Dog-man

By Threetoe

Legends of the mountain had spread through the villages of Anor for hundreds of years. After a time only the village elders recalled and repeated the stories. To the young men of the mead hall, the stories seemed like the warnings told to children who stray too far from the campfire. There were many versions of the same tale. Almost as many as the elders that told them. But all spoke of a great beast from the pits of hell which had come to make the mountain its home. Some say it rose every hundred years to eat its fill of mankind. Others said it only emerged when the people of Anor grew too proud.

Groth took a giant gulp from his personal stein. The men of the mead hall were laughing and slapping each other as a sign of manliness. A craven figure galloped into the room limping on a twisted foot. He wore the brand of the village on his forehead, the same sign the men used on their cattle. Dog-man he was called. There was no petty crime he had not committed, and every punishment seemed to drive him to new depths of depravity.

"I have seen the mountain!" hissed the Dog-man, eyes wild.

"Silence Dog," said Groth. "No one has returned from the mountain in a thousand years."

"I have. And I have seen the Kobold's Gold!"

The men laughed, but as they have been in a jolly mood, and were quite drunk, they allowed the Dog-man to continue his story. Apparently the Dog-man had come across a band of kobolds adorned in gold and jewels. He followed them through the woods to a cliff in which was set the huge gate of an ancient dwarf fortress. Only later, when he trotted back to the village, did he realize he had gone to the mountain. The men laughed harder. Had their fathers been frightened of kobolds?

They attached a leash to the Dog-man's collar and set off into the woods singing manly songs. When they reached the gate, Groth tied the Dog-man's chain to a tree. The Dog-man cried out. The men chided him and asked him if he was afraid of kobolds. When they entered the cave, the Dog-man began clawing at his chain. A huge roar echoed from inside the cave. A ball of fire shot from the gate followed by a ferocious black dragon. The Dog-man covered his face with bleeding hands. He heard the beating of wings as the dragon lifted into the sky. The Dog-man peered through his fingers and smiled as he watched the black shape sail through the sky in the direction of Anor.