Writing: An Unlikely Friendship
This was a piece that I started writing for a competition on a discord server, with the prompt "An Unlikely Friendship". The server subsequently folded and caught fire before the competition was finished, which was somewhat distressing. I brought together the bits and pieces of my unfinished work, and made something that I think might be worth something
Tags: Fantasy, Magic, Witch, Dragon
"Oyez, oyez, oyez. Dragon found to be terrorizing villages around the kingdom, stealing sheep and causing a ruckus. 10,000 gold pieces offered as a reward to anyone who can slay it!"
The town crier walked along the streets of the city, calling out to anyone who could hear him. A couple of faces perked up at the mention of that huge sum of gold, but nobody seemed brave enough to commit to it.
Except for one unfamiliar face. A large man, clad in gleaming armour, an enormous sword tied to his waist. He strode around the marketplace, before his ears pricked up at the mention of the reward. He walked briskly over to the crier, asking him where to go for this challenge.
"The palace, sir. The king will be pleased to receive you there."
The knight thanked him graciously, walking off in the direction of the tall spires and steeples of the palace.
As he passed through the streets of the city, closer to the bright yet imposing castle, many people pointed and waved, evidently curious as to this newcomer, and what he was doing. He smiled and nodded back, causing several women to swoon.
As he walked through the main gates, he was stopped by a pair of guards, but they quickly stepped aside when they realised what he was here to do.
The knight strode confidently into the throne room, and bowed in front of the king.
"Your Majesty! I am here from a far off land to solve your terrible dragon problem. I have slain many dragons before in my time, and I will continue to fight them as long as I live."
The king looked at him mournfully.
"It is not just that he is terrorizing our villages and stealing our sheep, but yesterday he also stole our daughter, the princess. Please, can you help us defeat this vile foe, and retrieve her?"
"Certainly! I, Sir Cuthbert will cleave the dragon’s head from its body, and return your princess safely to you. Where can I find this dragon?"
"He has made his abode in a cave several miles to the north of this city. Please, go there quickly, our daughter is in danger."
"Have no fear, your majesty, I’ll go at once to rescue her."
Sir Cuthbert turned, and with a bow, left the throne room.
It took him the best part of a day to reach the cave where the dragon was supposedly living, over arduous rocky terrain and forested hills. A trail of smoke leaked from the mouth, before dispersing in the blue sky, as if the cave itself was a dragon. A path ran up to the entrance, but from his point of view, it quickly disappeared into inky blackness.
Sir Cuthbert approached the mouth of the cave cautiously. As he came closer, allowing him to see an enormous mound of treasure, with a red dragon on top of it. Its wings lay down on each side, as though protecting the treasure. It was looking off to one side, towards a blonde figure in a pink dress. Two thin trails of smoke emitted from its nostrils as it lazily watched the terrified girl, who was backed against the rough wall.
As he made his way further round, he accidentally disturbed a small rock, which clattered away. He closed his eyes, cursing himself as the dragon’s head snapped around to look at him. It slowly moved its head closer, and Sir Cuthbert felt waves of hot breath roll around him.
"I’m sorry, but you are going to have to let her go and leave this kingdom, or I will have to kill you."
The dragon blinked and huffed, as though it was laughing at him, before opening its mouth and starting to hiss. Having dealt with dragons in the past, Sir Cuthbert knew that this meant it was about to breathe a jet of flame at him, and rolled behind a rocky outcrop, his armour crunching and squeaking on the rock.
"Run! Tell your father Sir Cuthbert saved you," he yelled at the princess, who immediately bolted from the cave. The dragon looked torn between the two targets, but seemed to choose the knight over the princess as the more immediate threat, and snapped back to face him. He ducked behind the rock again, and felt a blast of heat race around him. As he felt the blast end, he popped back up again. He knew dragons needed a little while to recharge their flame, so he had an opportunity to fight if need be. As he did, he looked at the rock that he had been hiding behind, which was glowing and slightly melted in places.
He raised his sword towards the dragon, before using it to keep the dragon away, allowing him to walk in a circle around it, and a little way out of the cave. He looked around, but the princess seemed to have vanished into the trees, heading back towards the city. Seeing this, the knight dropped their sword and sighed, and watched as it slowly disappeared, starting from the ends.
It is a very curious thing to watch a transformation spell be dropped. The leather straps of the armour were the first to go, allowing all the metal sections to clatter onto the ground, before dissolving from the edges into wispy grey ashes, which rose into the air and vanished. The knight’s extravagant underclothes also changed, darkening in colour to a dark, almost midnight black, and lengthening into a dress. The knight themself was the last to change, the facial hair receding, muscles thinning, and their hair darkening and lengthening into a hip length mop of curly black hair.
