A Dragon Out Of Time (CatachanDevil x Hernameisbanks)

Kal-ith had acquired many titles in his long and full life. None really fit his current state of being however. He was no king, nor conqueror, no great philosopher or some other claim to greatness. No, he need a new title. One that could truly explain such magnitudes, for he had truly transcended all of his old names and assignments.

Kal-ith, the bookwyrm. Yes, that described his situation completely.

The magnificent silver dragon shuffled on the spot, arranging himself once more into his bed of cushions as he flicked over the page of one of his many great tomes. There, he waited, and read. In fact, that was what he had been doing for two years. Each week, he would take a break. The dragon rising to arrange his pillows, have a meal, wash and buff his scales, then return to his library. Every week on the exact hour, like clockwork. In fact, the great dragon was unsure as to quite how long he had been reading.

It had made for a brilliant way to get out of bed, for Kal-ith had been asleep for about four hundred years. Once again, the dragon was forced into hibernation to regain his strength, sheltering in his lair while the world changed and warped around him. Many adventurers, thieves and slayers had sought to steal from him, or do him harm. None had made it out of his mountain alive. Kal-ith had prepared a labyrinth of traps and defences, an impenetrable gauntlet. Thus, he had slept, undisturbed for four hundred years.

Now however, the dragon had awoken. He appreciated company, and a deadly maze was hardly the best way to secure such things. He had demolished the labyrinth and reforged it into his new home using magic that he had spent centuries mastering. The great maw of a cave now led down, deep into the mountain, to a pair of small ornate double doors, both of which were unlocked. Of course, he had set up an alarm system to warn him in the event he did have company, and the door would shut soon after a small group had entered. Mortals had a tendency to run away from dragons after all, and Kal-ith hardly wanted that. The doors lead into his massive entrance hall, decorated like a palace with bright torches and ornate walls and floors, leading deeper inside the mountain. Kal-ith had crafted a lair befitting a mighty time dragon.

He had waited for two years, and none had come. Stories of the treasures within the mountain were common place, but so were the legends of mighty heroes who had vanished in its depths. Still, Kal-ith was starting to become somewhat lonely. He had a palace, wealth and power, and nobody to share that with. It was a rather lonely awaking. Still, someone was soon to come and visit. Right?

Well, it had certainly been an interesting book that the dragon was reading. An ancient and dusty tome about a by gone age. Most of which, Kal-ith had lived through. He'd been too busy with maintaining a small fiefdom to pay much attention to arcane research in that era, and while he wasn't exactly playing catch up, it was fascinating to read about the thoughts that went into the later works which he had studied. Works of sorcerers who had sworn he would never gaze on such tomes. But here he was, with a library full of the things and eternity to study them. Perhaps he should start to inscribe them elsewhere. The pages were getting rather worn and old and he felt the knowledge should last.

But wait, what was that?

The mighty dragon lifted his head, feeling the gnawing of his silent alarm that indicated the presence of someone... something else. He blinked, staying put for the moment. Could it be? Some daring soul had finally sought to pay him a visit? Come to think of it. How long had he been dozing and reading? Too long. Surely by now it was time to get up? Yes, certainly past time. He had sat on these cushions for far too long. Now he had guests to treat with, he had a reason to get up.

There was a creak as the silver dragon's scales shifted, his legs extending and stretching once more, his wings rising from their cases. Kal-ith extended his neck, shifting it from side to side and letting it click back into place. Yes, definitely time to get up.

After a few moments again, he began to make his way out of the library and into one of the many great tunnels under the mountain.

The small group would no doubt have crossed the entrance hall in a few short minutes and were now staring down a huge corridor. It was easily the size of a hangar in width, and went off into the far distance, lit sparsely with ever burning torches. Kal-ith knew the place as the main corridor, leading off to other sections of his lair with smaller, but still large by human comparison, corridors. The ornate hallway was decorated with stained glass and marble. The 'windows' let no light in, but instead depicted scenes from the past. A mighty white dragon was always present, presiding over what looked like kings, other dragons and great conflicts.

