and a Dragon

Once upon a time, long before humanity was of abundance, countless creatures, each unique through varying dispositions, roamed the world. Each part was occupied by its own set of notable beings, ranging from the deep undergrounds, all the way to the free skies.

Beneath the lands, untouched by the light, mines and caverns could be found. A place the Dwarves have called their own. Short and stocky in build, crass and aggressive in demeanour, many soon realized that they were not to be trifled with. The few who gained their approval, however, saw that beyond their sharp exterior, was a steadfast loyalty invulnerable to the passage of time. Possessing a natural gift of crafting, their masterful works could be considered nothing less than treasures.

The greener pastures of the forests were deemed suitable for the Faes and the Elves, thus it was only a matter of time before they made it their home. The Faes, small in size and presenting themselves with a harmless appearance, were constantly exuding a childlike glee. But catch their fancy, and one would be witness to their malice and spite for the sake of their own amusement. Likewise, the Elves were elegant and graceful with every move, but indifferent to those who were not one of them. They come alive through the passions of their ballads and their gentle care of nature, an endeavor that seemed futile in the eyes of others, but one that surely blessed them in the end. An everlasting youth gifted by The Great Tree.

In the depthless blue sea, the Merfolk followed the flowing tide, marking the waters as their domain. Their upper half, an appearance shared by all humans, was followed by the glimmering scales of their tails that allowed them to easily traverse the vast ocean. Known for their astonishing beauty along with an enchanting voice, they charmed all who had the privilege of witnessing them. Be that as it may, many forget that they too are like the waters that they inhabited. Clear and pure like the calm waves, swiftly to the stormy and merciless raging tides. One must never assume their intent.

These beings were considered masters of their own respective parts, and were rarely seen in the presence of one another, knowing that their varying ideals only lead to disagreements. But if there is one thing that each of them could agree on, it was that they do not dare call themselves the absolute. That title alone belonged to the almighty rulers of the skies.

Dragons.

Arrogant, intelligent, domineering, greedy, but most importantly, powerful. Although few in number, it served little comfort when witnessing their unmatched strength. To incur their anger meant to receive the might that destroyed civilizations. Hoarders to all things they saw of value, one could not expect to keep their treasures to themselves. The Dwarves learned to hide beneath the lands to hide away their crafts, but they failed to take into account that although it may prevent other beings, it would not stop a Dragon. Faes and Elves had no choice but to give away their treasures once a Dragon caught its fancy, and the inhabitants of the seas were not spared from a Dragon’s greed, for all of them knew that a single fiery breath was enough to annihilate their home.

Although…

Dragons seemed to be forever consumed by their greed, they were quick to cease their desire for obtaining supposedly prized valuables. Many of the races have questioned such actions; wondering if this fickle attitude was a part of their nature; that one day, a dragon would eventually lose all interest in collecting all of the world’s riches.

Only the dragons themselves knew the reason behind their actions. The moment they conclude their search is the moment they have found their true treasure – dragons ceaselessly looked and acquired all they saw, all in the hopes of finally finding what their souls truly cherished.

For they have spent their entire lives searching for this treasure, and now, they will spend their remaining years protecting it so that nothing will ever come to steal or harm their prized possession.

As countless centuries passed, a new race slowly gained prominence.

Humanity.

Growing to an alarming scale, it was only a matter of time before they began to spread in all parts of the world. Their continued growth outnumbered that of the Dwarves, Faes, Elves and Merfolk combined. Eventually, human acts of conquests escalated to the point of war.

A war in which humanity reigned supreme.

These transgressions drove the other beings into a state of hiding, and inevitably, caused them to fade into history as creatures of myths and tales.

Only one remained.

The rulers of the skies.

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Dragon POV:

It seems it is not this one as well.

I turn to stare at a newly acquired silver staff engraved with ancient letterings, one that is said to have been used by the Elves to control and shape nature to their will.

A staff that I managed to… persuade a human kingdom from the south to hand over. Peacefully, of course.

And which now resides in my domain.

Sigh.

I give the silver staff one more look before finally confirming that this is definitely not my treasure. Just another one of the many I have collected.

And, from the looks of it, it is about to be stored deep within my vaults, likely to never see the light of day. Attempting to locate which of the remaining clan of elves used to own this staff is difficult enough, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they might not even be alive at this point – if this being in the hands of the humans was not telling enough.

Not to give back, of course – just to show them I have it.

How amusing that most of these treasures from the human kingdoms I collected just happened to be the artifacts created by the four races. Seldom have I seen ones that the humans have created themselves.

Long have I heard their claims that items such as this staff are capable of great destruction, and will inevitably be used against humans. But once it got into their hands, the very thing they have feared has become something that they flaunt with pride, claiming it as something that always belonged to them. After all, it is a different story if they are the ones wielding it, yes?

Personally, I collect them for simpler reasons. They were pleasing to the eye.

One of the other so-called “inventions” I have seen: a legendary sword crafted by a human blacksmith said to be able to cut even the hardest of metals.

Turns out it was just crafted using a tempered ore, an ore that the dwarves used to make their houses so that they would not be crushed by the underground caverns encasing them.

