Bait

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

A toddler draped in ragged clothes bobs along a floor of auburn leaves. He is on his knees, holding a wooden figurine in each hand, one a gallant knight and the other a fearsome dragon.

He plays with them like a god, smashing them together in an ultimate showdown. The child guides the action with clinks and slashes from his mouth. The knight hits the dragon across the neck with his sword sending it tumbling to the ground below.

The child giggles at the display he put on and reaches down to retrieve the dragon for another brawl when suddenly…

Flap. Flap. Crunch.

From the orange treetops descends a living dragon!

Its fiery red body becomes one with the forest’s leaf bed, creeping on all fours toward the toddler.

The pupils in its yellow eyes are slits focused on the child. Its beaked mouth, foaming with exhilaration, caws “Meat! Meat!”

The beast's cry would be unsettling to any sane man. Its noises aren’t spoken but mimicked, like that of a parrot—a horrid distortion of the human tongue from a creature with no higher understanding of the words it utters.

The toddler however is no sane man. He giggles at the true beast with the same joy he did at the wooden facsimile discarded on the floor.

He holds up the knight to repel the predator.

Its lustful gaze pierces through the meager defense, entranced by the meat orchestrating it.

The front of its body rises from the ground, towering over the child. It is the length of two horses and its wings emerge from its body to engulf the meat.

Its head arches back slowly… and then comes crashing down towards the child like a snake!

Bonk!

The dragon stumbles backward in a daze. Its once fearsome head writhing from side to side in pain and confusion.

The toddler claps in celebration. Between him and the dragon, an amber light dances in the air, forming a bubble around him. A protective shield.

Before the dragon can reorient itself, a figure shrouded in a black cloak rises from the bushes adjacent. They are a young adult male with gray hair and they are swinging a massive sword.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!” thunders the battle cry of the man as he lunges toward the stunned beast. Its pupils widen with the realization that this will be its last breath.

Cold, sharp steel impacts its molten log of a neck. The force of a blade cracks through the scales, liberating the reptile's head.

The free-flying appendage is tailed by a wave of blood jetting from its former host’s neck.

The scarlet tide crashes on the child's bubble, painting the space red.

The cloaked figure catches his breath over the still body of the dragon. He then tightly wraps his right hand around the grip of his sword and yanks it out of the ground.

After sliding the blade into the sheath on his back, he removes his hood, turning to the toddler. The grimace of exertion on his face fades into a big toothy smile.

“You did good kid. Let's get you out of there.”

From under his cloth, his left hand emerges. It is fortified with a light brown clay gauntlet. Amber runes matching the glow of the bubble adorn it. They glow brightly as the man closes his hand.

At the same moment, the bubble shatters into a storm of fragments that then fades away into nothingness.

The toddler jumps up from the ground with glee. The man walks to him and grabs his arms. He then pulls them towards him as he spins in a circle. The child's feet lift from the ground as they become a tornado of reunion.

After a few cycles, the man effortlessly lifts the young boy onto his shoulders for a piggyback ride.

“Whoa. Whoa!” he stumbles around exaggeratedly, amusing the child. As he is about to tip over, he grabs the dragon's severed head off the ground and then sways gracefully back to balance.

“You know I think this one might be able to pay for some good food, for a while at least.” the father dreams while walking away from the mythical carcass. “Oh! Don’t forget your toy.”

He turns back around and with a faint glow of his gauntlet, lifts the wooden dragon off the forest floor. It hovers above the boy above his father.

“Catch!” the dad says as the gauntlet’s light fades, leaving the dragon to fall into the child’s hands. “Nice catch.”

***

The father and son pair are walking through the alleyway of a dark, gray city; the former holding the latter’s hand to stabilize his walk.

The streets beyond bristle with a dull roar of activity. The townsfolk barter and converse with each other. The day is winding down for the night.

A trio of vagrant wizards are convened around a barrel of trash. Their fragile and worn hands crackle with sparks of energy trying to keep a fire burning. On the wall behind them stands a poster bolded with the word WANTED. Smack in the center lies a drawing of a man with gray hair, the father. Below the portrait, hangs writing reading: 10,000 AURELIAN AWARD.

