A Dragon Named Kyle

It was a crisp clear morning in the mountains. The perfect kind of day to hunt deer, which was exactly what Kyle, was doing. Looking down at the clearing below, Kyle thought it would be a perfect day, if it weren’t for that pesky wizard. It was always something with Jacob the wise. Jacob “the wise” indeed, thought Kyle, what a laugh. If it weren’t for the fact that most of his magic came from Kyle, Jacob would be just another poser, pretending to be a wizard. In fact, most human wizards had very little magic of their own. They were all just a bunch of thieves as far as Kyle was concerned, always taking magic from dragons or unicorns. Some of them would even stoop to stealing it from sprites and imps. ‘Pathetic creatures’, thought Kyle. ‘Why, oh why, did I ever listen to that wizard?’ thought Kyle. All of his troubles started last spring with that accursed amulet. It was a beautiful thing really, with a huge Safire set in the middle and a shiny bright mix of gold and silver woven around the stone in an intricate pattern. A treasure to be coveted by any dragon, and being a dragon, Kyle knew treasure. Kyle was a young dragon you see, being just 152 years old had its drawbacks. He was not taken seriously by the adult dragons, and yet being nearly adult size, the humans had no choice but to take him seriously. When a 40 foot long 25 foot high dragon looks you in the eye, it’s not a good time for jokes. Much wiser to see what kind of a mood he’s in. Even if he’s in a good mood, I would advise caution when talking to a dragon. They are notoriously short tempered creatures, and Kyle was no exception. Yes it had all started with the amulet… When Jacob had shown Kyle the amulet, the dragon was immediately taken with it. And when Jacob explained what the amulet could do, he decided to hear out the wizard. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Storing his soul in the amulet, so that if he were killed he could be reborn, sounded like a good idea… But that was before he found out that the amulet gave Jacob power. Power over Kyle! When he thought about it Kyle wanted to scream! That puny little human having power over him! It wouldn’t be so bad if a normal human had the amulet, as normal humans didn’t really live all that long. But wizards tended to live for two or three centuries or more. So, Kyle had a problem. How was he going to get the amulet away from Jacob? Simply killing him was out of the question. Fighting a wizard was never easy, but that wasn’t really the problem. The problem was, that with the amulet, Jacob could cause Kyle pain! Not an ouch! I stubbed my toe, kind of pain. But a tearing muscle, bone breaking, mind numbing kind of pain. So Kyle had a problem… And that problem was walking up the hill towards him. With his chest length graying beard and wearing a wide rimmed pointed black hat and a large green flowing robe. Jacob looked just like you would expect a wizard to look. His homespun tunic and pants were brown and comfortable looking. And his handmade black hunting boots looked comfortable and well made too. “Good morning mighty Draconis!” shouted Jacob. “My name is Kyle wizard.” replied Kyle with an angry rumble in his throat. “Yes of course it is… But don’t you think Draconis is a better name for a dragon of your stature?” asked Jacob. “What do you mean, better?” asked Kyle with a dangerous glint in his eye. “Take no offence, my friend; I simply thought I would suggest a name more suitable for you. After all, Kyle is a rather ordinary name and I thought that such a magnificent creature should have…” The look on Kyle’s face caused Jacob to stop midsentence. “I will say this only once wizard, if and when my elders choose a new name for me, it will because they deem me worthy of it. And your opinion on the matter is, and always will be meaningless.” said Kyle with a hard look. “Now tell me why you are here.” “Of course, I meant no offence Kyle… I am here because I have a problem.” said Jacob. “You always have a problem Jacob, now get to the point.” said Kyle. “Yes, well it seems a griffon has moved in to the hills just west of Oakstown, and I was hoping you could do something about it.” said Jacob. “Why?” asked Kyle. “Well I don’t really know. I suppose the hunting is good in that area.” said Jacob. “No you idiot, not why did the griffon move there, WHY should I do anything about it?” asked Kyle sounding frustrated. “Oh, well you see the mayor came to see me last night and told me that the griffon had kidnapped his daughter. And that several hunters have already been killed trying to rescue her. She is after all a pretty lass. So you can see why I came to you.” said Jacob. “Not really.” said Kyle. “Oh come now Kyle, we’re talking about a griffon here. You can’t really expect me to fight him all by myself can you?” asked Jacob. “Why should I care about what happens to one little town of humans? There are hundreds of towns of humans, what makes this one so special?” asked Kyle. “Oh, for crying out loud Kyle! I can’t just have griffons going around eating people and kidnapping innkeeper’s daughters whenever they feel like it. It’s a violation of the Human and Magical Creatures Treaty. And on top of that, it’s bad for my reputation as a wizard!” Jacob practically shouted. “Don’t talk to me about the H.M.C.T. old man; I had nothing to do with that treaty. However your reputation is another matter… If people start thinking you’re not as powerful as you say, some other wizard might start getting ideas about challenging you, and then what will happen to my amulet?” asked Kyle. “Your amulet?” said Jacob with a smirk. “Don’t push it old man, I haven’t had breakfast yet. Besides you’re not going to live forever, and when you die…” “Yes, yes I know, you shall have your freedom then. Now, will you help with the griffon?” asked Jacob. “What’s her name?” asked Kyle. “Her?” “The mayors daughter, you jackass.” said Kyle. “Oh, yes, her name is Sylvia. Although I don’t see why you want to know.” said Jacob.