THE DRAGON’S TREASURE.

Pendragon

Todd Jensen

Open in Darien Montrose’s office, in London. It’s late in the evening, most of his employees have left, but Darien is still seated at his desk, waiting. The door opens and the person that he was waiting to speak with, a Mr. Jorge Mendoza, enters.

Darien had recently discovered (probably during his time working with Madoc during the Second Unseelie War) about a fantastic hoard of treasure hidden somewhere in a cavern in the Pyrenees, and reputedly guarded by a dragon. Darien isn’t quite ready to believe in dragons (even after his more unusual experiences), but he does consider the treasure likely to exist, and would like to obtain it to help finance his planned takeover of the Camford Corporation. So he began asking around to find out more about it, and Mr. Quince, who is an expert on Iberian legend and folklore, heard about his search and contacted him, offering his services. Darien accepted, after looking over Mendoza’s credentials and finding them good. The two of them are now having a meeting over the matter.

Mendoza has just located a map showing the part of the Pyrenees where the treasure is, which he lays out on the desk before Darien. It lies in a remote cave which has a reputation among the locals for being "magical"; some of the legends about it are even said to have influenced Cervantes in his account of the Cave of Montesinos in his Don Quixote. There are certainly rumors about a dragon guarding the treasure, and more than one tale of the dragon actually having been sighted flying about the mountains at night. Mendoza advises Darien to exercise great caution; for all that he knows, the dragon could be real. After all, stranger things than that have been discovered to exist lately (such as the gargoyles).

They have more or less the opposite reaction concerning the local Don, Salvador. While Mendoza dismisses the man as just another noble fop, Darien figures the man could be trouble if the search starts to plague his lands and community. He wants to cover his bases on that area, and so plans to have a chat with the Don, amking sure he doesn’t realize what’s going on.

Darien decides to outfit an expedition and claim the treasure, bringing Mendoza along as his guide. He employs some henchmen (of the usual "Thugs-R-us" variety, maybe including Banquo and Fleance if we don’t have other, conflicting plans for them) to do the dirty work, but will still accompany them in person, to make certain that they don’t take the treasure for themselves, as well as to personally see to the Don.

* * *

The Pyrenees, a couple of weeks later Arthur Pendragon and his companions, Merlin, Griff, and Mary, have come to the mountain chain to search for the Grail; some of the legends that Arthur’s researched stated that the Grail was kept in a castle called Monsalvat somewhere in this mountain range, and they’re looking into it. Dulcinea (and Rosinante) has accompanied them on this expedition, though only in the sense of "their paths lie together for a while"; she’s decided to return to Spain for a while, feeling that she’s needed there, and was accompanying them on their journey to the Pyrenees thereby.

Currently, they’re at Roncesvalles (Arthur wanted to pay his respects to Roland and the other paladins of Charlemagne’s court who fell in battle there) and Dulcinea is discussing with Arthur and Griff over where she’ll be during her time in Spain (she particularly plans to visit her mentor’s grave as part of honoring his memory), while Merlin is tutoring Mary on some school subject or other (aware of Mary’s condition, Nigel has made official arrangements with her old school to have her temporarily away for health reasons, though with the indication that she’ll need to be "home schooled", and Merlin is serving as her teacher on the grounds that he’s got the best experience in this line of work - though he admits that the educational curriculum is somewhat different these days than it was when he was teaching Arthur. I suspect that Brock helped out with the teaching as well, while Mary was at the London estate - if with some necessary amendments given that Mary’s the first pupil he’s ever had who was a human rather than a gargoyle hatchling). So far, they haven’t made any progress on locating Monsalvat (if it exists) although they’re still looking.

While at the site, they perhaps make a few comments about Roland and his band. While Mary, Arthur, and Dulci are very respectful of the sacrifice the paladins made, Merlin isn’t so impressed; while he acknowledges the bravery of Roland and his companions, the young/old wizard can’t help but think them a little senseless to wait until near death to call for reinforcements. He’s told it was part of his way of belief, and while it may have gotten himself and the others killed, it was a part of who he was – he could do no less and still stay true to himself. In any event, Dulci wants to pay her respects to her dead mentor, and soon convinces the other to come with her to the old man’s village.

It’s early evening a couple of days later, when they arrive in the valley where Dulci’s mentor lived, and the party notices a marked difference in the terrain. The land looks much more fertile and fecund than in the surrounding areas – the vegetation and animals, both wild and domesticated, seem to be in far more than excellent health, and even the temperature seems to be far more mild and moist than one would expect for a high mountain valley. Dulci doesn’t really make much comment of it, since she got used to it when she was with her mentor, but Merlin especially is wondering if something weird is going on. (The valley’s fertility, mind you, isn’t extreme enough to scream ‘Magical Influence Here!’, but it is enough to be easily noticed.) This ‘aura’ of health extends into the small village at the bottom of the valley, where all the people, even the elderly, seem to be in excellent health. (All of this is due to the physical presence of Quetzalcoatl in the valley for the last several centuries.) The only thing even remotely sinister in the valley is a relatively modest castle on a high hill overlooking the village; when asked, Dulci replies that it is the home of the noble line that owns the valley. They are very reclusive by nature, and the way Dulci tells it, somewhat less than noble in attitude.

