Unidragon

[Stormgate]

I am in a creative writing class, and we have to write a short story. I came up with the idea of a dragon that thinks it's a unicorn, and it escalated from there. So, I have this. It is fairly large.

 

The dragon hunter walked into the bar. Though noon had only just come and gone and he it was in the middle of summer, it seemed darker as the newcomer took a seat. He was covered in dragon armor, not unusual for dragon hunters when entering a town, or a dragon hunter at all. They figured they looked heroic or something in their impenetrable, glowing armor.

“I’ve heard tell of a dragon in these parts.” the hunter said, taking off his helm with ease, the glowing material coming off as if it was insubstantial. The patrons that hadn’t been staring at the newcomer now locked their eyes on him in terrified fear.

“Son,” said an old man at a nearby table, “If you know what’s good for you, you won’t tell any stories about a dragon hearabouts. There is, though, a unicorn in a cave in the mountain.” The old-timer gestured to the stone peak looming in the distance.

“Oh yes,” the dragon hunter smirked, “I’ve heard of your ‘unicorn’. Would anybody mind telling me why you call it a unicorn when it’s clearly a dragon?”

Everybody rushed out the door. “Now you’ve done it,” said the old man as he passed the dragon hunter.

All alone, the man quickly pulled on his helm, the softly glowing plate flowing around him until it tightly adhered to his flesh.

The hunter wasn't  worried. Dragon armor was good for as long as you didn’t wear it. Leave it off for a day and you can wear it for the same amount of time before it went dull and fell  off. His armor had been charging for a week. All according to plan.

The hunter drew his sword from its simple stone-wood sheath at the sound of a hundred tarps flapping in the wind, which any dragon hunter instantly recognized as a dragon. He grinned. The beast had taken the bait.

The ceiling collapsed, revealing a stunning dragon. The hunter’s jaw dropped inside his helm as it landed inside the bar.

He was expecting the wings, the razor sharp talons, the teeth. He wasn’t even thrown by the fact the beast was only slightly larger than a horse, or that its tail scales were long and needlelike. He’d seen and killed dragons with stranger traits.

What he didn’t expect were the scales. Brilliant white scales were interspersed with soft pastels of blue and pink. The light came through the new skylight and reflected off her scales, sending spots of light on the walls that spun as the dragon moved.

“What did you say I was?” the winged lizard growled menacingly.

“You’re a dragon.” the hunter said as parts of armor fell off, dull from overuse. How did that happen? It had been charging for a week. His confidence waned. He held his weapon in an attack position. He feinted the dragon, but she ignored it, continuing forward.

The dragon crawled forward, growling softly.

“I am not a dragon.” the dragon said, “I am a unicorn.”

As the last piece of armor fell off, the dragon hunter thought that the lizard’s statement would be hilarious if the dragon was doing anything but forming a fireball in its throat.

“Unicorns don't kill people!” He desperately shouted.

The fireball faded a little.

“I make exceptions,” the dragon snarled, and released the fireball.

The hunter jumped out of the way of the fireball, tucking into a roll and coming up holding the blade. The dragon turned, and began another blast of flame.

Before she could release it, he charged her, and swung his dragon blade towards her. He grinned. Dragon blades could cut through anything, but strangely only one material at a time. He occasionally wondered why it was able to cut through skin and flesh in one go, even though they were very different materials. He put it down to the sword not being that picky. These thoughts quickly passed through his mind, but only mildly as he swung the sword at the dragon’s forearm.

It didn’t penetrate. He truly panicked now. His armor mysteriously going dead, now this? He swung again and again, but with no success.

He had two options. If he did nothing, the dragon would kill him. If he begged, the dragon might let him live, but he would have to leave the town in disgrace, as the dragon would likely demand that he would leave town immediately. Unthinkable. A calm resolve replaced his fear as he stared at the seemingly invincible creature in front of him, watching the fire blast he was sure would kill him build in the dragon’s throat.

He hoped it would be painless and quick.

It was.

*              *              *

Reed walked into the village, making good use of his walking stick. In the west the sun was just over a large, solitary mountain, making Reed use his robe to wipe off the beaded sweat. A good sign, that mountain. It meant the stories he had come to investigate might be true. He smelled smoke. The source turned out to be a smoldering building, perhaps an inn or a bar. He walked inside. Some men were carrying out broken tables and chairs, as well as scorched boards. There was a hole in the roof, and a pile of straw in the middle of the floor. He noticed some dull gray dragon armor, and a glowing dragon blade next to charred remains of what he believed to be a person. The people carefully avoided all three. He stopped one of the men.

“Excuse me,” said Reed to the man, “What caused this damage?”

The man looked slightly scared. “A unicorn.” he said.