The knight - or more accurately now, witch - strode back over to the dragon’s side, and slumped against it.
"Why is it so tiring to be outgoing like that… Scathax, you had better roar a bit, so they think I’m killing you."
The dragon nodded, and the witch covered her ears as a tremendous roar stretched across the landscape, scattering birds from trees for miles around.
The witch patted the dragon’s side.
"Well done, Scathax, you’re getting better at those. How have you been enjoying your end of the deal?"
The dragon stood up, and led the witch into the rear of the cave, where about 10 sheep’s carcasses lay half eaten. She turned up her nose at the smell, and the dragon looked back at her and attempted what looked like a smile.
"Oh, don’t do that, I’ve told you before how strange it makes you look. Well, I guess we’ve got to wait for a bit, then I’ll go back and say I’ve killed you."
The dragon looked a little morose.
"Oh don’t be like that. This is, what, the 5th time I’ve killed you now? You must be used to it."
The dragon lay back down on the ground and curled itself around, raising a wing like the top of a tent. He allowed the witch inside, and she nestled against his warm side, settling down for a nap.
The two of them had pulled this scam several times now. It was the classic setup. Create the problem, then sell the solution, only this time with dragons. Scathax would arrive, eat some sheep or cattle, then the witch would teleport the princess into his cave, appear to be Sir Cuthbert, and rescue the princess, claiming the bounty. Then simply move to the next kingdom and repeat. Both witch and dragon benefitted, so they had formed a somewhat unlikely friendship.
As the sun grew lower on the horizon, the witch started to stir again, and poked her head out from under the wing. She said a few words, and her dress steamed slightly from the dew that had settled on it. She cast her transformation spell, and her hair retreated and lightened, her frame grew, her clothes changed, and her armour reformed, almost the exact reverse of what happened earlier.
"I’ll see you later, Scathax. Just need to collect my reward for killing you."
The dragon huffed.
"Oh shush."
The witch, who now appeared to all intents and purposes to be the gallant Sir Cuthbert, left the dragon, and began to walk back to the city in the distance. She hoped that the princess hadn’t been killed on her way back, as that would complicate matters slightly.
"Your majesty, Sir Cuthbert has returned!" A guard shouted towards the throne room. The king looked up in surprise, to see the knight, carrying a huge red dragon’s head on his back.
"Your majesty, I have returned bearing proof of my conquest. Is your daughter safe?"
"Yes, she… she returned some hours ago." The king looked shocked. "How could you have killed the dragon so quickly?"
"Experience, your majesty. I hate to talk business, but I seem to recall some talk of a reward?"
"Ah yes, of course." The king clapped his hands, and a servant came forwards with a leather bag, that clinked gently as it was brought over.
"Your majesty, you are too kind." Sir Cuthbert accepted the pouch, and turned to leave.
"I’m sorry, but I must go. There are always other kingdoms with dragon problems, and I’m just the kind of person they need to fix them.
He left the palace quickly, smiling at the maids and servants as he went, inspiring love and jealousy in equal proportion.
Once out of sight of the palace, they quickly ducked into a side street, away from everyone’s eyes. They had to perform a much more complicated spell, in peace, to get back to Scathax quickly. Fishing a coin out of the bag, they spoke a long passage, almost a prayer, before kissing the coin and throwing it at the wall. Rather than clattering off and onto the ground, it passed straight through, causing the solid surface to ripple slightly. A moment later, a tiny pinprick of darkness appeared just where the coin had hit, quickly expanding to be big enough to fit through. Through it, the cave was visible, and the disguised witch stepped though, waking the dragon.
"Time to go, Scathax," she said, as she dropped the disguise again.
The dragon stretched its wings out, the tips vibrating a little, before settling back down in an alert position. The witch scooped her long hair behind her, and climbed up the crimson scales of the dragon’s side, settling just in front of the wings. Clutching the dragon’s neck, they moved out into the still darkness of the night. He stretched his wings out, and leapt into the sky. The dragon flew up until it was barely visible from the ground, and flew off in search of a new kingdom to terrorize. The witch cast a spell to ensure she remained safe on its back, the coin falling to ground below, and laid back. These flights were often long, and she had nothing much to do except wait, and let the dragon find their own way. It was a bit of an odd relationship, an unlikely friendship even, but sometimes, that’s just how it goes.
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