Title: King Edward, Part VII
Author: Anonymous
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Price: 300
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Content:


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[/center]King Edward, Part VII



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[/center] Chap 7: Dragon



 "So you saw a demon? And killed a rat with Tooth? That's a
fine ebony dagger, Tooth is. They're rare so you want to take
real good care of it," Mith said. "I can't tell you about
the blade except it came from Moraelyn's father. It's the
one his brother sent him to repair just before we ran away.
Would you like to hear about how they got the dragon's tooth
that Mats carved the hilt from?"

 Edward nodded, caressing the curved hilt with its lightly
carved intertwined roses, thorns and leaves. It was well
after supper and everyone but him and Mith had left the fire
for one reason or another. Aliera and Moraelyn had gone for
a walk hand in hand, Aliera holding Moraelyn's newly healed
left hand in both of hers. They'd laughed and shaken their heads
when he'd offered to come along, "Not tonight," Aliera had
said. "Go to sleep soon. We'll be leaving before dawn."
Willow had gone to visit a High Elf friend. Beech, Ssa'ass,
Mats and the Khajiit woman, Silk, had also gone off
together, laughing. They'd invited Mith to come along, but
Mith had declined.

 "Khajiits! They're all turning into a bunch of shameless
Khajiits," Mith said. The short Dark Elf sat close to the
glowing embers, knees to chest.  His hair and eyes glowed in the
dim light. "If you're going to pair, you should pair, not
turn it into an tourney. They'll be selling tickets next. 
But each to his own. Khajiits think we're weird because we like
eating as a group. Silk says it put her right off her food at
first, listening to  everybody chew. Well, having a bunch
of watchers puts me off--I s'pose you're too young for this
kind of talk."

 Edward shrugged. It was a beautiful night, crisply cool,
no moon, but the stars were very large and bright.

 "Anyway, it was just a few months after Mats had joined up
with us. We were up in Skyrim, travelling from town to town.
Just three kids seeing  the country a bit, picking up odd jobs
where we could. Moraelyn entered tournaments if we heard
about them, but he wasn't winning that much ... just about
enough to cover healing him up afterwards. You can get beat up pretty bad fighting Skyrim style -- that's
without shielding spells, or any other spells for that
matter, no magic allowed -- even if it isn't to the death.
And he drew a few types that didn't mind seeing a little dark
elf blood spilled in the sand. Or a lot. And the crowds were
against him at first. It can get pretty lonely in the arena,
especially if you're beating the home town favorite. And
it's even worse if he's beating you.   "Mats and me 'ud be the
only ones for him, and sometimes we didn't dare cheer too
loud. They'd look real funny at a Nord boy cheering a Dark
Elf back then. 'Course Mats was so big, not many wanted to
start anything with him. That was a long time ago.
Moraelyn's the favorite now if things get tough. 'Course the
crowds will cheer for a good match, but hardly anyone really wants to see him lose now. They like seeing
the best, even if it comes wrapped in a dark elf hide. And
when he walks into an arena you know you're seeing the best.
Not but what they'd like seeing a Nord that's better. And
Mats may get there soon. He doesn't fight his best against 
Moraelyn, though. Maybe he doesn't want to, or maybe
Moraelyn just knows him too well. Oh, well, you want to hear
about the dragon ... 

 "So Moraelyn was gambling with this Nord in a tavern one
night, trying to pick up a little easy gold. The pot's
pretty big, and the man can't match his bet, so he says he'll pu
t this map on
the pile and tap Moraelyn. Says it's a map to the hiding place of the best blade ever made. Says
there's a spell on it so that if you hit your opponent, you
get as much heal as he gets hurt. That some Mage hid it just
before he died so's only someone worthy of it can get to it.

 "'And you think I look worthy?' Moraelyn says, grinning. We
were young and dumb, but not all that dumb.

 "The Nord grins back and says 'I saw you fight in Falcreath,
kid. You look like you'd take a chance.' 

 "'Why not? The story alone is worth the gold. You ought to
be a Bard.' So anyway Moraelyn wins the pot and tosses the
man enough back to keep his throat wet all evening. Just for
laughs we look at the map. It showed the Dragon's Teeth
Mountains down in Hammerfell. Real wild country. And there's an 'X' and some writing saying
'Fang Lair'. Mats gets excited and says he's heard of the
place, but he'd never known just where it was.

 this map on
the pile and tap Moraelyn. Says it's a map to the hiding place of the best blade ever made. Says
there's a spell on it so that if you hit your opponent, you
get as much heal as he gets hurt. That some Mage hid it just
before he died so's only someone worthy of it can get to it.

