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(This was a project done for 
Galatea the Gorgon, the winner of a recent raffle and their friend 
MR.Random123. If you are interested in a project, keep an eye out for my next raffle).
___
As the sun comes to rest, it is a late dark night. The wind has the bitter chill of ice and yet has the familiar pleasant whistle blowing amongst the trees, or perhaps the cobblestones of a road…
A gorgon named David, their skin the color and texture of a snake dressed in clean attire, tight fitting jeans with a formal button up shirt, walked alongside a maned wolf that went by the name Arkeyion, their fur a pleasant pumpkin color, serving well to insulate their body heat. A sudden gust of wind sent a cold chill down David's spine, but after pulling out a bottle, a sip of tequila is enough to counteract the cold, at least keeping it at bay for a time.
"Do you really find it that chilly tonight?" Arkeyion asked casually, "you still have not told me what you were wanting to show me." The ground was damp as they turned a corner.
After another small sip, David finally caps the bottle before gently blowing into his hands and rubbing them together, "hey, not everyone has fur to keep themselves warm. Plus it gives me an excuse to enjoy a little drink."
Arkeyion raised an eyebrow, "should you just wear more clothes if you find it cold?"
"That is the equivalent of asking you to shave if you are hot," David was quick to respond before pausing briefly, tucking the bottle away before continuing. "Have you ever been told the story of The Dragon's Night?"
"No…" Arkeyion shook his head, "this would be the first time I have ever heard of such a tale." Following close behind David, Arkeyion both felt and heard the cold stones under his feet transitioning into stiff grass and crumpled leaves as trees laid before them, spouting from the earth.
“It is nothing much,” David shrugged, “just the pleasant forest this village was built around. Some cautionary tale that changes depending on the storyteller.” There was a gentle tilt of David’s head as he tried to recall the story, “A long walk at night amongst the trees could reveal a deceptive dancing light that will make you become lost.”
Arkeyion glanced over his shoulder, seeing the buildings slowly disappearing, while looking at the sky. It was a pleasant night despite the cold chill, the stars providing sufficient lighting to see the ground they walked upon under the trees, bare of any leaves. The wind slowly relented as they continued walking, the sound of insects and other arthropods chiming to the steady rhythm of their footsteps. The forest was surprisingly vast, spanning no larger than twenty kilometers in diameter, but the winding and curving paths could make it feel even larger. David whistled as the insects intensely chimed in response, but as Arkeyion glanced to his left to look at David, he thought he had seen a light dart off in the distance.
“Hey,” Arkeyion pointed in the direction where he saw the light, “did you see that just now?”
Flowingling the direction Arkeyion was pointing, David squinted. Again, the light barely comes into view amongst the trees before disappearing. “I have no idea what that could be. Do you want to go and see?”
Both David and Arkeyion looked at one another, silently agreeing that they would investigate. As they approached, the light would always appear in a pattern. But as they got closer, more lights began to become visible. After stumbling into a clearing, they were shocked to find a fairly large building adorned with rotating lamp fixtures that occasionally turned to face their direction. The entrance was as large as it was robust, bending arches with eccentric detail and heavy back lighting. Neither David nor Arkeyion could make out the figure that stood before them at the center of the entrance.
"Why hello there fellas…" a chipper voice could be heard as the figure approached, a bit of a skip in their step. "Quite the pleasant night out, wouldn’t you agree?" As the figure got closer, the familiar silhouette of a dragon could finally be seen. Once fully in view, a blue dragon, dark as the color of the night, with gold trimmed scales greeted David and Arkeyion with a subtle tilt of his head leaning to one side braced on a cane. The dragon examined the gorgon and the wolf, eyeing them from head to toe, he was dressed in quite dapper attire, one might have normally found the dragon to be a little intimidating if it weren't for the formal and snazzy dark tuxedo he was wearing. "Apologies, fellas…" the dragon gently shook their head as if embarrassed, "where are my manors, the Dragon's Hoard welcomes you."
