Aurelia rode the updraft over the center of town, eyes peeled for any sign of this so-called army. Who would dare to attack her? Another one of her siblings? Two had tried, but none had thus far truly succeeded. She had come out on the other side stronger and better each time. She completely ignored the niggling feeling that she was intentionally forgetting important parts of both those encounters.

 

But if not her siblings, then who? Perhaps it was one of the human lords. Supposedly, this town belonged to some duke or the other. Aurelia hadn’t bothered to learn his name. Maybe he wanted it back. Well, if that was the case, he was about to get a very warm welcome.

 

There! At the edge of the forest, she could make out the glint of sunlight of many pieces of steel. People, an army even, moving along the old forest road in a marching column. A little short for humans, perhaps. But no matter what they might be, they were moving towards her town, and she intended to put a stop to that.

 

She dove, a snarl growing in her throat. A cloud of dust exploded beneath her as she struck the ground. Rearing back and beating her wings to swirl the cloud around her, she called out, “Alright! You wanted a dragon? Here I am! Come at me if you dare.”

 

Screams and shrieks echoed around her, high-pitched and almost shrill. The people, who were much shorter than she expected, scattered like leaves before an autumn gale, tails between their legs.

​

Wait a second. Aurelia’s eyes narrowed. Humans did not have tails. Aurelia knew that much at least. What were these creatures? Like a cat catching a mouse, she leapt upon one that was just a little too slow to move away and snatched it up by the tail. Now she could get a good look at it. It was not, in fact, wearing armor, but rather covered in grey scales that glinted and gleamed brightly in the morning light. That must have been what she and the town guards mistook for armor and weapons. While only about the size of a human child, it had blunt claws and a snout full of sharp teeth that could be dangerous, if you were not a dragon. Aurelia mentally placed it under ‘strange, tiny lizard-man’. For its part, it hung from her grip as its limbs flailed wildly about in a panic. “No, no,” it said, “No eat! No eat! Not good food!”

 

“As if,” Aurelia said, a little put off. Scales, as everyone knew, were bad for your teeth. Besides, she had recently decided that goats were the best food on the planet and had no intention to change her dinner plans. She looked the little creature up and down. “What, er, are you?”

 

It clasped its claws together and wrung them. “My name’s Scrim, your worshipfulness. I am a kobold.”

 

“Worshipfulness?” Aurelia repeated, intrigued and pleased.

 

“Oh yes. Oh yes,” the kobold assured her, “We kobolds serve dragons. We have waited for generations for one. We came here because we heard one had appeared. And so you have!”

 

Well, that seemed entirely too good to be true. Aurelia let suspicion show on her face. “Is that so?”

 

The kobolds head bobbed up and down rapidly. “Oh yes. I swear on the egg I was hatched, yes, yes.”

 

“Then I am sure your friends will confirm it,” Aurelia said. She raised her voice and called out. “I have your friend, er, Scram here!” The kobold did not try and correct her. Smart choice. “Come, come and tell me what you wanted in my city. If you do, I will let you all leave. If you do not, I could go for a nice day of hunting you all down.”

 

She waited. A few moments later, another kobold popped out of a hole in the ground nearby. More came, more than she originally suspected. They chattered and chittered at each other in muted voices.

 

“Good,” Aurelia purred, “Now, tell me something. Why are you here?”

​

In unison, they answered, “To serve the dragon.”

 

Aurelia had to admit, she was not expecting that level of coordination. This seemed rehearsed, which was suspicious. On the other claw, it meant they had at least been planning this. She nodded slowly. “I see.” She did not see. Not one bit. But she could hardly admit that.

 

Scrim fidgeted in her claws. “So. I was saying the truth, yes, yes? Are you happy, oh mighty dragon?”

 

“I suppose,” Aurelia muttered. She had become so used to people trying to insult her without her noticing that the very compliments they paid her came across as suspicious. At the same time, she had to admit they seemed sincere and almost eager. At a loss, she gently set her captive down and gave him a nudge to join the others. “Well,” she said, “If you aren’t here to attack my town…” She took a deep breath, certain she would regret this. “Come on in.”

 

The feeling of imminent doom lasted only a short while. The kobolds adored Aurelia, and that did much to endear them to her.

 

They followed her all the way back to her lair, ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ in a very endearing manner all the way. When she settled once more onto her pile of gold and trinkets, they huddled together in a crowd and whispered to one another, overcome with awe. She studied them carefully, some suspicion still in her gaze.

 

“So,” she said, “Now you’ve seen a dragon and a dragon’s home. Was there anything else you wanted?”

 

One of them, Aurelia noted that it was the one with the biggest horns sprouting from the back of his head, stepped forward. He cleared his throat. “Oh great and mighty dragon.” Ah, they knew the proper way to speak to her. Good. “We would like to honor you, yes, yes, with the a song.”

 

“Normally, I take my honor in gems and hard currency,” Aurelia said, “But I’ll allow it.” She gestured for them to continue.

 

He cleared his throat and turned to the others. “Places! Yes, yes. Just like we rehearsed.” He cleared his throat as the others assembled in a haphazard formation.

