Iagdrau, the white dragon, sat sulking in his cave, staring at his
accumulated treasure. Some large insects buzzed around his head, but he
seemed not to notice. Thick, viscous tears slowly dripped down his face.
He sighed heavily, trying to decide what to do. Zeksagmak had been his
best friend; they had raided towns and slaughtered thousands together.
They had drank coffee and talked about politics together. And now he was
gone.
Suddenly, Iagdrau's scaly face lit up with an idea. He would invite all
the remaining dragons to meet and talk about Zeksagmak and his life. It
would take hours of planning, for it is very difficult to get dragons
in the same room, but he would do it. He, as Zeksagmak's best friend,
would arrange it all. Oh, how wonderful it would be for a fitting
memorial, for only dragons could do justice to the memory of a dragon such as
him. He could hardly wait.
He ran around the lair, searching for a piece of paper. He found one on
the corpse of a once foolhardy adventurer, and also a quill. Iagdrau
slowly counted all the dragons still living on his claws: Myrdarok,
Lavok, Sevilau, and Zagdifa. He wrote them down on the paper. He looked
puzzled for a moment, then remembered Lucial, and wrote her name down too.
Iagdrau sighed, realizing so few dragons were left. Of course there
were dragons left, but they were followers, not leaders.
"Oh yeah, and Ignivil, he needs to be invited too, although he always
has some evil plot up his sleeve." He wrote some more unintelligible
scribbling on the paper, then smiled and placed it near the mantle.
"But what day should it be?" he asked himself. "It should be soon, but
not too soon, for each of the dragons has to write a speech." He sat
down, and scratched his head. "I got it! The 24th day of Medievia's Birth
would be the perfect day! Not too soon, but not too late." He took the
paper from the mantle and wrote it down.
He sat down in his chair, lit his pipe, and smiled to himself. He
relaxed for a moment, then placed his pipe on the arm of the chair, and
snapped his claws. A scared and trembling firelizard fluttered into the
room.
"What is it, oh master of the dragons?" the firelizard asked, obviously
attempting to get on his good side.
"I need you to send a message."
"One second master, let me get a paper and a quill," he groveled as he
reached into his pack for the items.
"To: Myrdarok, Lavok, Ignivil, Sevilau, Zagdifa, and Lucial. There will
be a memorial service concerning the death of Zeksagmak on the 24th day
of Medievia's birth, after sunset. Please have a speech prepared,
mentioning your relation to Zeksagmak, and a toast or maybe even some
memories. It will be a potluck: Myrdarok bring waiters, Lavok bring cups,
Sevilau and Zagdifa bring coffee and soda, and Lucial and Ignivil bring
food. Boneless is preferred. Please R.S.V.P. by removing the attached
form with a 'Yes, I will attend' or 'No, I will not attend' and send by
firelizard."
"Is that it, oh supreme being?" the firelizard asked, cracking his sore
fingers.
"Yes, and write it on leather and bring one personally to each of the
dragons mentioned," Iagdrau growled, picking his teeth with a large
bone.
The firelizard nodded, then, wiping the sweat off his face, flew out of
the cave.
Ignivil, the ruby dragon, watched as a puny firelizard flitted into the
room. He laughed as it almost crashed into the wall. It blushed, and,
steadying itself, pulled out a leather invitation and handed it to
Ignivil.
"You twit, read it to me, I will not be bothered by such matters," he
growled, throwing back the leather strip at the firelizard.
"From: Iagdrau. There will be a memorial service concerning the death
of Zeksagmak on the 24th day of Medievia's birth, after sunset. Please
have a speech prepared, mentioning your relation to Zeksagmak, and a
toast or maybe even some memories. It will be a potluck: Myrdarok bring
waiters, Lavok bring cups, Sevilau and Zagdifa bring coffee and soda, and
Lucial and Ignivil bring food. Boneless is preferred. Please R.S.V.P.
by removing the attached form with a 'Yes, I will attend' or 'No, I
will not attend' and send by firelizard," the firelizard said, gasping as
he read the last line to Ignivil.
The ruby dragon sneered as he listened but then a plan began to hatch
within his mind and he started to grin broadly. The firelizard backed
away nervously as he hardly relished the chance to become a snack.
Ignivil went through more firelizards than any other dragon and rumor had
it, amongst the firelizard community at any rate, that he used them as
desserts.
"Yes I will attend. Please send the invitation back to Iagdrau, and
make it snappy!"
As the firelizard left the room, Ignivil cackled loudly like a crazed
maniac. Plans formed and possibilities danced through his imagination.
