Stealing From a Dragon

Stealing from a Dragon

Alara Branwen

Copyright © 2013

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No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

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There aren't many who have the guts to do what I do. It's a hard, nerve wracking job. You learn to savor the sweet taste of the morning air, because you know each breath can be your last. If you literally put one toe out of line, your life can came come to a quick, and rather messy end.

My name is Marissa. I'm a hoard stealer. It's not surprising if you've never heard of one, there aren't many of us around. A hoard stealer is a thief that steals from treasure hoards. We target the ancient tombs of kings, kingdom treasuries, and anywhere else that there's a hoard of gold. We're known for being able to swipe large amounts of money in a single go.

The goal of a hoard stealer is no different than the goal of any other kind of thief. Your job is to get in, steal as much as you can, and get out as fast as you can, as quietly as you can. However, stealing from a hoard is a little more difficult. The security around most hoards is tighter than a virgin on her wedding night. For a hoard stealer to pull off a job, they have to get past tons of guards, powerful magical wards, and other insane countermeasures.

Because of this, you have to be the best of the best. No simple cat burglar can be a hoard stealer. You have to be on top of your game. You have to know the ins and outs of the area where the hoard is being kept, all defensive measures used to defend it, all escape routes, and collect the equipment you're going to need to get in and get out. It can take months of studying, just to steal from one hoard. You have to be patient and careful. If you're not, you've had it.

Hoard stealers have a nasty habit of dying on their first job, which is why there aren't many practitioners. Either that, or they make enough on their first couple of runs to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. Those that have been in it for a while, like me, do it for the thrill.

Hoard stealers usually have certain specialties. Some steal from ancient tombs, some from royal vaults. Myself, I steal from dragons. Most of my colleagues think I'm insane. Any hoard stealer they know of that's ever tried to steal from a dragon has ended up as a crispy piece of ash, or as a crunchy pool of blood. But, that's because they didn't know what they were doing.

If a hoard stealer wants to successfully steal from a dragon, they have to take the time and study dragons and their ways, on top of everything else. Simply studying the area won't do. This makes it hard initially. But, once you've got those big lizards figured out, you'll find that relieving them of their gold is a piece of cake.

I'm a master at what I do, but thing weren't always so simple. On my first job stealing from a dragon, I was nearly killed. I remember the experience well.

The night was black and amber fog hung over the yellow thumbnail moon.  I stood in a copse of trees, pressing myself against the scratchy bark of one, as I looked upon the entrance to a dragon's cave, several feet away. The cave entrance was about ten feet above the ground. The rock around it was jagged, and beyond, there was nothing but blackness. It seemed like the maw of a large creature, ready to swallow any unfortunate that dared enter.

In my mind, that big, black hole turned into a dragon's maw. It gritted its teeth and snarled. My breath got short and I trembled. The lips parted, and a blazing stream of fire rushed toward me. I flinched and screwed my eyes shut. I slowly opened them again, and the dragon's maw turned back into a normal cave.

I could have kicked myself. Had it not been for my big mouth, I would have been in the thieves' guild, safely sleeping in our hideout underground, instead of out in the open, preparing to sneak in a dragon's lair. 

I was a new recruit of the guild, and I had to pull off an impressive heist to join. One of the members was boasting about his latest exploits. This thief wasn't very fond of me, so he started telling me how I'd never be good enough to join the guild. I told him I would, and I'd prove it by pulling off a greater heist than he'd ever pulled. I said I'd steal from a dragon's hoard.

Of course, I never dreamed that I'd get the opportunity to pull it off. I was just a little hot under the collar, and was  only saber rattling a bit. Unluckily for me, he called my bluff. It turned out he was a hoard stealer and knew where a dragon lived. He said many would-be hoard stealers tried to rob the dragon, but died miserably. He said if I could steal from the lizard, he'd admit I was a better thief than him. Like an idiot, I accepted its challenge.

I stayed in the shadow of the small copse until I plotted my course. When I was ready, I carefully emerged from the copse, knees bent, and slowly moved toward my target. I carefully trudged through waist high grass. I was conscious of every little crinkle and crunch the foliage made around me. I tread lightly on the balls of my feet, taking long, slow, deep breaths.

I could feel the blades of grass caress the thin leather I wore. The suit was so tight, it showcased my breasts and butt. I chuckled in self-depreciation and thought, if I made it through the night, I could always take up burlesque dancing at a local inn.

I lightly danced around small twigs and waded through the heavy grass until I reached my destination. I scanned the rock above, and there were a few places where it jutted out. I took hold of them and hoisted myself up. I crawled up along the wall until I was about 3 feet beneath the cave entrance. I reached up for a jagged rock, but everything I could touch was smooth.

I looked up at the entrance, so tantalizingly close. I desperately padded the rock, but no matter how much I touched it, nothing I could grab would appear. I ran my tongue between my teeth, tightly grasped the rock, bowed my legs, and leaped upward. The red rock that was above me rushed passed my vision, until I was at eye level with the cave entrance. I reached out and grasped the lip of the cave. The dusty stone bit into my fingers.

I threw up my legs and twisted my body sideways. I made a slight thumping noise as I and my leather backpack made contact with the cave floor. The light sound echoed through the cave. My blood froze. I didn't know as much about dragons then as I do now, but I knew that dragons had excellent senses of hearing. I laid there on the cool, dusty stone floor, and listened. There was no sound, other than the hissing wind outside. I slowly got up. The equipment on my belt shuffled a little. I cringed.