One of the wizards looks up with a slight recognition.

The father gives an extra pull on the brim of his hood to shroud his famous face but it is too late.

The wizard strains to make any noise with his mouth and frantically begins touching his acquaintances to get their attention. Their fire fades out and the two other wizards are furious. They start hollering insults at their alarmed friend.

The father pulls his child up off the street and runs away from the commotion.

***

A wooden sign splatted in purple bioluminescent paint read THE ALE WORKS! The cloak criminal pushes through the pub's swinging doors.

The bar is dark and sparsely populated. At the counter sits a young adventurer drinking shots. He is boasting ecstatically to the barkeep, flexing his thin arms, acting out some story, and slicking his dirty blonde hair back.

The barkeep is unimpressed with the tall tale. He is blind but moves his large body looking past the prattling young man to the new patron at the door.

“Keelie!” he says teasingly towards the cloaked man while raising his arms out as a greeting. “You are back late today.”

“I know,” Keelie acknowledges taking a seat at the bar. “Took a while to get a bite on my line,” he says while lifting his child to his lap.

The stocky barkeep begins to chuckle at how the words were spoken. The other customer look horrified but manages to blabber out “What do you mean line?”

Keelie is dumbfounded and ignores the question. He turns to the barkeep and asks “Torres, who the hell is this softy?”

Torres catches his breath from laughing, wipes away a tear, and says “Oh he is just here for a one-and-done. Was bragging about how he saved some school kids from a swarm of dragons before you came it.”

He looks to said newbie and explains, “Keelie here has a unique strategy for hunting but I assure you the child is perfectly safe,” He looks at the toddler like a grandpa and begins doting “Aren’t you.”

The newbie is not soothed and asks in shock “And you are ok with strategies like that here?”

Torres's smile immediately disappears as he looks up from playing with the toddler. He sneers at the newbie “I don’t know if you are planning on any more dragon slaying, but if you are, you NEVER talk double guess me. Understand?”

The young man is taken aback by the sudden shift in personality and says “Yes sir.”

“Good,” Torres says with his smile returned. “Now show Keelie and the kid your catch. I think it will… assume them.”

“Oh. Uh yes sir,” the newbie says with confidence restored. He reaches under the table. “I think I did pretty good for my first day. Three dragons!”

He bestows upon his audience a bundle of hooks, each holding the full body of a dragon by the mouth, none larger than a lizard.

Keelie bursts out chortling at the pitiful display. “That’s it! Oh my god, are you pest control? How much you get for those, an Aurelian each?” Keelie then reaches into his bag and plops the head of his dragon on the counter. “This is a dragon,” he educates.

The newbie's confidence is torn down just as quickly as it was built back up, but then his eyes peak up. “Your face…” he says to Keelie. “Your that man the High Kingdom has a bounty own aren’t you!”

Keelie grabs his pointer hand and begins to twist it. “If you actually thought catching those shrimps was dangerous, you might want to be careful picking a fight with me. Capeesh?”

“Yes! Yes! I Capeesh!” the adventurer pleas while desperately trying free his hand. “Let go you are hurting me!”

Keelie lets go and the newbie begins rubbing his hand.

The bar is silent and the mood is sour.

“Why do dragons go after kids anyways?” the newbie asks trying to break the tension.

“I don’t know. The Biomages say it has something to do with their stem cells,” Torres says. “Consuming kids is why those suckers can live so long.” He is feeling up the dragon head on his once-clean counter. “Is the body proportional to this?”

“No, it had an oversized head,” Keelie jests. “Your men will find the rest of it in a clearing down by Baron’s Bay.”

“Sweet!” Torres chirps in a singsongy tone. He begins to pull the head behind the bar. “A drink for you and an apple juice for the kid?”

Quickly than lightning, Keelie's hand flies from under the table. He projects a pane of amber energy between Torres and the skull, singeing his fingertips.

“Shit man!” Torres snickers waving his overstretched hands in the air.

“You pay me before I pay you,” Keelie states in a serious tone.

Torres stops fanning his hands and jolts his right pointer and index fingers together. From their tips, a dark blue light begins to churn. He then jabs this light into Torres’s barrier, shattering it to pieces!

