A dragon’s hoard is at once precious and precarious; none moreso than that of Mazzaroth the Black.

The great dragon rested upon the highest peak in the land of Gabreel and he was content to lounge about his mountaintop, indifferent to the world below; his eyes were turned ever upward to gaze upon the glistening twinkle of his hoard of fire and light—the very stars themselves.

Legend told that Mazzaroth, in his youth, had flown about the galaxy igniting planet after planet, creating star upon star until at last he landed upon the highest earthly peak to finally rest and admire his masterwork. It was a work of myth fitting for a creature of Mazzaroth’s stature.

There were those in the land of Gabreel who were made uneasy by this legend.

“How can we live with a monster such as this literally hanging over our heads?” Said a townsperson.

“Yeah! My children can’t sleep at night for fear that Mazzaroth the Black will come to burn their home and scorch their bodies,” said another.

“The creature is peaceful. He’s not once descended Mt. Galil since choosing it as his roost. We must let the sleeping dragon rest,” said one more.

“I shall climb Mt. Galil and slay the beast! And I will return with the treasures of his hoard upon my back!” Declared Prince Gabbor. The announcement was met with roaring applause.

Prince Gabbor was a fearsome warrior. The able prince had slayed more than his fair share of mythic creatures, but none would prove as monumental as Mazzaroth the Black.

The prince, breathless and weathered from the climb up the imposing mountain, paused to catch his breath. He was still a mile from the spot Mazzaroth rested. The moon was high in the sky, his trail illuminated by the silver moonlight. Gabbor could feel the presence of Mazzaroth, such a creature creates and demands its own gravity. The air was thin and the winds blew strong.

As Gabbor continued along the path, he began to hear messages upon the breeze.

Do not come further. Halt your advance.

You know not what you do. Return to your village and be spared.

This path ends only in ruin.

Gabbor was not to be deterred. He would not close the book on his hero’s journey on the last page. Soon he stood before the hulking mass of Mazzaroth the Black.

Gabbor struggled to see the menacing creature before him as Mazzaroth’s scales were reminiscent of the glowing night sky—he blended into and distorted the very fabric of space. The effect was sickening. Gabbor felt as though he was looking through a warped telescope, his vision blurred and deformed as the dragon’s rib cage slowly rose and fell. But Gabbor was cheered at this realization. The beast was asleep. He could slay Mazzaroth quickly and without contest.

He moved toward the dragon and drew his sword. Quietly.

Do not be foolish, child. Do not let arrogance and ambition be your undoing.

The dragon spoke without moving, or even waking. Gabbor continued his advance.

Every action necessitates an equal and opposite reaction, young one. Consider your action carefully.

Gabbor’s stride was long, his pace quickening—he felt his resolve slipping and sped faster and faster until he was in a full sprint.

Permanent solutions yield enduring consequences, boy. Think first to the future.

Gabbor would not be stopped. He leapt toward the dragon’s cavernous forehead and struck his sword down swiftly through the dragon’s skull.

Silence.

Gabbor cried as the stared at the body laying upon the ground. The dragon’s glow had dulled, it’s scales now a muted black. The consequences of his actions soon overwhelmed Gabbor. He searched high and low for the dragon’s hoard and found not even so much as a penny. He soon found the hoard as he turned us gaze upward.

And then the stars fell out of the sky.

Cosmic matter streaked across the night sky, illuminating the world around Gabbor with flashes of brilliant greens, whites, and reds. He watched in awe as the stars above grew ever larger until they filled the sky with light and mass and fire and death.

Mt. Galil was flattened into a scorched, black plain—the plain of Mazzaroth. Gabreel was reduced to a burning pile of rubble which burned for a thousand years—the last source of heat on the Earth. The fires that burn today—those life giving flames—were drawn from the smoldering ruins of Gabreel.

The night sky is now an empty black canvas and so it shall remain until our Lord Mazzaroth returns and renews this world of fire and light.

Until then, we wait.

r/InMyLife42Archive

Murzok the Peaceful was not an aggressive dragon.

He did not fly out to battle for glory and riches against his kin. He did not die to fire and claw.

He did not fly out to burn the castles and rob the treasuries of humans. He did not die to spear and arrow.

He did not fly out to raid and hunt in the mystic forest of elves. He did not die to spell and curse.

He lived for a very long time.

Every year some came to buy his advice, others to ask for wealth now in exchange for giving a greater fortune later. When the smithy was built or the trade caravan returned.

