An elderly dragon. A dragon so old that they could give Wraithvine a run for hir money for lifespan, was coming to the end of their life. They bequeath their entire hoard to Wraithvine and hir friends, to do with as they please. -- Anon Guest
Elves can normally live for two thousand years, give or take a handful of centuries. Dragons could live for many times that much. The death of a Dragon by natural causes is a rare and mournful thing.
"It is... time," announced Glistenrill. "I am... glad... you came. You... who remember when the gods walked the world. You... remember... when we... ruled. You remember... when we were greedy." They struggled to take another breath. Let it loose too easily, only to struggle to breathe in once more. "Now... others... are greedy."
Wraithvine laid hir hand on the immense golden Dragon's snout. There was no magic that could help Glistenrill any more. "I remember all of our mistakes."
"We made... so many. Use... my bed. For... your vow. Perhaps... save them... from greed."
"I can certainly try my best."
"That is... all... I can ask." A last gasp. "And... all... you can do." Glistenrill closed their eyes, and died.
More base people would recognise the body as a fortune of various magical and armour components. So much so that it's rare that a Dragon is buried.
Wraithvine sung their soul into the next world, and tidied up as much as ze could, leaving the corpse to rest as a rare wonder. Let others come find them and take what they could. It was the way of the world to keep using anything that existed in it.
The horde was mostly gemstones. Some gold, some shiny rocks. All of that got sorted into various containers. A Wizard of any antiquity generally has one or more containers that are dimensionally transcendent.
The real trick to spending a Dragon's hoard is never to spend it at once. Leaving just enough where it would do the most good. And being stealthy enough to avoid a majority of notice.
Because greed still ran deep in the world, and the instant Wraithvine got noticed was the instant ze got the wrong attention. Attention from those who never needed the treasure, and were willing to take more by force.
And Wraithvine, the eternal Wizard, knew very well how to disappear.
[Photo by János Venczák on Unsplash]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends!
Send me a prompt [95 remaining prompts!]