He then extends his hands out theatrically assuring Keelie: “I got you man. Trust! 750 Aurellians.”

“Only 750!,” Keelie slams his hands down on the countertop. “A dragon that size used to be worth 15 hundred easy!”

“I know. I know,” Torres deescalates. “It's just more hunters are joining the fray,” he says gesturing to the newbie. “And with the Kingdom cracking down harder on monsters, prices are going down.”

“Damn it,” Keelie grimaces. “Fine. Just give me the coins. With prices how they are you need to slay a colossal dragon just to survive.”

Torres hands him a small pouch. “Be careful what you wish for son. Beasts like that are no laughing matter.”

Keelie places his child on the floor. “Come on kid. We are leaving.”

***

It is night now. Keelie and the kid are in the lobby of an inn. It is furnished in dark wood and lit by dim lanterns.

A congenial, skinny old man sits behind a colossal table, the innkeeper. Keelie is in the middle of speaking to him. “Just for tonight.”

“Are you sure that is all?” the innkeeper says gesturing behind Keelie.

He turns around and sees his child looking at and touching a shelf full of wooden figurines. He grabs a doll of a princess and looks at his father expectantly.

“No,” Keelie puts bluntly. “Boys don’t like dolls.”

The youngster is saddened by his words, but then, in a sheer act of determination says “P-Pwease?”

Keelie’s fortitude is broken by this act of cuteness. He sighs, then turns back to the old man. “Those are handmade. It isn’t going to fall apart as soon as we leave tomorrow right?”

“It most certainly will not! I have been making those for 20 years and I think I have figured out how to make a figure!”

“How much?”

“120 Aurellians for the room and dinner, 25 for the doll.”

Keelie sighs again but reaches into the pouch of gold he received in the bar. “Fine, you get to complete your collection.”

The innkeeper graciously takes the coins into his drawer. The then ventures “What’s the name of the little swindler?”

Keelie is walking up the stairs in the back of the room, lifting his child up the steps one at a time. He turns around and says “I didn’t have time to give him one. It is just Kid.”

The old man is struck by confusion. His mouth is stuttering, trying desperately to utter a flurry of questions but before he can articulate, Keelie departs the floor. “Goodnight.”

***

Keelie is lying on his back on a bed. His dark cloak is finally off, revealing his unimpressive clothing, a ragged, torn vest. Around his neck lays an embroidered silver wedding band bound by a string.

The kid is asleep beside him, hugging his new doll. Keelie whispers drowsily “You like your princess don’t you.”

He then gently grabs the ring, raising it to eye level. “My princess…” he mutters before falling asleep.

***

The screaming of a woman and a child fills the air. The woman is sickly and pale, with dark hair and red lips, she looks like a vampire. Tears are streaking down her face as she cradles the child in her arms, a newborn.

The room they are in is majestic. Pillars and arches that look like they were sculpted for marble by the gods themselves lay in front of a balcony with a view. This is no peasant's village, this is a castle.

A pool of blood taints the otherwise pristine tile floor. Its source is the woman, who lies in agony on a bloodied, white bed.

With her are two regal knights in scaled armor. One, a young man with blond hair stands in shock, covering his mouth in horror. “H-h-high Princess…”

The other knight is on his knee holding her hand, tears in his eyes, a young Keelie.

Keelie stands and being shaking the other knight. “Snap out of it! Go get a healer!”

“R-r-right,” he says regaining slight compose, and bolts out of the room.

“K-Keelie…” the woman moans.

“Yes, Anna what?” Keelie begs.

“Now that we are alone, I need to ask you to do something if I don’t make it. Ta-”

“No! Don’t say that you will be fine-”

“Be quiet now sweetie. This may be for the best… You need to promise me something if I die. Are you listening?”

“Yes, anything,” Keelie says losing composure.

“You can’t let my father have our child. You must take him as far away from here as you can!”

Keelie is taken aback. “Betray the crown? Why?!”

“If you can’t do it, you might as well throw him in a river. I won’t allow him to live that life. I would rather he die than suffer under that mad king.”

“Anna…”

“I wanted us all to run away together but I don’t think that is going to happen now,” snot is running down her face now. “Promise me you will take him away!”

