The Itch

 

 

A very wise old goblin once said that if Midnight Dragons ever got a taste for flesh and hoarding gold, we would all have to live in very deep caves to hide from them. This is because a Midnight Dragon is the largest kind of dragon in all of Kingdoms, as big as a two-storey house! Their scales are as dark as ink and their eyes a deep green. As you can imagine they look quite frightening indeed.

 

Happily for you and me they are quite gentle creatures and would be horrified to know that they had frightened someone. They spend their days digging for coal which they eat to fuel the fire in their bellies. They often live around volcanoes and like nothing better then finding a pool of lava and going for a swim.

 

But no matter how big or small a dragon is, there is one thing that terrifies them all.

 

An itch.

 

Now for you or me an itch is quite easy to scratch, even on our backs because we can always use a pointy stick. Dragons can of course use their long claws to scratch themselves or rub up against a tree or cliff. But dragons have scales and when they get an itch under one, they sometimes find it very hard to get rid of. It has been known for a dragon to throw itself off a mountain because of an itch that slowly drove it mad.

 

Nightmare was such a dragon and he had been bothered by an itch on his back for more than a week. He had tried scratching at it and he had tried rubbing against trees and rocks, but none had been of any use.

 

So he did what many dragons do and that was to hire some dwarves to get rid of it. Even fearsome Bloodscale Dragons have been known to do the same, promising not to eat them as long as they got rid of an itch. They even pay them for the service from their treasure mounds, which is a pretty big deal for a Bloodscale Dragon.

 

Now Nightmare had no interest in treasure, so he knew he would have to pay for the service another way. Usually he was asked to dig out the start of an open cut mine or carry a load of heavy gold to a branch of the Kingdoms National Bank to deposit.

 

So this morning he had flown to some mountains where some dwarves lived. He was quite surprised and honoured to find the dwarves king, Copper Thumb, was to help. He and two other dwarves were standing on his scaled back, each holding the tools they would use for the job.

 

‘That’s about the spot, your majesty,’ Nightmare said, coal smoke hissing from his snout.

 

‘Righto, Nightmare,’ replied King Copper-Thumb and then nodded at the other dwarves.

 

They were carrying iron crowbars and they slipped their curving tips under a scale. They heaved away and slowly raised the scale free from the bright red skin underneath. Once it was up enough, Copper-Thumb stooped underneath and with a large wire brush, began to vigorously rub the area.

 

‘Oh, yes… that’s it,’ Nightmare said with a rumbling moan. ‘That’s the spot!’

 

For the next hour an or so the dwarves worked around his scales. They lifted up quite a few, giving his skin a good scrubbing till finally the itch was gone. Nightmare let out a huge groan of relief, a burst of flame scorching the ground around him.

 

‘Thanks very much,’ he said. ‘That itch had been annoying me for a week.’

 

‘Our pleasure, Nightmare,’ King Copper-Thumb replied.

 

‘Now, how can I repay you?’ Nightmare asked, expecting the usual kind of service.

 

But what the dwarves wanted really surprised him.

 

* * *

 

Venom-Eye the Bloodscale Dragon was dozing happily in his cave atop his great treasure mound. It was late in the afternoon and sunshine streamed in through the entrance, causing the treasure to wink and glitter. He was feeling very smug at the moment as he had attacked a castle today and come away with some treasure to add to his collection.

 

He had just about dozed off completely when he heard the sound of huge beating wings. Then something very heavy landed outside his cave. He opened a huge golden eye, wondering whether it was another Bloodscale Dragon come to fight him for his treasure. He was about to tell whoever it was to push off when he noticed just how big the shadow was. Then the huge shape of a Midnight Dragon filled the entrance and his eyes opened wide in surprise.

 

‘Venom-Eye, is it?’ Nightmare asked in a deep growl.

 

‘Yes, who are you?’ Venom-Eye replied.

 

‘Nightmare’s the name. I’d like to talk to you about your treasure.’

 

‘What about it,’ Venom-Eye asked suspiciously.

 

‘I’m in need of some of it,’ Nightmare replied bluntly.

 

Now the thought of parting with even a single coin of his treasure made Venom-Eye very angry. He was about to tell Nightmare to get lost when a sudden childhood memory came to him. His mother had told him a story once about a cousin who had boasted that he could beat any dragon in a fight, even a Midnight Dragon. The very next day one had turned up at his cave and asked him to step outside.

 

His cousin had survived the fight his mother had said… but he was the never the same dragon afterwards. Venom-Eye looked at the size of Nightmare and figured that parting with a bit of treasure might not be so bad.

 

‘How much do you want?’ he asked.

 

‘Just a little,’ Midnight replied. ‘I need it to pay some dwarves to pay for an itch scratching.’

 

‘Ah… an itch,’ Venom-Eye nodded in understanding.

 

‘And you would avoid any unpleasantness,’ Midnight added as he scrapped a huge claw down the side of the cave.

 

‘How much time to do you need?’ Venom-Eye asked quickly.

 

*

 

A short while after Venom-Eye had flown off, King Copper-Thumb and another dwarf arrived at the cave. Nightmare was sitting in the entrance, idly scratching at some treasure. He had been told the king wanted something special in it and thought it was probably something really nice like a gold ring or diamond pendant.

 

‘Thanks for your help in this, Nightmare,’ said the king.

 

‘Thanks for getting rid of the itch,’ Nightmare said with a smile that was all fangs.

 

‘Could you rake out the treasure from the top, Nightmare,’ the other dwarf called Gold-Nose called up to him. ‘Sort of spread it about the cave a bit.’

 

‘Sure,’ Nightmare replied and with his huge claws began to rake the treasure around the cave floor.

 

He shortly had it spread fairly evenly about and Gold-Nose climbed on top of it. He sniffed the air as he went and was almost to the middle of the mound when he suddenly stopped. He bent down and shoving his hand into a pile of coins, lifted something out of them.

 

‘Found it,’ he said and held up a small metal goblet.

 

Nightmare frowned as it looked very much like ordinary bronze to him. He thought it couldn’t be worth very much as Gold-Nose handed it to a delighted King Copper Thumb.

 

‘Ah, yes. This is it.’

 

‘It looks like ordinary bronze to me,’ Nightmare remarked. ‘Is that all you what you wanted?’

 

King Copper-humb nodded.

 

‘Yes, this is what I wanted.’

 

‘What’s so special about it?’ Nightmare asked, thinking it odd that the dwarf would want something only made of bronze when there was so much gold and silver for the taking.

 

King Copper-Thumb looked a bit embarrassed as he answered.

 

‘Well… you see, it’s my baby cup,’ he replied. ‘Damn dragon stole it years ago and I’ve always wanted it back.’