Reed smiled. “Quite unlike any unicorn damage I have ever heard of.”

The man was noticeably more nervous. “Um...oh?” he stuttered.

“Yes. I have never heard of a dragon being able to create fire.” Reed said absently

“Well, this one can.” the man tried to push past Reed, who was blocking the door.

Reed stopped the man. “I think I understand your fear. Does this unicorn have exceptional hearing, and perhaps live in a cave in the mountain?”

“Yes, yes it does.”

“Why did that man die?” Reed asked.

The man looked at the charred remains, “Someone called it a dragon. Definitely a unicorn, but someone called it a dragon. Now excuse me, I must go now.” Reed let him pass and turned away from the burnt building.

Reed thought about the situation as he tried finding a place to lodge for the night.

Among the many things that Reed was, he was a scholar of dragons. In fact, he was the best in the world, although very few knew it. If dragons knew exactly how knowledgeable he was on them, they would likely burn him to a crisp. If people knew, dragon hunters would eventually come to him and demand they tell him what he knew. And telling a dragon hunter ‘no’ is very hard.

Jolting himself out of that particular train of thought, Reed turned and went into an inn called The Flaming Unicorn. He smiled at how appropriate the name was, and bought a room for a few nights. After approving the quarters, he went out of the inn and began walking down the street.

Many people knew that dragons were magical. The flying and the fire-breathing were examples of that, people thought. Reed knew that only the flying was magical, the fire breath was just biological.

But few people knew that all dragons had a magical power, which was unique for each one. Variations on good memory were common, especially among dragons that gathered large hoards of gold and treasures. Good hearing, sight, and smell were also not uncommon. This one apparently could hear anyone in a large area talk about her.

“I travelled a long way here to see this unicorn,” Reed said to nobody present, “Bringing weapons is apparently pointless, that poor fellow proved as much. Besides, I don’t want to kill it. I know! On my way into town I saw some bushes with berries. I’ll gather some of those, if they’re ripe. It’s probably too late to go up there now and expect to get back before dark, so I’ll just wake up early and get a fresh start early tomorrow morning.” Fairly confident his message had been heard, he went back into the inn and ordered dinner.

*              *              *

Reed admired the dragonberry, red and still covered in dew, shielded from the sun by the leafy cover of trees. He grabbed it and popped it into his mouth. As he bit into it, it released the hot juice inside. Reed smiled. It was ripe. Most people could only eat one dragonberry a day, if that. Any more and the hotness would cause them to get sick. Reed ate three more before putting several more in his barrow. Not satisfied with his progress, Reed cast a simple spell. He mumbled a quick spell, and berries from the surrounding bushes flew into the small wheelbarrow.

Satisfied with its contents, Reed wheeled it towards the town, where the best road to the mountain began. His back groaned in mild protest.

“I’m too old to be wheeling barrows up mountains,” he mumbled. As he entered town, he noticed a youngish moseying in his general direction.

“Are you busy?” Reed asked. The boy shook his head and Reed smiled.

“If you wheel this barrow up the mountain with me, there’s money in it for you.” The boy eagerly took the barrow and began wheeling, Reed shortly behind.

Reed walked up the mountain slowly, allowing the boy to keep up. It was harder work than he had figured, and so they had taken occasional water breaks. As they went, Reed noticed many pairs of tracks going up, but fewer going down. The number of returning prints got smaller and smaller until the entrance of the cave, which had none. Reed looked at the boy. The lad looked like a cornered animal. Reed gave the boy a gold coin, who, despite his tiredness, ran down the mountain. Reed pushed the wheelbarrow into the cave, which was faintly illuminated from within.

The cave was dark, although not enough to require any light. In fact, the glow grew stronger as Reed walked, until it opened into a moderately sized cavern. Reed saw that the light was coming from several suits of dragon armor and dragon blades, the blades stabbed point-first into the ground.

In the middle of the room lay the dragon. It was stunning. Curled up, it was not much larger than a family’s dinner table. Its color was brilliant white, interspersed with pastel pink and blue scales. Spots of light on the wall proved that the scales were reflective. Reed was interested in the tail scales, which were long and needlelike, as if trying to mimic hair. It appeared asleep, but Reed could tell that it was visibly shaking with excitement.

“Miss Unicorn?” Reed asked slowly.

Immediately, the dragon jumped up. “Hello!” the dragon said, “How nice of you to visit! Are those for me?” The dragon looked at the wheelbarrow.

“Yes, they are.” Reed said as the dragon’s head began devouring the berries. Reed noted the excitement, and decided it was a relatively young dragon, which, while still vicious and technically an adult, were far less mature and more childlike, full of energy. They often attempted being surprised by things that they knew by magical means, but often failed.

