Eirik: New page: Category:Story Category:Eirik Category:Mythical {{DEFAULTSORT:Bargain}} {{title|name=Bargain|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}} Stan walked slowly and carefully down the dark tunnel. H...

2007-09-05T18:01:09Z

New page: Category:Story Category:Eirik Category:Mythical {{DEFAULTSORT:Bargain}} {{title|name=Bargain|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}} Stan walked slowly and carefully down the dark tunnel. H...

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[[Category:Story]] [[Category:Eirik]] [[Category:Mythical]] {{DEFAULTSORT:Bargain}}
{{title|name=Bargain|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}}
Stan walked slowly and carefully down the dark tunnel. He was
nervous, even though he really had no reason to be. Every few
minutes he checked over his shoulder, not to see if he were
followed, but rather to confirm that the entrance was long behind
him.

He looked again at the photocopy in his hand. He had found the
ancient tome while researching the Smithsonian. He had been part
of a team sent into the vast storage areas of the complex to
cataloged some of the long forgotten artifacts. The old adage
that the Smithsonian was something America's attic was definitely
true. Literally thousands of artifacts had been stored in the
facility without being properly cataloged or those records were
lost.

While working, he had happened across a trunk once owned by a
18th century cartographer. The man had spent years of his life
exploring and mapping the Alps. The maps were in fact very well
made, even if surpassed by more modern satellite images.

But Stan had started thumbing through the mans other papers. He
had read the mans travelogue with interest, never certain if it
were fantasy or reality. He had then carefully repackaged the
trunk, cataloged it, and sent it back to storage. The sometimes
mystical ramblings of the explorer, who had spent twelve years in
the Swiss Alps, were soon relegated to a distant corner of his
mind.

But events since that day had caused him to seek out that trunk.
He had a desperate need to see if the explorer was truthful. A
hope that the fevered ravings of what seemed like a madman were
in fact true. It was that hope that had caused him to fly to
Switzerland with copies of the map. It was that hope that had led
him to search the mountains for hours. It was the only reason
that he now found himself in the Swiss Alps, alone, spelunking a
long forgotten cavern.

He suddenly heard a clear voice from down the tunnel, "Who is
there?" His heart skipped a beat, then two. He dared to hope. The
voice was feminine, but contained an element of animal.

For a moment, he forgot the document in his hand. Getting over
his shock, he glanced down at it and read, "A friend, a visitor
and one in need. May I continue?"

There was a long pause. Stan began to doubt that he had heard
anything at all. The possibility that he'd imagined the voice out
of his own desperation came to mind.

Then, "Enter as a friend in need.", he heard.

Stan started walking faster. He had no idea just how much further
the voice was, the tunnel made the distance of sounds deceptive,
but he know that he was closer to his goal.

Abruptly, the cave opened into a dim cavern. There was a small
phosphorescent glow on the walls, but little more light save for
his light. He heard the same clear voice, "Extinguish your torch,
kind sir. My eyes are little used to the brightness of light
anymore."

Stan hurriedly flicked off the light. His own eyes, for a few
moments his world was plunged into total darkness. He felts
warmth near himself, and suddenly his flashlight was gone.

"I see that much time has passed since my last visitor.", he
heard again, now far closer. "Your people have contained fire
inside of glass and metal, and without the aid of any magic I can
detect. I am impressed."

Stan still couldn't see much, but he looked in the direction of
the voice, "It is merely a flashlight, friend. They have been
common all of my life."

"Then more time has passed than I realized. What is the date by
your calendar?" she asked.

"1997."

"Hmmm. If you still measure time from the birth of the you called
Christ, then much time has indeed passed since my last visitor.
What is the season?"

"In this part of the world, we have recently entered summer."
Stan paused for a moment, "Forgive me, but I cannot see you. May
I use my flashlight again?"

"No, for the light will harm my vision. Please, close your eyes a
moment." Stan did, feeling a mild rush of wind, as if something
passed near, but not close, to his face. "Now, open them again."

Stan had known what to expect from the explorers journal. There
had been a detailed description of what the man had seen.
Nevertheless, he still was ill prepared for what he did see.

She wasn't exactly the creature of legend, but the resemblance
was uncanny. She was easily the size of a two story house and
rested on two massive haunches. Her scaled tail was as long as
the rest of her body. Her body was much like that of a T-Rex,
with arms far smaller than her legs. However, hers were obviously
long enough to be useful. Her head rested on a short, flexible
neck.

Stan was a little surprised to note, though, that some of what he
first though were scales were in fact feathers, much like the
first bird fossils. They appeared to shine slightly in the dim
light, very closely resembling scales. It was the main difference
between what he saw and what legend had called the dragon.

She looked down at him, her expression unreadable. "I assume that
you did not fully believe you would find me here?"

Stan nodded, "I didn't know for sure, it was a hope."

She nodded, "I know." She brought her massive body to the floor,
bringing her head even with Stan's. "What is it that has brought
you to me?"

"I will not live to see another summer. I am dyeing. What I read
of you indicated that you may be willing and able to help."

