I fumbled with the bag in the dark and pulled out the rifle. Gradually the walls started glowing, I stayed where I was and continued to wait. I heard a grating sound and then a loud slithering noise. Soon it was light enough for me to see and I glanced around.
There was a mound of something about fifty feet away and I was in what appeared to be a large cave. A rasping sound had me spinning around and I froze as a huge shape came out of the darkness, “You picked the wrong cave thief.”
It was like something out of a movie or a book, in front of me was a huge dragon. I looked into the large glowing eyes, “I’m not a thief.”
The dragon moved closer, “I can smell my gold.”
All I could think of was the gold coins in my bag, “That would be my gold coins you smell.”
The dragon stopped in front of me, “Yours?”
I smiled, “Yes. Are you real or did I hit my head on the way down?”
The dragon tilted its head and looked up, “Ah… you came through the hole.”
I looked up but couldn’t see anything, “If that is what you want to call it. Where is this place anyway?”
The dragon looked at me in a way that I thought of as strangely, “This is my home human.”
I looked around, “At least you will stay dry.”
There was a coughing rasping sound as the dragon turned its head. I could see a trickle of flame fall from its mouth before it turned back to me, “Why are you not afraid of me human?”
I grinned, “I’m seventy years old. What are you going to do… kill me?”
The dragon tilted its head, “yes.”
I shook my head, “Let me guess. For my gold?”
The dragon was silent as I sat down, “That would just be another way of stealing.”
The dragon hesitated and then laid down, “You could give it to me.”
I grinned as I fished in my bag and came up with the pouch of gold coins. I held the pouch up, “If I give my gold to you what will I use?”
The dragon tilted its head again as if thinking and then it turns its huge head towards the black darkness at the back of the cave, “I will trade you as much as you can carry from my pile of discards.”
I looked into the darkness, “Discards?”
The dragon seemed to growl or grumble and the whole cave lit up. The floor of the cave was sandy with fine white sand that sparkled. I looked around at the sparkling walls with thick vanes of gold running through them, “Very nice dragon, I think it is missing something though.”
The dragon’s head moved closer as it growled, “And what would that be?”
I looked from the huge pile of gold to the dragon, “A bed.”
The dragon snorted and small bursts of flame came out of its nose, “I sleep on the floor human.”
I looked at the gold pile, “You could melt the gold into bricks to make a bed. I thought dragons liked feeling gold against their skin?”
The dragon looked away from me and at the pile of gold. It was almost thoughtful as it murmured, “Gold bricks.”
I looked around the cave again as I casually dropped the pouch of gold on top of my bag, “You wouldn’t have some water in here would you?”
The dragon turned to look at me and then looked in another direction, “In the corner.”
I fished around in my pack for a metal camping cup. I walked towards the dark corner and the light seemed to follow me and light the way. There was a small pool that had a large trickle of water running down the far wall. The water was very cold and almost seemed sweet. When I came back to the dragon, it was curled up by my bag and pack, “Tell me human, how would you make bricks of gold?”