Iagdrau scurried about the large stone cave, making sure everything was
properly set up. The room was very large, but strangely enough there
were no stalactites or stalagmites. Huge candles were set in ruts in the
cave walls, lighting the full expanse. At the far end of the cave was a
stone podium, with a microphone hooked up to it. Near the entrance,
there was a long stone table, obviously crafted by something other than
dragons. Placed on the table in a pile were booklets. The ground of the
cave was covered in brown fur, probably from bears and other creatures
that happened to wander too near the cave.
Iagdrau ran through a mental checklist. "Stone podium, stone table,
microphone, music, lights, booklets on the life of Zeksagmak, and thank
you cards all ready." Iagdrau then took all the flammable items and hid
them behind a stone wall. "In case things get out of hand or if someone
sneezes," he assured himself. He glanced outside, where the sun was
almost set. "Almost time," he sighed anxiously. Iagdrau left into the back
room, and came back with some large bottles containing special dragon
ale. He placed them on the table.
"Where are the waiters? They're late! Did Myrdarok fall through?"
Iagdrau said nervously, rubbing his claws together. At that moment, the
'waiters' scrambled into the room. They were merely banelars, scared out of
their minds, and dressed up in tuxedos, which did not seem to fit them
properly. One of them, upon seeing Iagdrau, fainted and his friends
caught him before he fell to the ground. "You will take the food and drink
that is brought, and serve it, with a smile, to all the dragons. One
hiss and you're all dead," snarled Iagdrau. "If this is done properly,
you will see tomorrow, if not, we'll be eating banelars tonight." Several
of the banelars gulped nervously as Iagdrau walked away laughing.
"Its time, its time! The guests should be arriving any minute now!"
Iagdrau exclaimed with eagerness.
Sevilau and Zagdifa, both green dragons, arrived first, carrying a huge
pot of coffee and some bottles of soda. They were sisters, but acted
like best friends, and were never seen apart. They ran into the cave, set
their drinks down on the table, and started whispering to each other,
with an occasional giggle escaping from their mouths. Iagdrau snickered
and handed them each a booklet. Out of all the dragons, they seemed to
have been least affected by Zeksagmak's death. Myrdarok, the black
dragon, arrived next with her boyfriend, Lavok, the blue dragon, who was
carrying a stack of stone mugs. They were still obviously mourning, but
they clasped each other's claws for comfort. Lavok dropped the cups off
at the table, and they solemnly took a place near the table. Lucial,
the young red dragon, sulked into the cave, followed by a group of
rogues, all chained to a large iron ball. With tears in her eyes, she greeted
Iagdrau and the other dragons. She picked up the iron ball, with the
rogues still attached, and, placing it near the table, took a seat near
the podium.
"It's almost time to start, everybody. But we're missing someone, who's
not here?" Iagdrau asked.
All the dragons looked around, trying to figure out who was absent.
"Ignivil," Sevilau and Zagdifa said in unison.
"We'll wait a few more minutes I guess," Iagdrau sighed.
The dragons used this time to read the booklets about Zeksagmak's life,
and Iagdrau handed out tissues to everyone. Some of the dragons were
crying, while others were whispering to each other. Just when it seemed
like they had waited long enough, Ignivil, the evil ruby dragon, walked
into the cavern, fashionably late. He was sporting a bow tie and a huge
grin. Following him was a formation of heroes who had attempted to slay
him, but now were party snacks. Iagdrau walked up to the podium, and
cleared his throat.
"Thank you all for coming. Also thanks for doing your share of the
potluck. Let me start by saying this is not a joyous occasion. Zeksagmak
was a great dragon, and a friend - of sorts - to us all. It sickens me to
know that the humans made a party of his death, and they even sent
souvenirs to all who were there. They took his corpse, and he will never
have a proper burial. But we are more civilized than that." Iagdrau
stopped for a moment, blew his nose, and continued on with his speech.
"I don't know what to say about Zeksagmak. We spent all of our time
together. We killed together, we ate together, we talked together, and we
drank together. Boy, was he a drinker. He knew every type of alcohol in
Medievia, and had several special orders. He started off as a normal
dragon. But after a few failed expeditions to kill him he grew stronger.
Far stronger than me, or anyone else. And then normal expeditions of
heroes had no chance of coming near him. He was invincible. But that was
not enough for him. He insisted on training himself, constantly growing
stronger and stronger. We sparred together, but he was always the
victor, though was modest about it. He slowly became a legend.
"Then, Zeksagmak achieved something that no dragon had ever done. He
had survived to become a year old. The humans mocked him, and wrote
stories about him on his birthday. But none of that fazed him. He was a
fighter, and would never give up. The humans did not like his legendary
status. Everyone under the gaze of Vryce knew who he was and feared him.
