The Silver Dragon by David Thackaberry "Bloody dragons." It was not a sentiment often uttered in the Silver Dragon inn, and the barkeep looked up in some surprise as his customer continued. "Think they're so much better than us. So superior, so wise." He spat into his ale. The barkeep had already noticed the burly man's missing right hand, and thought that this probably explained it. "Ah. Had a run-in with a dragon, have you?" Though the flickering lanterns painted the walls with huge, shadowy monsters, the atmosphere in the common room was usually genial, with chatter and laughter filling the air. Now, however, all the occupants fell silent. They wouldn't miss a tale of dragons for anything. The stranger laughed bitterly. "Aye, that I have. He took my hand, my house, my girlfriend, my job...everything. Now all I can do is drown my troubles." Illustrating his point, he quaffed his ale, then slammed the mug back onto the bar. "Give me another." As he filled the mug, the barkeep nodded knowledgably. "Ah. So a dragon burned your house down, bit your hand off, carried your girlfriend away and - your job? How did it take your job?" "Nah, 'twas nothing like that. Besides, I wouldn't begrudge a dragon that. That's natural for a dragon, like stealing cattle." The stranger lapsed into a gloomy silence. The barkeep waited patiently for a minute, then ventured, "Ah, well, in any case, the royal guard would have hunted it down, a rogue dragon like that. The laws are clear, after all." "Laws?" The one-handed man snorted. "Those laws were the start of all my troubles. Integration of dragons into society! Hah!" The barkeep raised an eyebrow. "Ah. Maybe you should tell your story from the beginning." "You want to hear it?" Several customers assented, and the stranger nodded. "All right, then. "Back in '23, I was on top of the world. I had everything going for me. I was the best courier in the realm, and after the increase in goblin raids, the pay was great. I had a beautiful house, a beautiful girl... "Then the dragon came." "Ah," interrupted the barkeep, "so he bit your hand off and cost you your job." "No, I lost my hand much later," snapped the burly man, "and I'll thank you to let me tell my own tale. "No, there was no trouble for me in '23. But late that year, if you remember, those laws you mentioned were introduced. `Dragons are equal to humans in the eyes of the law', and all that. And it was because of those laws that I lost everything. "You see, some wizard in management came up with the idea of employing dragons as couriers. "It was a brilliant success. There was a sudden influx of dragons in early '24, and they were willing to work for low wages. They didn't need horses, they could hunt for their food, they were quick - damn quick - and they could protect themselves better than any human. Aye, it was a fine business decision. "But no-one thought of the men who were dispossessed by those bloody dragons. "The worst of it was that the dragons didn't really need the jobs. After all, they could survive in the wilds. What did they want with money?" "A more comfortable life, perhaps?" commented the barkeep. "Look, who's telling this story?" snarled the stranger. He waited for a shrug of apology from the barkeep before continuing, "Anyway, I saw one of the scaly bastards just after I was dismissed. He didn't look like a lizard, of course - wouldn't have fit in the building if he'd been in dragon form. No, he was a silver, and he looked just like a human, except for his soulless eyes. "I didn't do anything to him then, though by all the gods I should have. No, I just walked out the door and started looking for another job. "Turned out there was nothing left in the town. It was small anyway, and the dragons were taking work without buying much. I tried for a while to find any job I could, but my savings were running dry. I couldn't pay the rent, and eventually I was evicted. "Guess who came to inform me that I was being thrown out. That's right, 'twas that self-same silver. "Seems he knew how to read and write. That was a rare talent, so the civil service hired him as a scribe. And an enforcer. "This...thing...had taken my job, a job I loved, and just thrown it aside. "I punched him right in the mouth, and he just took it. Then he grabbed me by the neck, slammed me against the wall, and said,`If you're not out of here in a week, I'll have to evict you by force.' His strength...you wouldn't believe it. It was inhuman. "I left, of course. But I wasn't going to beg in the streets. I left for the capital. It was a big city, and there were sure to be jobs going there. And I wouldn't have to live with the contempt of that cursed dragon. "My girlfriend, though...I didn't tell her about the dragon. How could I? So she didn't understand why I had to go to the capital when she would have given me a place to sleep for a while. She wouldn't come with me, so I had to say goodbye. Another part of my life lost because of that damned reptile. "As it turned out, I had to beg anyway. I had no skills useful to employers any more. I was sleeping in the streets, begging for enough money to buy food. Then I heard the news." Here the stranger paused to heave a sigh and gulp some ale. "It was news of a wedding. The wedding of the King's chief advisor, in fact. To my former girlfriend. "I recognised them both from the portrait, you see; my girlfriend and the chief advisor. Because he was the same silver dragon who'd taken away the rest of my life. "I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised he'd become a politician, the silver-tongued bastard. "I stayed away from the wedding. I didn't want to see them together. But a couple of weeks later, I caught sight of him again, heading down a street I was sitting in. "I followed him until he headed down an alley. I thought fate had given me a chance, one I'd be foolish to ignore. I hurried after him with murder in my thoughts. "He was waiting for me. He knocked the knife from my hand, grabbed me by my shirt, and dragged me to the courts. "I knew the penalty for attempted murder was death, and right then I was glad. I knew they'd take his word, as well, enough for an immediate execution. But the bastard cheated me one final time. "He knew I'd tried to kill him, I'm sure. But all the cold-blooded lizard said was, `He tried to rob me. You know the penalty.' "That's how I lost my hand. Not so romantic as you thought, eh? "Now...I just wander, hoping that the fates will throw another chance my way so I kill that dragon for what he took from me. For my job, my girl, my hand...and for acting so bloody superior." His tale ended, the traveller took a swig of his ale and snorted. "Dragons - they're no better than us." "Ah," said the barkeep. "Hmm. Did you, perchance, miss the sign on the way in?" "No, I saw it. Why?" The stranger's eyes narrowed suddenly in suspicion. "Wait a minute. Are you one of those dragon sympathisers?" "I think that what he is referring to," interrupted a figure rising from a corner table, "is that silver dragons often frequent this establishment. Dragons like myself." "You!" screamed the one-handed man, teeth suddenly bared in hatred. "You won't get away this time!" He reached into his boot and pulled a thin-bladed knife out. "Now, now," the barkeep soothed. "There'll be no fighting in here." "Stay out of this," growled the stranger. "This is between me and that flaming reptile there." He advanced on the dark figure in the corner. A hiss sounded behind him. It was not a hiss that could have been made with a human throat. It was a snake's hiss. The traveller blinked, then slowly looked behind him. There was only the barkeep there, but the monstrous shadow on the wall behind him suddenly looked much more well-defined. "I said there'll be no trouble," said the barkeep in a somehow more sonorous tone. The one-handed man whipped back around at the sound of scraping chairs. The other customers were standing. The light threw huge shadows all around them. The stranger backed slowly towards the door, knife dropping from nerveless fingers. He stammered, "You...you..." then broke into a run for the door. The patrons watched him scramble out and listened to his retreating footsteps until the silence was broken by a snort from the barkeep. "Now that was the most scale-headed fellow I've seen in a long while. `Dragon sympathisers', indeed." The king's chief advisor smiled and sauntered to the bar. "Aye, though I'll say one thing for him. He certainly made us being no better than humans sound insulting." "Ah, yes," chuckled the barkeep. "In more ways than one!" They saluted each other with their glasses and drank as the dragons' chatter rose around them again.