She tilted her head thoughtfully. "You look healthy. What is your
disease?"

Stan felt the pain of his situation well up, and it showed in his
voice. "My people call it cancer. It is a malignancy of the flesh
that slowly destroys you. Medicine of my time has done all it
can, but there is nothing left. The best they can do for me now
is slow the spread of cancer with the administration of painful
therapy. At best, I might live a few months."

She said nothing, but drew closer. She extended her arms to Stan.
He suddenly felt like running away in terror, but managed to
barely stand his ground. She placed her large clawed hands on his
body. A few moments later, she withdrew.

She seemed to consider for a long time, staring hard at Stan. "I
see. It will be difficult, but I can help." Stan felt his heart
rise. "There will be a price, but one that you can easily afford.
You must, however, be willing to trust me fully. Do not pause to
reconsider at any point. If you still wish me to help, you must
do as I say from this point on. Otherwise, the spell will not
work."

He didn't hesitate. "I will."

She curled onto the floor. "Come and lay beside me. We must begin
at once."

He walked over to the massive beast and lay where she indicated,
on her body, near her heart. He could hear it beating slowly
below him. Despite the excitement and nervousness he felt, he
could soon feel himself falling asleep.

When Stan woke, he wasn't sure where he was. It was completely
dark again, but he couldn't be in the cavern. It was very warm
and moist, when caves usually were cool. His body felt
unfamiliar, clumsy. It took him a few moments to realize that he
was seemingly encased in something soft, almost like leather, but
not.

He pushed against it for a few moments, and it began to tear. He
tumbled out onto the cool cavern floor, disoriented and cold.
Stan looked around a moment and saw the dragon across the cavern.
She seemed to be watching him quietly, waiting. Stan managed to
open his mouth and tried to speak, but all that came out was a
barely audible squeak.

"I see you are awake again, my little friend. Do not be
concerned. All that you feel is, for the most part, temporary."

Stan tried to stand, but promptly feel forward. It wasn't until
he broke his fall, and saw his feathered and scaled arms, that he
realized just what had happened. His gaze slowly went up his arms
and down to his tail. He was a dragon, albeit a very young one.
Behind him was the torn remains of his reptilian egg.

"It is nothing to be concerned about. It is all necessary if you
are to be cured. To be sure, you are cured now."

Stan's mind reeled. He hadn't been prepared for this, never even
considered the possibility. The worst possible outcome he'd
conceived of was death by being eaten. Compared to the slow
torture of his cancer, it was to be preferred.

"While you were in the egg, I heard your thoughts, learned of
your world. In many ways, it is magnificent. It is far more
fascinating than the world that I abandoned so many years ago."
She settled back to the floor of the cavern.

Stan still couldn't manage to speak, but shot a questioning look
at her.

"Do not worry at all. All will be clear shortly." She yawned.
"Please, do not disturb me for a while. Do what comes natural to
you, you have all the instincts of a young dragon for the time
being. All I ask is that you do not leave the cavern. I have much
to think on, and little time to do it." With that, she went back
into her open-eyed slumber.

Stan spent the next days roving the cavern. He stretched his
wings, and even took short flights. He didn't think about it at
first, but he was still only about the size of a man when he left
the egg.

After a while, he realized that he hadn't eaten since before he
had entered the cave, whenever that was. He never found a food or
water source while he waited for her. He tried out his voice, at
first afraid to disturb her. He found that speech was still
impossible, but he could manage a slight roar. Oddly, even at his
loudest, she was never disturbed. She maintained her silent
staring.

{{Separator|k}}

After a while, Stan felt it was a couple weeks, he woke again
feeling disoriented. It lasted only a moment, but when his eyes
opened, he found that the cavern had shrunk considerably. It was
only when he looked down and saw the tiny dragon below him that
he realized he had swapped places with the ancient dragon.

The smaller dragon spoke, "I wish to thank you, my young friend.
I have been trapped here for more centuries that I can recall,
alone. Few could even find my prison, and those that did were to
untrustworthy to allow my escape." The tiny dragon flexed it's
small wings. "As you can see, there was only one way out of this
retched place, and that was to become smaller. Much smaller. I
thank you for providing the body for it." With an evil grin, the
adolescent dragon raced for the small entrance and vanished into
the light.

Stan stood in shock again, unfamiliar with the body and not quite
comprehending what she was saying. Until she made her dash for
the cavern door, he didn't even realize that she intended to trap
him here. Leaping forward, he tried to give chase.

It took only one try to see why she hadn't left herself. It took
nearly an hour for Stan to loosen his head from the cavern
entrance.

Befuddled and betrayed, the new dragon slumped to the floor of
the cavern and whimpered until sleep came.

User:Eirik/Bargain - Revision history

Eirik: New page: Category:Story Category:Eirik Category:Mythical {{DEFAULTSORT:Bargain}} {{title|name=Bargain|user=Eirik|author=Eirik}} Stan walked slowly and carefully down the dark tunnel. H...