The Hoard
19 Feb 2021Today’s prompt: “The most recent time you were betrayed”
“I don’t know about this, Kevin,” you say, peeking out from the embankment you’re hidden behind to peer at the dragon stretched out lazily on heaps of gold.
“It’s a pretty small dragon. A juvenile, from the looks of it.”
Kevin was right about that. The dragon was about the same size as a fully-grown bear.
“I get that, but it’s still a dragon.”
“And there’s two of us! We can definitely take him. Hell, I bet if we just run up on that big mound and jump up and down and yell at him, we’ll scare him off!”
“That doesn’t seem likely.”
“Sure, you’d think so, but which of us has actually been on a successful raiding party to a dragon’s lair before?”
You sigh. “You.”
“That’s right. And I’m telling you, they’re more scared of us than we are of them. Just remember – we want to make ourselves real loud and real big. Got it?”
“Got it.”
“All right. Now let’s run out on the mound in three! Two! One!”
You jump up and dash to a large mound of treasure, yelling and whooping. You jump up and down and wave your arms.
The dragon’s head jerks up with a start. This is it! You turn to look at Kevin to tell him you think it’s working.
But Kevin isn’t next to you at all. Out of the corner of his eye, you think you can see him sneaking along the embankment, just out of the dragon’s eyeline.
“Youuuu….” Your last words are interrupted by about a half-ton of scales and muscle ramming into you. The dragon’s sharp teeth find the unprotected skin of your neck between your helmet and breastplate, as Kevin tiptoes toward the dragon’s hoard.