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Scott had been standing over the grave when they found him.
There hadn’t been a funeral. His dad hadn’t been popular in town ever since he had chosen to wed an outsider over a Barrowhill woman. In every generation there were scarce few bachelors in town, let alone desirable ones. So at his wedding, fathers would mutter how he had doomed their daughters to a life as a spinster, and robbed them of grandchildren. Nobody in Barrowhill had mourned his mother, and now nobody would mourn Scott. Which made him all the more appealing as a choice.
He had known it was coming. They had been by when he was younger, too. Trying to convince his dad to renounce them. But back then he had a mother who could hide him and a father who could fight back. Now, he didn’t even have the energy to struggle as they dragged him away.
Scott felt numb, which was a good thing since they weren’t exactly treating him kindly. His legs were tied to the rock at odd angles, his arms practically wrenched out of their sockets. But his eyes kept staring blankly at the sky, as though waiting for his parents to swoop down and take him away from all this.
He was going to die here. Nobody who had been left out as a sacrifice ever came back. Scott had heard tales of distant screams, or pools of blood or worse. He had always seen the dragons flying overhead and prayed that would be the closest he ever got to one. And now, he knew they would be the last things he ever saw.
If he were more scared, he would have gone invisible, or struggled. But he was drained, grieving, and so, so tired. His magic wouldn’t have done anything anyway, since the ropes would have stayed visible.
He could hear the hum of nature around him, a metaphorical brush of it against him. A send off to a sacrifice. Would the forest miss him, at least? Would flowers grow in his blood, so he could serve a purpose in death as well as life? That is, if the dragon left any blood. Scott was shaking. There were no more tears left to cry, but here he was still trying to sob.
Then he heard the sound of wingbeats. A thump, two of them. Then voices.
“Seriously, is that another one?” It was a strangers voice, with a growling edge to it. Inhuman. “This is the third villiage this month! Do they think we eat them or something?”
“I mean,” Another said. The voice sounded more feminine. “I think Saus does.”
“Well Saus also does rituals for some death lady.” The first one huffed. “He’s a few scales short of a claw.”
Scott heard them drawing closer, but their steps weren’t the earth shaking footfalls of a dragon. No. Size wise they sounded almost… human?
“Oh!” The second exclaimed. “Here they are!” Then there was a person right in front of Scott.
Well, not a person. Their pupils were like that of a cats, their teeth were a little too sharp, and when they raised their hand, he could see green scales crawling up their arm. Definitely a dragon, though Scott had never heard of them having humanoid forms. “Hey Nom! This one’s an elf!”
“Bullshit,” The other dragon, Nom, replied. “Oh wait, they are! Sorry man.” He said to a nonresponsive Scott. “We don’t get a lot of elves here, and Katie’s a fibber.”
“I am not!” Katie exclaimed, and Nom laughed as he came into view. He had the same nose and eye shape as Katie, though there was something far more menacing about him. His scales were a dark gray that seemed to absorb the sunlight rather than reflect it.
He stepped closer to Scott, who started shaking even more. “Easy there,” Nom said. “We’re not gonna hurt you. We just want to get you out of these ropes, yeah? That sound good?” Scott still didn’t respond. “Smashing.”
Soon, Nom was bending over him, cutting the ropes binding Scott to the rock. Then he was sliding to the ground like a rag doll.
“Hey, hey,” There was an arm pulling him up into a chest. “You’re all good here.”
Scott didn’t know the last time he had been held like this. Maybe at his mother’s wake, or even before that. Nom was warm and he felt strangely safe in a way nobody else had. Scott couldn’t help but wrap around him, clinging as tight as he could. He smelled like smoke, like a fire that had gone out an hour ago.
“Oh!” Nom exclaimed. “That works too.”
“Awww,” Katie said. “He’s like a koala.”
“A gold koala,” Nom replied, and there was a hand in Scott’s hair, lightly pulling at it and scratching it soothingly.
There was quiet for a moment as Scott leaned into the touch. “Nom,” Katie said firmly. “No.”