Keelie clenches her hands. “Yes, I promise!”

“Good,” Anna says eyes closing. “Now I can…” She has stopped breathing

“Anna?” Keelie says calmly. “Wait. You can’t,” he beings to shake her. “Wake up! Anna!”

***

“Anna!” the older Keelie shouts rising from the hotel bed.

He looks over to the still-sleeping kid and his doll.

“Shit,” he laughs holding his face in his hands. “It’s all just a bad dream.”

***

It is a new day and Keelie is back on the hunt.

The kid sits in the dirt, playing away with all three of his figurines. Keelie sits away in a bush. He yawns. No action.

They are in a new area of the forest. The child sits out in a clearing surrounded by great orange trees.

Flap. Flap. Flap.

Keelie sits at attention and begins monitoring his surroundings.

Into the clearing emerges a dragon!

“My god it is even smaller than the ones that idiot at the bar had,” Keelie mutters. A look of disappointment crosses his face as he slowly stands up, but then…

A sound of thunder erupts from the sky. It happens again… then another time! It is as though the heavens themselves are tearing open.

Keelie’s eyes are stricken with terror as he looks up at the clouds. A colossal dragon!

The trees of the forest are pushed back by the flapping of its wings. With one final thrash, it descends and lands on the ground as silent as a cat.

“Tiny morsel!” the shrimp dragon caws.

The enormous dragon looks down and then speaks with an elegant female voice, “Eat child. You will need all of your strength for the dark times ahead.”

“Seared meat! Seared meat!” the demon spawn chants.

“You must learn to cook yourself. Show me your fire.”

The child begins flapping its winds with joy at a chance to show off. It then begins to cough, like a cat trying to hack up a hairball. It then regurgitates a torrent of flame at the child only for it to be blocked by an amber shield.

“Please god, make them leave,” Keelie pleads to the universe.

The small dragon begins to cry at his failure. “Mama! Mama!”

“Interesting,” the mother dragon says. “Perhaps you may get more to eat today child. Now watch this.” She stands over the orange bubble and opens her beaked mouth. The human toddler wriggles inside with excitement.

From the tip of the beast’s mouth manifests a dark blue flame. Keelie’s eyes twitch with horror, recognizes the substances from his employer at the bar. Anti-Magic.

The colossal dragon brings her beak down on the bubble, shattering it effortlessly!

“Try your fire again child.”

“Noooooooo!” Keelie screams, erupting from the undergrowth.

“So it was you who put up that barrier,” the mother dragon smiles.

Keelie ignores the pleasantly, still screaming. Sword raised above his head, he brings it down with all of his might on the colossal dragon.

Clink!

His blade ricochets off the beast's primordial scales becoming logged in the ground. He breaks it free, lets out another battle cry, and prepares for a second swing but is stopped.

The shrimp-sized dragon is growling and biting at his leg!

With extreme annoyance, Keelie swats it away with his greatsword like a fly.

Splat! The dragon explodes into green goo.

“Fool!” the colossal dragon shouts and swipes Keelie away with her tail.

“Agh!” Keelie squeaks as his torso impacts a tree trunk. He tumbles to the ground holding his chest.

“Look at me human. Look at me and sear this moment in your mind!” the dragon mother commands. Keelie struggles to lift his head off the ground but is then overcome with fear. The beast is holding the kid in her mother by his shirt collar.

“An eye for an eye…” She tosses the child in the air and opens her mouth.

“Nooooooo!” Keelie wheezes and extends his arm. His gauntlet illuminates.

A pill-shaped shield forms around the free-falling child and the beast swallows it like one in a gulp. She begins coughing but it is too late, the capsule has been ingested whole.

“Ahhh! It is like inhaling an ice cube,” she squawks losing composer. She then looks at the broken Keelie. “That revenge will have to do. Your bubble can’t last forever.”

“No,” Keelie mutters dazed

“Yes and now I allow you to live the out rest of your miserable life. Farewell, murderer!” The dragon's wings burst from her body and she takes to the skies in a single, thunderous motion.

The shockwave hammers the already beaten Keelie deeper into the dirt. He slowly curls into a ball on the floor and mutters “Anna. What have I done?”