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The beast comes roaring down the castle walls, wings outspread and tail lashing back and forth. Stone and glass came cascading down to the ground around you and your friends. The clouds above roiled, bubbling and churning like the inside of a witch’s cauldron. Lightning arched through the sky, from cloud to cloud before bolting down and burning the stone.
Rain soaked the ground around you, and had long since gotten under the collar of your velvet tunic. The members of the ball that had previously filled the great hall of the castle were streaming around you, screaming and shrieking in fear. You raced across the grounds, weaving your way through the onslaught of escaping, potential victims. You were bumped out of the way and as you looked around you caught sight of a sword. You grab it up, but it’s broken in half. Bloody useless to you.
The dragon screeched, making you wince. You bite your lip and turn around again. You look, but no one is facing the beast. There’s no one but you.
Taking a deep breath, you take to the air.
Wind and water buffet you as you fly up. Lightning dances through the air, striking a tower nearby you. You lift your arm to protect your eyes from the light and at the same time the dragon sees you.
Her fuchsia scales gleam in the light, she’s beautiful, a stunning creature, and if it wasn’t for the murder in her eyes you—
That was it.
The murder in her eyes.
You reach out your empty hands, you reach out your mind to her. You encounter a vicious storm inside of her mind. Her attention flickers and then focuses on you. She flares out her wings and the webbed fins that run along her jawbones. You see her beauty and that leaks through your mind and into her. Her open mouth scream is cut short in her confusion.
You send her peace, tranquility. You reach into her mind and bring her calm.
She blinks her large, golden eyes. Her pupils turn from slits to wide circles. You fly closer, slowly. Your soothing words pour off your tongue. Your heart pounds in your chest as you run your fingers over the scales on the edge of her nose.
“There you go,” you whisper to her, “what a lovely, peaceful lady…”
She nudges you with her nose. Her wings fold up along her back. Her mind, once calm, is as beautiful as her scales.
You laugh and lean in, kissing the end of her nose. “Beautiful lady…”
Some time later…
“So this is…” You take a few steps into the cave and give out a low whistle.
Condese slips around you, fluid like water despite her size. You barely even hear her claws and scales slip across the mountain’s cave floor. It was only until she reached the piles of gold that you could hear her moving. Her tail slips behind you, nudging the backs of your legs to have you go forwards. You laugh softly and shake your head. You absently pat her tail as you enter deeper into the cave.
The piles of gold are almost as impressive as the dragon that lays on top of them. You crouch down at the base of one and run the coins through your fingers. In the back of your mind you feel her initial agitation at your touching of her treasure. There’s the fear that you’ll steal some of it, and at the same time you can feel her calm herself down.
Climbing up the shifting gold, you sit down beside her forearms and say, “All right, I’m impressed.” You put your arm over the back of her neck, scratching along the spines. “I’ve never seen anything this beautiful in my life.”
She looks down at you smugly, her mouth curled in the mockery of a smile. You grin up at her and say, “The piles of gold are pretty nice looking too.”
That bashful look she gives you never gets old.