the last of them earlier.

”So?”

”Dragon fights happen twice a month around here.” 

”But I’ve never actually seen two dragons fight.”  Prayla replied.  ”I just had to watch.  And when the one dragon pounced from the sky, it was like a lightning bolt from heaven.”

”I don’t think dragons come from heaven.”  Taloni replied, then rubbed her hand over the leather collar on her neck.  ”Besides, what if the masters had found out?  You could’ve been in serious trouble.” 

Prayla shot Taloni a look.  ”Well, it doesn’t stop you from watching the airships take off and land in Arcanum does it?  How many hours a week do you waste watching them coming and going?”

Taloni felt her cheeks grow warm.  ”I don’t do it that often.”  She lied. 

”After every shift until sundown.”  Prayla replied, then added with a wink.  ”You’re in the prime of your life; you should be hip-deep in miner’s sons if you know what I mean.”

Taloni blushed even redder.  ”I’m not...  I mean I wouldn’t...  Not with...  Just no.”

”Oh come on.”  Prayla replied.  ”You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it.  Besides, you’ve been legal for ages now and haven’t gotten any.” 

At that, Taloni turned so Prayla couldn’t see her face.  Doing ’that’ was the last thing on her mind right now. 

”It hasn’t been ’ages’, I hit eighteen summers earlier this year.  Besides I don’t have time.”  She finally said.  ”The masters keep me so busy in the mine’s clinic and I’m worn out after every accident.”

”Which doesn’t stop you from climbing to the surface to see the airships in Arcanum.”  Prayla countered.  ”If you can do that, you can find some time for a roll in the hay-- er, mine.”

”You were telling me about this fight between dragons?”  Taloni said. 

”Subtle change of topic.”  Prayla said.  ”You even have your own room because you run the clinic.  Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a place to screw around here?”

”No.”

”Fine, spend your days pining after airships.”  Prayla said while throwing her hands up in surrender.  ”I’ll just pretend I’m not jealous of the only Fey in this god-forsaken mine.” 

”It’s not like they let me be a Fey.”  Taloni touched the collar on her neck then looked over her shoulder at the wings that lay limp against her back.  On her best days, she could get one of her wings to twitch.  Otherwise, the enchantment was too strong to fight. 

”I’m sorry.”  Prayla said, and she looked like she was.  ”Maybe when you get older they’ll take it off?”

”Maybe.”  Taloni said, though she didn’t really believe it.

”There was a light gray dragon and a darker, steel grey dragon.”  Prayla said.

Taloni appreciated the change of topic so much that she didn’t mention she wasn’t interested. 

”The steel gray dragon looked like it was wandering aimlessly.”  Prayla continued.  ”The light grey dragon pounced from the sky and the steel gray dragon went down like a rock.  They fought on the ground for a minute, but the light gray dragon won.” 

”And the steel gray dragon died.”  Taloni finished.  ”The end.” 

”Nope.”  Prayla replied.  ”The steel gray dragon coughed up the gold in its gullet.  The other dragon took it and left.” 

Taloni twitched her pointed ears.  ”Wait, did you say the steel gray dragon gave up the gold in its gullet?” 

Prayla nodded.  ”Yeah, weird huh?  Wouldn’t they normally die before allowing that?” 

”Yeah.”  Taloni said, her Fey brain latching onto something she didn’t yet understand. 

Curious.

Very curious.

* * *

Taloni’s afternoon passed quickly after that.  After Prayla left, the Fey teen spent much of the afternoon tending wounds from a minor rock fall in one of the lower mine shafts. 

Once the masters let her go, she wandered up to the surface and headed for her favorite lookout spot.  Once there, she flopped down on the grass to watch the airships entering and leaving Arcanum. 

”Yeah, you don’t do this often at all?”  Prayla said nearly an hour later, which made Taloni jump in surprise.

”Prayla, what are you doing here?”

She gave her a pointed look.  ”Not watching airships while hoping someone will come and take me away from all this and free me.” 

”Guilty as charged.”  Taloni said, then touched the enchanted collar around her neck.  ”If only I could use my wings.” 