 

“And now, yes, we present “The Ode to the Dragon”.”

 

They began to dance, if the random flailings could be called that, and sing, if the screeching sounds pouring out from a hundred different mouths counted. Aurelia forced a smile onto her face and endured it. It was all about her, the beauty of her scales, the brightness of her eyes, the power of her wings, and more. Aurelia was surprised to find herself tapping a claw in time to it. On second thought, it was not all that bad. Sure, they stumbled over themselves and a fight broke out between two of them when the one stepped on the other’s tail, but they had heart. And they were praising her, something that everyone should be doing at every available opportunity. She found her disposition warming towards them.

 

They ended with a final, ear-piercing crescendo and tried to form a pyramid, but it collapsed halfway through and they all landed in a heap. Their leader poked his head out from the bottom of the pile and looked at her expectantly.

 

“That was fantastic,” Aurelia said, “Do it again.”

 

They did, with no less enthusiasm and no more skill than the first time. Aurelia, however, enjoyed it even more. It fanned the flames of her wounded pride. She wanted to hear it over and over again. Once they had finished their performance, she spoke up. “Kobolds, you have pleased me. And as such, it pleases me in turn to grant you something as a reward. Now, it occurs to me that you have traveled far, yes?”

 

“Yes, yes!” they replied.

 

She gestured expansively to the town. “Then allow me to be your host. Stay a while. Rest. Enjoy the sights and wonders of my domain. My home is your home for as long as you wish to stay.”

 

The kobolds eagerly agreed. Within the day, they had set up tents in the alleys and even dug burrows in the common land. One of the former upper class ladies, a friend of Lady Astrabella no less, came and complained loudly that they had ruined her rosebushes. But Aurelia was delighted. Such industry! Such single-minded devotion. Such potential. Oh yes, these were servants worthy of a dragon. She intended to add them to her forces. But still, she had to be somewhat mindful of the town’s opinions.  She had to at least appear to care a little. And so, she told the woman that she would talk to the kobolds. Upon hearing this, the woman listed off twenty other complaints before Aurelia got fed up with it and managed to send her packing.

 

The next morning, she summoned them to appear before her. They came promptly and bowed low to her. Idly, she tapped a claw on a silver goblet and began. “Right. What is this I hear about digging up some person’s rosebushes?”

 

“Oh great and marvelous dragon!” one cried.

 

Aurelia felt her chest begin to puff up. “While flattering, I don’t see what that has to do with my—"

 

“Greatest of beauties, yes! Most mighty of lords! Yes, yes!” another called.

 

“Thank you, thank you,” she replied, “But maybe you can explain why you left a hole in Judge Jorge’s side wall next to the—”

 

“Majesty beyond, yes, yes, beyond compare!”

 

This conversation was clearly headed nowhere, and yet Aurelia found she did not mind. Instead, she propped her chin up on both claws. “Go on.”

 

They were all too eager to, and showered her with praise for the next two hours. They repeated themselves a few times, but Aurelia liked it just as much the second time round, so found no problem with it. Soon, she forgot why she had called them in at all.

 

Sir Nestor came that afternoon, walking with the help of a cane. Aurelia brightened when he entered. “Ah, if it isn’t the noble knight,” she said, “Welcome to my humble abode. Are you here to tell me you are finally ready for our duel?”

 

“I am afraid I must ask you to wait a few days longer,” the knight replied, “While I can move about alright, mounting and riding a horse still gives my ankle twinges.”

 

Aurelia sighed. “Humans are very fragile without your metal armor. Very well.” She tilted her head to the side, curious. “But in that case, why are you here? I hope you didn’t stop by for tea and sandwiches. You see, my breath melts any normal teapot, and I hate the scratchy feeling bread gives my throat.”

​

He gave her a severe look. “Dragon,” he said, “Your people are complaining.”

 

“What else is new?” she growled, “They would all become depressed if they had nothing to complain about, I’m sure.”

 

“They’re complaining the kobolds that you--” He jabbed his cane at her. “Invited into their town.”

 

“My town,” she countered, “And they are my guests.”

 

“Well, your guests are making life miserable for your staff, then,” Nestor snapped,

 

“And they’ve asked me to talk to you about it, seeing as you aren’t listening to them.”

Aurelia snorted and sent out a small cloud of smoke. “Then talk.”

 

“I would, but,” he said, “I don’t think talking is enough to convince you. I want you to see for yourself.” He turned to leave. “Follow me to the market.”

 

Aurelia, however, turned away from him. “You don’t get to give me orders until you’ve beaten me in a duel.”

 

The knight let out an exasperated sigh. “You and my daughter,” he growled, “Would get along famously.”

 

“She sounds like a sensible person, for a human.”

 

“She’s God’s gift to my wife and I,” he replied, “The problem is that she knows it and loves to remind us. Are you coming?”

 

“Oh very well.” Aurelia feigned disinterest. “I suppose I can humor you.”

 

“How kind,” Nestor said drolly.