David and Arkeyion were unsure of how to react, they glanced at each other before staring at the dragon that intrinsically stared back. "Huh," David raised an eyebrow as he tapped his chin, "never heard of a place like this before, what even is it?"
"Well, you can not spell CASINO without first saying UNO," the dragon casually points with two clawed fingers with a gentle wink
"It definitely has the look of a casino, but out here?" Arkeyion scratched their head in confusion, "are you supposed to be a bouncer or something?"
The dragon shook his head gently, "no need for such a thing here, plus you two do not look like trouble makers. Why not enjoy a little game or two, I am sure you will find something to your liking." The dragon turned walking back towards the entrance to the building, but not before glancing over his shoulder. "Oh one last thing… Money does not hold the same value here." The dragon gives another subtle wink before disappearing into the building, motioning for the gorgon and wolf to follow.
There was a bit of an awkward pause before David broke the silence. "Come on," he stepped forward before encouraging Arkeyion to follow, "I want to check this place out."
Once closer to the entrance, their eyes adjusted to the bright lights. The rattle of cards shuffling could be heard and the familiar sound of rolling of dice quickly followed. But what stood out among the rabble, a strange anomaly amongst everything that was going on, statues and sculptures were scattered around, many on pedestals and displays, but many were just scattered around in seemingly no order or fashion. On closer inspection, Arkeyion examined what looked to be a statue of a minotaur made entirely of a finely coarse sandstone with one arm raised at the shoulder while the other curved near the hip. The amount of detail was impressive, making the statue look surprisingly life-like. But the part that stood out to Arkeyion was the face and expression of the minotaur statue. With a gold loop embedded in the snout and a ring fitted onto one of its horns, the minotaur's mouth was slightly ajar, revealing even smaller details like teeth and a tongue nealy to perfection. But the look on the minotaur's face stiffly resembled that of confusion, fear, and anger. Arkeyion looked around and realized that David has also stopped to examine a different statue, the one he inspected was a reptilian lizardman. This statue of the lizardman was sculpted out of a reflective volcanic obsidian, the natural black glass of the dark deep earth. Much like the other sandstone statue of the minotaur, this black obsidian sculpture of the lizardman also had a surprising amount of detail. Scales layered and angled down the lizardman's back and legs while also extending along the arms and length of the massive tail that curved around the clawed feet, the chest and abdomen surprisingly smooth, unarmored by the thick layer of scales. The lizardman had both arms raised and crossed as if trying to block their face, a wincing look with both eye squinting and a stiffly clenched jaw revealing teeth on the side of their face, giving off an energy of desperation and frustration.
"These all seem a little… weird" Arkeyion paused for a moment when trying to think of a word.
David and Arkeyion looked around and realized that nearly all of the statues had some strange expression. But no one else in the building seemed to acknowledge statues. "Yeah… let's not think about that for right now," David shrugged as he began walking over to a vacant roulette table, "I am only curious as to why money does not hold the same value here".
Arkeyion followed closely behind, also silently wondering the same thing…
Unsure where to start, David and Arkeyion looked around, taking in the surroundings. There were a few tables already occupied, but one vacant roulette table stood out. A male shark, filling the role of a dealer, noticed David and Arkeyion’s confusion. Waving their hand, the shark motioned for the two to approach.
“Um, hello…” Arkeyion briefly greeted the shark. “Do you want something?”
The shark gently shook their head as they pulled a case out from under the table. Unclipping the flap, the shark opened the case and splayed it out on the table in front of the wolf and gorgon revealing it’s contents, flat disc like stones separated by sheets faintly resembling the shape of a traditional chip. Without a word, the shark pulls two sheets containing a fist full each and holds them out towards David and Arkeyion.
It took David a moment to realize that it was an invitation to take one of the sheets. “Oh, thank you…” David cheerfully glanced at what looked to be a name tag, “Quick?” The shark wore a clean fitting black and white tuxedo, a dorsal fin extending from the back of his head accompanied with a more prominent dorsal fin running down the back of his spine and fins on his arms angled towards his shoulders, the tip of his tail resembling the shape of a crescent moon.
