Vent story I wrote in notes app. I didn’t really try with this but feel free to critique it if you want.
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Unbeknownst to you, a land of potential exists. A populous and vast land where everything can have ten times the colour yet also might be coated in grey boredom and a black depression depending on where you travel.
In this land is a cave where an old and withered dragon lies hopeless and alone. Everyday he will heave himself off his pillar and lazily hunt unfortunate goats wandering nearby his cave’s mouth. Once he’s eaten enough, he returns to his cave where he will ponder his past until he falls asleep. Maybe, if he was lucky, a foolish knight looking to prove himself to a lord would enter the cave to slay the dragon, but would be scared away by the dragons fiery breath.His cave was grey.
A scraping of metal on stone is heard one day by the dragon’s strained ears that awoke him from his slumber. The familiarity of the sound scared the dragon. It reminded him of an age of his long gone, ripped away from him by greed.
“Aha!” raised a young man’s voice, as if he had found his missing keys. “I have found a beast long hidden. Only showing his evil face on the tongue of old wives scaring their children. No longer shall you hide from humanity, for we will have our revenge.”
The young man seemed much more confident than the typical knight. This intrigued the dragon. He decided to throw him a few words instead the usual routine of spitting a fireball or two. He rolled over on his belly and asked “What makes you, a single knight, think you could best me? Ah is it the classic tale? Your sword was crafted by the most skilled dwarf of blah blah blah…”
The knight dropped his sword on the ground as it clattered against the cold stone beneath him. “No, sir, for this tool was only for the journey. This is my true device.” The knight reached into the sack he heaved off his other shoulder and revealed a lute. “Every brave soul to come face you has done so using iron and might. I shall use song and dance.”
And so the knight played the most beautiful melody the dragon had ever heard of his entire life. The dragon dragged his thin grey feet and began to dance along to the melody. “Aha! This is wonderful, my friend! Only once have I encountered a bard. Evil things, I thought they were, but you, my friend, are a prime example of a true joy-bringer.” The knight stopped playing for a brief moment to ask “Ay? And why was this bard so evil? We’re usually friendly folk.” And began playing again. “That you are; for the most part. See, a winter ago a bard came to me and offered me the greatest dance of all. I obliged and for months me and this bard travelled. But after a falling out, we separated for many more. We suddenly encountered each other once more and rebuilt our friendship, but little did I know he was simply using me to get to my gold. A few months later, I was bardless and goldless in one fell swoop. This is what drove me here, to this grey and dusty cave when once I lived in a cave full of gold and colour.”
The knight played on for days, only stopping for rest and meals. One day, he asked “Good sir, I am having the most wonderful time performing here for you. But I must tell you my mission. I came here to tame you. To be your new bard. I wanted to prove to my people that you shouldn’t be slain. That you could be assimilated into our society. I believed you to be a friendly beast and I was correct. So please, come to my town and prove yourself to my people.” The dragon responded. “My good bard, I would love to. But my former bard has cursed me to this cave and the surrounding area. I may no longer leave. Only a certain song may lift my curse, freeing me upon the rest of the lands.” The knight felt deep sorrow for the dragon. “Sir, I will help unleash you from this cave!” The knight sat with the dragon as they tried to recreate the song to free the dragon with the dragon humming what he could remember and the knight piecing together combinations of it. Eventually, after several days, they cracked it.
The dragon and the knight left the cave, and although the dragon never felt completely safe around another bard, he knew in practicality that not every bard was terrible, and this knight truly did sympathise with him, and helped him escape his accursed cave.
