How to Slay a Dragon - Bill Allen [90]
“OF COURSE. DRAGONS AND PROPHECIES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTIMATELY LINKED. YOU CAN”T HAVE ONE WITHOUT THE OTHER. WHAT I DON’T KNOW IS HOW SIMON SEZXQRTHM COULD HAVE WRITTEN ONE ABOUT YOU.”
Greg quickly explained how he believed the prophecy to be in error, how it was supposed to be about Marvin Greatheart, and how Ruuan’s lair was the last place in this world he wanted to be. Amazingly, the dragon adopted a pondering expression.
“HMMM. THIS IS QUITE DISTURBING.”
“Imagine how I feel,” Greg said.
“I WOULD NOT BE SO QUICK TO DISREGARD SIMON’S PROPHECY AS WRITTEN. WHILE IT MAY SEEM UNREASONABLE TO YOU—AND I CAN CERTAINLY SEE WHY IT MIGHT—THE SEZXQRTHMS HAVE NEVER BEEN WRONG IN THEIR PREDICTIONS BEFORE.”
“No, you can’t just dismiss a prophecy,” Greg was quick to agree. “Believe me I’ve tried.” This was the first time everyone’s unwavering belief was actually working in his favor, and he thought he better take advantage of the moment while he could. “You said dragons and prophecies are intimately linked, that you can’t have one without the other.”
“YES, SO?”
“So, if I fail to fulfill my destiny, people will stop believing in prophecies. And you know what that means.”
“THEY’LL STOP BELIEVING IN ME.”
“Worse. They’ll stop bothering to predict the future. Prophecies will no longer exist.
“WHICH MEANS DRAGONS WILL NO LONGER EXIST,” the dragon whispered, though even then his voice echoed throughout the chamber. “I’LL DIE IF THE PROPHECY IS WRONG.”
“And you’ll die if it’s right,” Greg added in a whisper of his own that barely reached the dragon’s ear. He noted the look of sadness in Ruuan’s eye. “Sorry . . . I guess this isn’t working out so well for you, is it?”
“PERHAPS IT IS TIME,” said Ruuan sadly. “DRAGONS HAVE RULED MYRTH FOR MILLENIA, BUT NOW I AM THE LAST OF MY KIND, AND THE END OF AN ERA, AS WELL.”
“Then you’ll actually let me slay you?” Greg asked incredulously.
“GOODNESS, NO, BOY. AS WITH ANY RESPECTABLE DRAGON, WHEN I GO I INTEND TO TAKE AS MANY MORTALS WITH ME AS I CAN. NOW, WOULD YOU PREFER TO BE ROASTED, MAULED, OR EATEN?”
If ever there was a question that deserved to be rhetorical . . . “Are those my only choices?”
“UNLESS YOU CAN THINK OF ANOTHER DEATH YOU WOULD PREFER.”
Greg thought again about the plunge from the portals inside Ruuan’s storage locker. He shook away the image. “Why do I have to die at all? Or you, for that matter. Maybe there’s another answer.”
“I’M LISTENING.”
“What if we just told everyone you were dead?” said Greg.
The dragon frowned. “IF I TOLD PEOPLE I WAS DEAD THEY WOULD PROBABLY SUSPECT SOMETHING WAS UP.”
“No, I mean, what if I told everyone you were dead?”
Ruuan paused to consider. “NO,” he finally said, “IT WOULD NEVER WORK. AS SOON AS THEY THOUGHT I WAS DEAD, EVERY FORTUNE HUNTER ON MYRTH WOULD BE UP HERE ROOTING THROUGH MY THINGS.”
“No,” Greg said. “No one can climb the tunnel. It’s too far. And the secret passageway I came up is heavily guarded by the spirelings.”
“YOU MANAGED TO GET THROUGH IT.”
“Only because the entire spireling army is camped outside and lulled to sleep by shadowcats. How often is that going to happen?”
“HMMM,” said Ruuan, flames licking out the corners of his mouth. “THIS PROPHECY HAS WORKED OUT QUITE WELL FOR YOU SO FAR, HASN’T IT?”
Greg worked hard to clear his throat. “The point is, no one would have to know you were still alive.”
The dragon considered for a long moment. “I DON’T KNOW,” he eventually said. “I WOULD NO LONGER BE ABLE TO GO OUT TO HUNT . . .”
Greg hadn’t thought about that. “How about if you waited until a really dark night, then slipped in and out without anyone seeing you? Once you’re clear of the spire, no one will know it’s you. I can’t speak for everyone on Myrth, but all dragons look pretty much the same to me.” Greg had never actually seen another dragon but was sure if he did, it, too, would look like something he should run from.
“BUT I AM THE LAST OF MY BREED. DO YOU THINK THE MEN OF THIS KINGDOM OF YOURS KNOW THAT?”
“No,” Greg answered quickly. “I mean, um, I doubt it.”
Still