David and Arkeyion examined their chips briefly, both were visibly different. David’s set had the appearance of smooth white marble, while Arkeyion’s set was dark with gold veins. Arkeyion was a little confused by Quick’s silence but appreciated and recognized that the shark was only being friendly. Quick tapped the table and pointed to the roulette wheel raising an eyebrow, as if asking David and Arkeyion if they were wanting to play.
“Yeah, sure,” Akeyion chirped, “we will play roulette.” David also agreed as he already placed a few chips on red.
David and Arkeyion were unsure of how much time had ed, minutes and seconds slowly began to blend together to form an hour. Much to David and Arkeyion’s surprise, they found themselves more often earning big winnings while accompanied with only minor losses. David placed a few chips between four corner numbers while Arkeyion placed his own on a sheet for three numbers overlapping half of David’s numbers.
Quick calmingly clapped as he pushed an impressively tall stack of chips in David and Arkeyion’s direction.
“Well fellas, look at you,” a familiar voice sounded behind David and Arkeyion, startling both of them as a hand touched each of their shoulders, “having quite the lucky run of it, aren't you?” A glance over David and Arkeyion’s shoulder revealed that the dragon from earlier was now standing behind them, a twinkle in their eyes.
“Oh, it is you. Yes, luck has been on our side today,” David happily bragged while shoveling his earnings of chips into a convenient bag as Arkeyion did the same.
The dragon had a warming smile as he faced the shark that stared back with a look of nervousness or embarrassment, neither David nor Arkeyion could honestly tell. “I hope Quick has helped to clarify a few things for you, I see each of you received your respective chips,” the dragon flicked two chips in his hand looking at the gold veins of Arkeyion’s and feeling the smoothness of David’s. “I am sure you noticed…” the dragon leaned, in lowering his voice to barley a whisper, “Quick is not exactly a good conversationalist.”
“Yeah…” Arkeyion also spoke in a whisper, “we noticed, but he seems alright.”
The dragon withdrew as he tapped his cane, “where are my manors, I went and forgot to introduce myself earlier. The name’s Ziggy, what might yours be?” The dragon asked as he gave a gentle wink.
David held out a hand, “my name is David, and this is Arkeyion,” motioning over to the wolf, “nice of you to let us enjoy a game.”
“How nice of me indeed,” Ziggy narrowed their eyes as he scratched at his chin, “speaking of which, why not try a different game. Have you ever heard of Sticks and Stones?”
Both David and Arkeyion glanced at each other, an obvious look of confusion on their faces. “I do not think we have heard of something like that before, is it a type of slot machine?” Arkeyion asked, unsure what Sticks and Stone could possibly be.
“Well…” Ziggy paused for a moment, as if pandering what to say, “it is the only use for those chips anyways, think of it more as a prize. Unfortunately my fishy friend here would not be the best person to play this game, needing five fingers.” Quick gently and embarrassingly held up a hand, the gorgon and wolf recognizing that he has only four. The dragon held out a hand, “what do you say fellas, interested?”
David was quick to accept the handshake, while Arkeyion was hesitant but eventually gave in to temptation and firmly shook the hand of the seemingly friendly dragon.
“Great, the game is really simple and easy. Each of you hold up a hand and a single finger,” as David and Arkeyion followed, the dragon held up both of his own clawed hands, a single finger extended on each. “The goal is to get me to hold all fingers up on each hand these are your sticks, both of you are on a team and we take turns, one of you will tap one of my hands and I will add sticks to that hand equal to the number of sticks of the hand you taped me with, I will do the same to you, if a hand gets to five sticks, it is removed from the game becoming a stone, if you tap a hand that goes over five sticks that hand will now only have a number of sticks equal to the amount that went over.” Ziggy paused for a moment before continuing, “so if I tap a two with my one stick that two will become a three, if I tap a three stick with my two stick the once three stick hand will become a stone and will be removed from the game, and lastly if I tap a four stick with a three stick the once four stick hand will now be a two stick. Simple enough right, all in or nothing?” Ziggy asked, still smiling.