“What?” Nom asked, though he sounded more like he was trying to irritate her than get any actual clarification.
“I know that look,” Katie said. “That’s not a trinket or crown or gem. That’s a human. Well, not human, sorry.”
Nom shifted Scott’s head so it was tucked against his shoulder. “It’s not like he has anywhere else to go.” He wheedled then Scott felt him look down. “Are you going back home?”
Scott only had to think about it for a second. What was there for him but two graves and a town who would be angrier if he survived than if he didn’t? He shook his head. “See?” Nom said. “I’m gonna head back, yeah?”
“I swear-” Katie took in a deep breath.
“See ya!” Scott felt himself get abruptly dropped and a huge burst of magic flow though the clearing. Then darkness. From his crumpled position on the first floor, he opened his eyes to see that the sky had been blotted out by a huge dragon.
It was gray and black, its tail and spine ending in huge, sharp spikes. The wings were great expanses of leather that caught the light just right. And when it looked down at Scott, he saw it had Nom’s eyes.
He was the most beautiful thing Scott had ever seen.
He felt a claw close around him. Had Nom changed his mind? Was he going to eat Scott after all? But instead, he heard the great wings flap, and they were airborne.
Scott’s scream was silent as he shut his eyes tight. He had never been one to enjoy heights, and this was no exception. So he clung onto Nom’s claw for dear life, and it held onto him. Its grip was firm enough to make him feel safe, but loose enough to not put him in pain.
He opened his eyes only once to see the trees whizzing by. His whole life had been down there in that forest, and now he was going who knew where. Up ahead, he could see snow capped mountains with more than one large winged creature circling their peaks. Then he closed his watering eyes again. It all made him so nauseous.
Scott felt them going downward now, slowing for a descent. Then he was being dropped onto the ground. The first thing he registered is that the stone below was only slightly colder than the air around him, both of which were freezing. Scott whimpered and curled up, trying to preserve warmth. His clothes were made for thorny flowers and gentle springs, not harsh mountain snowfall.
There was a claw poking him, making him curl tighter into a ball. “Cold or scared?” Nom asked, though as a dragon his voice was even less humanoid. It sounded like rocks being scraped against each other.
Scott’s vocal chords were still MIA, so he just shivered more. Then he felt something flop on top of him, heavy and soft. He grabbed it and tucked it further around himself. A blanket, probably?
For a moment he let himself lay there until he had warmed up, then he slowly opened his eyes and sat up.
Scott was in a well lit cave, though perished all the light was coming from the weak sunlight being reflected off of the mountains of gold and jewels. There was enough wealth in just this cave to buy and break a small kingdom. And when Scott looked down, he saw he had been wrapped in the furs of an animal he had never even heard of.
So this was what a dragon’s hoard looked like. He continued to stare until the dragon himself came into view, morphing back into his humanoid form. “Like it?” Nom asked. Scott nodded, he didn’t know what else to do. “I’ve got more blankets if you need. So tell me, what is your name? Do you have one?”
Scott opened and closed his mouth until finally his vocal chords deigned to return. “Scott. Springwell.”
Nom’s pupils seemed to dilate, making Scott flinch. “There is really nothing to be afraid of!” Nom said, hands up to soothe him. “Your voice is just very beautiful.”
Scott didn’t know what to say to that, so he just nodded. He thought he was going to be in a dragon’s stomach by now, but instead he was getting asked about his name.
“Well, I’m Nom of the Blue Peaks.” Nom said, and Scott heard a glimmer of pride in his voice. “And you also met my sister, Katie the Brave of the Red Mounts.”
Scott shifted so he was sitting in a more cross legged position. Nom sat down as well. “Katie gets a title but you don’t?”
Nom sighed. “Okay, I also have a title but it’s… not a good foot to start on, you know?” He caught Scott’s tentatively curious expression and continued: “It’s not a good story. Anyway. Now that you’re talking, what happened? How’d you end up… you know?”
Scott barely knew where to start. This morning, his father’s death, his mother’s murder, or maybe even before he was born, when a human ran into an elf and they had love at first sight? He just wrapped his furs around him tighter. “It’s not a good story.” He echoed.
