The Bag

     The enormous cavern was aglow with riches beyond anything the adventurers had ever seen. The only darkness within the room was cast by their own shadows. Their eyes wide, the three adventurers trekked through the room, imagining what they’d do with endless wealth.

    The trio of adventurers had banded together close to a year ago and had achieved many things. Coming together through necessity during a fighting tournament, over the trials of their chosen life, they had grown close as a unit. A found family.

    One, a female elven woman, Trisfina, who was quick with both the falchion and hand crossbow. Though her feats were well known, she had been spurned by her noble family for falling in love with her fellow adventurer, a man of “peasant blood”. Her studded leather armour meant she could move around quickly and not be heard.

    The second adventurer, Marcus, was a rugged man with a flowing mane of red hair and a stubble that could never be shaved away. A rough fighter that relied on his farmer’s equipment, his tenacity carried him through a lot of fights that he should’ve lost. He and Trisfina were to be married in a month, but with little money to speak of, they had decided to pull one last adventure.

    Lolbol, the last of the trio, a stout dwarven female wizard who had on numerous occasions pulled the party out of trouble they should never have started. Of the three, she pursued riches with the most passion and was glad when they told her of the upcoming raid on a dragon’s lair. Thakk, a small green, ethereal echidna was her familiar.

    Rivers of precious gems snaked its way through endless mountains of bulbous gold. Trisfina and Marcus surfed down the gold and platinum coins to take a closer look at a glowing artefact. Lolbol stayed behind and started to pocket as many coins as she could carry.

    “What do you suppose this does?” Marcus asked. The glowing, red runes decorated the surface of an uncannily perfectly spherical bronze ball.

    “No idea. I’m sure it’s something Lolbol would be able to figure out if we asked her.” Trisfina went to touch it, but Marcus stopped her.

    “Last time we touched something, we were set upon by a vampire lord. Methinks we wait for Lolbol’s expertise.” He smiled to show he meant no judgement and Trisfina nodded.

    “Hey Lolbol, what do you suppose this is?” Trisfina called up to their dwarven friend, who was still stowing away whatever she could get her hands on. The dwarf looked up from her gathering riches and adjusted the magical glasses she wore.

    The glasses were of her own make. Capable of seeing simple magic, acting like binoculars, and seeing in infrared, the small, lensed glasses were more than a simple fashion accessory. It was an invention Lolbol had hoped to make money off, but she hadn’t quite worked out how to produce it in mass quantities.

    “Shhh, you might wake the dragon.” She held a finger in front of her dour face.

    “Lolbol, there isn’t a dragon here. Hasn’t been one for years. We’re safe,” replied Marcus.

    “If there’s no dragon here, then why are all these riches still here? No, people don’t have their facts straight.” Lolbol slid down the waves of coins and joined her other two friends.

    “It was extremely dangerous just getting here. Besides, how many people are as good as us?” Trisfina smiled and gave a wink. “What is this?” she pointed to the sphere and was pushed aside as Lolbol moved in for a better look.

    “I have no idea. I would have to take it back to my tower and study it.” She retrieved a rag from her robes and covered it up. “Best not touch it directly.”

    “There’s enough loot here to pay for ten thousand weddings, maybe more.” Marcus began to pocket some. “There’s no way we could take all of it. Too heavy, too many trips.”

    “We’ll only take enough. Leave it here for others to find. There’s no need to be greedy,” replied Trisfina.

    “Are you mad? We’ll never come across limitless riches like this again.” Lolbol made some movements with her hands and uttered a few magic words that the others didn’t understand, and a large bubble snapped into existence with a quiet “pop”.

    “Hey, I like that spell,” remarked Marcus.

    “A simple one, but a goody.” Lolbol waved her hands and directed the bubble down into the bulging piles of treasure. Within moments, the bubble resurfaced, ready to burst from the amount of treasure it contained.

    “Lolbol, that’s more than enough,” said Trisfina. She shot her companion a disapproving look before she picked up a few shiny trinkets.