The humans teamed up to destroy him, but even they are filled with evil,
and were unsuccessful because they killed each other. But still, the
humans sought to kill the legend that was Zeksagmak. And eventually they
did. Under the warning of the gods, they did not kill each other, but
worked together, and forced him to flee his lair. They then tracked him
down and destroyed him. A legend had died. But to me, he wasn't a
legend. He was a friend, a role model, and almost an older brother.
Zeksagmak was always there for me, and always knew what to say. I only wish he
was still here today, if not in body, but in spirit." Iagdrau's voice
slowly trailed away, as he started sobbing uncontrollably.
Lucial meekly walked up and took the microphone. "I ... I-I-I I had a
secret affair with him," she sobbed. She started to say something else,
but her emotions controlled her and she broke down crying. Myrdarok
stood up and put her arm around Lucial, and took her back to lie down and
have a drink. Ignivil, tossing some of the bones of the heroes' aside,
walked up to podium, and adjusted the microphone to his height.
"Yes, yes, Zeksagmak was a great dragon, and I miss him dearly. But who
was it that killed him? Who was it that mocked his birthday and teamed
up to kill him? The humans! We are controlled by the humans! The gold,
bronze, and silver dragons are just saps who are used by the humans for
little gold. We refuse to do this, so they hunt us down and kill us.
But who is the superior race? Who can destroy a whole town in a short
amount of time? Who is larger? Who is stronger? Who is faster? Who can fly
and does not depend on other species? Us! We are better than those
humans, and we should NOT tolerate this treatment! Friends, brothers,
sisters, join me! We will wipe out the humans and once again rule Medievia!
But one dragon cannot do this alone. It will take all of you working
together to achieve this! Are you with me?" Ignivil shouted, realizing
his plan of ruling Medievia just might come true.
Zagdifa and Sevilau shouted, "Yes!"
Lucial cried out saying, "No! He wouldn't have wanted this!"
The rest of the dragons sat there puzzled. The banelars giggled
nervously and fled. In the confusion, the remaining rogues attempted to
escape. Ignivil caught one up in his claws and ate him whole. He cackled, and
covered the rest of them in flame. Lucial started crying even harder.
Zagdifa and Sevilau started chanting, "Yes!" as loud as they could.
Iagdrau ran up to the podium.
Attempting to create order, Iagdrau screamed into the microphone, "Be
Quiet!" The whole room hushed and a sense of tension could be felt. All
the dragons leaned forward, waiting for what Iagdrau was about to say.
Pleasing them all, he spoke up, "Zeksagmak was an honest dragon. He
refused to carry around humans, but he had no grudge against them. He was
mostly peaceful. This is not what he would want."
Ignivil jumped forward and shouted, "Yes it is! He didn't want to be
controlled by humans any more than I do!"
"No!" Iagdrau shouted. "He always talked of achieving true peace
between dragons and dragons, dragons and humans, and humans and humans. He
knew it was not possible at that time, but with work it would happen.
Curse you for using this sacred time as an opportunity for spreading your
evil ways."
At this, Ignivil's eyes lit up with fury, and he charged Iagdrau.
Iagdrau backed up, and spewed a large pillar of flame at Ignivil, which
distracted him for a moment. Using this chance, Iagdrau lunged forward and
swiped at Ignivil's face. Ignivil roared as blood flowed from his face,
and sunk his teeth into Iagdrau's neck. The two dragons fought neck in
neck for quite some time, neither gaining the advantage for long. They
charged each other, and both fell backward, and stood there panting for
a few minutes. Iagdrau leapt forward with his claws outstretched, but
Ignivil stepped to the side and bashed him in the leg. Iagdrau cried
out, and Ignivil ran his claws through Iagdrau's neck. Iagdrau turned and,
using both claws, ripped open Ignivil's face. Ignivil reacted by
jumping toward Iagdrau, who dodged and bit his tail, which fell to the
ground, no longer attached.
Iagdrau had a huge gash in his neck, and his left hind leg had been
crushed. Ignivil's face was unrecognizable, and he was missing his tail.
Ignivil, with his last bit of energy, jumped forward at Iagdrau, who
barely escaped the attack. Iagdrau pulled to the left side, and used his
claws to rip open Ignivil's neck. Ignivil fell forward, and hit the
ground with a huge thud.
With his last bit of energy, he mumbled, "This is not over, I will be
back." His head then slumped back, and the blood gushing from his neck
slowed and then stopped.
Suddenly, a scream was heard across the room, and Lucial sat there,
clutching her stomach.
"What's the matter?" Lavok asked.
"I-I'm laying an egg," Lucial choked out.
All the dragons rushed over near her. Myrdarok, having studied medicine
with a doctor from Trellor, announced to everyone that it was true. She
exclaimed, "Call a midwife! Someone must care for the egg!"
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