“This sounds easy enough, what do we get if we win?” David found himself instinctively asking.
“You will get riches equal to the chips weight in gold,” Ziggy’s expression was unchanging, “if you lose, I will be taking those chips off your hand. House always goes first,” Ziggy tapped Arkeyion who now held two in his hand. Arkeyion instinctively responded by tapping one of Ziggy’s hands changing it to a three, quickly realizing his mistake when Ziggy winked and tapped Arkeyion’s hand in return with his three hand causing Arkeyion to lose. “How unfortunate, you can try again once I am done with David here,” Ziggy teased as he chuckled.
Ziggy had three and one in his hands, while David still only had one in his hand. Despite David’s best efforts, he managed to remove one of Ziggy’s hands, but only ended up losing shortly after. “Can we play again?” David found himself saying before the round was even over.
“Sure,” Ziggy chirped, “We can play again, but if you lose again…” the dragon gave another gentle wink before continuing, “you will be needing to work for me, if not then you get your chips back, win again and the riches will rain down on you.”
Once again Arkeyion was hesitant, but reluctantly accepted after hearing the promise of gold. Another game began, Ziggy tapped Arkeyion once again, but this time David responded by tapping one of ziggy’s hands. Back and forth, the game went on, and yet Ziggy acted as if he already knew the outcome.
“Wait a second,” Arkeyion exclaimed after making a shocking realization, “we can not even win this game!”
“Quite the observant one,” Ziggy complimented his expression still unchanging with a smile that no longer seemed to be friendly, “but no backing out now, you can feel free to take your time, you already know what is going to happen.” The inevitable outcome resolves, and sure enough, Arkeyion and David once again lose. “Alright fellas,” Ziggy clapped his hands together as if in anticipation, “you are going to be working with me for a long while.”
The dragon picked up two chips before dropping them on the ground. “Hey what are you…” David’s question was cut short by the loud sound of Ziggy’s cane striking the chips shattering them.
David and Arkeyion hear a high pitched ringing as they feel a strange sensation around their body. Arkeyion glanced at his hand after it began to feel heavy and noticed that it was numb. “Oh no…” Arkeyion realized that his hand was now partly petrified into the same type of marble his chips were made out of, and out of the corner of his eyes David was also realizing his simurlar. “What is happening to us!” Arkeyion desperately clenched his jaw, as the petrification quickly flowed up his tail and waist and down one of his ears.
There was an attempt to strike a more comfortable pose by David, but he was unable to react swiftly enough, his movements slow and stiff before ceasing to move even a centimeter. It all happened so incredibly fast that neither Arkeyion nor David had barely enough time to react. Now both the gorgon and the wolf were motionless, their bodies heavy and stiffly frozen with an absence of movement, not even breathing.
“I think these two would look good at the entrance. What do you think?” Ziggy asked Quick as he examined the statues, touching the gold veins on the wolf and feeling the smoothness of the gorgon’s tail.
Quick shrugged as he packed the chips away, holding one chip up for Ziggy to see and pointing at both the obsidian lizardman and the sandstone minotaur.
Ziggy tapped his chin in understanding, “yes I guess we could be needing some more chips, those two fellas are a little old at this point, might as well put them to better use and give the newbies a time to shine.” The dragon gives a last subtle wink before departing, leaving Quick alone with the petrified gorgon and maned wolf.
The shark calmly wets a cloth as he polishes David’s forehead and rubs Arkeyion’s chest. Quick pauses for a brief moment staring into Arkeyion’s eyes before gently poking the wolf on the tip of the nose, chuckling to himself before going to move the other unfortunate statues…
___
Might be best not to press too hard, but care to push your own luck?
Have a decently pleasant day and beware of any dragon that might be looking to add more statues to their collection...