 

Together, the knight and the dragon walked to the town market. Upon arrival, they found the townsfolk doing their level best to have a normal market-day.

Unfortunately, the kobolds made things difficult. The vendors could hardly take their eyes off their goods, not even to accept coin, without one of the little scaled folk making off with an apple or a loaf of bread or something of the sort. And the customers had to keep one hand on their purse at all times, lest they meet a similar fate. The guards tried to maintain some semblance of order, but the five of them currently on duty at the market were so red in the face from running and shouting, “Stop, thief!” that they looked ready to pass out at any moment.

 

Nestor pointed to the scene with his cane. “See this?”

 

Aurelia was going to respond. However, upon spotting the dragon, though, the kobolds dropped whatever they were doing or carrying and ran towards her, cheering. They threw themselves down before her and began an impromptu chant in her honor. The guards sank to the ground in relief, praising the heavens for a break.

 

Aurelia looked down at Nestor. “I do see,” she said with a smile.

 

“Not that,” Nestor snapped, “Before. They’re making life impossible for your citizens.

 

They even tried to steal my armor. They failed. Because I—” One of the kobolds reached for his coin purse, but he snatched the would-be-thief’s hand and hauled her up into the air. “—Am a bit tougher than the average citizen, hmm?”

 

The kobold nodded furiously, a terrified look in her eyes. “Sorry, sorry, good sir knight. Put me down, yes, yes?”

 

Instead, Nestor shifted his grip to the back of her tunic and held her up towards Aurelia. “See that?” he said, “This one just tried to rob me. All of these ones have been robbing the market day in and day out since their arrival. Now, Aurelia, you are in charge of this town for the time being. That means you are charged with enforcing the law. What are you going to do about them?”

 

Aurelia looked between Nestor and the kobolds, whose chanting had grown ever louder and more exaggerated in its praise. Several had begun arguing, in a crude rhyme, about whether her left or right foreclaw was sharper.

 

“I…” she began, “See your point. But it looks to me like they already gave everything back.”

 

Nestor looked at her, incredulous. “When?”

 

She pointed to the mess of dropped purses, fruit, and bread that the kobolds had left behind when they rushed over to adore their dragon. “When they dropped everything and ran over here. Everything should be accounted for. Everyone just has to pick their stuff back up and get back to normal.” She looked down at them. “Right?”

 

They nodded eagerly.

 

Nestor stared silently at her. One of the other kobolds stole his coin purse while he was distracted. He did not notice. “You cannot actually think that, right? Do you even hear the words coming out of your mouth?” he said.

 

She shrugged. “What can I say? They do seem to have their priorities straight.”

 

“What, praising you night and day?”

 

Aurelia grinned. “Precisely.”

 

Sir Nestor’s chose that precise moment to check for and find his coin purse missing. His face grew red. “Then,” he said, “I look forward to our duel.” He set down the kobold he had grabbed, who scurried away rapidly, and turned sharply to leave.

 

Aurelia found herself a little taken aback. The knight was not normally this cold, even to her. “Yeah, well,” she called, “I look forward to it too! Looking forward to beating you and getting you out of my town.” He did not turn. The chanting of the kobolds had lost some of its charm now. Aurelia decided it was time to leave.

 

She spent the evening brooding in her lair, turning the conversation over and over in her mind. Strangely, she felt as though she had done something wrong. She almost wanted to offer Nestor an apology, next time she saw him. However, the swelling pride in her chest, stronger than ever thanks to the kobolds, stubbornly refused to let her entertain such thoughts for long. In the end, she decided that Nestor was simply a fool unable to see how right and brilliant she was.

 

A knock came at the door. “Enter,” she ordered.

 

Several kobolds filed in, and she brightened. “Oh great dragon,” their leader said, bowing low, “We heard that you were troubled, yes, yes, and came to offer you a song to send you to sleep.”

 

Aurelia smiled. “Oh. How nice. By all means.” She settled in and waited.

 

The song was by far the most pleasant of any the kobolds had sung. They gathered round her, humming and chanting softly, soothingly. Aurelia felt her eyes drooping.

 

The call of sleep was too strong to resist. She fell into its embrace and dreamed of fresh goats and piles of gold under a mountain.

 

The next morning, she woke up on the bare stone floor of her lair. She looked around in confusion. It was dark in here, and the floor was not littered with gold. Where had all the gold gone? That thought repeated over and over in her mind as panic replaced confusion. Where had all the gold gone?

 

She leapt to her claws and staggered out the front door. Her wings spread and lifted her into the air. Her eyes scanned the town, but there was no sign of the kobolds. They had disappeared, along with her gold, and it did not take a genius to link the two. The thieves had robbed her too. The pride that had filled her chest collapsed within seconds and left her feeling hollow. “Oh,” she said, the only word she could muster.

 

A scroll lay on the floor beside her. With a heavy heart, she unrolled it and read the contents.

 

“From his highness Duke Clarence Hightemple, fourth of his name, rightful ruler of these lands, to the insurrectionist dragon, Aurelia.

Your move.”