The Dragon's Guard: Part I By: Iliana Castillo (aka Ilith Oreclatea) The forest...perfect place to hide, the man thought. With his sword at his side and his crossbow strapped to his back, he felt safe. He had been searching these woods for almost two months, going from town to town and asking questions along the way. He got a tip of a rare gold dragon being in the area, hunting these beasts was his specialty, but a gold dragon? A prize like that was worth a lot of money...the hide, teeth, the blood even! It was worth a king's ransom. How he would love to get his hands on that sort of treasure. He could feel it, he was close now...the farther he walked the more metallic the air smelled. You could always tell when a dragon was close. Damn! the man thought as he entered a vast clearing, looking around quickly before he runs behind a large tree. How could I have been such a fool? Up ahead, past the clearing was a worn and beaten path, much wider than any he had seen...too wide for single wagons to pass through. What was beyond the path, a cave perhaps? Yes, the lair of the creature was up ahead and he slowly unsheathed his sword. He took in a deep breath as he walked through the mouth of the deep cave; hoping luck was on his side. *** She slowly opened her eyes and wakes up from a deep sleep. Something wasn't right...something had caused her to awaken. She slowly lifts her head and yawns quietly. Someone...not something, she thought. An enemy maybe? Surely no greggil was stupid enough to invade her lair. An elf perhaps? They were known to go against their beliefs and be employed to kill dragons. She slowly rose to her feet and stretches. She knew someone was on her tail, others of her kind had told her so themselves. A dragonslayer, one with experience had been nosing around and asking questions, causing her to stay near her lair and away from the humans. She enjoyed conversing with them, in her own human form of course, they would run if a dragon decided to talk with them out of the blue. She could hear him now...walking ever so carefully into the vast cavern beyond the mouth of the cave. She slowly stretched her great golden wings, retracted them and began to walk toward the exit of the chamber she was in. She heard it then, the scraping of boot on rock, he had fallen for her trap...she quickly made her way to the vast chamber and looked around carefully. She could hear heavy breathing from somewhere, but where? Beyond the mouth of the cave there was a deep pit that surrounded solid rock, so every day she had to leap over then land, then leap again to reach the other side. Yet, it was hidden by her magic, to appear as if nothing was there. This was the trap that always caught intruders off guard. She had heard him slip...did he fall? No, she could still hear him breathing, where was he? She growls quietly under her breath and looks around again. Suddenly, a movement catches her eye, hands...gripping onto the side of the pit, he had slipped but hung onto the rock for dear life. An easy target, she thinks. *** The ground had given way beneath his boot and he began to fall, but twisted his body so he could grab onto the rock. He looked down and saw darkness below. This wyrm is a clever one, he thought as he began to pull himself up. Just then he heard heavy footsteps, he froze and listened to the dragon, slowing his breathing and waited for what the beast would do. Just then he heard it growl and he gulped, knowing for a fact that he was easy prey and that by now it had seen him by now. He didn't know what to do...nothing like this had ever happened before, usually he was lucky to find them sleeping in the words or had joined a group to kill the beasts, but now he was on this ones territory and was at a complete loss at what to do. As these thoughts were going through his head he didn't hear the talons scrape against the rock, but he did hear the dragon land above him. As he stared up into the large hazel eyes of the creature he trembled and, in fright, let go and plummeted into darkness. *** She spent a split second on the thought of letting him die, but she quickly reached down and grabbed the man in her claw. As she brought him before her snout she snorted and the man fainted. She smiled and made her way back to her sleeping chamber a little awkwardly on three legs, thinking deeply of what she was going to do now. I can't kill him, missed my chance to do that before...won't let him go, he might lead others here...what am I to do? She pondered. Just then the slayer begins to stir and the dragon keeps her eye on him. He slowly sits up and looks around, when he spots the gold dragon he quickly jumps to his feet and instinctively reaches for his sward. "Looking for these?" she says and holds up his swords and crossbow in her claw. He looks at his side and hangs his head, looking up at the dragon he lets out a sigh. "Well, go on, kill me," he says. "Kill you? Why would I do that?" "Because you are cold, heartless beasts with no pity." "Pity? I pity the beneleks that attempt to take my hide to fatter their wallets." "Then kill me, that's what I came here to do to you and you know it!" "Yes, well I'm not going to kill you...I missed my chance earlier." "Will you let me go?" "And risk you telling others where my lair is? I don't think so." "You can't keep