Many many years ago, there lived a large and powerful kingdom that had lived for 300 years. The queen, Queen White Diamond, was mighty and the best in all the land. At least, that's what people saw. Internally, she was incredibly vicious and greedy. She would do anything for wealth and her idea of "perfection", including manipulating her people and the world. Nearby was a large dragon living comfortably in their cave in luxury, with all the food, gold, jewels, and luxuries they could ever have. The queen hated them, desiring their wealth as her own. One day, she made a plan:
A thief from a rebellion had been captured by guards, and the queen called upon them for a deal. The thief had guards from in front and behind, and was taken through a large hall that was lavishly decorated in whites, blues, yellows, and pinks with potted flowers about the place. They stopped in front of a large door that had guards on both sides.
"What is your purpose here?" One of the door guards asked.
"Were delivering this prisoner to the queen by her request." One of the guards surrounding the thief said. The door guards opened the wooden gate and the group entered, still closely packed together.
"Here is the prisoner your highness." A soldier greeted after entering and bowed before the person sitting on her lavish throne.
"You may leave, guards. I wish to speak to the prisoner alone." The queen commanded.
"Yes, your highness." The guards responded with a bow, and left the two alone in the room. The thief simply stood before the ruler in fear, while the queen looked at the prisoner with a stony look.
"I have brought you here to strike up a deal." Said the queen.
"What sort of deal is this?" The thief hesitantly asked.
"I ask you to do one job, and then you are free." The queen replied. The thief had an idea that the job would be rather difficult as well as the one asking being not very trustworthy, so they decided to push further in asking;
"What sort of job is this?" In a hesitant voice.
"It is one that I'm sure you can do well, you are a thief no?" The queen asked the thief. The thief nodded slowly in response.
"I simply ask you to steal something for me." The queen replied. The deal was still a little shady, but they didn't have much of a choice. The thief figured they probably have to steal from another faction, it would be hard but they could possibly do it.
"I think I'll take up on your deal. Who am I supposed to steal from?" The thief asked hesitantly still, though unaware of what she had been set up for.
"You are to steal from a nearby cave, where a large dragon lives. It has many treasures, and we will set you free if you manage to steal something of great value there." The queen told the thief, and the thief became overwhelmed with terror upon hearing what her new job is.
She had already heard tales about people who were greedy or foolish enough to try and steal from the large beast; typically they were charred and eaten as a snack, while the ones that escape are hunted down until they are captured and meet their end in its cave.
Then again, Thought the thief, I'm being imprisoned until I die for all the things I did, I have a chance of being free if I do this. Its a small chance, but a chance nonetheless. After a few moments of contemplating, the thief came to a conclusion;
"I will take up your offer, queen." The thief spoke with a bow, she felt disgusted by what she were doing. The queen nodded.
"Guards, send this prisoner off to get ready for their mission." The queen demanded. And the large door behind the prisoner opened up, the guards surrounding the prisoner once more, and the thief turned to follow the guards to a mission that will likely lead to their death.
It was time for the thief to begin their mission, wracked with anxiety from their likely end in death.
It was a dark night, while wearing soft and light clothing to make sneaking easier. She was carrying a bag with some supplies to assist with the mission at hand, and a second empty bag to carry the loot in.
She peeked into the cave, looking to see where the dragon might be sleeping. As she looked around, she saw the massive amounts of gold, food, and trinkets the beast kept around.
There were large, decorated statues made of marble and stone depicting times of history and stories alike. All sorts of jewels and things were placed about the room, and they were quite the sight to see.
Looking farther left in the cave was a large vanity station that seemed to be made for a human. There was a variety of clothing, from fancy to simple. She had heard the beast that slept in the cave was large, but the clothing seemed to be fit for a small woman. She looked to the far right and saw...
A massive nest of pillows and blankets...
With the beast sleeping inside it quietly.
It was terrifying, the magenta monster looked to be larger than a house with enormous pink wings that could blow over trees with a single flap. She couldn't see much more though, the nest blocked out most of its body.
With heavy anxiety, she snuck into the cave. She looked around in search for valuables to take back, and found some trinkets that she thought fit the bill well.