Nations gave him their treasures to store, for who could rob a dragon? Even the other dragons named him Elder and Wise and wouldn't dare offend him so.

His hoard was extensive, and where there is wealth there are always fools greedy enough to try to take it.

They never got too far, his continued life was in the best interests of the powerful and mighty. City guards had ears out for plots, and mercenaries patrolled the path to his mountaintop home.

But there were some stupid enough to try and strong enough to succeed. And it was known that Murzok wouldn't kill those who failed, they lived to tell their story of the mercy of the "harmless" dragon.

This batch of robbers stood twenty strong. Armed with the sharpest spears human blacksmiths could forge, the most cunning spell scrolls of the elven battlemages. Neither gotten in a manner fair or right.

Murzok melted one stalactite with his white hot flame, and shattered another with a swipe of his mighty tail.

He could have killed all of the robbers then and there, he knew it, they knew it.

Whenever this had happened before, this was the point Murzok let them leave-alive. But not this time, not these robbers.

"I don't like killing people. I dislike killing animals even! I am willing to buy a clean conscience. Listen to what I say and you shall leave rich, and I will sleep tonight knowing I have never killed a thinking being."

He reached deep into his treasure hoard and threw out a perfect ruby, large as two closed fists.

"Take this and leave."

The thieves had agreed on a way to split the loot, but that failed in the face of this beauty of the earth.

At once they turned on each other. Spears pierced and spells burnt.

The only survivor tucked the gem to his chest, even as his blood poured over it.

He staggered to the exit, turning through the labyrinthian caves, more disorientated and woozy with every step.

He reached the entrance, felt the warm light of dawn. Collapsed onto the path, into the sunlight. Dead.

Murzok reclaimed that blood-stone.

Hither in these ruins I standeth, a marker to remind of what hath transpired here. This place, once a village, now lieth in ruins.

A dragon of great might once made her abode nigh unto here, abiding by an ancient pledge that she would cause no harm unto the folk of this land.

Becoming accustomed to the sight of the ancient beast, the village folk began to harass her. Time passed, and new generations were born, and soon the foolish villagers forgot why dragons are held in such high esteem. The harassment turned to violence, the violence to arson, and the arson to attempts at murder. Yet, despite it all, the dragon never retaliated, and the townfolk felt emboldened to bully a creature that was supposed to be a force beyond compare. But they went too far.

I am a sign, a tale-teller, a warning to take heed. For even the most gentle heart may be broken. Blinded by wrath, the dragon chose to teach them a lesson, one far crueler than simple destruction. She chose to seek justice through the law.

The village's expansion, which included felling of the forest? A violation of tree law.

The attempted murder? Guilt was established.

Arson? Endangered species law was invoked.

The taking of water from the lake? Theft and trespassing.

The road? Constructed in violation of state laws.

The treehouse for children? Ye should not trifle with fricking tree laws. The list is longer than I can recount, but as a result, the villagers found themselves drowning in debt, facing legal fees and fines, with some even sent to prison. And finally, the town was built too near to the dragon's lair, and was found in contravention of the wildlife protection laws. And so, it was decreed to be disbanded forthwith.

Verily, ye should not mess with dragons.

It was the one too many stones thrown at her. The one too many mocking laughter. The youth, pimply and stupid, was still halfway through his pitchy cackling, when he was interrupted.

”That’s enough.”

There was a resolve to the deep voice, completely missed by the group of young men, standing before her.

“Holy fuck, it does speak! Ian, stab the thing, see what it does!”

The Ian of their group was all too eager to comply, but before his hand was able to retract the blade it had callously jabbed into the monster’s flesh, he was incinerated. Just like that, gone.

There hadn’t been a moment of hesitation on his end. The beast had been quiet that afternoon. A whimper of pain here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing that showed any signs of distress. The stupid creature had taken their jaunts, as it should. So Ian had no doubts about whether or not he could use his blade, freshly sharpened, to slash a new wound into the gross oversight of his gods. This thing was an abomination. And he was righteous. It needed to hurt.

Only it didn’t.

A speaking dragon was rare, very rare. Not that it mattered. Much like the darklings of the south lands, speaking did not mean intelligence. It was still a beast. A beast, at his command, and for his pleasure. And if his pleasure meant that it be hurt, or even killed, so be it.

That is what Ian thought, in his final moments. Not nearly so concise, or even in real words. His final moments were in feelings. He felt entitled. Powerful. He was owed. And he wanted.

What he wanted most, in those final moments, was to hear the stupid thing roar. Admit it’s defeat. Admit that he was better than it.