 "'And you think I look worthy?' Moraelyn says, grinning. We
were young and dumb, but not all that dumb.

 "The Nord grins back and says 'I saw you fight in Falcreath,
kid. You look like you'd take a chance.' 

 "'Why not? The story alone is worth the gold. You ought to
be a Bard.' So anyway Moraelyn wins the pot and tosses the
man enough back to keep his throat wet all evening. Just for
laughs we look at the map. It showed the Dragon's Teeth
Mountains down in Hammerfell. Real wild country. And there's an 'X' and some writing saying
'Fang Lair'. Mats gets excited and says he's heard of the
place, but he'd never known just where it was.

 "'And you still don't,' I say. 'Any fool can draw a map,
just as any fool can look at one. I could do as much
myself.'

 "Mats says Fang Lair is an old dwarf mine, but  there's
supposed to be a dragon there now, and the dwarves are gone.
Moraelyn looks real interested at the mention of a mine, and
asks what they mined there. Mats says mithril and gold.

 "Moraelyn says, 'Hmmmmm.'

 "The mithril had him interested. We couldn't afford really
good weapons. And mithril's scarce, but it's light to carry
for its worth, and easy to mine and work if you know how; and
he did. He didn't believe in the magic blade or the dragon,
but he thought the mine might be real. Mining's in his blood,
as it is in all the R'Aathim, the royal Kin of Ebonheart.

 "It took us a couple of months to get there. We couldn't afford horses. We never would have found it without the
map. It's tricky country, full of  canyons and hidden
valleys. We sure never expected what we saw when we did get
there. You could see the towers from the canyon mouth, way
back in there. Dark elves live right in caverns if they mine,
but the dwarves had built a hall over the top of their mines.
It's a pretty thing on the outside. Narrow towers, and arched
bridges between them. Delicate looking; you wouldn't expect
work like that from Dwarves. Merged right into the rocks too. And there was a big stone
dragon mounted above the gate. 

 "'There's your dragon, Mats,' I said. The inside wasn't much to look at, just rock wall. The doorway was
enormous, but the doors were gone. There was a balcony
running right around a big open pit ...  probably the start
of the mine, turned into a hall. And right in the middle was
more treasure than you can imagine ... piled up almost like
a haystack that'd been flattened out. And what had flattened
it was a golden dragon curled right over it; we didn't even
see him at first, 'cause he blended with the rest of the gold. Well, we just froze in place. We
hadn't seen a sign of live dragon outside. The place
smelled of brimstone, but most mines do. And there that
dragon was, just lying there. And it's gotta be two miles to
any kind of shelter. 

 "'I told you there was a dragon,' Mats whispers.

 "'Shhhhh,' Moraelyn says. 'Look what's in front of his nose.'

 "I'd been busy looking AT his nose, believe you me. But there
was a sword lying right there naked, sure enough ... .and the
blade was dark metal that  looked just like his dagger.

 "'You two start back,' Moraelyn says, 'I'm going to try for
that blade, anyway. If that's not ebony, I'm a wood elf.
Maybe the dragon's dead, or asleep for the winter ... or
maybe it's not alive at all. Just something the dwarves made to guard their treasure. Like the scarecrows the Nord farmers put in their
grain fields. At worst, I'll distract him long enough for
you to get clear.'

 "I'd a mind to take him up on it, but Mats just shook his head,
and I was kinda ashamed to go back alone.

 "'Let's all just clear out,' I said. That thing looked real
enough to scare ME away. But Moraelyn casts Invisibility
and heads on down the stair, not making a sound that even I
could hear. I could see Mats hated letting him go down alone, but Mats couldn't sneak past a blind,
deaf beggar in a fish market. So we strung our bows and
figured we could try to get off a couple of shots and maybe
get lucky and take out the eyes if the dragon woke up and went for Moraelyn. Mats and
I move around to where we can get onto a tower stair fast if
we have to, figuring the dragon can't get in there. Then we
scrunch down and peer between the railings. Not that there
was anything to see except the dragon lying there. Which really is a lot to see, at that.

