Oh . It took me so long to finish this chap. Sorry, my dears!
My great beta Samui_san was very buzy and was able to do only part of this chap. So I asked my super sweet friend Kiterie to help me out (because as sad as it is dear Samui_san was very-very buzy)
As always your comments are appreciated)))
On the biggest pile of treasure rested a huge old dragon; his gray mustaches occasionally moved with the rhythm of his breathing. He was very old; the once mighty wings were sprawled over gold like gray-white cloths, armor bone plates occasionally parting and exposing pale skin littered with white, old scars.
After recovering from the first shock John could not help, but admire the ancient creature. He was sure that they had become extinct a long time ago and now, realizing he was wrong, he wondered if he was looking at the last one. This fact, of course, did not diminish the dragon's guilt, but John was not in a hurry to judge the creature's acts from human point of view.
He had already spent a few hours watching the other's sleep, and was now exhausted from boredom and unsure of what to do. All the spells he had already tried had crumbled in the middle of casting, forcing each time the treasures around him to shine even brighter. Even with his great desire to get away from this place and the sleeping dragon, he was unable to step through the dark opening into which he had been so unceremoniously shoved into earlier by his captor.
After the first thirty minutes in the cave then boredom overwhelmed his sense he tossed a large gold coin at the dragon. The moment it left his hand he froze, but it merely bounced unceremoniously off a scale in the middle of it's head. The dragon didn't so much as twitch. John stood, the movement awkward due to the way the heaps of gold shifted under him. Still nothing. John made a break for it through the loud, ringing heaps of gold, running and sliding for exit. He smacked into an invisible barrier, disappointment flooding him, with his goal so close.
He threw spell after spell at the barrier. And each crumbled in the middle of casting, the treasures around him shining brighter with each attempt. After the ninth attempt he threw this venture out as hopeless and gave up the idea of escape.
Tired, cold, and seriously hungry John stared at the dragon and the endless mountains of glittering treasures. Several hours of only doing that added exhaustion to the boredom.
Then from the nostrils of his strange captor came thick, hot smoke and slowly the mouth filled with huge, gleaming teeth opened wide in a yawn. Noticing the dragon's eyelids parting ever so slightly, his curiosity once again overrode his caution. The same curiosity that made him contact Holmes and then work with dark mage. Insensibly John slid down the mounds of gold, closer to the frightening snout, deliberately putting himself in line of sight of one large opened eye.
"I know why you killed all those people," The somewhat more sensible part of his brain told him to shut up, but John reasoned if he was meant to be eaten immediately he would not still be sitting on an uncomfortable golden heap.
"We are all mortal," the gray dragon began to think aloud. A couple of hours of sleep made him look more alive and he did not seem quite so decrepit. "I'm dying ... It's so cold here. And death comes sooner or later for all. Human should not blame me for wanting to prolong my life."
John could not help but remember how he had prayed to all the Gods known to him, dying on the hot sand in a foreign country. Disturbed by his memories, his magic throbbed, making the treasures around them shine brighter.
"You're the only one or..." he really wondered if that was the case, "are there any other dragons?" John had a lot of questions, but he was not sure if he would have a chance to ask them all.
"There are few, very few, but we exist."
"How long can your kind live?"
"A very long time. Every year lived is another drop taken from the cup of my life scales. Soon this cup will be dry…"
John froze; the other's memories enveloped him for a moment: a strong young body with powerful wings ripped through the air like a knife. It was nice to be aware of himself as a master of the skies, but the momentary vision almost immediately disappeared. John forced himself to relax and shivered, trying to warm his hands in his jacket pockets.
"I know human also feels the cold … the pull of the grave... But he is young, full of strength and energy, and can deal with it, and I am not..."
"You need someone else's magic and life force to extend your life. But I do not understand. You could have chosen more powerful and gifted magicians than those that were ... You did not choose them, they were chosen for you, right?" John shifted, then walked over to large chest and sat down, thinking. Sherlock Holmes was not the only one who could build chains of logic. Of course, the way he always did it like no one else, was truly beautiful and exciting. In addition, John had spent several extremely boring hours studying the cave and glimmers of treasure as something to do.
The old dragon roused and brought his huge head towards John; he was struck in the face with a wave of hot air, but the great beast just snorted and moved away.
"That's right, human is right. Dark man gave me a powerful artifact in exchange for someone else's death. I have no power now to hunt as before, so when he found me and offered a deal I could not refuse."
John frowned; his arms and legs were cold. Despite the apparent heat, it was chilly in the cave.
"Who is this dark wizard? He has a name?"
"That I cannot tell to human."
"Why did you choose me?"
"Human shone so brightly. As the rarest jewel that I could not resist."
John could not help, but remember the conversation by the fireplace at Baker Street. Then Holmes had also mentioned his luminous magic and aura. It was irrational, but thoughts of the dark mage helped to inspire him. The fact was that now they were under contract, and it could be used to his advantage, if he had no other choice. John was poorly versed in the intricacies of the bureaucracy, but even he knew that now in any magical transaction his word was considered legitimate again though it always had to be paired with Holmes'. They both had to agree to seal any contract, which was not always easy, but their words bound together carried a weight his alone could not have, more proof that in their partnership John gained more.
"Why does my magic behave so strangely here?"
"Human does not see, but the light within him, it devours the body and soul. My treasures just pull it out. Without this buffer human will quickly burn."