But out of all of the ones crafted by the humans, or the dwarves, elves, faes, and merfolk, or ones that were formed by nature itself…

Why is not a single one of them my treasure?

For so long, I have searched every part of the world, seen all types of unique treasures, and even watched as the dragons I know end up finding the treasure they were looking for. None of them, I can call mine. The only thing encouraging me to keep going with my search is the belief that since they have found theirs, I too am bound to find mine.

But how long must I keep searching until I finally find it?

Will I even find it?

Do I…even have one?

No, I do. I know I do.

I can feel it within the very depths of my soul, aching to find something that I can fully call mine.

I must not doubt myself. That will only be a detriment to achieving my purpose. No matter how long it will take, I must keep an unwavering heart. But for now, resting will be more fitting for my current state, and I will continue with my search once more in a few days.

“Damn, this place is just as depressing as I remembered. Ever thought of maybe adding some colour in here?”

Just when I thought my luck could not get any worse, another annoyance makes itself known. Seems like I will not be getting the rest I wanted.

“Tell me one good reason why I should not set you aflame, Witch.” My irritation seeps thickly into my words. I can already feel the headache building itself up from whatever nonsense she is about to tell me.

“Now calm down big guy, I was actually doing all of us a favour, all right?" The Witch huffs defensively. "I was out making sure the Forbidden Forest, you know, the place we all live in, stays forbidden.”

After being made a target for the humans’ latest fear, magic, the kingdoms have made her an outcast. Her staying in the forbidden forest was a choice made out of desperation, so it is no surprise she will be the most vocal about the current issue that the forest has been facing; it is the only place she has managed to make a home out of.

“What did you do?” I give her a scrutinizing look. Knowing her, this could’ve gone either one of two ways.

“I went to make a little visit to our unfriendly neighbouring kingdom – the one that recently picked up an unhealthy hobby of pyromania. As if one fire starter here wasn’t enough,” the Witch states with a smirk.

“What exactly did you do?” I ask once more, now glaring at full force. She is not explicitly saying what she did, even after knowing my preference of sticking to the point, which means whatever she did went completely beyond what she had expected.

“Okay, look...” she sighs to herself, “I went today specifically because there was a big celebration going on in the kingdom. So, I decided to make my presence known during their little banquet, to, you know, intimidate them a little bit.”

“Go on.”

“And I went on a whole act of being the sinister evil witch who’s going to eat your kids for breakfast, demanding them to pay us back for the rather large amount of the forest that they burnt down,” she emphasizes the word demanding with a righteous tone, “which I’m pretty sure got the point across, but just to make sure they really got it, I went and said that I would take away their Crown Prince as well.”

“And how exactly did you manage to mess this up?” Now I am curious as to where this whole story is heading.

“I didn’t mess anything up! It’s just, their Crown Prince was weird okay. I know I threatened to kidnap him as repayment, but I said that as a joke!” She shouts with frustration, pulling at her hair as she keeps going, “then he suddenly just goes ‘yeah, I don’t mind’ at the same time I said I was just kidding, so no one heard what I said. What the hell was I supposed to do about that?”

“I don’t see how any of this concerns me.” Taking my indifference with indignation, she declares, “Which means now I have to kidnap the Crown Prince. I can’t just take back what I said, knowing those people, they won’t take us seriously if I suddenly became indecisive and…”

“And?”

“I’m gonna need your help.” So this is what she came here for.

“Absolutely not.”

“Come on, I’m gonna need you to work with me here. This is for the sake of our homes!" The Witch attempts to convince me, "We both know how that kingdom has been slowly building itself up, and it’s only a matter of time before they become a danger to us here. Doing this will ensure that they won’t try something like this again. At least, not for a while.”

“You got yourself into this mess– it is your responsibility to fix it,” I shoot back, “besides,” deciding to remind her of my current goal, “I’m still looking for my treasure.”

“So today was dud too, huh?” She states less as a question and more as a matter of fact.

“Yes. It was.” The tone of my words sound too despondent for my liking.

I should end this conversation as soon as possible.

Just as I am about to demand her to leave, the air in the surroundings seems to shift, and a faint red aura swirls softly around the witch.

“There was something… odd about the prince. Looking at him reminded me of something, but what was it?” She murmurs quietly, then, suddenly, I am facing the full force of her stare, her eyes glowing red. As if the answer to her question can be found through me.

“Wait– no way. Is it really like that? If so– then this is…” her tone exudes wonder and turns into amusement as she slowly starts giggling to herself, “I-I can’t believe it! All this time you were– you were looking for– and it was actually a…” Her giggles shift into full-blown laughter that echoes across the room.

“What.”

Maybe I really should burn her to ashes now.

“Okay, I want to offer you a deal,” the damn Witch declares smugly.

“And as I said, why should I even consider helping-” Without letting me finish my sentence, I am cut off abruptly by an offer I never would have expected.

“Because if you help me with this, I’ll tell you where your treasure is.”

That is it, incinerating her would be a mercy.

I am going to rip her to shreds.