Friday, December 25, 2009
Today I am a Dead Man
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Today I am a Dragon Hunter...
I can’t gather how tall dragons are - I’ve faced five, but every time I stand near one the height never ceases to amaze me.
The creature was a lean tower of pale blue scales, belly hung low over four dull eggs nested in shining gold and jewels of every color.
The villagers never mentioned eggs, the bastards. All they said was “a dragon.” One simple little dragon - not a mother dragon.
She roared down at me, warm sulfuric breath suffocated me. As my lungs willfully expanded against my chest, I debated on whether or not to flee. After all, it’s not like I was a knight. Knights have honor, I don’t. And it’s not like I was certified by God. The only holy war was waged in my coin purse.
Through the foul breath my eyes caught on that shimmering pile of gold and jewels. I could feel my empty coin purse trying to crawl away from me to swallow the gold. I could feel the greedy hands of all my debt collectors let go of my soul and aim straight for the rubies and emeralds.
If only it were that easy.
Mother dragons were the worst. A hundred mother bears with endangered cubs couldn’t compare to mother dragons guarding a nest. I heard once that a dragon could only lay eggs once every three hundred years. Thank god for that, or else we’d be over run by the scaly bastards.
“I need more arrows,” I said examining my meager bundle of three arrows.
I know it would seem foolhardy to face a dragon with only three arrows, a half-dull dagger, and a short sword in a worn out scabbard… but it was all deception. I don’t know if dragons get complacent or over-confident and whatnot, but when I stand before them in patched breeches, weak leather jerkin, and lackluster weaponry I swear I feel their defenses lower. They don’t even notice the arrows are elf made and the sword forged in the volcanic mountains of the Dwarf Kingdoms. I could slice through dragon scales like butter - I’d like to see those Crusaders or Templars do that with their Pope blessed blades.
Another wave of foul breath signaled the start of the fight. She snaked after me with her long neck, fangs snapping out like a rabid dog. I dodged left, just in time to see her dark eye slide past.
A rusty knife took care of that weak point. The blade was a miniscule thorn in her diamond-shaped pupil, but it was painful enough. She bellowed, snatching her head away from me.
“Oh wow, you’re making this easy for me.”
Her neck was exposed - it was a lot of neck. If I aimed right, I’d hit the main artery. If I didn’t aim right… well at least I would cause some more distracting pain.
“Is it on the left side or the right?” I muttered, reaching for an arrow. “Well, I have a fifty-fifty shot.”
I knocked the arrow back and looked down the line to where the presumed artery nested. The arrow loosened, the elf made fetching guiding it inhumanly straight. The shining metal head buried easily into the scales.
It took seconds before a trickle of blood oozed from the hole where the arrow was buried. While the dragon looked pained - and slightly annoyed - it did not shriek with a death. Instead, she only looked down at me with her remaining dark eye and exposed more rows of fangs.
“Wrong side.”