”I know something that will take your mind off of that.”  Prayla said with a grin.

”No, I’m not finding a boy.”  Taloni said firmly.

”I didn’t mean that, but I suppose that would work too.”  Pray replied with a slight gleam in her eyes.  ”No, I meant let’s go see the dragon.” 

”Are you suicidal?”  Taloni asked.  ”That dragon has been stealing gold and killing miners for months and you want to go find its lair?  Are you nuts?”

”No, not that dragon.”  Prayla replied.  ”I meant the other one.  The one he fought earlier, the steel gray one.  Why would it attack us if we don’t have any gold?”

”Well it probably wouldn’t, but--”  Taloni started to say, but Prayla cut her off.

”Then we’ll be perfectly safe.  Come on.”  Prayla stood up and started walking roughly in the direction of Arcanum.

”Prayla, wait.”  Taloni stood up, but didn’t follow her.  ”You’re going to get yourself killed.  It’s a dragon.”

”Yeah, that’s the point, come on.”  Prayla said.  ”Or will you make your best friend face a wicked dragon all by herself?  Besides, aren’t you curious?”  She said with a wink, then turned and started jogging away from Taloni. 

Taloni bit her lip for a moment, and then her Fey nature asserted itself.  She was curious.  Too curious.  Moments later she took off after her friend.

”You’ll get us thrown in the stockade.”  She said when she had caught up. 

”I suppose I could be a good friend and bail you out.”  Prayla said.  ”But I’d rather be the great friend sitting next to you saying ’damn that was fun’.”

The Fey rolled her eyes. 

They reached a small creek a few minutes later and Taloni caught a glimpse of her reflection as they jumped over it.    At nearly 5’ 2”, she was quite tall for a Fey woman.  Her skin looked sun-kissed despite spending most of her time in the mine.  Her honey-blonde hair was long, silky smooth, and flowed like water even though she had never owned a brush or comb.

The benefits of Fey heritage. 

As far as Taloni was concerned, that’s where the benefits stopped.  Everyone described her face as ’cute’, but never once had anyone told her she was beautiful.  She hated how small her chest was and felt cursed with short legs. 

The only other thing she loved was her wings.  They shimmered in the light of the setting sun, like a gorgeous cross between a dragonfly and a butterfly’s wings.  They weren’t large, but thanks to the magic of her Fey heritage she could fly with them anyway... or would’ve been able to without the collar. 

Prayla skipped ahead of her for a few minutes before slowing down and making an effort to be quieter. 

”It’s just over that hill, go take a look.”  Prayla whispered and pointed to a hill covered in large boulders about a hundred feet away. 

Taloni took a few steps toward it before she realized that Prayla wasn’t next to her. 

”Aren’t you coming?”  Taloni whispered. 

”I’ve already seen him, so I’m good.”  She whispered.  Taloni noticed her body was rather stiff and her tone was slightly strained, though she was trying to hide it.

”Scared?”  Taloni teased.

Prayla hesitated for a moment, then took a few tentative steps forward.  Taloni crept toward the top of the hill and peered around a large boulder. 

Below was a small, shallow ravine with shallow dirt and gravel sides and a small stream flowing through it.  All around the ravine were broken bushes and scraped-up earth that bore clear witness that a fight had taken place here.  A few of the bushes were charred and blackened by fire.

And there was a steel gray dragon.

It lay unmoving at the bottom of the ravine.  His arms, legs, and wings were flopped on the ground and he looked decidedly the worse for wear.  There were small patches of scales missing from his hide and those places had dried blood caked on.  The dragon’s wings were clearly cut in a few places and they lay limp against the ground instead of being tucked up against his body. 

”You see it?”  Prayla whispered from twenty feet behind Taloni.

She nodded. 

”What do you think?”  Prayla asked.

The Fey bit her lip; there was something odd about this dragon.  Every dragon that she’d ever heard about was described as a vicious monster.  They were primal forces of nature that fought tooth and claw to survive at any cost.  But this dragon didn’t seem to fit that description.

”Is it safe?”  Prayla whispered. 