    “Ok, ok. You’re right, this is more money than I could spend in a lifetime.”

    A meek screech echoed through the cavern and the three companions snapped their heads in unison toward the sound.

    “I thought you said there were no dragons!” Lolbol snapped. Trisfina darted after the sound, with Marcus close behind her. Lolbol eyed the bubble of riches.

    Trisfina sped along the surface of the coins without sinking, a feat that Marcus failed to replicate. The screech cried out again and this time Trisfina could see what had made the sound.

    A scrawny body, covered with red scales and wrapped in paper-thin wings was curled up in a nest made of sticks and bones. The dragon was barely bigger than a pony and it locked eyes with Trisfina and snarled at her.

    “Only a whelp, nothing to worry about,” Trisfina called out. She watched with a smile as Marcus struggled to pull himself free of some treasure.

    “Good.” Marcus now stood by Trisfina’s side and eyed the creature. It hiccupped and a small flame erupted forth, but it fizzled out before it was any threat to the pair.

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    “I wonder what happened to its parents?” asked Marcus.

    “Probably killed. Come on, lets go. We’ve got more than enough. Hopefully it has a chance to grow.” Trisfina and Marcus turned and walked away, the weak screeches faded over time.

    “Are we really going to leave all of this here?” Lolbol asked, her eyes wild.

    “Yep,” said Marcus. With that, they all returned to their homes.

    Over the next few weeks, Lolbol studied the bronze sphere and set to work on developing a way to get all the dragon’s horde out of the cavern.

    Lolbol was frustrated with herself that she failed to learn what the bronze sphere was. Though, because it looked pretty, she kept it on display in the middle of a room in her tower.

    As for her troubles with transporting all of the dragon’s horde in a single trip, Lolbol succeeded in creating a bag that would be able to achieve such a task. Within the bag was a pocket dimension of Lolbol’s own creation. It was a dangerous magic that was difficult to achieve and maintain.

    Lolbol returned to the cavern of treasures without letting her companions know. It was a task she knew they would never approve of, but it was something they never had to know.

    Starting on the side furthest from where Trisfina and Marcus found the young dragon, Lolbol wanted to test the waters first with her bag. She placed it on the shimmering carpet of gold and pulled the cord to open the bag.

    Lolbol picked up a singular coin and threw it into the bag. She heard no noise as it flew in, and her heart skipped a beat with excitement. This time, she picked up a few coins and looked into the bag as she dropped the coins. She watched as they faded into the swirling, inky purple that was the gateway to the pocket dimension of her bag.

    “Now for the tester.” Lolbol pushed her arm into the bag. She reached in as far as her shoulder before she felt the coins. With a greedy grasp, she pulled the coins back out and was relieved to see they were in the same condition as they were when she dropped them in.

    “Good, good. Let’s try some different material.” She now waved her hands and muttered an incantation, and she watched as precious gemstones and a piece of intricately decorated, gleaming breastplate all floated through the air like a luxurious smell, and dropped into the bag.

    Lolbol watched with wide eyes as the treasure all disappeared into the seeming nothingness. Continuing the use of the spell, she pulled everything back out again and squealed with delight to see everything was as it should be.

    “More,” whispered a voice. Lolbol raised an eyebrow and shook her head. She used her magic again to carry more riches into the bag.

    “Good. But I want more.” The voice sounded a little stronger this time. Lolbol hesitated and dropped her spell.

    Lolbol approached her bag warily, her confidence now shaken.

    “Who are you, where are you?” Lolbol quivered as she looked at her bag.

    “I go by many names. As for where I am, I think you know.”

    “What do you want?”

    “The same as you, all of the riches your world has to offer. Or your life.”

    “That’s not going to happen.” Lolbol screamed words that were laced with powerful magic, and she waved her hands in an arcane way. A roiling mass of fire engulfed her hands before she blasted her spell at the bag.

    The smoke disappeared and Lolbol felt her heart in her throat when she saw that the bag sat there, unchanged.

    “I am eternal. I rule throughout the cosmos. Feed me what I ask, or forfeit your life.”

