Solitaire

“Why can’t we go slay the dragon now?” Jariss wanted to know.

Garin finished shuffling the deck of cards and laid out a solitaire hand. “Have patience,” he told Jariss.

“I don’t understand how you can sit there and play that silly game while a dragon is out ravaging the countryside!” Jariss stomped closer to the fire and glared into the flames.

“Have you ever played?” Garin asked the younger man.

“No. What does that have to do with anything?” Jariss half-turned around.

“It’s a good game.” Garin was silent a moment, thinking on a move, then said, “You could learn a lot from it.”

“Like what?”

“Like patience.” Garin’s reply was sharp.

Jariss sat down on a large stone near the fire and drew his blade from its sheathe. He studied the ornate hilt and inspected the blade itself.

“How do you expect there to be any nicks if you’ve never been in battle?” Garin asked him, laying down two cards and flipping over another.

“I’m going to look around.” Jariss rose and walked around the fire.

“The area’s fine.” Garin told him. “If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be camping here.”

“It couldn’t hurt to look around.”

“It couldn’t help either. Get some sleep, Jariss. We’ll find the dragon tomorrow,”

“I can’t sleep.”

“That was more than a suggestion. Black Jack.”

“What?”

“I need a black jack.”

Jariss gave a frustrated sigh. “Goodnight.”

“ ‘Night.”

Jariss laid down in his bedroll and stared up at the stars. The sky was relatively cloudless and he moon was bright, despite being only a crescent.

“Do you think we’ll find the dragon tomorrow?” Jariss asked Garin.

He didn’t answer.

“Garin!”

“Hmm?” Garin was studying the cards again.

“The dragon! Do you think we’ll find it?”

“Is that all you can think about?”

“It is right now.”

“Get some sleep.”

“Answer my question.”

“Maybe we will.”

“I bet we will.”

“Goodnight, Jariss.”

“Goodnight.”

*****

They set out early the next day. They had been hired as dragon slayers by a nearby town. The townspeople claimed the dragon would carry away their livestock and worried that their children would be next. Garin thought this highly unlikely, but the people were willing to pay a ridiculously high sum to anyone who could rid them of the beast.

Jariss automatically took the townspeople’s side, as was usual. He was young, naive, and lacked a finer perception. Garin was more thoughtful. He figured that the people exaggerated , if not outright *lied* about the dragon’s actions. An animal in the forest could say the same thing about any human hunter.

He was able to pinpoint a general area where the creature’s lair might be. And so he and Jariss had set out a few days ago to put an end to the dragon’s unceremonious feastings.

They were close; Garin could feel it. There were signs in the forest around them, but only his experienced eyes could find them. Jariss danced around him in a flurry of impatience. For the most part, Garin ignored him - he had more important things to concentrate on, like how to get the dragon to leave the livestock alone. It would be difficult to slay the beast, though it was all Jariss could talk about.

Garin stopped as they neared the treeline.

“What? What is it?” Jariss whispered excitedly.

Garin silenced him with a look. Cautiously, he crept forward and peeked through the trees.

“A large cave,” he reported back to Jariss. “At the top of a rocky hill.”

“All right! Finally, we’re gonna get some action!”

Garin did not share the younger man’s excitement. “Come on,” he told him grimly.

Together, they scaled the hill, staying in the shadows and hiding when they could. As they neared the top, the men could hear the sounds of soft snoring coming from inside the cave.

“The dragon!” Jariss squeaked loudly.

“Shh!” Garin warned him, but it was too late. The dragon - apparently a light sleeper - snorted and raised its head, blinking its huge eyes. It spotted the two men nearly at the entrance immediately. Jumping to its feet, the creature leapt out of the cave, quickly taking to the air.

“Get down!” Garin screamed at Jariss, pushing him to the ground just as a bolt of lightening streaked above their heads. It exploded a portion of rock, sending shards everywhere.

“Stay low!” Garin yelled in Jariss’ ear.

Jariss nodded dumbly. He didn’t know what else to do, so he laid down on the ground, covering his head with his arms, scared half to death. His heart pounded in his ears. The beat was so fast, he could barely distinguish one from another.

Suddenly, Jariss was falling. Time seemed to slow. After what seemed an eternity, his body slammed against rock and rolling. Jariss didn’t know what was going on. Where was Garin? What was the dragon doing to him?

After a time, everything went black and Jariss came to a stop at the bottom of the hill.

When the young man awoke, it was night. His body ached unbelievably all over. With a groan, he managed to roll onto his side and from there to his feet. Dazedly, he looked around. His pack lay in shreds a short distance away.

“Garin?” Jariss asked weakly. “Garin!” He didn’t see his companion anywhere. “Garin! Garin!” Jariss yelled the name over and over again as he ran around looking for his friend. Garin was nowhere to be found.

Warily, Jariss looked up the hill. It didn’t seem as small anymore. With a sigh, he walked to its foot and began the painful climb up. It seemed to take the rest of his life to climb it. As he lay panting at the top, he noticed a piece of cloth sticking out from under a rock. Upon closer inspection, Jariss saw that it was Garin’s pack.

“No...” he moaned. “Garin, where are you?”

A few steps away was deck of cards - Garin’s cards. Two cards lay face up: the ace of spades and the ace of hearts.

Jariss took two days to search for his friend, but could find no trace of him anywhere. With a heavy heart, he returned to town...

*****

“So that’s that guy’s story?” the man asked.

“Yep,” said the bartender. “That’s it.”

“He never found his friend?”

“Nope. Never.”

“Did the dragon ever bother the town again?”

“Nope. Never.”

The bartender put down the glass he’d been cleaning and picked up another.

“How do you know all this?” The man downed his glass of ale.

“He told me.”

“Look at him. Sittin’ there playin’ that game. Huh! Gimme another ale!”

The man had the stein half-emptied before he spoke again. “So what’s he playin’ anyway?” He pointed at the man they’d been talking about.

He sat about five seats away at the end of the bar quietly hunched over some cards. He smiled and turned to the other man and bartender. “It’s called solitaire,” he told them. “It’s a good game. You could learn a lot from it.”