Meralygos

A lone goblin stood within the icy Frostmaw Cavern in the Storm Peaks, with thick, heavy snow up to his knees and the trickle of sweat on his brown frozen still. His hands were left hanging by his side, an empty sheathe slung to his belt, but the sword was nowhere to be seen. His companions were there, however, yet not in the same way as when they had entered the cavern. Their smoldering black corpses dotted scene, still and unmoving except for the plumes of black smoke rising from their crisp surface, the snow around them melted, revealing the dark, fire-burnt stone beneath. At the center of the cavern the cause of his companions death could be found, in the form of a great blue dragon, towering above the goblin with unblinking eyes of a burning azure.

The goblin who was about to die seemed to have seen better days. His clothes were rugged, barely enough to keep himself warm, yet that would soon come to change, he thought. He could have been in his forties, perhaps, but now on deaths doorstep he seemed so much older. His knees were shaking, and he unwillingly wet himself as the blue dragon opened her massive, deadly maw, lined by fangs sharp as his sword, about the same size too. It was a “Her” alright, he managed to reflect in his last moments. A woman’s wrath, he thought grimly. Had the situation been different, he might have appreciated the elegance of the beast, for her scales were glittering, the wings majestic and large, with large jewelry spread over her scaly forms, along with a serious of intricate runes engraved onto her scales.

“Riddle me this” she had said as she came down upon the group, the ground shaking and throwing half of them onto the snowy ground as her large goblin-sized claws sunk into the snow. “What do you all have in common?” she had added, her voice growling in a bestial manner, yet also intellectual, strong and deep, commanding even. When she got no answer, her nostrils had flared, he remembered, before she answered herself: “You are all dead men walking…”

He heard the deep rumble in her throat now. The heat building, and soon the blue fire would engulf him too. “Unfair” he thought, “So this is how I go out? Slain by an overgrown lizard in her own lair… that I walked into willingly. Well, at least Maggy will get some insurance money out of it.”

The goblin looked up, past the dragon, towards the exit of the cavern. He thought, maybe he could make it? Make a grand escape, cheat death. He could leap aside, run past the legs and tail of the dragon, exit the cave while dodging dragon-fire, and make it down the mountain to K-3 base and re-unite with his beautiful green wife. Maybe it could be done, he thought, and closed his eyes. “My home, at least it is safe, out of reach. My wife and little ones, at least they are alive and safe”

As these thoughts filled the doomed goblins mind, the large dragon stepped forward, blue fire licking her fangs as the roar grew. And then the heat came.

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Gizzy was a bruiser at K-3. The job didn’t pay as much as he wanted, but it was enough to support the family, at least. Yet he longed for a chance at big bucks, to be able to swim in gold was a dream most Goblins longed for, but perhaps no one more than Gizzy. Coming from a poor working-class family, he had never had any gold to speak of either way. And now, all he earned went straight to keeping his wife and three children fed. They could not even afford leaving these blasted mountain peaks. If only he had gold, he could take them away from here. Go down south, to a tropical beach. No, he could buy the beach!

Gizzy rubbed his hands together greedily as he stood guard outside the Bazar, so lost in his own fantasy that he didn’t even notice the human approaching him until his shoulder was tapped. He snapped out of his dreams, glaring up at the robed human. The human stood tall in grey robes, leaning on a wooden staff. “Ah, typical… a wizard, just what I need today…” the goblin thought grimly, before answering: “Ye, what’chu want?”

“I am looking for some hired muscle. I’ve heard you goblins have a nose for good business, and I pay in gold” the robed human said in a calm manner. From Gizzy’s perspective, he could only see the white bushy beard as he looked up at the wizard. Yet his long ears perked and wiggled at the prospect of gold! Suddenly, he was attentive, focused. Could this be his opportunity?

“You’ve found the right goblin for the job! What’chu need, and how much you payin’?” he said, with perhaps a bit more enthusiasm than was proper, but the human didn’t seem to notice, or he simply didn’t mind. He tapped the staff idly into the ground, before answering. “There is an abandoned dragon-lair further up the mountain, by the name of Frostmaw Cavern. And surely, there’s also treasure hidden within. For you know how dragons are.” Gizzy didn’t know how dragons are, but the prospect of treasure was more than enough!

“What’s me cut?” he said, his voice thrumming with excitement, as she kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, restless. “You get ten-percent of the loot we uncover, as well as a sum of five gold as soon as we return from the lair, as a sign of good faith.” The wizard answered.

“I’m in” Gizzy said.

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He jumped aside, the flames crashing down where he had been mere moments ago, the searing heat almost unbearable as it scorched his back. He found himself disoriented, the heatwave blasting him forward, but his body moved as if on automatic. “Yes, get up!” he thought, feeling as if he was but a mere spectator. He struggled to his feet, dashing towards the unsuspecting dragon, down beneath her bulk. It was as if he was flying above the snow, his adrenaline was rising, his sense for detail sharpened a hundred times over. He felt like he could count every individual scale of the blue dragon, like he could sense the pearls of water dripping from the icicles above. Most of all, he felt fast. He rushed out from beneath the dragon, jumping to avoid the swipe of her tail as she struggled to turn in the narrow space, her maw flaring up again.

Gizzy cheered himself on, his body moving as if it had a will of its own. He ran for the exit of the cave as if he had the Burning Legion on his tail, or indeed a dragon he mused as the blue flames licked his cloak and boots furiously as the dragon roared with rage inside. And then, he was out! The bright light blinded him, the cold howling winds now tearing at him instead of the searing fires of the dragon. But he could not stop now. “Go, go! Run, Gizzy, run!” he commanded his body, and it obeyed. He knew he had to cross the frozen plain before him fast, and make it into the safety of the trees, else he would stand no chance of survival.

He tripped and fell face-first a few times in the knee-deep snow, but he was quickly back on his feet again. He dared not look over his shoulder, but he knew the dragon wouldn’t be far behind. The trees were getting closer and closer, but so too was the sound of large wings flapping in the air behind him. Gizzy could feel the heat catching up on him, as fire washed the snow behind him. He threw himself forward, towards the trees.

The fire blasted against the trunk of the tree, enveloping the goblin as he covered. The heat was almost unbearable, and he felt like he would pass out, but the pain kept him awake. His hands and feet were seared badly, his tunic on fire, but a quick roll in the cold snow did wonders. He had made it into the woods! He cheered, while the dragon was furiously roaring and circling above the trees. Now all he had to do, was find his way home while sticking to the trees.

It felt like he had walked forever. Every footstep heavy, and he was sure every new footstep would be his last, yet his body kept on going. The dark night had enveloped him, and now he actually missed the company of the dragon! At least she had kept him warm. This cold however was unnatural, the winds howling through the trees, biting into his skin like shrill razor-maws.

He could no longer feel his feet. In fact, he could no longer feel anything, except the bone-shrilling cold. Yet, when he looked up, he found himself back home. Suddenly he was feeling warm. He could see Maggy standing by the door, her arms spread wide for him. He felt so warm now, almost uncomfortable. Ah, how beautiful she is, he thought. She stood waiting for him, with a smile of ineffable joy, an attitude of matchless grace and dignity. He was feeling hot now, so hot it almost hurt. As he was about to clasp her, he felt pain wash over him, a blinding light washing over him, blazing all around him, with a sound like the roar of a waterfall; and then, all is darkness and silence.

Gizzy was dead; his body now another smoldering corpse dotting the landscape of Frostmaw Cavern.

Disclaimer: This literary work is heavily influenced by Ambrose Bierce's "An occurance at Owl Creek Bridge" published in 1890, and is from where I got my inspiration.

I liked it, an awesome read!