Dragon’s Gold    by Frankie S         2000

  Deep in the Greendark Mountains, in a cavernous, echoing cave, a dragon lay dying. With his last breath he cast a spell of invisibility on his vast mound of treasure and sighed the sigh of death. Molten was no more. Vast disc-like scales, dull purple now, clattered dismally as the bulk of his body settled down about the hidden gold. Molten, scourge of the Valley Lands, slowly turned to dust. Except for his scales. They became metallic discs and lay in an untidy heap, waiting.

  Brave Brian, of the four hills, strode manfully up to the Greendark Mountains. He stood before the entrance of the cavernous cave and proclaimed loudly:

  “I am Brian the Brave. I come in search of gold. I will slay Molten the dragon and steal his treasure.” Drawing his sharp and shiny sword, Brian the Brave stepped bravely out of the sunlight and into the cave dark. Then he stopped. Silently and shakily he lowered himself to the stony floor and crawled into the darkness before him. Brave Brian was scared, very scared. When Brian the not so brave reached the echoing, cavernous cave he trembled to a stop and stared. There was Molten. Molten the terrible. Molten the very dead.

  Jumping to his feet, Brian the Brave strode forward to the perilous pile of metallic discs and scattered them with his sword.

  “Take that!” He shouted. “Hurrah, I’ve killed the dragon!” Brave Brian gathered up as many of the dull metallic scales as he could carry (about eight, they were very big) and strode back out of the cavernous cave and into the sunshine.

  “What, no gold?” shouted the greedy King and all the greedy people. Brian the Brave was very disappointed. He polished up the scales and sold them as mirrors and never boasted of his bravery again.

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  Norman the ‘not so brave as Brian’ (Norman Not to his friends) strode forth to seek his fortune. He strode up to the Greendark Mountains and stood before the entrance of the cavernous caves. Not so loudly as Brian he proclaimed:

  “I will find the gold. I will move the dragon and bring back his treasure.” Quite bravely, he strode into the cavernous cave and right up to the pile of dragon scales. He could clearly see that there was a huge mound before him so he began to move the metallic discs (about six at a time) to the side of the cave, where he piled them up neatly. All day long he lifted, carried and piled the scales until they were all gone. Then he looked at the bare, empty ground and dismally turned to go. At the last moment, he turned to the scales and picked up a pile (about ten, now neatly stacked and easier to carry) and left the cavernous caves. Returning quietly to his village, he said nothing of his adventure. Instead he became a maker of armour and sold the scales as shields.

  Careful Colin, having seen Brian the Brave ‘kill’ the dragon and Norman Not come back with only scales, thought long and hard. Dragons loved gold and dragons loved jewels. Molten had been the dragon of the valley for years and years. So where was his treasure? Careful Colin looked about his tiny home. He gathered up some flour and several large sacks then made his way, in secret and at night, to the Greendark Mountains. Saying not a word Colin stepped into the cavernous cave. Lighting a small lantern, Colin looked carefully about the echoing cave. There, at the side, stood piles and piles of metallic scales. There in the middle stood a pile of nothing. Taking his bag of flour, Colin sprinkled it all over the centre of the cave. There, before his careful and clever eyes, appeared the piles of gold and jewels that had been spelled into invisibility by the crafty dragon. Outlined in flour, each piece could now be clearly seen. Colin reached out for a gem shape and as he touched it, the spell was broken. The treasure was found.

  Filling his sacks with gold for the King, Colin the Careful looked thoughtfully at the rest of the treasure. The King was notoriously greedy. He would no doubt praise Colin and even make him a knight for his cleverness, but he would never give him any of the gold. Filling the flour sack and the remaining sacks with the rest of the treasure, Careful Colin dragged the bulging sacks to a tiny side cave and hid them away. On top of the sacks he tipped a single pile of scales, covering them completely. Then he hefted the gold sacks onto his broad shoulders and carried them off to the King.

  Brian the mirror seller returned often to the cave for neat piles of scales, which he polished and sold as mirrors. Norman Not also returned often to the caves for neat piles of scales to sell as shields. Colin the Knight came back only once. Collecting his treasure, he loaded up his new, handsome horse and rode away.

  The End