Taloni beckoned her forward and Prayla appeared at her elbow moments later. 

”Is it dead?”  She asked.

Taloni shook her head.  Even from this far away, she could tell the dragon’s wounds weren’t serious.  They would be painful and probably debilitating, but certainly not life-threatening.  She could also see the slow rise and fall of the dragon’s chest as he breathed, so it definitely was alive. 

”What now?”  Prayla asked.

”Hmm, I don’t know.”  Taloni replied.  Try as she might to repress it, another facet of her Fey heritage was asserting itself again: Curiosity.  She stood a little straighter to get a better look.

”What are you doing?!”  Prayla hissed.  ”It might see us.” 

”I know I just...”  Taloni trailed off.  There was something very odd, very un-dragon-like about this dragon.   She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was bothering her. 

”Come on Tee.”  Prayla said.  ”Curiosity killed the Fey.”

”But satisfaction brought her back.”  She retorted. 

”Now look here--”  Prayla started to say, but she nearly lost her footing as she turned.

Her one foot slid several inches accompanied by the sound of gravel grinding.  Several small rocks broke loose and half rolled, half bounced down the shallow walls of the ravine.  Taloni and Prayla looked at the dragon to see if it had heard the noise. 

After several tense seconds, the dragon slowly turned its head to look in their direction.  Prayla screamed, turned, and took off running as if the dragon was hot on her heels.

Taloni didn’t. 

She met the dragon’s eye and was nearly overwhelmed.  She had seen sadness and despair before, but not like this.

The dragon blinked slowly then -- as if it didn’t have the energy -- let its head lower and land on the dry creek bed.  Something was truly and deeply wrong with this dragon.  Dragons weren’t like this; they didn’t feel pity or remorse.  They were savage creatures and showed no mercy to any living being. 

Despite herself, the Fey teen stepped out from behind the rock.  She couldn’t decide if she should go see the dragon or run away.   After a couple of minutes, self-preservation won out.  She backed away from the boulder she’d been hiding behind until she couldn’t see the dragon anymore.  Then she turned and started walking back toward the mine. 

Ten steps later she stopped.

Why? 

Why was the dragon like this?

She cursed her Fey curiosity and took another step away from the dragon.  Walking was harder than she remembered.  What could possibly make a dragon feel that way? 

She turned back toward the dragon, then shook her head and took another step away.  Or at least, that’s what she had intended.  Her feet had carried her in quite another direction.  Taloni took a deep breath, turned back toward the mine, and walked resolutely forward... 

For about five steps. 

”Curiosity killed the Fey.”  Taloni reminded herself. 

But the dragon...

Thirty seconds later, Taloni was slowly and carefully making her way down the shallow sides of the ravine.  It was maybe ten feet deep, but the sides were sloped gently enough for her to half-crawl, half-slide down.  When she reached the bottom, she was only ten feet from the dragon.

The dragon opened its eyes when she started making noise, but only regarded her for a few seconds before its eyes closed again.  Up close, it didn’t look so scary.  Even counting the wings and tail, Taloni didn’t think he weighed more than a normal man who was six or so inches taller than she was. 

”Hi.”  Taloni said tentatively.

The dragon grunted in response. 

”Um, what’s wrong?”  Taloni asked, though she felt very stupid doing so. 

The dragon whimpered.

”Is it these wounds?”  Taloni asked. 

The dragon shook its head a fraction of an inch; enough that she was sure the wounds weren’t the problems. 

”Are you going to eat me if I tend your wounds?”

Another grunt, though this one sounded like the dragon was scoffing.

”Is it okay if I heal your wounds?”

The dragon didn’t move or make a sound.

”Okay, I’m going to heal them.”  She said.  ”Please don’t eat me.” 

The dragon still didn’t move.  She waited for a second to confirm he was still breathing then took a small step forward.  All the while she was trying to ignore the panic in the back of her mind.  Unfortunately, she was a Fey; when curiosity and panic fought, curiosity often won. 

It took Taloni almost a whole minute to get up the courage to walk the ten feet to the dragon.  She placed her hands over the biggest wound she could see, called on her mana, and began healing.