Ian never did get his final wish. Final, in that it he would never make another wish again. He wanted to feel strong. Superior. Grand.

Instead, he only felt heat. Unbearable heat.

And the ringing in his ear, as the creature spoke again, louder this time. Loud enough that the young men felt it in their chests. A single sentence, ending with an eruption of flames, that filled the enormous cave the creature had taken shelter in.

”That’s enough.”

In a land, where a cataclysmic event sent the world into an alternate course from the one we know, setting humanity back centuries, a knew creature would evolve. The common ancestor was the draco lizard.

In the ribs commonly used for gliding, muscles and tendons began to grow over the millennium that humanity took to get back on it's feet, from lack of pollution and far greater forests the oxygen level was just right, if not better for them to grow the the size of what we would've called a great Dane. They were quickly domesticated and their numbers grew along with ours. most creatures exhaled carbon dioxide however when they breathed it had an faint scent, even in the cleanest of their mouth's. Several homes exploded due to the fire for warmth in the winter. These people connected the dots with the "poisonous demon air" from the mines. They did some experiments and found there breath, when trapped in a bottle and heating bursts into flames, quickly they were utilized it war.

They were being bred specifically for one thing. To serve us however we demanded. They did not fight back, however showed little to no loyalty as a canine would. soon they were a common sight, in every city and large village where the houses wouldn't burn. However humanity wasn't exactly human with them, and the dragons... They were learning.

It was a rare sight at first, but the. More and more people saw it. They learned how to use tools, and developed a language. people would try to decipher them, understand them. They realized they were internalizing everything over the past ten centuries, and we're growing more restless.

They knew the humans knew what they were saying and all at once as if they had wires connected to each other. They flew to the sky, all the way into the capital. They made an attempt to negotiate. "We leave you with your society and we get ours." The humans fearing the worst agreed. They let them go and they were undomesticated over the years, they had created tribes all interconnected like a hive mind. When one found something they all found it, replicated it, and made a use for it. Even their breath, they trained their lungs to inhale more air to produce more flames. Quickly they were a their own nation.

Humans realizing their intelligence and potential was on par with their own and made an offer. " You don't have to live in the harsh wilds, you could rejoin us but more equal and not just pets." The dragons adamantly refused. "We would never sully our culture with the likes of slave owners, we only avoid war to avoid destruction of our societies, and any other potentially sentient creatures out there. It took years for us to remove the inbreeding from our people." The humanity rolled it's eyes. " Too bad then."

The two nation's watched each other closely learning about them. The dragons cought wind of all the domesticated animals and still stayed their fire, claws, and jaws. The humans entered another war, this time they used more advanced weapons, the dragons did all they could to stay out of it. Until the resisting nation decided to use the expansive forests for their weapons. Mass producing it faster than the forests could grow. The other nation did the same, leaching off the dragons, just like one hundred thousand years ago. This was the final straw.

"Make peace or we'll end both of your nations." They both scoffed, "you? Destroy us? Don't make us laugh. You said we could."
The dragons clenched their jaws. " We never did say that, we've been watching you both and could easily tear you apart from the inside. Turn your people against you, then you'd both lose to yourselves." The humans glared at each other. "Just pick a side and it would be over already. In case you couldn't tell we're at a stalemate, your vast numbers would easily turn the tide." The dragons sighed. "It's clear negotiation is not an option." And unleashed several generations of natural selection, scales as strong as iron, strength surpassing ours, heat condensed Into a two foot metal pole centimeters thick, they had completely lost all regards for the humans, even armor was used against them, the metal plates heated to a glow and roasting the wearers.

The humans in a last ditch effort attempted to negotiate.

The dragons leader spoke, "this may be the last time we gather around this table to speak." The human nodded grimly. "Indeed, we've made a form of water transportation. we could leave by the masses and never return, if you spare us our lives." "Spare you? After you've everything you've dragged us into? Never."

The human opened his mouth to speak reaching into his pocket for the flintlock. "Then do unto us as we've done to you." The dragons glared. "We would never stoop to your level. All you have to do is keep us out of it. Leave each nations problems to that nation."

The human shakily grabbed the handle and flashed the handle in the warm mid morning glow. "You've proven you could be a threat. We could easily stop this threat by taming it." The dragons placed an unusual orb onto the table, it had a string attached to it leading into what appeared to be a lighter. "You know why I'm the leader of my nation? I have the most control over my breath, even breathing into and open flame doesn't ignite it. We've taught our young how to control it. In combination that with what we call elastic. Formed from the tree sap being consistently stretched. I've filled it with an extremely concentrated amount of the explosive breath, we've also infused the rubber with the gunpowder you use for guns."