Galatea the Gorgon, the winner of a recent raffle and their friend MR.Random123. If you are interested in a project, keep an eye out for my next raffle).___
As the sun comes to rest, it is a late dark night. The wind has the bitter chill of ice and yet has the familiar pleasant whistle blowing amongst the trees, or perhaps the cobblestones of a road…
A gorgon named David, their skin the color and texture of a snake dressed in clean attire, tight fitting jeans with a formal button up shirt, walked alongside a maned wolf that went by the name Arkeyion, their fur a pleasant pumpkin color, serving well to insulate their body heat. A sudden gust of wind sent a cold chill down David's spine, but after pulling out a bottle, a sip of tequila is enough to counteract the cold, at least keeping it at bay for a time.
"Do you really find it that chilly tonight?" Arkeyion asked casually, "you still have not told me what you were wanting to show me." The ground was damp as they turned a corner.
After another small sip, David finally caps the bottle before gently blowing into his hands and rubbing them together, "hey, not everyone has fur to keep themselves warm. Plus it gives me an excuse to enjoy a little drink."
Arkeyion raised an eyebrow, "should you just wear more clothes if you find it cold?"
"That is the equivalent of asking you to shave if you are hot," David was quick to respond before pausing briefly, tucking the bottle away before continuing. "Have you ever been told the story of The Dragon's Night?"
"No…" Arkeyion shook his head, "this would be the first time I have ever heard of such a tale." Following close behind David, Arkeyion both felt and heard the cold stones under his feet transitioning into stiff grass and crumpled leaves as trees laid before them, spouting from the earth.
“It is nothing much,” David shrugged, “just the pleasant forest this village was built around. Some cautionary tale that changes depending on the storyteller.” There was a gentle tilt of David’s head as he tried to recall the story, “A long walk at night amongst the trees could reveal a deceptive dancing light that will make you become lost.”
Arkeyion glanced over his shoulder, seeing the buildings slowly disappearing, while looking at the sky. It was a pleasant night despite the cold chill, the stars providing sufficient lighting to see the ground they walked upon under the trees, bare of any leaves. The wind slowly relented as they continued walking, the sound of insects and other arthropods chiming to the steady rhythm of their footsteps. The forest was surprisingly vast, spanning no larger than twenty kilometers in diameter, but the winding and curving paths could make it feel even larger. David whistled as the insects intensely chimed in response, but as Arkeyion glanced to his left to look at David, he thought he had seen a light dart off in the distance.
“Hey,” Arkeyion pointed in the direction where he saw the light, “did you see that just now?”
Flowingling the direction Arkeyion was pointing, David squinted. Again, the light barely comes into view amongst the trees before disappearing. “I have no idea what that could be. Do you want to go and see?”
Both David and Arkeyion looked at one another, silently agreeing that they would investigate. As they approached, the light would always appear in a pattern. But as they got closer, more lights began to become visible. After stumbling into a clearing, they were shocked to find a fairly large building adorned with rotating lamp fixtures that occasionally turned to face their direction. The entrance was as large as it was robust, bending arches with eccentric detail and heavy back lighting. Neither David nor Arkeyion could make out the figure that stood before them at the center of the entrance.
"Why hello there fellas…" a chipper voice could be heard as the figure approached, a bit of a skip in their step. "Quite the pleasant night out, wouldn’t you agree?" As the figure got closer, the familiar silhouette of a dragon could finally be seen. Once fully in view, a blue dragon, dark as the color of the night, with gold trimmed scales greeted David and Arkeyion with a subtle tilt of his head leaning to one side braced on a cane. The dragon examined the gorgon and the wolf, eyeing them from head to toe, he was dressed in quite dapper attire, one might have normally found the dragon to be a little intimidating if it weren't for the formal and snazzy dark tuxedo he was wearing. "Apologies, fellas…" the dragon gently shook their head as if embarrassed, "where are my manors, the Dragon's Hoard welcomes you."