That was about the time Kal-ith reached the main corridor, his footsteps echoing off the walls, sounding like thunder as the mighty dragon approached. Half way there, he clicked his claws together, sending a spell to close and lock the double doors behind the group with a loud bang. Next, he cast another spell, extinguishing the light from his torches and sending the group into complete blackness, save for their own light sources, if they had any. What could he say? He was a dramatic, and toying with mortals was always quite fun.

Kal-ith would be coming in from their left, though in the pitch darkness one wouldn't see anything. Kal-ith however, could see just fine with his night sight as he rounded the corner to block the group's way, the thundering footsteps were still audible however. There, he waited, studying them intently. He felt something though, a tug at the threads of fate. It felt... strange, not something he had felt in a long time. A touch of destiny.

Holy shit, indeed. Suddenly finding oneself in front of a dragon would be un-nerving for anyone. Especially when they were in his lair. Kal-ith had confronted many a brave soul in his time, though he doubted any were in front of him. Foolish? Perhaps. Though in truth, many times he had found bravery and foolishness were one in the same.

Still, there was something about one of the members of the group that he couldn't quite put a taloned finger on. He was a time dragon, and as such, had some degree of control over time itself. Time dragons could see, and even manipulate time to their will if they so chose to and often had a sixth sense for destiny. It was that sense that was triggering now as he observed the group quietly. Indeed, one of them had a touch of destiny about them, a thread of fate that ran parallel with his own. It had been a long time since he had seen such a thing, and he was intrigued.

The mighty dragon cast a spell to illuminate a few of the torches. Not all of them, but just enough to reveal himself properly and provide the group with some proper light to see by. He'd had his fun after all, Kal-ith supposed he should at least allow them to see. Still, their reaction had amused him and he chuckled at their expense, almost coughing slightly having not used his voice in a long time.

Yes, that was it. The girl. The woman they were carrying, unconscious. It was her. Wait... they were carrying an unconscious woman? He peered at the man who had almost dropped her as a result of his appearance. Indeed they were, that wasn't something one saw every day. Why they were doing that escaped him. Perhaps there was more to this group than he thought.

"Greetings," he began, leaning down slightly to talk to them and maintaining a polite and calm tone of voice. "I am afraid, I was not expecting guests." He gave the group a toothy grin, showing off his ranks of razor sharp teeth. "Who are you people, why are you in my lair?" he demanded, a little forcefully this time, dropping his polite demeanour for the moment.

So that was it. Adventurers, deciding to explore an ancient cave rumoured to contain a dragon. With an unconscious woman? He doubted they were there to simply explore. One would not want to explore a cave with a dragon inside it. Right? Well, he had to be fair, perhaps he had underestimated mortal curiosity once again. He had been gone from the world for a long time. Perhaps they had sought to seek him out once more, or perhaps, see if he was still alive.

Nonetheless, he suspected that a different explanation was the cause. As was common with the mortals, they coveted gold almost as much as dragons. While Kal-ith's hunger for trinkets has wound down to a slow simmer, he had found that each generation of mortals still possessed that horrible trait. Greed. Granted, Kal-ith had been victim to it in the past, and in many ways he still was. His huge treasure trove of artefacts and priceless items of exquisite beauty spoke more than words could. Still, he kept those as a curiosity more than anything else. Magic from a by gone age had it's uses. Indeed, much more than greedy keepsakes. Or so he told himself.

Nonetheless. The question of the girl crossed his mind. The one who's fate crossed with his. He wondered if these adventurers had noble or nefarious intentions towards her. Perhaps she merely slipped and banged her head after all. Further questions needed answering, and he needed to know the truth of it.

"I see. Adventurers, explorers," he said, looking at the man with the black eye. "Well, you have found what lies in this cave. Myself, and my home. Tell me though," he asked, pausing for a moment as he cast a small spell on the man. It was a difficult spell for a novice. Kal-ith though, was far from a beginner with magic and he cast it with ease, as he had many times. A simple truth spell, a zone of truth. The spell was fairly straightforward assuring that those within its zone of influence could not lie. They would not be forced to tell the truth and they could certainly deny answering, even skirt around the truth, but they could not physically lie.