“Fair,” Nom said. “I feel like we should talk about where you’re going. We’ve got three options. One,” Nom held up a finger. “You said no earlier, but it is still on the table. I could take you back to your town.”
Scott rapidly shook his head. “I assumed so. Two,” Nom put up a second finger. “I drop you off in a random place on the other side of the mountain range, probably near a villiage, with enough coins to get you on your feet.”
Scott thought about it. Starting over could be good. But he still didn’t really feel ready for all that yet. “Three?” Scott asked.
Nom put up another finger. “You stay with me.”
Scott shifted. “How long?”
“Long as you’d like,” Nom said. Scott had never heard of the generosity of dragons before, so he opened his mouth to question why he would offer such a thing. Then he saw the gleam in Nom’s eyes, the way he beheld Scott like he was gilded in gold, the way Katie had talked to Nom about him.
Did he want to be a part of this hoard?
Scott barely knew who Nom was, or if the first and second options were only formalities. For all he knew, Nom would just keep him there regardless of what he picked.
But he had left out options. So Scott asked: “Are these actual options or are you going to just keep me?”
Nom’s lips pursed. “I don’t like letting go of you, and I definitely would check in on you if you choose to leave, but I don’t keep someone who doesn’t want to be kept.”
Makes sense. Scott pondered some more. He had never been beyond his hometown. Maybe it would be nicer to stay here for a little longer. “Could I at least spend the night?”
Nom seemed to relax. “Of course. Whatever you need.” He stood up. “I’m going to go get dinner for us. Feel free to explore the cave, but if you pocket stuff and run I will get testy.”
Scott nodded. He had no plans to anger a dragon. Then Nom shed his humanoid form and set off, leaving Scott to process everything that had happened so far.
After the shock of still being alive had fully worn off, Scott had started exploring the hoard, climbing a small hill of gold to look at all the items. Armor gilt with gold, crowns from kings long lost to time, magic tomes in languages Scott couldn’t hope to understand. He was holding up a necklace of gold and emeralds when he heard Nom return with a dead deer in his claws. It appeared to be burned.
“What were you looking at?” Nom asked lightly. Upon seeing Scott’s fearful expression, he added: “You can touch, you just can’t run off with it.” Scott held up the necklace. “Oh, that’s a good choice,” Nom said. “You should wear it, it matches your eyes.”
“I don’t know how to,” Scott responded. The clasp was too complicated, the metalwork too intricate. Nom beckoned him closer, and for him to turn around and hand him the necklace. Scott did as he was asked and soon it was draped around his neck.
Nom faced him, and Scott swore his pupils blew out so far he could barely see his irises. Scott laughed lightly at that. “I have a feeling I’m not going anywhere, am I?”
Nom huffed and gestured for Scott to grab some meat. “It’s cooked for you.”
“I appreciate it,” Scott let Nom rip the poor thing apart so he could grab a leg and dig in. It really was delicious.
Then after Scott was done watching Nom attack it like he was trying to kill it again, he laid against a pile of blankets, feeling sleepy and satisfied. Nom seemed tired too as he trudged to the center of the hoard, where there was a dragon shaped valley in the mountains of treasure.
Scott felt lonely. He needed someone to talk to, and Nom really did seem like someone he would want to be with. So Scott grabbed his favorite blanket and trudged towards him. “Do you mind if I join you?”
Nom looked like his birthday had come early. “Uh,” He stammered. “Yeah, yeah, of course. Go on ahead. Human or dragon form?”
Dragon felt like it would be too hard to cuddle into, warm and large as it might be. “Human.”
Nom went back over and brought all the blankets to the center, and Scott soon joined him. It was nice, to feel so warm and cared for, to be treasured and wanted. He wrapped an arm around Nom, who then held him so tight Scott had to pat him so he would know to ease up.
“My treasure,” Nom muttered.
Scott smiled up at him. He could get used to this. “Mine,” He agreed as he fell asleep.