A Surfeit of Shorts

Sickness in Elvenden

Written for FANTASCI'S Contest 5, which centres around the following prompt: There is an item. Your hero and/or villain finds this watch/mirror/object and what occurs within it? Is the object cursed? Meant to lead them to their destiny? Start a Fellowship?

W/C - 1845 words

The sun beat down upon the trees that surrounded us, and the breezes played through the branches, making the leaves talk amongst themselves in rustling little whispers. I kept silent, huge scaled body on the alert as ever, head turning on occasion at some unexpected noise that scampered nearby; every time, my nostrils flared until I caught the scent of a rabbit, or hare or bird, something that could perpetrate no harm upon either my own dragon body, or that of the elf that I called friend and rider. Only once did a werewolf pass close by to us, yet either the lupine didn't know that we were there, or he was just largely uninterested. Even the werewolf would have a hard job killing either me, or Arveldir, my rider; elves were notoriously quick and lethal when roused, even faster than a vampire or werewolf, and nothing could damage a dragon, such as myself. Dragons were too large, too impenetrably scaled, too ready with flaming jets from mouth and nostril when provoked to be in any true danger from harm.

I looked down when I felt a blast of exultation filtering through the telepathic bond I shared with Arveldir, as the wood elf, tiny against my large body, straightened, holding something golden and glittering in one slender hand. I gave a rumble of interest at that, entranced by the glittering contours of whatever it was that my friend held, as I angled my head down to garner a closer look at it. I still wasn't sure what it was, but I liked it, long tongue flickering out to taste it, and striping a warm lick against a laughing Arveldir's hand as I did so.

"It's not food, Maylanth," Arveldir told me, even as I sniffed lustily at the object. "It's a statue. A tiny golden statue, probably something that the humans left behind here long ago. I think there's more artefacts here, just like the elvelings said."

I huffed out a note of interest as I sniffed experimentally at the ground, one large clawed paw scratching at the mud and the grass helpfully. Again, Arveldir chuckled before he gently pushed at my shoulder, sending a loving, tender thought through our bond.

"No, Maylanth, you can't help, but thank you anyway, dear one," he said, gently. "You might accidentally break something. Let me do it."

I huffed out a note of disappointed agreement, before I padded softly away to a safer distance, and laid heavily down in the midst of the clearing. I shuffled and fidgeted until I'd arranged my wings and my tail to my liking, and garnered a snort from Arveldir for my efforts.

"Fastidious as ever, I see," he said, affectionately.

I blatted gently at him, a little scandalised that I could be thought of as being anything else. The wood elf cast a grin at me, and returned his attentions back to the ground again. He began to dig, using hands and his dagger to do so, and I watched him for a time, genuine interest peaking and waning as he pulled item after item out of the dry and dusty mud. Arveldir had already told me that the clearing had once held a human settlement, before they'd moved on to pastures unknown, for reasons equally unknown. The houses had rotted away to nothing, made mostly of wood and of thatch, yet the harder items, the non-perishables were still there. Some of the younger elves, children in the language of the humans, had come racing into Elvenden , where the elves lived, shouting and screaming in excitement, small hands filled with shards of plate and golden coins, and even a small dagger in one instance. Arveldir had immediately asked where they had found the items, soon vaulting onto my back and urging me to the skies before anyone else could react. We both knew that other elves and dragons would soon join us; elves were just as curious about new things as dragons were, and we drakes had a nose for interesting things.