 "Then those dragon eyes popped open and my heart gave one
big jump and then seemed to quit entirely.

 "'Ahhhhh! Dinner comes to me today,' the dragon says. 'Take a
good look at my hoard, dark elf. You will not steal it nor
even view it long, but your bones will keep it company ...
.forever.'

 "'I don't want your hoard, dragon, just the sword you
guard. I'll trade you mine for it; mine's bigger.' I
couldn't see Moraelyn, but his voice was coming from right near where the sword was. Which was practically in
the dragon's mouth!

 "'I get a meal and both swords. Why should I settle for just
your poor sword?'

 "'Let me pass and I'll get you more gold from below.'

 "'I have gold enough.' The dragon yawned and I thought he was
going to swallow Moraelyn right then, but he turned his head
away -- away from us, too. Mats was looking to get a shot,
but it was really dark in there for Nord eyes and he was
scared of hitting Moraelyn, since he couldn't locate him that well by
sound. 'Course Moraelyn's too smart to get between us and the dragon, but Mats wasn't smart
enough then to think that far along. Slavery dulls the wits
in some ways, Mats says, and he hadn't been free very long. I
could see well enough, and I could tell by sound exactly
where Moraelyn was, but the shot was clean out of my range.

 "The dragon goes on, 'But there is something you can do for
me, elf, and prolong your life a few more minutes.'

 "'A few more minutes sound pretty good just now, dragon.
What would you ask of me?' Moraelyn's voice sounded as calm
and easy as if he was asking if  there would be rain tomorrow.
He can keep his head in a tight spot, I'll give him that.

 "'I have a toothache. It's too far back for me to reach it with my claws. Canst see it, elf?' The
dragon gapes his jaws to bare his teeth.

 "Moraelyn's invisiblity spell wore off about then, and I
could see him standing there staring up into that cavern of
a mouth. 'Lower your head a bit so I can get a good look.' He
puts out his hand and pulls the upper lip aside, cool as you
please, and examines the inner gum carefully. Damndest
thing I ever saw.

 "'It's abcessed. Thy gum wants lancing, and the  tooth
should come out. I can lance it if you trust me in there with
a sword.'

 "'And why should I trust you, dark elf? I hear no good of
your kind.'

 "'You must be spending too much time with Nords, then. I
wouldn't be able to kill you before you killed me. Why
should I even try? Listen, I have  some friends up above.
Suppose they hunt you up a nice fat deer. I'll lance your
gum and you can let me go and eat the deer. Else you can just
 eat me now, toothache and all.' 

 "'Hssssssss. What makes you think your friends will return
once they're away?'

 "'They're not very smart. I think for them. They'd be lost
without me. Good hunting, guys! Uh, if they can't find a
deer, is there anything else you'd  like? Pig, maybe? A few rabbits? Nuts? Berries?
Hurry up, will you?' But we had hand signals and his hands
said to get out of there and stay out!   "I'd a been glad to;
I mean I'm fond of Moraelyn but I didn't see my dying
alongside would bring him any comfort. I'd a been glad to
see him clear if it was me that was on the menu, and I figured
he felt the same way. But that thick-skulled Nord wouldn't listen to me! Said if dying beside him  was all we
could do, then that's what we'd do. Nord nonsense. Sounds good in a song, though.

 "So we took a couple hours getting a deer and headed back
with it. I figured Moraelyn was filling the dragon's belly by now, and the
dragon would be happy to add a deer, another Dark Elf and a
Nord to round out his day's rations. But Moraelyn was still sitting there,  chatting with
the dragon. He didn't look that pleased to see us, either.
Told us to leave the deer and go and he'd lance the abcess
once we're away. But Mats says he's been thinking. Oh, brother,
I thought. Mats doesn't think too often, and that's a good
thing, really. He's decided he can get a chain round that bad
tooth, fasten down the end to the floor, and then the dragon
can give it a good yank himself.

 "The dragon likes the idea, so Moraelyn lances that abcess to
take the swelling down to where the dragon can gulp the deer
with some comfort. And then they rig up a chain and get that
tooth out. Made a hell of a mess, that. Blood and pus
everywhere. And Moraelyn's got us casting Heal spells on this dragon to stop the bleed
ing and close up the wound.

