Inhuman Relations #15
Shocked at the victory and yet full of glee, you prance up to the dragon's head, grabbing a loose lump of rock, which you raise and shatter against the side of the dragon's ghastly, gaping muzzle. Up close, you can appreciate the fine nature of its circular, glittering scales and, if you had the essential tools, the hide of the beast would have made a fantastic, near impenetrable suit of armour, certainly immune to the claws of wild animals. Shaking yourself back to reality, you swing the rock at the dragon's jaw a second time, this time succeeding in dislodging your prize: the monster's tooth. You pick it up and turn it over in your delicate, feminine hands, shuddering at the sight of them --- yours but not yours --- more than the jagged, lethal weapon in your grasp.
"Look!" You cry out, holding the long tooth aloft. "Look, you bastard --- I've got it! I've done what you wanted! Now show your face, coward, and keep your side of the deal!"
"So you have," a calm, almost impressed voice, comes from behind you.
Wheeling around, you rake your gaze over the genie, taking in his confident smirk and intimidating stance, only...he has ceased to intimidate you. You have done more than he has; you have slain the dragon. Is he really a threat to you, or is his own skill in the area of disappearing acts and stealing men away?
"It's blocking the entrance," Sadhana interjects, her expression sullen as she glares at the genie. "You'll have to move it."
"All in due time, animal --- I have other matters to attend to," the genie answers coolly, paying her little attention. His narrow, greedy eyes roves over the slick, dragon's hide, though a flicker of disappointment crosses his features.
Stunned into silence, you glance about, thinking that maybe you had really seen the dragon stomping around his 'hoar' angrily earlier, that the rocks he had been cradling had not truly been rocks, but nuggets of gold and faceted diamonds. No! It is a trick! Muscles tensing, the strain of the day comes to a head; you round on the genie furiously and bring your fist back as if to physically harm him --- cause him the pain that you had felt, what you have gone through!
"Do it," you hiss, maintaining your threatening stance. "You said you would bring my brother back! Nothing was ever said about treasure and there was none anyway. I want my brother --- as he was --- bring him back! Stop delaying!"
The genie's look darkens thunderously, but you meet his gaze resolutely, staring him down until he sighs and makes a dismissive, 'what else can I do?' gesture. With that gesture, an unformed something steadily takes shape out of the matter around it, drawing on nature's colour and becoming increasingly recognisable until, at last, your brother stands alive, gazing down at his hands in wonder. Stumbling forward, you open your arms to him, mouthing the word 'brother' over and over.
Written by Amethyst Mare on 27 June 2012
