[ WP ] As a dragon of innumerable age you have guarded your gold horde for millennium . Many heroes have come with long speeches on how they will slay you , the great evil , none finish . However this one is odd.He throws a coin on your stash , looks you in the eyes and says `` I have a proposition for you . ''

So, this will be my first attempt at creative writing in a long time, and my first time posting here. I only ask that you crucify constructively. I also changed the coin to a jewel because that fit my story a little better, I hope that is alright. 
 
 This one was different. Most knights who come to slay a dragon dress themselves in splendor. Shining new armor without a scratch, A glittering sword, a feathered plume, a burnished shield, that sort of thing. This one ’ s armor was crossed with scars and pockmarked with dents. It was the sort of unadorned, gruff armor that had seen many screaming frontlines and had carried a piece of each of them with it. An armor who ’ s bearing spoke of brutality, bloodshed and the horror that only the crash and chaos of a human battle can bring ( there is a word for armor that has seen battle with a dragon: slag metal ). It was a man ’ s armor, war armor. The man inside it carried neither shield nor sword. He held leveled at me an awlpike. An infantry man ’ s short spear tipped with a long tapering spike built to puncture a set of plate armor while keeping its occupant at bay. No proper weapon for a knight. But, I suppose, If one were to seriously undertake the slaying of a dragon, it would have had a slightly greater chance of achieving that end than any sword blessed by the local saint of unsuccessful dragon slaying attempts. 
 I raised my head just enough to look at him. 
 “ Meddle not in the affairs of dragons, for thou art crunchy and lack the survival instinct to run and hide like sensible creatures, such as sheep, or dung beetles ” I said, offering my customary greeting to unwanted visitors. 
 
 “ I am not going to run away ” he said slowly “ My name is Brahleck. I have… a proposition for you ” He took out a purse from his belt and threw a large gem stone onto my golden horde. 
 “ No, no, no, gems are no good for sitting on. I am nearly nine hundred years old, My bones aren ’ t what they used to be. Besides, my hoard is vast, what does one gem more gain me. Why I imagine it will gain me little more than your efforts today will gain you. All this buys you is a quick death ” 
 
 At which point he did the most astounding thing. He laughed. A dry humorless laugh but a genuine laugh nonetheless ( a few knights will practice their “ triumphant standing on his head victory laugh ” while making their way down to my lair. Let me assure you it is almost entirely the most obnoxious sound one could ever imagine waking up to ). “ Look closely at it oh Greshnorak, last of the demon seed, harbinger of the fiery end. See if your memory is still good enough to recognize that particular gem ” 
 
 I looked down at it. I did recognize it. I rose gracefully, menacingly off of my bed. My steely grey scales shook and coins clattered off them. I started towards him puffing just enough smoke to make him take a pace backwards. “ That! Is an emerald of the crown of old king Cuchulain. And if you have it, it means you have the rest of the crown as well. You have the blood Opal of the first seal ” 
 
 “ Aye ” he said, a little more confident now “ one of the seven signs used by the druidic counsel of old to bind your wings that you might terrorize this world no more ” 
 
 My blood was rising in my veins, an anger I had not felt in years broiled up inside me. I rose to my full height. Towering above the knight below and through clenched teeth hissed “ Then you are the fool one hundred fold over to bring me a step closer to releasing my wrath upon your people. Die knowing I shall roar your name as one of those responsible for freeing me from captivity that your fellow man will curse your name as I set them aflame to fly screaming from my fiery maw into the black fires of Muspell itself ” 
 
 “ I buried the rest of the crown about four hours ride from here ” He said, candidly. “ Of course, I imagine it might take you quite a while to locate it, much less reach it in your… condition. Perhaps long enough for the local villagers to spot you. I imagine all of them know the legend; I imagine at least a few might have the courage to see if your horde is really as big as the bards say it is. And then by the time you crawl back under this rock, well I imagine you would find it a far less comfortable abode. Eternity without whatever your equivalent of a feather bed is sounds…tedious. ” 
 
 Dragons loath two things: being reminded of a weakness and being condescended to by the h ’ ordeuvres. By all accounts I should have been deciding whether I wanted to flash fry this particular piece of grizzle or merely redden his armor so he could be left to slowly simmer in it. But I was intrigued. Perhaps this mortal would prove more amusing than the rest. My pride however was also stung. I let out a tiny, white hot jet of flame, directed at the business end of the awlpike that the knight brandished pathetically at my head. He leapt back, quicker than I expected with an involuntary oath. Yet, to his credit he kept hold of the weapon. Albeit no good would come of it, it was glowing red and slowly sagging into a sort of sad, dripping sheppard ’ s crook. 
 
 I let him stand there a moment not knowing what to expect as silence filled my cave, I fixed my gaze on the rightfully nervous set of eyes behind the visor. 
 “ You mentioned a proposal I ” I said eventually. 
 He looked appropriately relieved, and then gathering his courage, spoke thus to me: 
 “ This land is broken ” He started “ The king and court are weak and ineffective. The people live in squalor and don ’ t know any better. Our enemies look hungrily at our fields. But I can change it. I have spent my whole life fighting on our frontier. I know what it is to lead men; I know what it is to stand my ground when all others would flee. I have protected these people while the nobles concern themselves with frivolity and ease. I want better for my country, for my people. I wish to lead them to prosperity, to make safe our borders and wealthy our people. But, to do that, I need gold. Money is the sinew of war and whether the king opposes me or not, war is coming. So, when on patrol I stumbled on an old crypt and inside found the crown of old. My heart leapt with hope. ” 
 He grew bolder then “ I have come to bargain with you snake! I will not free you but I see by the fire in your eyes that you can not resist my offer anyway. You are already under the spell of the false hope I offer your blackened heart. So here it is, I will trade the first seal and only the first seal for one seventh of your hoard ” he spat. 
 
 I stood silent for a long time then, not quite believing what I had just heard. In all my long years I had never truly heard anything quite so foolish as what this man had so brazenly uttered before me. 
 “ Agreed. ” I said “ I will give you one seventh of my gold for the first seal. You will bring it before me and I will grant you the gold you need to fuel your dream ” 
 
 He looked angrily at me. 
 “ No. You will render the Gold to me then I will provide you the seal, what assurance do I have that you will not roast me alive once I give it to you? “ 
 
 “ Will you risk nothing for your people? “ I purred “ Go now before my patience tires. For you have won gold from a dragon, do not push your luck much further. I will honor our agreement ” 
 
 He paused. Then finding his resolve said “ so be it ” and left my cave to retrieve the crown. I would honor our deal. For it meant my salvation. Dragons burn and scorch and destroy, but men such as Brahleck, well they are far more dangerous. Ambitious men, hungry men are not satisfied. He wanted only a seventh of my gold now but I knew that death stalked his dream. He would be back, with the second seal and again promise that he would not free me. But, Ambitious men are in some ways worse than dragons. They sacrifice stability for the dream of prosperity. They get other men to do the burning for them. Ambitious men always need gold. 
 As he left I roared my laughter for I knew then that even if it took millennia, I would gain my wings again. I would rise into the air from my home and breathe destruction down on man once more. I knew then that in some far off day, men would look to me and pray to Brahleck ’ s name, and I would roar it back at them. So that they might know their destroyer. 

