[WP] You are a orphan that is being raised by a large dragon and she's very protective of you. One day, a party of adventurers finds you.

1/3

“Come quick! There’s a child up here!” Archibald cried out.

Lauralee and Victor trekked through the rocky terrain of the mountain to see what their compatriot was talking about. As they caught up to him, they stood with their mouths agape, startled at the sight of a small girl with long, tattered ginger hair wearing makeshift robes and kneeling face down at the ledge of the mountain.

“Great gods above,” Lauralee muttered, peering down at the disheveled child. “How did she get all the way up here?”

Victor tried to put words together but ultimately failed. He found himself in a state of shock. They all did. After all, it took the three of them ten days to venture up the mountain, and that included packs upon packs of provisions, supplies, and thick woolly coats to survive the elements. An entire village could not sustain themselves in the treacherous mountain for very long, and yet this small child looked like she had been sitting there for months.

“Excuse me? Sweetheart?” Lauralee sputtered out, finding the courage to speak to her. “Are you alright?”

Silence…and then the girl slowly nodded her head.

“What is your name, little one?” said Victor, following close behind Lauralee. The child looked up at the two of them, her face smeared with dust and mud.

“Agatha,” said the child with a soft, parched voice.

“Agatha. Such a pretty name.” Lauralee smiled and reached her hand out towards the child. Agatha hesitated, but gradually brought a cold, dry hand out and grabbed Lauralee’s hand. “How did you end up here all on your own? Where are your parents?”

“Do you live around here?” asked Victor.

Agatha turned around, and lifted her tiny finger above her, pointing at the murky entrance of a cave near a ledge of the mountain. The group stood in silence.

“Impossible,” said Archibald, breaking the silence. “The girl’s lost her mind.”

Victor gulped. “Listen, Agatha, it’s not safe for you up here. Don’t you know what lives in that cave?”

“A beast is what!” Archibald cried out. “A terrible dragon! Ain’t no way that child lived in that cave for one moment and survived.”

“Hush your tongue, Archibald” Lauralee snarled. “You’ll scare her.”

“ME? I’ll scare her, will I?” laughed Archibald, nervously. “She’s got plenty more to worry about than the likes a’ me!”

“I’ll give you something to worry about if you don’t stop raving…”

“She won’t let me go,” said Agatha, softly.

Lauralee turned back to Agatha. “What? Who won’t let you go?”

Agatha pointed once again to the cave. “Me and my brother. She won’t let us go.”

“You mean,” stammered Victor, “you mean…that the…the dragon…took you captive?”

“How long have ya been in there?” exclaimed Archibald.

“How did you escape?” inquired Victor.

“Now stop it! Both of you!” snapped Lauralee. “The last thing she needs is a barrage of questions.” She looked back at Agatha and gave her a warm smile. “It’s going to be ok, Agatha. You’re going to be just fine, we’ll protect you.”

Agatha smiled back. “You have pretty earrings.”

“Oh! Well, thank you, that’s very sweet of you to say.” Indeed, Lauralee had a nice pair of small sapphire earrings on each ear.

Victor turned towards Agatha. “Listen, perhaps we can help each other here. You see, they say that within these caves, the monster guards…well..a treasure greater than any man can conceive…”

“Could you take your mind off of treasure for two seconds, Victor?” said Lauralee, agitated at both of her partners.

“All I’m saying is that…she can guide us through the cave, and we can save her brother and kill the monster. Then, she can guide us to the treasure. Everyone wins.”

Archibald laughed. “Oh yeah. I’m liking this plan. Our own little guide into hell itself.”

Lauralee sighed, her face buried in her hands in frustration. Finally, she looked back at Agatha. “Well, what do you say Agatha?”

/r/WritingPrompts Thread