There was a large, bejeweled necklace and crown that sat farther up on the massive mound of gold, but she couldn't see more beyond the small hill. She carefully climbed the mound of sparkling metal, placing her steps delicately to avoid disturbing the haphazardly made pile.
Right as she thought she was at the top and was about to pick up the necklace and crown, her foot slipped and a few coins clanked down the hill to the floor.
She got down low and felt her body freeze in place, fearful of what the beast would do to her if it woke up and found her. The creature stirred from its slumber a bit, but then stopped after a few moments.
She waited a little longer before she moved again.
When she was confident the beast was asleep, she picked up the necklace and crown and put it in the empty bag. She found a some earrings in a gold case that would certainly cost a pretty penny, some goblets that had rubies and diamonds, a beautiful silk fan that came from far off lands-
Suddenly, something glimmered in the corner of her eye.
She looked and saw a beautiful golden chest that had what looked like a spinel gem front and center and was cut to resemble a heart, with a variety of other rare glittering gemstones around it.
That's not what caught her attention though, inside the chest was a thick velvet lining to cushion what was inside it. Inside the chest was a glowing spherical object, it looked to be made of glass or crystal.
Perhaps it was magical, that would be a great thing to bring back! It might make her freedom even more likely!
Carefully, she placed a wooden block from the first bag between the lid and base as she closed the chest to prevent it from closing completely and locking.
She opened the bag and placed the large bulky box atop the other small trinkets she found, completely filling the bag.
Seeing that her job was done, she closed the bag and headed close to the edge of the pile and peered down at the difficult challenge of climbing down the unstable mound.
After a quick check on the creature, still deep asleep, she carefully took her steps down the hill on the least steep part. She tested spots in case if they were unstable, and kept low to the ground in case if she slid down.
Gently, she got up when she reached close to the end of the glittering hill. Her heart raced as she neared the entrance of the cave, still glancing at the beast every now and again.
Even when she was out in the grass, she was sneaking still so she wouldn't wake up the monstrous creature.
Eventually, she met up with the guards that were to send her back to the palace where her job will be looked over by the queen herself.
She bowed her head submissively, boiling anger inside her as she was surrounded once again by soldiers and was sent marching back towards the towering castle...
It was the next day, and the thief was once again standing before the queen alone.
She was looking through the bag that contained the trinkets stolen. She had emptied it to see what was brought back, and she spread the items out to get a better look at them.
She looked at the crown, necklace, earrings, and goblets with disinterest.
She had seen things and owned things like it before, even now she has a few of these things to spare.
The fan had caught her interest a little. It was rather difficult to get fine silk like the kind before her without heading towards the farthest lands.
But what had intrigued her the most was the chest, still having the small wooden block lodged between the lid and base.
She could see something glowing a light blue inside, and she curiously opened the case slowly.
What she saw made her gasp.
A brilliant light blue crystal ball, it shined as if it had been polished recently. Possibly even untouched. In her moment of utter shock, she forgot about the rebel.
"So, will I run free now?" The thief hesitantly asked. The queen was snapped out of her daze and looked at the thief, and composed herself once more.
"You've done an excellent job bringing these things. The fact that your even here alive is a miracle. As promised, you are free to go." The queen said, still in a little bit of a daze with the item in front of her despite focusing as best as she could.
The thief's heart felt like it was soaring, she really was going to be set free!
She had heard how the queen tends to go back on her word, but it seemed the little crystal ball had saved her life from eternal imprisonment or even torture. The thief quickly ran out of the palace, with a special item that said she could go free and returned to her home hidden in the alleys.
Up in the caves, a creature awakened from her slumber.
She let out a large yawn and got up from her soft nest of homemade fur pillows and velvet blankets after she stretched out her body.
As she passed her hoard though, she stopped and looked carefully at the top.
She noticed something missing, something important. She began to search about her home in a panic, looking carefully for the item.
She swore she hadn't touched it in years, how was it gone!?
Suddenly she sniffed out an odd scent, it smelled like a human had visited her the previous night. She followed the trail until she realized where the trail headed towards.
The nearby kingdom.
Her slit eyes narrowed and glowed with rage as she glared at the distant view of the castle.
She let out an enormous roar of primal rage.