It’s always interesting to rummage through the old folders and USB drives. Sometimes I never do find what I’m originally looking for, but then I find things I’ve long forgotten or thought lost. This is a short story, based on a prompt from a young writers group I was a part of way back in the day.
***
Normally I wouldn’t bother with such a ‘jewelry store’ as measly as this one. But among the imitation gems and pearls I could smell it, warm and rich. Pure gold. I don’t know how it got into a second-hand place like this, but I knew exactly how it was going to come out: in my pockets.
There wasn’t even a proper security spell. I didn’t bother breaking the cheap locking incantation that covered the doors. I simply flew up to the unprotected upper windows and slipped right in. Once inside I pulled down my mask just enough to uncover my nostrils, and sniffed the place out as I crept down the corridors.
I stopped suddenly as a new scent drifted through an open door of an office; the scent of an aging human. I stood frozen in place, wings braced and the barb on my tail extended, and cocked an ear towards the door. I expected to hear movement, the rustle of paperwork, muttering. Instead I heard what sounded like a wheezing chainsaw.
I peeked into the room, and grinned. An old man, the guard, was sitting with his feet propped up on a desk. His chin was sunk deep into his cloudy beard, which fluttered with every snore. Covering one wall was a magic mirror, one of the oldest security methods still in use. It would be an easy thing to thwart; all I had to do was turn its storeroom counterpart around so that it faced the wall.
Except… someone had already done so.
I dashed downstairs, and quickly found the storeroom. The door handle had already been melted off, and the door was ajar. An infuriatingly familiar scent hung heavily in the air. I entered the storeroom with a snarl.
“Garnet!”
He didn’t bother to face me, but continued to shovel the gold from its case and into his pack. He only turned enough for me to see his smirk. But I could tell by the way he flattened his crest that he was just as vexed to see me as I was to see him.
“Diamond,” he said as he opened a new case.
“What a pleasant surprise. I thought you had quit this line of work after our last heist.”
“That was your plan, wasn’t it?” I hissed, steam rolling out from between my bared fangs.
I always knew Garnet had a competitive streak. But back when we worked together I was naive enough to think that he wouldn’t throw me under the coach if given the chance.
I know better now, and I intended to return the favour.
My tail lashed out, wrapped around his ankle, and yanked back. Garnet crashed to the ground. I didn’t have time to enjoy the satisfaction of seeing the surprise on his face. The next moment I had to duck as a stream of fire shot above my head. I replied with a flame of my own.
Within moments the room was full of the scent of fire, melting gold, and raging dragon. I was unable to pick up on the two new, subtler scents.
Without warning, a wall of water crashed through the door, swamping the room and filling it with steam. My fire was doused, my vision blocked, and I realised then that it had been a trap all along.
“No!” I heard Garnet snarl.
Then I felt firm hands snatch my wrists, pulling them back and securing them with iron handcuffs. The effects of the iron worked quickly. I sank to my knees on the flooded floor, unable to fight as my wings were tied in place with an iron chain.
“I’ve got this one down!” a human voice called behind me.
A second voice replied through the steam, a younger man with a naiad accent. “And I have this one! Mission accomplished!”
I flattened my crest and hissed. In a way I had gotten exactly what I wanted: Garnet was humiliated, caught by novice do-gooders in a second-hand jewelry store. I never wanted to work with him again. But neither did I want to share his punishment. I know this flies in the face of dragon nature, but I should have left that gold alone. It wasn’t worth it.
To be a Shennachie 