The human leader stared at the orb, taking in the full threat of what lay before him "well we believe unity is what we need, everyone working together for a common cause." The dragon caressed the lighter. "You call being an invasive leaching species a common cause? You disgust me."

Moments went by in silence waiting for the other to make a move as a crowded gathered around the window opened by the maid.

The dragon sighed and slapped the table with his tail. "I have an idea, you give us the ships and we could see if there's any lands worth while, if there are, you can colonize it. under our supervision." The human clawed at the table. "Why won't you let us go, you've already won." The dragon looked at the crowd out the window. "Because humanity is just a bunch of self destructive ape's who can't even beat a small village of gecko's. If we let you go and get as far and happy as you want, you'd take over and kill everything."

The humans sighed, "So that is how it is." Then shot a bullet. The crowd roared in Horror as the dragon rose up again and lit the explosive. " I guess we'll have to be the explorer's" the fuse quickly burned out and the nation's capital was gone, and with it the last humans. The dragons copied the boats and explored a new land. Forever remembering the ingenuity of man's nimble fingers and memorializing where they began and ended with a mural of man's history.

(bonus points to anyone who can guess the source material correctly...)

​

"Be Still!" he bellowed again. But this time I was not going to let this six-ton geezer of a fire-breathing lizard tell me what to do anymore. He says I should seek gold and sit on it but not take his. Well, why not? I could kill him like I killed the men, he's only bigger. He's slow and unbecoming. I'm not afraid of this lazy blundering serpent anymore; I know he's bluffing this time. I pick up the same little emerald as before and whip it at his glassy eyeballs.

"your gold will be my gold, flaming snake!" I say, snatching up another glimmering object to pelt this beast with. The caverns shake as he rises and blows flame from every orifice of his ugly skull. he doesn't scare me anymore. The lazy bastard won't even try.

"perhaps, tiny angry beast, I did not make myself clear. You didn't find my discipline easy to follow, perhaps you feel like what man does when he sees you, but now you must know the same pain if you are to listen! I know all, and you know nothing! Feel the wrath of omniscience!" He rises to his full height saying this.

Maybe, just maybe, this old angry ball of fur did not contemplate just how large an immortal serpent really is. But I suppose I can't run away now. He rears back, his internal furnace explodes with flames that eject from his wrinkled old snout, and I dive behind a pile of coins to avoid his fire. It still singes the hair of my back off, it nearly burns me entirely, and I can barely move as it engulfs the fur on my back. I recovered, but what I didn't expect from this geriatric monster was him to try and crush me with his elder paw, but I surprised myself with how much I could lift of him, but he quickly bats me away with his wing, I tumble into the cave walls. Pain shoots through my entire back as I let out a furious bellow.

"Go back to your bed of gold, beast! I want nothing more of your lazy and contradicting advice, if you say I shall take gold, then you should protect yours better!" I shout at him. I know I will lose. Fighting a dragon is surprisingly harder than ripping Danes in half. I grab gold pieces and pelter him with as many as I can before trying to escape the cave. I think I finally realized I was wrong in my entire life, that repulsive ancient serpent was but a frail elder when I walked in, still terrifying me for the first half, and undoubtedly teaching me quite the lesson, but I suppose my nature took over and I mistakenly tried to kill a 75 foot tall fire-breathing cynic. Now I am running for my life for the first time in it. Oops. I thought i could make it, surely I am faster than he, but I did not calculate his ability to grab me, however. I was locked in his scaly, crusty claws before could run out.

"Take this as your only warning, and your sign never to return", he yelled, "You asked for my help and then you just assault your teacher? tiny monster, you have much to learn. perhaps the dirt will teach you manners."

He throws me at incredible speed out the mouth of the cave, and all I recall after that is waking up back near the cliffside. That damned ram is still standing there. I'm going to push it over for hell's sake, finally. I'll show that dragon one day.

Doom the dragon is a fire-breather that only feeds on fish late at night when predators roam free. Many nights the monster would feast on tuna, undisturbed.

Once upon a time fishermen witnessed a flying stingray emerging from the ocean but no one could tell what happened to it? So much force the tale is a “dead man's gold”. Rather fish in stormy weather to camouflage is a missing sign further away in the Atlantic...

For a phenomenon, wind, rain and lightning is a treasure map for fools! A bad move on the deck is the end of Captain Maverick, and later on: surviving crew members capsized...

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