me here!" "I was hoping to make an ally of you." "Ally?!" the man laughs. She lets out a growl and lowers her head to the man's face, staring straight into his eyes, he trembles slightly from her being close enough to feel her hot breath upon him. "You are not worth the trouble, greggil, I should have killed you." "W-what are you going to do to me?" "I will offer you one chance to stay alive, will you hear me out?" The man looks away from her close gaze and nods slightly. The dragon sighs and lifts her head to look at him fully. This one is willing to save his own skin...maybe I'll let him live after all, she thinks. "What is your name, greggil?" "Why, are you going to use it against me somehow?" The gold dragon laughs and the man becomes angry, she says "No, where did you hear that dragons could do that?" "Everyone knows that dragons have their own form of dark magic." "Dark magic? Have you seen proof that gold dragons have that sort of magic?" "How do you explain that pit I fell into then?" "That is not 'dark magic' as you call it, just magic in a simple form of security." "There is no difference, that magic was used against me-" "To save my tail from you, actually." The man scoffs and turns his back to her, she laughs again and grabs him tightly in one of her claws. "Ahh! No, I'm sorry if I offended you! Please, I-" "Oh, be quiet." The man quickly shuts up and looks into her hazel eyes, thinking of the beauty this dragon actually has that he has never noticed before. "Now, listen greggil-" "My name is Athaloc." The dragon lifts an eye ridge and continues, "Athaloc, will you try not to kill me for at least a week? If you're able to do that I will let you live and leave here, under one condition." "And what is that?" "You'll find out if you can survive the week." She places him back upon the ground and watches him, he looks up at her in surprised. Could this beast be serious? Will she let me go? he thinks. The dragon smiles and lowers her head until she is about five inches from the man's face. 'I may not be able to control you by just your name, but I have other secrets as well.' The man stares in shock at the dragon, stuttering out a response to what she just did. "How d-did you do that?" "Do what?" "Speak without opening your mouth..." The dragon laughs and lifts her head once more, replying, "It is a rare gift, some greggils are able to use it as well." "But that means-" 'I can read your thoughts.' The man's eyes grow large and he backs away from her. It can't be! he thinks. "Oh, but it can." "Stop that! Stay out of my thoughts, you hear me wyrm?!" "yes, I hear you loud and clear...no promises on that though." "You had better promise or so help me-" "Or what? I have your weapons and if you threaten me once more...you'll regret it." *** The next day the man awakens next to the dragon. He stretches and looks around, where was he? He turns and sees the shining golden scales next to him, stumbling to his feet he looks around for his weapons as the past day comes back to him. The dragon sighs and opens one eye to look at him. "Oh, calm down...I hid your weapons." "Why?" "Because of your vow, not to kill me for a week, that's why." He looks at her and she closes her eye. He looks around the vast chamber he's trapped in, red silk hangings come from the roof of the cavern; gems, gold coins and other small treasures litter the floor. He nears a large chest and opens in, more treasure is within it, including a gold dagger. He looks from the dagger to the dragon and back to the dagger once more, as his hand nears it the dragon opens her eyes and watches him. "Take anything from that chest and I'll take your hands." The man quickly shuts the chest, almost catching his fingers in the process, then gets to his feet to look back at the dragon. She slowly gets to her paws and lets out a broad yawn, Athaloc looks away at the sighs of her sharp teeth, the quick thought of being caught by those and ripped limb from limb...he trembles. The dragon smiles at the thoughts going through his mind and she walks toward him. As a reflex he jump back away from her and misplaces his footing, falling onto his back roughly upon the ground. She shakes her head and walks past the human, calling behind her for him to follow. He climbs to his feet and jogs behind her, coming to the gold dragon's side as she stops just behind the beginning of the pit. She looks down and grabs the surprised human in her paw roughly, making her regular leap to the mouth of her lair three-leggedly. As she exits the cavern Athaloc tries to catch his breath, only to gasp in fear as he hears the quick flap of her wings. He looks below him and the sight of the ground slowly shrinking away makes him dizzy, he never was a fan of heights. Suddenly, his senses fade around him and he becomes limp within the tight hold of the gold dragoness' claws. *** Slowly and quietly the gold dragon works upon the unconscious mind of the human with her own to erase any presence of memory from the past day. Soon she reaches a town and glides low to the rooftops, cloaked by her magic so as not to alert any of the people below. She then gently lets the man go and he tumbles through the branches of a tree, then she flaps her wings harder to gain altitude once more, looking to the side suddenly as she hears a familiar sound.