The Dragon's Cave

 

The Dragon's Cave

Those who entered the mountain looking for the dragon rarely found it. Everywhere bore evidence of its presence, yet the beast itself was so illusive that an entire army could search the network of caverns and not catch a single twitch of a tail. Bones of cattle and sheep lay imbedded in the grassy entrance, leaving no hint of a nesting place. 

It was rumored by some to be invisible when it hunted, catching its prey by surprise. Others said that it dwelt in a secret cavern that could only be reached by flight, and still others believed that it could change size, shrinking to fit into the cracks in the walls.

The king sent his troops, determined to flush out the dragon and claim the mountain for himself. The royal army made its camp inside the largest of the caverns. They searched for two days before coming across a robust warrior who made his home in the tunnels. He agreed to lend his expertise to the king's men in their search, using his knowledge of the tunnel system to aid them. 

The search deepened into the mountain and some of the soldiers mysteriously disappeared. Later that evening, another scout group went missing. Frantic to bring the beast under control, the general spoke with the warrior about how to defeat the dragon once it was found.

"The dragon is why I am here. When we find it, I will take it on." The warrior reassured. The general promised him a great reward in the name of the king should he best the dragon. A strange and wily smile crept across the lips of the warrior and a fiery glint lit his eye as he accepted the quest. He turned and disappeared down a long, dark tunnel. The general shivered as he watched him go, and suddenly wondered if the dragon had not been there with them all along.