David and Arkeyion were unsure of how to react, they glanced at each other before staring at the dragon that intrinsically stared back. "Huh," David raised an eyebrow as he tapped his chin, "never heard of a place like this before, what even is it?"
"Well, you can not spell CASINO without first saying UNO," the dragon casually points with two clawed fingers with a gentle wink
"It definitely has the look of a casino, but out here?" Arkeyion scratched their head in confusion, "are you supposed to be a bouncer or something?"
The dragon shook his head gently, "no need for such a thing here, plus you two do not look like trouble makers. Why not enjoy a little game or two, I am sure you will find something to your liking." The dragon turned walking back towards the entrance to the building, but not before glancing over his shoulder. "Oh one last thing… Money does not hold the same value here." The dragon gives another subtle wink before disappearing into the building, motioning for the gorgon and wolf to follow.
There was a bit of an awkward pause before David broke the silence. "Come on," he stepped forward before encouraging Arkeyion to follow, "I want to check this place out."
Once closer to the entrance, their eyes adjusted to the bright lights. The rattle of cards shuffling could be heard and the familiar sound of rolling of dice quickly followed. But what stood out among the rabble, a strange anomaly amongst everything that was going on, statues and sculptures were scattered around, many on pedestals and displays, but many were just scattered around in seemingly no order or fashion. On closer inspection, Arkeyion examined what looked to be a statue of a minotaur made entirely of a finely coarse sandstone with one arm raised at the shoulder while the other curved near the hip. The amount of detail was impressive, making the statue look surprisingly life-like. But the part that stood out to Arkeyion was the face and expression of the minotaur statue. With a gold loop embedded in the snout and a ring fitted onto one of its horns, the minotaur's mouth was slightly ajar, revealing even smaller details like teeth and a tongue nealy to perfection. But the look on the minotaur's face stiffly resembled that of confusion, fear, and anger. Arkeyion looked around and realized that David has also stopped to examine a different statue, the one he inspected was a reptilian lizardman. This statue of the lizardman was sculpted out of a reflective volcanic obsidian, the natural black glass of the dark deep earth. Much like the other sandstone statue of the minotaur, this black obsidian sculpture of the lizardman also had a surprising amount of detail. Scales layered and angled down the lizardman's back and legs while also extending along the arms and length of the massive tail that curved around the clawed feet, the chest and abdomen surprisingly smooth, unarmored by the thick layer of scales. The lizardman had both arms raised and crossed as if trying to block their face, a wincing look with both eye squinting and a stiffly clenched jaw revealing teeth on the side of their face, giving off an energy of desperation and frustration.
"These all seem a little… weird" Arkeyion paused for a moment when trying to think of a word.
David and Arkeyion looked around and realized that nearly all of the statues had some strange expression. But no one else in the building seemed to acknowledge statues. "Yeah… let's not think about that for right now," David shrugged as he began walking over to a vacant roulette table, "I am only curious as to why money does not hold the same value here".
Arkeyion followed closely behind, also silently wondering the same thing…
Unsure where to start, David and Arkeyion looked around, taking in the surroundings. There were a few tables already occupied, but one vacant roulette table stood out. A male shark, filling the role of a dealer, noticed David and Arkeyion’s confusion. Waving their hand, the shark motioned for the two to approach.
“Um, hello…” Arkeyion briefly greeted the shark. “Do you want something?”
The shark gently shook their head as they pulled a case out from under the table. Unclipping the flap, the shark opened the case and splayed it out on the table in front of the wolf and gorgon revealing it’s contents, flat disc like stones separated by sheets faintly resembling the shape of a traditional chip. Without a word, the shark pulls two sheets containing a fist full each and holds them out towards David and Arkeyion.
It took David a moment to realize that it was an invitation to take one of the sheets. “Oh, thank you…” David cheerfully glanced at what looked to be a name tag, “Quick?” The shark wore a clean fitting black and white tuxedo, a dorsal fin extending from the back of his head accompanied with a more prominent dorsal fin running down the back of his spine and fins on his arms angled towards his shoulders, the tip of his tail resembling the shape of a crescent moon.
