The Golden Hoard and the Three Warnings
by Aiden Kinto
(I've heard that our books lacked stories, and felt compelled to write some of the older stories, originating from our old Earth and adapted into this new world. For any dragon or fae folk reading, I deeply apologize for any offense. This is an ancient tale, and I wish to write the truth, though it can be at times blunt and rude. But I digress.)
There was once a little girl, who lived in a small town. To its back was a vast vast forest, which stretched as far as the eye can see. "Don't wander into the forest, young one," she had been told, but the warning flew straight through her head. She was curious, and she wanted to find out why everyone feared the trees.
On a day when her parents were away, she ran off. She ran and ran, dashing to the forest, and the dogs and cats of her town ran with her. She was overjoyed; she had friends! But they bit at her heels and tried to block her way, and angrily angrily she kicked them all away. The dogs and cats knew nothing, she thought, for she was captured by her inquisitiveness. So the animals' distress went unseen by her eyes.
Into the shade of leaves she went, jumping over branches and leaping over streams. How cool the air was, how fresh! She could not see why her parents feared the forest. Lights appeared around her, and she was mystified, but they became faeries, armed with tiny spears. "Leave, human," they ordered, but she refused to listen. She swatted them away, like flies, like flies, fleeing into the forest's misty depths. And again, foolishness clouded her vision.
The child was tired now, and wandered into a cave. How beautiful it was, how grand, how bright! Beautiful crystals adorned the cave, and in the center, a mountain of gold! She frolicked and danced, for she was rich, and no one could ever order her around if she was a princess. Truly spent now, the girl sat down, on an elegant bench fit for royalty like her. But it bent and broke, and she cursed and kicked at the delicate stool. Fruit was nearby, and she ate some, throwing away ones that disgusted her. Finally, exhausted, she crawled on top of the golden pile, and slept amidst the luxuries she believed was hers.
A dragon then entered, unheard by the sleeping girl. It looked at his precious chair, and the food given by his friends. "Someone broke my chair, and ate my food!" It looked around its home some more, for at this point this was clearly a dragon's lair. "Someone disturbed my gold, and she's still sleeping in it!" The dragon roared, and the little girl woke up. Fearfully, she fled, and was never seen from again.