The Dragon Who Hoarded Names
fantasyEveryoneVesper leaned close, smoke curling from her nose. 'No name at all? How unusual.' She plucked a blank silver coin from the wall and held it out. 'Empty. Like you. I could fill it with any name you point to. Choose from my hoard, child, and it is yours.'
The girl pointed at the dragon's coins, then made a giving motion, then a taking motion. A trade. Vesper laughed, a sound like rocks tumbling. 'You want to bargain? Fine. Win me a name I do not already have, and I will give you any name you wish.'
What happens next?
1 ways forwardThe girl thought hard, then drew a shape in the dust that no name had ever taken before. The dragon breathed warmth over it, and slowly a brand-new name took form, one that had never existed in the world. It settled onto a fresh coin, bright gold instead of cold silver. 'You won,' Vesper said, amazed. 'You made a name I could not steal.' She nudged the gold coin into the girl's hands. 'Yours. The only one of its kind.'