“Now,” said the dragon after licking her lips to get the lingering juice, “What made you decide to visit me?” She began pacing.

“Well,” Reed said, “I was quite frankly curious about a unicorn that can breath fire and fly.”

The dragon laughed, sounding almost human. “Unicorns are magical. I’m just more magical than a lot of other unicorns.”

“I see,” said Reed, hesitating, “What’s your name?”

“Ariane, how about you?” the dragon said.

“People call me Reed.” Reed said.

How do you feel about dragons?”

The dragon stopped. “Why do you ask?”

“You burned up a man who called you a dragon.” Reed pointed out.

“Oh. That,” the dragon said, “Do you want a story?”

“All right. Mind if I sit down?” Reed did.

“Sure.” Ariane said, doing the same.

Reed sat as she began her story.

“This all happened a long time ago, when I was a foal. My herd and I were in a meadow, eating grass. At least, they were. I had found some of the berries you gave me on a bush, and was eating them.

“Suddenly, everything was on fire. Everywhere I looked, there was fire. Unicorns burned to death in that fire. I can still hear the screams.” Ariane paused, shedding a tear. “I don’t remember more than faint images of that day, but I remember the dragon that did it.”

“How did you get away?” Reed asked.

“ I discovered my flying magic right then and managed to fly away. I soon discovered my fire magic, and decided to move into a cave, since I never liked the grass. Too rough,” Ariane said.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Reed said, “Did you ever find the dragon?”

“No, I didn’t.” Ariane said, “And I looked everywhere.” she wailed.

Reed stood up. “I’m sorry, but I believe I must be going in order to get back before nightfall. It has been nice talking with you Ariane, and I will be back tomorrow.”

“Good night.” Ariane said, tail drooping.

*              *              *

That night, Reed went into the forest and performed a spell. A portal opened up into an empty clearing. Reed walked through and closed the portal.

Five forms came out of the woods in front of Reed. In the moonlight, Reed was able to tell they were unicorns.

“Araxmus,” Reed said.

“Reed,” the middle unicorn replied. He was slightly taller than the rest, “How goes the investigation?”

“I have found the dragon that caused the Scorching,” Reed replied. The unicorns shivered collectively at the reference to the infamous slaughter.

“Have you determined the motivations of this dragon?” Araxmus asked.

“I believe that it was an accident,” Reed said, “In fact, she doesn’t really know that she did it, yet.”

“How?” Araxmus was slightly angry.

Reed held out a dragonberry. “She said she had eaten some of these berries shortly before the Scorching. Dragons usually can’t breath fire until they eat some of these, and then the first fire blast is uncontrollable. That’s probably what happened here.”

“Do you have any good news?” Araxmus asked, slightly sarcastically.

“The dragon has potential for your purposes.” Reed said.

“Explain.” Araxmus was interested.

“In their early years, a dragon is very flexible. Its color, size, even scale shape may change depending on what they think it should be. This dragon is a brilliant white with light blue and pink spots. She is only slightly taller than a unicorn, and her tail scales somewhat resemble hair, as if imitating a unicorn tail.” Reed explained.

“So?” Araxmus asked.

“She thinks she’s a unicorn. She really, truly does.”

“How does this work for us?”

“She is easily sympathetic towards us, perhaps even to make restitution for the Scorching. She does have the habit of killing people who call her a dragon, though, which I hope to resolve.”

“See that you do.” Araxmus said, “We can’t have mobs forming against her.”

“It’s hard to form a mob when you can’t talk about the being you’re mobbing.” Reed said, opening a portal back to his original location and walked through.

*              *              *

 I would appreciate any and all constructive feedback. At this point I am aware that it is not an especially good piece. If something doesn't work, I ask that you quote that particular part of the story so I don't have to comb through the whole thing looking for the issue. It isn't all typed up yet, and I still have a good chunk of pages left.

Edited February 9, 2016 by Stormgate

[Ookla the Absent]

Not satisfied with his progress, Reed cast a simple spell. He mumbled a quick spell, and berries from the surrounding bushes flew into the small wheelbarrow.

Redundant?

 

 

“Yes. I have never heard of a dragon being able to create fire.” Reed said absently

Unicorn?

 

Pretty good overall, although there are some flow issues:

• The armor falling apart and sword not working. How does this happen?
• The unicorn sequence at the end there was... odd. Where did that come from? Needs more backstory.

[Assassin in Burgundy]

Hey, any story that starts with "The dragon hunter walked into a bar" is a winner in my book.

[Stormgate]

@Assassin in Burgundy, I have finished the story, would you like me to PM it to you?

[Assassin in Burgundy]

Uh, sure, why not

[Darkness Ascendant]

I remember this