The dragon flicked its tail on a pile of gold coins and it loudly scattered.
"All these treasure can belong to human. All this may be his. Human will protect and increase wealth," the dragon's voice sweetly trembled. "And be able to become immortal with me."
John could hardly believe in such words. He felt great; unlike before his power was obedient to him, despite the fact that he could not use the same Balance he had once had. Only such a strong creature like a dragon could hold back and restrain him now. Even with his meager knowledge of dragons John remembered that they were not only the most powerful beings, born from primitive magic, they were also the very First. Concentrated elemental magic encased in a shell of flesh and blood. Neither man nor any other magical creature could be compared with the masters of the skies.
Therefore watching as the old dragon moved clumsily around, John involuntarily felt pity and regret. What had the thirst for gold and desire to live forever done to the once proud and majestic creature. Even just in passing the other's memories that John saw spoke about the power and freedom, now however, there remained virtually nothing.
He was seriously disturbed by that unknown dark mage, who could so deftly not only get closer to such an ancient creature, but also manipulate its greed. John could only wonder why they took such random victims. There was also Holmes, who had attracted others' attention. That John understood. The one of a kind consulting dark mage was able to make a lasting impression, and moreover, was very powerful, so no surprises the similarities were more than a bit disturbing.
"I want to make a gift to human. Human chooses what he wants, he can take all."
John raised his eyes distracted from heavy hesitation with such an unusual proposal. Here somewhere was obviously a trick; no dragon would voluntarily agree to give up even a single coin of his treasures.
"I do not want any treasure and wealth. Just let me go."
"What would human choose? Dragon's head slumped on its gold, ignoring John's response.
John stood up and with curiosity began to move from one pile of jewels to the other, but touched nothing. He saw nothing new or interesting; he was not attracted by coins or shimmering stones. He never chased wealth, otherwise he would never have connected his life with the army, so now John could wander among all that treasure for a long time with no result, obviously, and the dragon realized that too. He squirmed and angrily thrashed his tail.
"What does human want? I offer untold riches. Without them, without me human will crumble to ashes," dragon rumbled with displeasure. "I offer immortality."
"You offer me immortality and depend on handouts from another human."
"Human will voluntarily obey me or end up like all the others."
Around them a magical whirlwind began to spin; it was the result of the collision of John's desire to defend his freedom and the desire of the ancient dragon to get a new trophy. Alien fury was blindly rushing, striking the cave vaults. It almost knocked him down with the glittering splashes of colorful swirls. John pressed himself to the floor trying to make himself as small as possible, and defended his head and face with his jacket's lapel, but still it was painful when coins and ingots were thrown at him. He felt like under the clothing purple bruises were forming.
The prospect of subjection to the dragon did not seem more attractive than being completely exhausted and dying. He urgently needed to think of something, while his head did not become yet another trophy in horrifying collection. He had to offer something from which it was impossible to refuse.
"Deal!" John tried to shout above the ringing clatter. "I want a deal!"
The wind stopped abruptly and no longer supported by the old dragon's magic, the whirling gold fell with a deafening sound. Falling from a height, something heavy struck John painfully on the shoulder reminding him of his injury. His back and hands were showered with coins and stones. John decided to get out of the pile only when last sound subsided leaving the room in sudden, absolute silence.
The dragon was breathing heavily, letting go bluish smoke from its tired lungs that smeared its shape like a whitish cloud.
"I spent too much collected power on human. Hope he won't disappoint."
"Oh, you won't refuse my offer," John smiled unpleasantly. "Holmes in exchange for an artifact of the dark mage. He was necessary to you from the very beginning, and I can bring him to you."
John did not expect that he would be able to know the name of the mysterious dark mage standing behind the murder. As he strongly suspected the dragon was simply bound by an oath of nondisclosure. For sure he could hardly bargain for his own freedom, not when he had learned so much. Asking for the artifact was comparable to illumination; with this he hoped to lull the vigilance of old dragon and to gain time.
Maybe involving the dark mage was too risky from his side, but Holmes was already associated with the case. They were also partners and John could really use his help.
"Human offers an interesting deal. I agree."
"Then let's fasten our agreement."
Dragon turned over heavily and began to shrink in size, going back to his human form. The illusion was perfect. Now, knowing what to look for, John noticed almost no glaring nuances of the other's appearance. Not surprisingly nobody paid attention to a random cabbie; clever charms were meant to not only make to look away, but was made to immediately forget what was seen. Even standing in front of and looking at the pale face with bushy eyebrows John found himself thinking that he wanted to look past, as if his eyes slipped from inconspicuous traits and refused to linger.
He had only to reach out to touch the hot rough palm and the air around them shuddered and rippled. Suddenly, everything went dark, as if on top of them someone had thrown a dense veil, muting and hushing everything. Magic froze, sealed in chains with flashing and fading words. Those broke out between them and scattered with green sparks, preventing the completion of the ritual.
"Human wants to deceive me?" the shaking hands became painful, and John involuntarily clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to pull away his hand.
"Not at all."
A simple touch gave him access to the dragon's own magic, like a new source had been opened for him. John had to do only one spell but he had to be sure it will work. He would never be able to call a messenger as the agents of the Ministry did, but when a snow-white crow landed on his shoulder, he believed that he could turn the tide in his favor.