Dragon of the Valley

"There weren't always dragons in the Valley," the stocky barbarian sneered as he spit at my feet, his face twisted in disgust. He aimed a kick at my midsection, but I avoided him... barely. He laughed and looked around to see who was paying attention.

I got onto my knees and did the same while careful not to lift my head. There were a couple of people watching, but most hurried by, probably with their heads down and trying to ignore us altogether. He wasn't worth the effort of a fight, none of them were. I hoped he was done but as I stood, I was knocked prone a second time and fell with a grunt. I sighed and began again, and again as I stood the dwarf tried to knock me down. This time, though, I was prepared.

"Fe'thos," I said as I grounded feet and tail against his attack. A magical barrier sprang forth around me, his attack ricocheted off my shield spell and he went careening backwards as though I had assaulted him. I saw my moment and bolted into the nearby alleyway. I heard him start to run after as I rounded a corner in the alley.

"Rif stejar wim," I whispered and clenched my fist as I pulled back against the wall. The dwarf turned the corner, ran right past me and out into the marketplace street. I watched him look around and then disappear behind the buildings as he ran off chasing his imagination. I unclenched my fist and sighed heavily, releasing the invisibility spell.

I shook my head and turned away towards where the altercation started. I would never understand the need to incite violence. He had stuck his foot out and tripped me as I'd passed. I'd never seen him before that I could recall. Some people just aren't happy unless they're causing problems for somebody else. I surmised as I put up my hood and headed to the guildhall to meet Roco and Sylph.

I quietly slipped through the door and made my way to our usual table, careful to keep my head down and my hood up. Roco, a tinker gnome with a penchant for anything shiny and a knack for finding trouble with every turn, grinned as he peeked at me from under my hood. "Got into a scrap, did you?" He asked. His smile fell and he shook his head as he saw the truth on my face. "One of these days you won't be able to run away." He had always seen my refusal to fight as cowardly.

"Hey, don't be so hard on Gryx," Sylph, the dark elf said. She thought it was noble, but idealistic. She was quiet and reserved unless you earned her ire, something Roco was earned frequently enough to be wary of. "We have all dealt with bullies at one point or another," she reminded him softly, yet sternly. She could always be counted on to have my back.

I pulled back from both of them. "I don't need your advice," I said to Roco whose face darkened a bit as he crossed his arms. I ignored him and turned to Sylph, "or your pity."

Her brows pinched and her lips tightened. "We aren't the ones who bullied you either." She turned away from me in frustration.

I grimaced as I realized I could still taste dirt in my mouth and sighed. I knew trying to order my own drink was pointless, so I passed three silver across the table and touched them to her fingers. "Could you get me a drink though? I would prefer something a little stronger than water."

She turned and looked down at the proffered coins. "Oh, and you think I can get you one? I am underage, you know," she said with enough sass to make me laugh aloud normally, though I'd played this game before and was not much in the mood for it. Roco's mood shifted immediately and he grinned the same way he always did when he knew trouble was to be had.

"Come on, Sylph, don't make me beg? I spent half the day cleaning Old Lady Eunice's house out and that's all she paid me."

She locked eyes with me a moment and then snatched my coins up. "I'll see what I can do," she said with a smile and a wink.

Sylph was generally quiet and usually acted shy, but her body seemed to reject that nature as loudly as it could, and she was good at flaunting it to get what she wanted when it suited her. She turned and adjusted herself before heading up to the bar. It was busy as usual with food and drink orders being shouted into the back, a couple of waitresses flitting about, and a dedicated bartender making sure everyone had drinks and nobody had a bad time. He looked Sylph over a couple times, leaned in to talk to her, and then set about making drinks that she paid for and brought over.

As she set down drinks and settled into her seat Roco stared intently, grinning the whole time. "So what kind of nasty things are you going to have to do for the drinks?" He almost seemed to vibrate as we each took our drinks. As he brought it to his mouth, Sylph tipped it. It spilled down his front and choked him at the same time. He slammed the mug down, splashing more out as he was sputtering and coughing up ale.

I laughed and shoved myself away from the table, then took a drink of my own. "Serves you right, Roco. You shouldn't say or even suggest things like that, especially about Sylph." She was constantly followed by rumors of using her body to get what she wanted and, while she was not above showing off to get ale or a good deal, Sylph never went further or made any suggestion she would.

"Yeah, it's not my fault the bartender is a perv," she said with a sneer of disgust that eerily reminded me of the way the dwarf earlier had said 'dragons'. "He offered me a thousand gold this time though," her face shifted instantly and she looked almost wistful. "I don't even know what I'd do with that much money."

"A THOUSAND!" We both exclaimed together.

"I'd buy myself a workshop and tools and make my figurines into a real business!" Roco said without missing a beat. He was incredibly skilled at making all kinds of toys with real moving parts that were as good as any you might buy, but getting the tools he needed was difficult and few would willingly lend to a gnome any more than they would offer help to a dragonborn or trust a dark elf... at least in this village or the surrounding valley. "He could have me right here in the middle of the tavern for all that!"

"Yeah, because everyone wants a piece of that gnomish bod you got going on." I put as much sarcasm as I could into my voice as we laughed. Sylph didn't though.

Sylph glared at him and then was quiet a moment before looking up at me. "What would you do with it Gryx?" Her eyes caught mine and held them. Her eyes were deep golden pools of query and my answer came before I realized my mouth was moving.

"I suppose I'd be too realistic. I'd get a carriage and a couple horses and some supplies and try to find my way out of here," I smiled sadly. "Try to find somewhere a dragonborn, a dark elf, and a gnome can all live normal lives like everyone else," I looked up at the rafters and my hood fell back as I spoke, though I was too caught up in my fantasy to realize it. "Get out of this village and this valley and find a place to belong."

"Yeah, like where?" Roco asked.

At the same time Sylph replied with a derisive scoff, "There's no place like that."

"Then we'll make one," I replied, growing louder and more stubborn with their refusal. "A place where you can make your toys," I pushed Roco's shoulder. "And you don't have to ever deal with," I lowered my voice, "... with a leering old pervert or ridiculous offers like that." I stared Sylph and Roco down. "We'd leave this place and never look back."

Sylph looked down at her drink and then took a large swallow. I took a drink of my own before trying to lighten the mood. "But that's a long ways off and depends on a start." I smiled painfully and continued, "at three silver a day, a thousand gold might as well be a thousand platinum. Even if we all pooled our money it'd be years before we could even hope to buy a carriage and team." I laughed bitterly. "Better to put such fanciful thoughts away, as your mother would say," I raised my drink to Sylph, "and accept what's attainable."

"Yeah..." Sylph watched her drink pensively but offered no further comment, lost in either her own dreams of wealth or her own bitter memories, I couldn't tell which.

We all sat in silence a moment, each with our own thoughts. For my part I thought of the countless times I'd had to hide and run away from people intent on beating me simply for being born, as if I'd had any hand in that. I thought of the times I had failed and almost lost the life I never asked for... and yet I recovered or escaped every time. I couldn't even imagine what the life I had just spoken of would be like, but it sure sounded nice.

Roco drank what little was left in his mug, then got out a deck of cards. "So who wants to play some Three Dragon Ante? Here Gryx, I'll lend you a few silver to play with." He slid ten silver over to me. He had several silver and a few gold of his own.

Sylph pulled a small coin pouch from her bosom. "I'm in, so long as you don't mind losing your money again." She grinned at Roco, her eyes glittering like gold in the lamplight.