I crouched and moved forward. The darkness instantly consumed any light there once was. I pressed my wrist to my lips to my wrist, and they came into contact with a moonstone, set into a silver bracelet, on my wrist. I kissed it, and a slender, silver beam of light emerged from the milky rock. I moved onward, placing one foot slowly in front of the other, using nothing but the small beam of light from my bracelet as a guide.

My feet shakily followed the dot of light over the bumpy red stone. It steadily got warmer. Heat wafted across my cheeks. My body itched as I started to sweat beneath my leather suit. I reached out over to scratch it, but I stopped myself. If I did, I would make noise. Too much noise.

The scratching smell of brimstone attacked my nose as I got closer to the dragon's lair. My knees shook and my heart played a rapid melody in my chest. Every nerve stood straight. My feet made small scraping noises against the rock. I could hear occasional ticking sounds. Every few steps I'd look around for the source, but I could never find it. Every time I'd hear a ticking sound, I'd freeze in place and stare widely. It did me little good, as I could barely see beyond my beam of light. If a creature wanted to sneak up on me in the cave's darkness, and was cautious about it, it could have.

The heat felt really wonderful on my tightened muscles, but I kept them flexed as I walked, so I wouldn't relax. I bit my tongue and continuously looked to all sides. Any time I heard a sound I quickly turned the little beam from my moonstone toward it. After following my little silver beam of light around a few more harrowing turns, it fell upon something that glinted. I moved the beam up, and my eyes widened.

I was in the entrance of what appeared to be a very large cavern. I didn't know how large, since it was so dark. Inside, I could see the black outlines of hills twice the size of me. The beam of light moved up one of those hills to reveal that it was a massive pile of gold. I moved the beam sideways, and it fell on another pile. There was more gold in one of those piles than most thieves could steal in a lifetime. My little beam shot from one pile to the next. After each one my jaw felt like it was getting closer to the floor.

After staring at a particular pile of gold for several minutes, I heard a loud rumble. I moved my beam toward the noise, then stopped when I heard it again. I took two cautious steps into the cave, and far to the left, there were several large piles that didn't look quite as uniform as the others. Two more careful steps helped me see that these weren't several large piles, but one large object. After watching it for a moment, I saw the area around the middle of this object move. It rose and fell steadily, and then did it again. I squinted my eyes, and from the shadows created by my light, I could make out the conical muzzle and large, orange, muscular beast it belonged to.

My temples slammed against my head. The creature was massive. If I had to guess, it's huge, flat, clawed feet were just a little smaller than my torso. It was easily 30 feet long. But, I didn't want to guess, I didn't even want to think about it. I didn't want to think about anything. I wanted to run madly away from that gargantuan monster as fast as my legs would carry me. However, thoughts of the thief’s challenge steeled my nerves.

For a moment, I could do nothing but look at the behemoth. I shined my light a little over in its direction until I could make out it's strong jaw and thick neck again. My eyes traveled down its massive, powerful body. It's right wing unfurled as it rolled onto its side. This was a dragon, a real, live dragon. I was standing, at most, only thirty feet from it.

My legs felt like water and my heart rapidly palpitated, but I felt something else too. A little smirk played across my face as my eyes ran across it's blackened form. I imagined him pressing me down to the ground, holding me with a foot, completely helpless. The feeling gave me a small shiver.

I tore my eyes and light away from the beast. Now wasn't the time for admiration, it was as time for stealing. If I hurried, I knew that I could get several gold coins in the bag I was carrying, and get out before the dragon woke up. I quickly untied a small, brown, cloth coin purse from my belt. I held it with the open. I was about to scoop several coins into it from the nearest pile, but I knew that would make quite a bit of noise. So, I carefully removed a piece of gold from the pile, and placed it in the pouch.

I didn't feel it hit the bottom. The reason being, is that the coin purse was enchanted with a charm that allowed it to hold a much greater weight than it normally would. I carefully removed gold from the large pile, piece by piece, careful not to make any clinking sounds as I moved gold from the hoard to the bag. Luckily, the bag had also been enchanted with magic that muffled any sounds inside of it.

I'm not sure how many gold pieces I removed tits way. But, I removed gold from the pile, piece by piece, all the while listening to the low rumbling of the dragon's snoring. I was nervous at first, but as I moved each piece into the bag, it got easier. I started quickly removing coins from the pile, not worrying as much about whether or not I'd make a sound. I got so relaxed, that I started making a game out of moving the coins into the bag.

I placed the gold in the bag, piece by piece, paying little attention to what was happening around me. I started counting them, but after a while I became board of that, and just kept placing them in the bag. After what felt like hours, I saw the level of gold coins reaching the top of the bag. I shined my light to where I'd been picking the coins. There was only a small dent in the large pile. I admired the massive amount of gold for a second, and imagined how nicely I could live for the rest of my life, on that one pile alone.

Satisfied with the job I'd done, I turned to quietly leave. Standing a few feet in front of me however, guarding the exit, was a large, black silhouetted creature. My bowels nearly released. The being opened its mouth. Saliva glinted as it dripped off its large, pointed teeth. The world exploded into a brief cascade of color as a wide jet of flame shot toward me. I quickly dodged to the side, slamming into a pile of coins.