 "'Ah, hum, good, very good. All right, Moraelyn, you've
proven yourself. Take the sword and go.'

 "Moraelyn looks at him. 'You mean this was some kind of
test?' he says. 'How long have you had that toothache?'

 "'Long indeed, as you measure time, mortal, yet not very
long at all for dragonkind. Hear my story then: a scraggly young mage came along,
hoping to steal my gold. I caught him at it; we had
increasingly harsh words, and he attempted a spell aimed at
me. His pitiful spell affected me little, and I killed him.
But ummmm...' The dragon looked away briefly, then resumed
his tale. 'The little runt had apparently cast a home-made
Curse spell upon himself, and when I crunched him...' The
dragon scowled fiercely, remembering, then continued,
'Anyway, the ache only came on bad when someone came along
to try for the sword. The sharpest pain went away if I ate the intruder
... but I usually didn't, though I've singed a few in
ng and close up the wound.

 "'Ah, hum, good, very good. All right, Moraelyn, you've
proven yourself. Take the sword and go.'

 "Moraelyn looks at him. 'You mean this was some kind of
test?' he says. 'How long have you had that toothache?'

 "'Long indeed, as you measure time, mortal, yet not very
long at all for dragonkind. Hear my story then: a scraggly young mage came along,
hoping to steal my gold. I caught him at it; we had
increasingly harsh words, and he attempted a spell aimed at
me. His pitiful spell affected me little, and I killed him.
But ummmm...' The dragon looked away briefly, then resumed
his tale. 'The little runt had apparently cast a home-made
Curse spell upon himself, and when I crunched him...' The
dragon scowled fiercely, remembering, then continued,
'Anyway, the ache only came on bad when someone came along
to try for the sword. The sharpest pain went away if I ate the intruder
... but I usually didn't, though I've singed a few in
self-defense; heh, waft a bit of fire and most of them fled.
Deer are plentiful; there is something er, ah, unpleasant
about eating someone you've talked to. That greasy mage
gave me indigestion for days. Cramps and runny bowels and
too much gas, even for a dragon. So that toothache never did
completely go away. And the people who've come along
haven't been very pleasant either ... all in all one of the
most unpleasant stretches in my life. I couldn't stay away from the vicinity of the sword for very long of course. Part
of the curse.'

 "'We could stay on for awhile, if you like. We're good
company. I'm Moraelyn; my red-headed friend is Mith, and the
big guy is Mats. I'd still like to look for mithril below and I've never had a dragon friend before.'

 "'I might like that. You have good friends, and even though
you have said that you must do the thinking for them. I think that they can do some  thinking on
their own, and it would appear that they have decided that
you are a worthwhile fellow,' The dragon hesitated for a
second and  actually managed to look shy! 'You can call me
Akatosh.'

 "So we stayed for a couple of weeks. Hunted with the dragon --
now that's an experience! Searched  the mines ... didn't find much down
there. But the dragon gave us the jewels from his hoard. Said he only needed the metal; they absorb it into
their scales while they lie on it. So we did pretty well out
of it after all. Moraelyn tried to give Mats the sword.
Claimed that he'd have sure tried to kill that dragon if we
hadn't come back, and would have been toasted. But Mats
wouldn't take it. Said the dragon gave it to Moraelyn so that was clearly who was
supposed to get it. Mats took the tooth, but he made the hilt
you've got now and gave Moraelyn that, too. Told me he'd
never had anything worth giving before, and it made him feel
good. He's real pleased Moraelyn chose to give it to you."

 "I think Mats should have got the sword," Edward said. "He
didn't try to steal anything. It was really brave of him to
come back, even when he didn't think it'd do any good.
Moraelyn tried to steal, got caught and then just tried to talk his way out of it. You could
all have been killed  because of him."

 "That's just what Moraelyn said. Ah, well, Mats likes that big axe of his better than a blade anyway."

 Edward sighed. "I wish I was brave like Mats. I guess I'm more
like you."

 "Aye," Moraelyn's voice sounded behind him, startling the
boy. "Tart tongued, like Mith. No matter. I'll be well
pleased if you're as brave as Mith. And if once I'm gone they
say no more of me than 'he did what he had to do', my spirit
will be at peace." 
