Faithful Pebble
Part Sixty
"Once upon a time," that's what the sign read, the little golden plaque fixed to the bottom of the display case. "Once upon a time, a true hero gave his life. Selflessly, he offered it willing to save Warble Heights from It's sins. The Town Will Always Remember.
"From Its sins… Boy, how we love to play with words." The town's wannabe hero sneered, the town's well-known drunk, the town's most looked to poster boy of honor and bravery and trust. He slicked back his olive green hair until the greasy thick strands rested perfectly in place, a handsome swift accent decorating his beauty like a butterfly a flower. He rested an armored elbow against the glass while he leaned forward letting his breath fog up its crystal like luminescence. The dragon nearly vanished.
An armored fist wiped the cloud away. Again, he snorted. The diamond dragon, one of three necklaces forged twenty years prior, glared back at him with ruby eyes, angry eyes, accusing eyes stained an even darker red from the blood smeared between each glittering stone. The blood painted the diamonds a soft pale pink under the candlelight surrounding them. The room had no windows and only one door. It was dark, meant to be dark like the mines and its beast. But that darkness couldn't hide the blood. Nothing could do that.
When he retrieved the necklace and dropped its blood-stained essence into the hands of the man who owned his career, the hero had asked him, "Do you want it cleaned?"
But at this, the headsman said no. The blood would tell the story and give the proper warning. It would ensure that the gem would be honored for generations to come.
"Honored," the hero mumbled, glared down at the beast, at It who silently glared back. The hero lifted a hand, stirred a fingertip to caress the handle which opened the case and unveiled the jeweled pendant to his touch. They never locked it. They didn't need too. The villagers believed the jewel to be cursed, or worse haunted, like the forest, like the mines, like the beast itself.
"What is honor?" he said. He snapped the door open. "What is a hero?" He reached in. He wrapped sticky olive green fingers around the dragon's bloody pink throat and then he–
"What are you doing?"
It was Pebble, Be Rose. - Calla