The great dragon Ignis sat atop a mountain of gold, but he couldn't care less about the coins. To him, the gold was just a comfortable, malleable mattress that kept the dampness of the cave floor from ruining his lower back. His real treasure was lined up neatly against the cavern walls: thousands of leather-bound volumes, scrolls of ancient poetry, and historical codices he had spent three millennia collecting.The tragedy of Ignis's life was his claws. They were massive, razor-sharp, and coated in a faint, destructive heat. Every time he tried to turn a page of a delicate poetry manuscript, he ended up slicing it in half or accidentally singing the parchment into ash.For centuries, he had lived in a state of profound literary frustration. He knew the histories of the first age by heart, but he desperately wanted to know how the contemporary trilogy he had stolen from a traveling merchant ended.A sharp clang echoed from the mouth of the cave.Ignis sighed, a plume of thick black smoke curling from his nostrils. "Another one," he rumbled to himself.A young knight in gleaming, over-polished silver armor stepped into the cavern light. He held a broadsword that shook slightly in his grip, his shield raised high. "Foul beast!" the knight yelled, his voice cracking slightly. "I am Sir Galahad of the Western Vales! I have come to slay you and reclaim the stolen gold of—""Yes, yes, the gold of King Aldous," Ignis interrupted, his voice a deep, resonant baritone that shook the stalactites. "Look, Galahad, can we skip the posturing? I have a proposition for you."The knight blinked, lowering his shield an inch. "A... a proposition? You wish to beg for your life?""Hardly," Ignis said, carefully shifting his massive bulk so he wouldn't crush a stack of encyclopedias. He reached out with one giant, scaly talon and gently nudged a thick, red leather book toward the knight. "I want you to read to me."Galahad stared at the book, then at the dragon, utterly bewildered. "You want me to... what?""Read. Chapter four, specifically," Ignis explained, settling his massive chin onto his front paws. "The protagonist was just captured by the dark sorcerer, and I've been dying to know how she escapes. If you read three chapters a day, you can take a sack of gold whenever you leave. No fighting required."Galahad looked at the massive pile of wealth, then down at the book. His fingers tightened on his sword. "This is a demon's trick! A illusion to lower my guard!"With a battle cry, the young knight charged, raising his sword to strike at the dragon's vulnerable neck.Ignis didn't even blink. He simply swiped his massive tail, swatting the knight sideways into the cavern wall. Galahad hit the stone with a heavy clatter, his sword clanging away into a dark crevice. He lay there, bruised and breathless, staring up in terror as the dragon loomed over him."You see?" Ignis sighed, his voice heavy with a profound, ancient loneliness. "Every single time. You boys are so eager to die for a song that you never stop to ask if someone could just sing it to you."The dragon gently blew a small gust of warm air to dry the knight's damp armor, then pushed the red book back toward him with a single, massive claw."Now," Ignis said softly. "Pick up the book, Galahad. And please, use a clear voice. My ears aren't what they used to be."
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