David and Arkeyion examined their chips briefly, both were visibly different. David’s set had the appearance of smooth white marble, while Arkeyion’s set was dark with gold veins. Arkeyion was a little confused by Quick’s silence but appreciated and recognized that the shark was only being friendly. Quick tapped the table and pointed to the roulette wheel raising an eyebrow, as if asking David and Arkeyion if they were wanting to play.
“Yeah, sure,” Akeyion chirped, “we will play roulette.” David also agreed as he already placed a few chips on red.
David and Arkeyion were unsure of how much time had ed, minutes and seconds slowly began to blend together to form an hour. Much to David and Arkeyion’s surprise, they found themselves more often earning big winnings while accompanied with only minor losses. David placed a few chips between four corner numbers while Arkeyion placed his own on a sheet for three numbers overlapping half of David’s numbers.
Quick calmingly clapped as he pushed an impressively tall stack of chips in David and Arkeyion’s direction.
“Well fellas, look at you,” a familiar voice sounded behind David and Arkeyion, startling both of them as a hand touched each of their shoulders, “having quite the lucky run of it, aren't you?” A glance over David and Arkeyion’s shoulder revealed that the dragon from earlier was now standing behind them, a twinkle in their eyes.
“Oh, it is you. Yes, luck has been on our side today,” David happily bragged while shoveling his earnings of chips into a convenient bag as Arkeyion did the same.
The dragon had a warming smile as he faced the shark that stared back with a look of nervousness or embarrassment, neither David nor Arkeyion could honestly tell. “I hope Quick has helped to clarify a few things for you, I see each of you received your respective chips,” the dragon flicked two chips in his hand looking at the gold veins of Arkeyion’s and feeling the smoothness of David’s. “I am sure you noticed…” the dragon leaned, in lowering his voice to barley a whisper, “Quick is not exactly a good conversationalist.”
“Yeah…” Arkeyion also spoke in a whisper, “we noticed, but he seems alright.”
The dragon withdrew as he tapped his cane, “where are my manors, I went and forgot to introduce myself earlier. The name’s Ziggy, what might yours be?” The dragon asked as he gave a gentle wink.
David held out a hand, “my name is David, and this is Arkeyion,” motioning over to the wolf, “nice of you to let us enjoy a game.”
“How nice of me indeed,” Ziggy narrowed their eyes as he scratched at his chin, “speaking of which, why not try a different game. Have you ever heard of Sticks and Stones?”
Both David and Arkeyion glanced at each other, an obvious look of confusion on their faces. “I do not think we have heard of something like that before, is it a type of slot machine?” Arkeyion asked, unsure what Sticks and Stone could possibly be.
“Well…” Ziggy paused for a moment, as if pandering what to say, “it is the only use for those chips anyways, think of it more as a prize. Unfortunately my fishy friend here would not be the best person to play this game, needing five fingers.” Quick gently and embarrassingly held up a hand, the gorgon and wolf recognizing that he has only four. The dragon held out a hand, “what do you say fellas, interested?”
David was quick to accept the handshake, while Arkeyion was hesitant but eventually gave in to temptation and firmly shook the hand of the seemingly friendly dragon.
“Great, the game is really simple and easy. Each of you hold up a hand and a single finger,” as David and Arkeyion followed, the dragon held up both of his own clawed hands, a single finger extended on each. “The goal is to get me to hold all fingers up on each hand these are your sticks, both of you are on a team and we take turns, one of you will tap one of my hands and I will add sticks to that hand equal to the number of sticks of the hand you taped me with, I will do the same to you, if a hand gets to five sticks, it is removed from the game becoming a stone, if you tap a hand that goes over five sticks that hand will now only have a number of sticks equal to the amount that went over.” Ziggy paused for a moment before continuing, “so if I tap a two with my one stick that two will become a three, if I tap a three stick with my two stick the once three stick hand will become a stone and will be removed from the game, and lastly if I tap a four stick with a three stick the once four stick hand will now be a two stick. Simple enough right, all in or nothing?” Ziggy asked, still smiling.
