Dragon's Treasure

Prologue

Narcissus dug further under a mountain of glittering gold, a mist of steam gently rising through a mound of shimmering treasure. With a puff of expelled air Narcissus opened a bulbous-lidded eye and stared at the soft glow of sunlight from her cave’s entrance.

It was the crying that woke her, through the natural cadence of the forest it was odd, it did not belong. She debated for a long while whether to investigate the source as the shrill cries grew with intensity and then stopped. Smacking her maw, she turned over onto her back and stretched; creating a small landslide of coins and gemstones.

A grow reached her and the wails resumed, lifting her massive bulk Narcissus cantered out of her cave and dove over the tapered edge her massive webbed winging darkening the forest below as she fanned them out, gliding over the tips.

Animals cowered or fled in terror as she swung her head from side to side. Predatory movement caught her eyes and she flapped her wings, shooting upward and then corkscrewing downward, the howling wind announcing her presence before a torrent of fire engulfed three of the charging wolves and her claws eviscerated the remaining.

Narcissus preened at her small victory, turning to survey her trophy. The human was small, starved and badly burnt, its big watery eyes stared into Narcissus’s eye as she blinked.

With a sudden roar Narcissus reared and stumbled back, the little human had poked her eye, the sting of the salt and dirt irritating as the visual organ valiantly tried to clean itself. Narcissus glared down and roared at the little nuisance, which in turn pathetically shrilled back.

Narcissus snorted and stepped over the child, snapping up the burn and grisly remains of the wolves,

“Rawr, rawr, rawr!”

Narcissus snaked her head around and stared at the little human as it stamped its feet and roared at her

“Rawr, rawr, rawr!” the little human roared “Rawr, rawr, rawr!”

Narcissus reared back, stretched out her wings and bellowed back, the child laughed and slapped its puny claws together before wincing in pain. With a sniff, Narcissus extended her neck, opened her mouth and swallowed the child.

She stood there for a few seconds before guilt curled in her gut and she spat the little human out. The little creature trembled, covering in her salvia as it stared up at her and she down at it, thick tears falling down it’s face. Narcissus lowered her head and the child closed its eyes. With a gently lick Narcissus licked the tears away, trilling softly like she did when her dragonlings were young. The child squeaked and shoved its tiny hands up her nostrils. Narcissus reared back again but the child clung on laughing and giggling as Narcissus swung her head back and forth; she stood on her hind legs and using her front to pry the child off, careful of her claws and hard scales.

She glared at the trouble maker, pinched between two claws and sighed, a gust of steam engulfing the child who winced in pain again. Wrapping the child up Narcissus launched herself into the sky and wheeled around arrowing straight for her cave, the child made happy noises and squirmed an occasional foot or arm poking through the protective barrier of her claw.

Upon reaching her cave, Narcissus hobbled in and along a vast corridor that ending in a natural pool, flipping her claw over the child fell in with a plop. She cleaned her new treasure, with a good number of displeased grunts, growls and hisses,

Narcissus placed her nose against the naked chest of the child, a pulsing light radiated around them and when Narcissus pulled back a vitiligo of blue-black scales mapped the child’s skin and placed the child amongst her hoard.

“My treasure”; resonated through the head of the toddler, as Narcissus wrapped her tail around the child.