Once the spell was done Kal-ith resumed, shuffling slightly where he stood, flexing his talons on the ground. "If you are explorers. Why is that woman unconscious?"

How irritating. They clearly wanted to skirt around the truth and waste Kal-ith's time rather than simply admit they wanted to trade the girl for some coin. Such so they managed to skirt around Kal-ith's truth spell. Still, they managed to state their business a little after. Could Kal-ith be bothered to deal with some petty bandits and their love of gold? He had many treasures he could trade them for the girl. A simple purchase and all parties would be happy, except for the girl of course.

Kal-ith did wonder about her view on this. No doubt she would not take kindly to him buying her from the bandits, nor would she if he elected to save her from them. The dragon was dammed if he did and dammed if he didn't. After all, he could hardly leave her with them. No, he would have to take care of the intruders before he could acquire the girl. Not as a sacrifice though as the marauders had made out that he wanted. No, as a companion for a time.

After all, someone who would get into a deal with petty bandits. That was an interesting kind of person, and he was very lonely in his secluded palace. Indeed, he wanted her as company.

It seemed though the girl had other ideas as Kal-ith saw her snatch a curved knife from a man's boot and free herself. He chuckled as she jumped away, dashing down the corridor with one of the bandits in pursuit.

Well, if that was the way it was going to go then that was the way it was going to go. He saw his chance and acted, spreading his mighty wings and drawing himself up to his full height. In order for her to escape, he would have to deal with the group of bandits and trust that she could handle the one that had ran after her. At least, until Kal-ith could help her.

"I will not trade with the likes of you, cur. You would use that woman as your shield," he demanded, drawing in a breath and blowing out a stream of hot air from his lungs. "Now sleep," he commanded, clicking his claws together to cast a sleep spell on the group gathered. At the least, it would disorient and make them feel groggy, but ideally, it would make them fall into a deep sleep. The dragon put a fair amount of power behind it, hoping to deal with them all in one fell swoop.

He did at that, Kal-ith's spell forcing the brigands to sleep. In fact, they would be knocked out for a good while. That left the single bandit who had got away.

Stepping over the villains and heading a little ways down the corridor once more to find the last bandit. Once again, Kal-ith cast a sleep spell on him and he slumped to the ground before he could do any harm to the girl. Well, as adventures go it was hardly a successful one for the marauders. They were alive though, and that counted. With the girl knocked unconscious by her own escape attempt, Kal-ith was left to clean up the mess. He gathered up the sleeping bandits and carried them outside, except the girl. No, he would keep her. After all, he wouldn't want to leave her in the company of those that had tried to harm her.

He locked the door shortly after, attaching a sign on the door saying 'keep out'. Kal-ith however, neglected to put the sign in the common tongue. Instead, he had opted for the ancient tongue of dragons. Whoops, well, a scholar might be able to decipher it. The bandits certainly wouldn't. Still, he had made it quite clear they weren't welcome.

With them dealt with, he turned his attention to the female. He would make sure she was comfortable when she woke. Yes, she was to be his guest after all. Though, perhaps she might be something more. He thought about that. Well, the fates said they would be together for some time. Still, perhaps he was simply to protect her from those bandits. He didn't know. Of course, he had been known to take humans as concubines, but that was in the past. He had thought of starting that again. She was unlikely to be willing however. Still, some company would certainly be nice. Just, someone to talk to. Kal-ith was intrigued with her. The girl's entrance had been somewhat spectacular. At least, spectacular for what he had been doing recently. Reading.

The mighty dragon picked her up, carrying her carefully down one of the tunnels to the guest quarters. The guest quarter was a large assortment of rooms, many plush and luxurious rooms fit for humans. No doubt she had never seen such luxury. The soft wonderful bed, a chandelier and an ornate door leading to a living room, with a roaring fire, with plush sofas and chairs. Kal-ith shrank himself down to the size of a horse and started brewing a pot of soup, letting the woman rest on the comfortable bed. He had removed her weapons and her bags, putting them at the foot of the door for her. Otherwise, he was quite gentlemanly, or at least, as gentlemanly as he could be. So there he sat, making soup while his guest rested in the opposite room.