Inhuman Relations #12
"This is impossible," you mutter miserably, shivering with cold. "I don't even have arrows...how am I to do this? It's impossible."
The trek to the dragon's cave had been uneventful, but a black mood hangs over you like a storm cloud, refusing to spill its heavy shower and be done with the angst. You peer over a built up ridge of jagged-edged rocks, which appeared to have been dumped there deliberately as a defensive embankment of sorts. If you had been home, in your own world, you would have certainly classed it as man-made and the intelligence you perceive this creature to have chills you to the bone. The cave, which you have heard so much about, yawns ahead, the blackness impenetrable by either your eyes or the sphinx's; Sadhana shakes her head to quiet your despairing whine, crouching low to the ground, every muscle in her body drawn taut with tension.
A long, drawn out hiss emanates warningly from the cave's mouth and you quail, nose pressed into the dirt as you cower plaintively, wishing you could be anywhere but here. Your whole body shakes as the beast stalks from the cave, its massive head swinging back and for, the monster searching for something. Its scales are a traditional, ruby red, but smeared with filth and dust, which greatly depletes from the handsome beauty that it would have otherwise held. Your eyes, however, go to the line of snow-white spikes running down its spine, from head to tail tip, and the gleaming daggers, of a like colour, lining its hungry muzzle, parting in a low, rumbling growl.
While the sphinx and you watch fearfully, striving to keep yourself away from the dragons sickly, yellow gaze, it pauses to nose a cluster of rocks with plain pleasure, crooning with a mother's care to them. It roars ferociously, the fierce waves of sound bouncing off the rock face and reverberating back; Sadhana and you duck your heads, covering your ears to block out the terror the best you can, lest you lose your nerve at the crunch. Closing its jaws with a sudden, decisive snap, the beast looks about itself with bewilderment, its tail tip flicking anxiously as it lowers its pointed muzzle to the rocks again.
"Who has taken my cup?" It snarls more softly, separating the rocks with a curved talon and grouping them together repeatedly, counting them over and over again in a compulsive, furtive way. "I must have my treasure and some thief has stolen into my lair to take it from me! I will have my cup!"
You go to ask a question of Sadhana but, alas, your hoof knocks aside a large, uneven rock, sending it clattering noisily away. The dragon's head jerks up sharply and the beast hisses, curling around the pile of rocks and scooping more closer with its white talons, wings spread protectively.
"Stay away from my hoard!" It growls, slapping its tail against the ground threateningly. "You can have none of it! It is mine! Stay away!"
"Go!" Sadhana snaps, pushing you forward over the stones. "Quick! While it's distracted! Now!"
Written by Amethyst Mare on 22 June 2012