    “Give me time. That’s a lot of magic.” Lolbol repeated the magical words and waved her arms again. Her excitement at watching the gold go into her bag was now replaced with a gut-wrenching fear.

    Over the hours, the countless treasures slowly ebbed away like a pool being drained. Sweat poured from Lolbol’s face as she strained to keep the magic going for so long.

    “More. More. Or your life!”

    “There isn’t much left.” Lolbol complained. The endless riches her and her friends had encountered before was close to empty. Patches of the cavern floor could now be seen.

    “All of it.” The voice broke into a shuddering laughter and Lolbol’s stomach flopped as she now saw the dragon.

    It was on the other side of the cavern, and it had spotted her. On all fours, it crawled with animalistic speed toward her.

    “My mother’s hoard,” it screeched.

    Lolbol dropped the spell and flicked her wrist with a short burst of words. An unseen force crashed into the dragon and held it pinned to the floor.

    “Please, I don’t want to kill you, but I need to take everything here.”

    “You have enough. Leave.” It opened its mouth and spewed forth a flame that choked out before it went far.

    “No, I don’t. I need to take everything here.” The rest of the treasure was in the bag shortly after that. Lolbol shot an apologetic look at the dragon, and she could hear it cursing after her as she hurried away.

    Lolbol returned to her tower in a flash. Knocking over her many ornaments, she flung the bag off her shoulder and into the middle of the room.

    “There. I gave you everything it had. Now leave me be.”

    “More. I want more. Feed me more, or your life.”

    “That was all of the treasure. There is no more.” Lolbol found herself with her back pressed up against the wall, but it felt like it still wasn’t far enough away from that bag.

    “Fine.” The bag opened and a magnificent sucking force started to pull everything in from the room.

    Lolbol watched in horror as all her little trinkets and baubles. Treasures and keepsakes flew into the mouth of the bag.

    Suddenly, Lolbol felt her body begin to pull. Slow at first, she turned to flee, but suddenly, the force grew stronger, and her body lifted up and flew through the air toward the bag. She clawed at the black flagstone floor, and she screamed in pain as her nails ripped off.

    “I’ll find you more stuff!” Faster than it started, the vacuum stopped. Lolbol’s body crashed with a thud, the wind knocked out of her.

    “Alright then, I believe we can make a deal.”

    “How…how much do you want?” whimpered Lolbol. She cupped her right hand, the blood flowed freely from her fingers.

    “You’ll know when I need more.”

    Lolbol tiptoed back into her tower late one winter night. She had been living with the presence in the bag for a year.

    Resorting to theft over adventuring, Lolbol eked out a miserable existence with barely enough to get by. She’d withdrawn into her tower and kept the few friends she had away. She didn’t even go to Trisfina and Marcus’s wedding, afraid that she’d need to steal just to please the bag.

    No matter how much she brought to the entity in the bag, it was never enough. A small stash was kept in the corner of the room in case the bag ever demanded a feed throughout the night.

    The being in the bag threatened if she ever went to anyone for help, she would forfeit her life. However, with some independent study, she surmised that the entity within was Greed. An ancient being where very little could be learned.

    Lolbol lamented ever having created the dimensional bag. That she’d ever come across the dragon hoard with her friends. That she wanted more than she ever needed.

     “Where’s your offering?”

    With a tentative hand, Lolbol reached for the small pouch within her robes. It was only a small amount tonight. Greed wouldn’t be pleased for long.

    Suddenly, her heart stopped, and she realised with dread that her gift was gone. Someone must’ve lifted it from her as she was leaving the guild hall. She should’ve known trying to rob the Thieves Guild was foolish.

    “I have nothing.” Lolbol’s arms flopped to her sides, and she hung her head.

    “Then I’ll have you.” The immense vacuum started again and Lolbol felt her body pulled out from under her.

    “No, you won’t.” In a flash of hot violence, Lolbol’s body was incinerated as she engulfed herself with a spell.

    “I never meant merely your body.” The voice cackled and pulled into itself, disappearing with a pop.