The question of whether the world trembled when a dragon sneezed was quickly answered when a bone rattling shudder ran through a cave in a mountain somewhere in the Dragon Ranges. The dragon in question woke up from its slumber because just like we all know, dragons do not catch colds, a thought that now puzzled the dragon.
The red scaled dragon didn’t particularly care whether it had a cold or not, it only worried when another sneeze wracked its body yet again. If you ever owned a pet like a cat or a dog, you would know that when they sneezed, it sometimes came out in short-fire bursts like a quick firing gun. Dragons did pretty much the same although when a dragon sneezed, it came accompanied with all the fireworks a dragon was known for, only much worse. A fireball of flame exploded onto the nearby wall as another sneeze erupted from its body.
The only time in its past when it found reason to sneeze was when something like a few wayward feathers prickled its nostrils after it chopped on a particularly feathery griffon it caught napping on a sunny rock one time. Even then, after a sneeze or two the dragon felt right as rain and promptly continued searching for its next meal.
However, by the tenth sneezing session the dragon couldn’t pretend to sleep anymore, stood up and stretched above its golden hoard, since we all know dragons like to sleep on their treasure piles.
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The dragon yawned, smacked its lips, and then casually scratched its chin with a front foot claw while casting a wary eye around the place. It considered its snug little cave home for over a century and on the odd occasion, some irritating and smelly goblins tried to sneak some of its treasure hoard away. Those intruders often made so much noise they couldn’t make off with a single gold coin before a flame breath seared the images of the goblins on the cave walls like caveman hieroglyphs.
Already, a row of goblin motifs surrounded the walls along with a compliment of carbon imprints from some particularly pesky dwarves that tried the same, unsuccessfully as the somewhat faded shadowed outlines attested. It chuckled to itself about that last thought, those dwarves were forever banging away at something deep in the depths of the mountain where it couldn’t get at them. That they also tried to steal its hoard caused the dragon to become all riled up again.
It treated dwarves the same as any edible thing and having the odd dwarvish snack now and then made for a welcome change from the drudgery of backcountry cuisine. Strangely, the only problem after snacking on said dwarves was that flying in a straight line became nearly impossible. That and the unusual aftertaste.
Another set of violent sneezes disrupted the dragon’s culinary musings, forcing it to go outside for a bit of fresh air. Perhaps, it thought, some distraction might help purge the sternutation curse.