Inktober #12: Dragon

"Alright, alright, gather round now. Lisa, you can sit there. Johnny, right here. Good. Good. Everyone situated? Excellent. I'll know you're ready for a story when I see eyes on me and lips closed.

"Excellent. Once upon a time, there lived a wise old man in a castle on a hill. His name was Mr. Edward Scruntch. Yes, the very same Mr. Scruntch that lives in the castle on the hill above our little village. But don't be scared, children. For while Mr. Scruntch may seem frightening (that's another word for scary), and looks unlike anyone else, he is still a person. And he's who we'll be learning about today.

"So, once upon a time Mr. Scruntch was living in his castle on the hill. He had a wife, and two children, and was just about as happy as anyone could be. He was kind to his neighbors, and greeted them every morning, 'Hello Mr. Wilson! Lovely day! Hello Ms. Abott, what fine fish for sale! Hello Mrs. Pink, what a hat!' and so on. And yes, you may have noticed that all those people were and are your grandparents.

"But life was hard back in those days, and a great famine came down upon the land. Nobody had any food. Mr. Scruntch did what he could to help, traveling from Brookswell to Montree and back again gathering what food could be spared and sharing it amongst his neighbors; your grandparents, and even some of your parents though they would've been very young. Even younger than you all now.

"So Mr. Scruntch gave and gave, and was out of his castle more often than in. But poor Mr. Scruntch you see, well times were hard. And while he was away his whole family came down with a disease. It was a mystery like no one had ever seen. They started to...change. And poor Mr. Scruntch, well he tried to help, and get the best doctors, but no one had seen the like. Some say it was because of a strange root he had gathered amongst the hills and fed them. Some say it was the castle itself, that staying long enough in that place has its effects. Some say he had wronged a witch in a nearby town and perhaps tried to steal from her, bringing down a curse upon his family, and eventually himself.

"Whatever the true case may be, soon enough people began to see less and less of Mr. Scruntch, and even less of his family. And whenever they did come around, they came hooded and cloaked, so none could see what was underneath. And something odd started to happen. They never asked for food. Jewelry, trinkets, trading old fabrics for what gold we had, that was all they wanted.

"Now, some well-intentioned people in town thought the Scruntches might be hoarding food for themselves. And what with everyone starving they decided to intrude upon the peace of poor Mr. Scruntch and his family and see if they had anything to spare. My dear Robert was one of them.

"Your parents have probably told you about this day in history. But they've likely told it to you wrong, for so many were either so young or not even born yet, and even those who went through it have conflicting stories. But I know what happened. I know because I went and talked to Mr. Scruntch about it so many years later.

"Some of the group came back with burns, as if they'd been too close to a fire. Some of them told rambling tales of monsters in the castle, covered in scales and breathing smoke. And the myth of the Dragons in Thatchkey Castle was born. And that myth grew and grew until none dare approach the castle anymore, and the last we saw of a Scruntch in town was far before you were born.

"Eventually the crops came back. Business went on. And none dared disturb the Dragons, except for those with ill intent, looking to steal some of the treasure it was known they'd stockpiled. But when they came back burned and treasureless, well...

"Well I had had just enough of this so I decided to go talk to the Scruntches. It had been years since Richard passed and anyone had tried to visit and well we had been good friends before so why not now?

"And I tell you, friends, it did us all a world of good that I did. They welcomed me in warmly and told the story from their perspective. Of a horrible skin-changing disease, of a change in mind and body, yet all were still who they were in their soul. Of a frightened family, hounded by a misunderstanding mob. Of no more treasure than the treasure of each other's company, which was a treasure when no one else might see them.

"So you see, children, the Scruntches are worth no more fear. They may not look like you and I, but are people just the same. They have no treasure, and are not Dragons, and want only to see this town prosper in friendship as it once did.

Right, that's about all the time we have, head on home before it gets dark! I'll see you all next week. Bye! Bye. Bye Lisa. Bye."

August Avery picked up her cane and stood carefully, watching as the children ran from her door down the streets to their homes. She took a couple steps out, and seemingly minding her own business went to the side of her house, mostly wrapped in shadow.

Around the opposite corner, a figure cloaked and hooded approached.

"Well?" it asked.
"Went about as well as can be expected I think," August said. "They haven't had long to grow up with their parents' stories, and none my age tell the stories like they used to. I imagine you'll be welcomed with open arms in a couple years."
"Sssuperb," the figure nearly hissed. "What comes to us from them, a portion shall be yours and your family's. Here. Your payment."

A gloved hand offered a golden coin, worth enough to pay expenses for a month. August took it, tucked it away, and nonchalantly went back to her house and shut the door.

A shadow flitted up the hillside, towards the castle. From downwind a shiver crossed the spine of those who heard the faint, joyous noises, and smelled smoke on the air.