“This sounds easy enough, what do we get if we win?” David found himself instinctively asking.
“You will get riches equal to the chips weight in gold,” Ziggy’s expression was unchanging, “if you lose, I will be taking those chips off your hand. House always goes first,” Ziggy tapped Arkeyion who now held two in his hand. Arkeyion instinctively responded by tapping one of Ziggy’s hands changing it to a three, quickly realizing his mistake when Ziggy winked and tapped Arkeyion’s hand in return with his three hand causing Arkeyion to lose. “How unfortunate, you can try again once I am done with David here,” Ziggy teased as he chuckled.
Ziggy had three and one in his hands, while David still only had one in his hand. Despite David’s best efforts, he managed to remove one of Ziggy’s hands, but only ended up losing shortly after. “Can we play again?” David found himself saying before the round was even over.
“Sure,” Ziggy chirped, “We can play again, but if you lose again…” the dragon gave another gentle wink before continuing, “you will be needing to work for me, if not then you get your chips back, win again and the riches will rain down on you.”
Once again Arkeyion was hesitant, but reluctantly accepted after hearing the promise of gold. Another game began, Ziggy tapped Arkeyion once again, but this time David responded by tapping one of ziggy’s hands. Back and forth, the game went on, and yet Ziggy acted as if he already knew the outcome.
“Wait a second,” Arkeyion exclaimed after making a shocking realization, “we can not even win this game!”
“Quite the observant one,” Ziggy complimented his expression still unchanging with a smile that no longer seemed to be friendly, “but no backing out now, you can feel free to take your time, you already know what is going to happen.” The inevitable outcome resolves, and sure enough, Arkeyion and David once again lose. “Alright fellas,” Ziggy clapped his hands together as if in anticipation, “you are going to be working with me for a long while.”
The dragon picked up two chips before dropping them on the ground. “Hey what are you…” David’s question was cut short by the loud sound of Ziggy’s cane striking the chips shattering them.
David and Arkeyion hear a high pitched ringing as they feel a strange sensation around their body. Arkeyion glanced at his hand after it began to feel heavy and noticed that it was numb. “Oh no…” Arkeyion realized that his hand was now partly petrified into the same type of marble his chips were made out of, and out of the corner of his eyes David was also realizing his simurlar. “What is happening to us!” Arkeyion desperately clenched his jaw, as the petrification quickly flowed up his tail and waist and down one of his ears.
There was an attempt to strike a more comfortable pose by David, but he was unable to react swiftly enough, his movements slow and stiff before ceasing to move even a centimeter. It all happened so incredibly fast that neither Arkeyion nor David had barely enough time to react. Now both the gorgon and the wolf were motionless, their bodies heavy and stiffly frozen with an absence of movement, not even breathing.
“I think these two would look good at the entrance. What do you think?” Ziggy asked Quick as he examined the statues, touching the gold veins on the wolf and feeling the smoothness of the gorgon’s tail.
Quick shrugged as he packed the chips away, holding one chip up for Ziggy to see and pointing at both the obsidian lizardman and the sandstone minotaur.
Ziggy tapped his chin in understanding, “yes I guess we could be needing some more chips, those two fellas are a little old at this point, might as well put them to better use and give the newbies a time to shine.” The dragon gives a last subtle wink before departing, leaving Quick alone with the petrified gorgon and maned wolf.
The shark calmly wets a cloth as he polishes David’s forehead and rubs Arkeyion’s chest. Quick pauses for a brief moment staring into Arkeyion’s eyes before gently poking the wolf on the tip of the nose, chuckling to himself before going to move the other unfortunate statues…
___
Might be best not to press too hard, but care to push your own luck?
Have a decently pleasant day and beware of any dragon that might be looking to add more statues to their collection...
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Thanks again for the story! Really enjoyed the detail you put into describing the casino's atmosphere.