The horizon seemed to tilt to one side as I lazily banked. I had discovered the thrill of soaring. Arienach laughed at me inside my head. I think he was enjoying the newness I felt in discovering what I could do. Of course, something as old as he was, it was probably refreshing.

  I was learning about the world that I was currently calling home. Arienach had no name for it, dragons only worried about names, it seemed, if it was something they considered important. For a planar, it was just another rock to roost on till it grew boring. We could live anywhere.

  Arienach was droning on about the game and part of me was actually trying to listen. Seems that it was started before his time and he knew not where it came from. Players had stats and skills and such. Locals sometimes could join and advance themselves. The locals called them heroes. There seemed to be no way of actually winning this game and there was no clear goal beyond power. The thought of politics reared it’s ugly head to Arienach’s dry chuckle.

  Apparently, it had been going on for as long as anyone knew. Levels were gained and sometimes lost. I also found out that there was no resurrection. Even those who did not play for power had stats and skills that could be upgraded. While not a gamer, it sounded... orderly? Wars were fought over this and that, one race rose while another fell. Objects could hold power and items could be crafted. So far, I found no reason to be too worried about any of it since, from what Arienach told me, the closest competing dragon was several thousand levels below me and the locals were still below a hundred.

  That didn’t really ring true, as Arienach was brought low by a local. Voicing my doubts, Arienach gave a mental shrug and replied that everything had weaknesses.

  We had flown outside the ring while we were talking and I was suddenly distracted by a moving dust cloud that appeared between two peaks in the valley below us. Focusing on it I saw a group of horsemen herding cattle. I was wondering why they were in such a hurry, when Arienach informed me that was his, our, claimed herd. It was a pocket valley with only one entrance, so I brought my wings in close and went into a dive towards the mouth. I was coming in from behind the riders, but quite high still when I passed over them, then over the entrance to the valley. A slight tilt of a wing and I did a lazy turn back, guesstimating the distance almost perfectly.

  I felt Arienach smile. Kiting my wings I touched down just as the riders approached. That was when I had my first major shock of the last few days. They were tiny. Arienach laughed at me.

“Let’s see... by your old measurement standards they stand an average of just under six feet tall.”

“I... see...”

  The cattle didn’t seem to want to approach, for some reason and the riders didn’t look too comfortable with the idea either. I took a closer look at them, discovering they were elves. I also watched as several pulled bows from their backs and fired them in one smooth motion. I was starting to wonder if I should be concerned when the first struck. I didn’t even feel it. Curious, I watched a few strike my shoulder and neck. They bounced without leaving a scratch. Needless to say, the arrows stopped after a few more shots. I could hear them talking amongst themselves and after a moment, I understood them. Seems I had a talent for languages now. Arienach was in observation mode... in other words, I didn’t hear him. My guess was he was curious what I would do. Come to think of it, so was I. On a whim, I hailed the group.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Greetings this day. I am called Michael.”

Apparently, I was a bit loud for them as the horses spooked, almost dismounting a few of them. They made no effort to run away, probably knowing there was nowhere to run too.

I heard one say; “It Talks!”

I chuckled and replied. “Very good. Might I know your names?”

  To be honest, I was rather enjoying their confusion. I detected a faint echo of mirth from Arienach as well. There was a brief hushed discussion, which I listened to. It seemed my hearing was rather better than it used to be. Since I was about two hundred yards from them and they were trying to whisper. I let them talk themselves into complying with my wishes. Seems none of them was too thrilled with the idea of pissing off a dragon whose fore-talons were twice the length of their height. While they were figuring out what to do, I decided to relax. I lay down across the mouth of the valley and stretched. Finally three of them approached on foot, and I lowered my head slightly.

The lead one spoke... well, shouted. “I am Graniel of the Horiel tribe.”

I chuckled, the sound coming out as a low growl. “Tis good to meet you Graniel of the Horiel tribe and the rest of you as well,” naming off the other members of his band.

The elf recovered quite well, showing himself to quite brave... or resigned to his fate, not sure which. He was quick on the uptake as well as next time he spoke it was at a normal tone.

“I was rather curious where you were taking my cattle this day, Graniel.”

His shoulders slumped slightly. “They... are your’s then.” He sighed. “We did not know Lord Dragon. I give my life to you in payment for our error.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him, that I already had it if I cared to take it. Still, I wondered what would bring them looking for livestock.

“Tell me, I know of no tribe close to my lair, what drove you to travel this far?”

A look of puzzlement crossed the young elf’s face. “Since the green ones invaded our land several cycles ago, our farmlands were destroyed and our livestock has been killed. We come out of desperation.”

I thought on this for a moment. Arienach was being quiet, even though I knew he was listening to what I was thinking, so I decided to see where this would take me.

“First, Graniel, I do not wish your life.” I paused for a moment. “Second, I will not see your people suffer if they come out of survival to harvest my herd. I will offer to you half of them, if you allow me to come to your land upon your return.”

There was a stunned silence which stretched out for several minutes.

“I have no way to pay you lord dragon.” It came out as almost a whisper.

“Michael. I am not your lord. I do not require payment from you.”

The next period of silence, I crafted minute gem, probably only an inch across and enchanted it to call to me.

“What should we do?” The poor elf sounded lost.

“Take this and call me when you return. I will allow you to take half of my cattle. Go to your people and let them know that I will be coming and that I mean them no harm.”

I watched his back straighten slightly. “I will do this lord... Michael.”

I tossed the stone... carefully to his feet. I watched the flash of blue from it as he picked it up and stared at it. I guess my measurements were off, it was a little larger than his hand.

“Fair winds to you Graniel.”

With that, I took to the air.