The good guys make their way through the town, with several people hailing Dulci in a warm and friendly manner, until they reach the old home of Dulci’s mentor. It’s a nice place near the center of town, currently in the care of the deceased man’s niece, an elderly woman who is overjoyed to see Dulcinea again, and is more than willing to set her and her friends up for a few nights. After everyone has settled down, Dulcinea asks the caretaker how everything has been since she left.

It turns out that, until recently, everything had been fine. Then, a couple of weeks ago, a large number of men came into town, led by some foreign businessman. They talked with the Don for a day or two, and then proceeded to start tearing up some of the mountains in the distance. The caretaker figures that these newcomers must be after the fabled dragon’s treasure, but unlike those before them, these people bring machines that have been causing a great deal of damage to the countryside. Dulcinea is outraged by this, and is less than surprised to find out that the Don has been doing nothing to stop this; she figures he probably is getting rich off of what’s probably some sort of mining expedition. Dulcinea is also told that the people of the town will be meeting in the square that day to discuss what to do about all of this. Dulci is more than interested in looking into this, and the rest of the good guys decide to go with her.

* * *

On the way to the square, the others ask about what the old woman meant about treasure. Dulci explains that the area has legends about a dragon having lived here; everyone, including herself, believes the tales to be poppycock as no one has even sighted the dragon in over 400 years. But there is a cave in the mountains that people ascribe as the dragon’s lair; more than a few treasure seekers have combed that cave and its environs, but no one’s ever found anything. These people, whoever they are, would just be the latest treasure seekers to come to the valley.

When they all arrive at the square, Arthur and Co. find the place occupied by a large number of very disgruntled people. Several people are addressing the crowd, arguing back and forth over the newcomers and their mining, whether they are good or bad for the town. Those who are against point to the damage to the local landscape and ask if this loss of their children’s birthright is worth a few extra coins today. The others say that the newcomers have brought an influx of wealth to the town, and there is the promise of jobs and more money to be had if they find what they are looking for. Things continue in this vein for several minutes until someone demands to know what the Don is going to do about this; several others agree, while Dulci silently scoffs at the idea of the man doing anything at all. Eventually she, Arthur and the others have heard enough and head back to the house.

In the castle, meanwhile, Darien is having another meeting with the Don, trying to reassure him of the benefits of this new mine (the cover story Darien is using on the Don). The Don isn’t entirely convinced of this matter, but their conversation is interrupted by one of Montrose’s men coming in and telling Darien about Arthur’s arrival. Darien is noticeably upset, and when asked reluctantly mentions that Arthur and his companions, one of whom the Don recognizes as Dulcinea, could be a major problem. The Don decides that they will have to do something about that, then.

* * *

The next day, Dulci and Arthur make their way to the village church, where she plans to say a few prayers for her mentor. Leaving Rosie outside the front of the church, Dulcinea and Arthur enter, still somewhat troubled by the events in the square the night before. As they enter, Arthur’s mind switches to other matters when he sees the large quantity of gold and jewels decorating the interior of the building; he’s mildly stunned that a small church in an out of the way area could be so richly decorated. Dulci smiles as she goes over to light a few candles in memoriam; the cathedrals in some of the major cities make this place look like nothing. It’s the legacy of the Spanish conquistadors and the fortunes of New World gold, silver and precious gems that flooded the land some four and a half centuries ago – there’s plenty of that blood-money lying around if you know where to look.

A voice from the entrance informs then that this particular piece of ‘blood-money’ was donated by his ancestor, so the young woman (Dulci) should watch her tone. Arthur and Dulci turn to see a well-appointed man slowly entering the church, and he introduces himself as Don Salvador, the titular current owner of this valley (titular since the nobility in Europe tends not to have too much temporal power these days). Both Arthur and Dulci are taken aback by the man because of the aura of nobility he seems to radiate – even subdued, the Don’s charisma is significant, and they can’t help but be impressed by his presence.

The Don does admit that his ancestor was one of the people who went with Cortez in 1519, and they did plunder the Aztecs and do a lot of killing. But then again, the Aztecs were also a bunch of people who ruled their subjects with an iron fist and sacrificed them by the thousands; the subject peoples of what became Mexico were only too happy to help the Spaniards in the carnage of those years. But these are more civilized times, and he assures Arthur and Dulci that he actually quite abhors all that bloodshed thing; he’d much rather keep it in the past.

At long last, Dulci manages to find her voice, and asks pointedly what the Don is doing here; she figures it isn’t a social call. Actually, it turns out that it is: the Don would like to invite Dulci and Arthur to a dinner at his castle that evening, if they would like; he has some things he would like to discuss with them. While Dulci and Arthur (especially the former) are both suspicious of the nobleman’s motives, they accept; they figure that whatever is going on with the mining operations in the area, they might be able to get a better idea of the situation this way. The Don thanks them for their acceptance and makes his way out of the church, saying as he leaves that he gives his condolences to Dulci’s mentor – he was a good man, after all, even if he was a little off. That last comment nearly sets off Dulci, but Arthur calms her before she can say anything.

As the Don reaches the door, a high-pitched scream can be heard from just outside. The Don quickly and calmly tells the other two not to worry about it; for some reason, the two of them believe him enough that they simply go back to what they were doing (it wasn’t Rosie or any of the others, so technically it does fall under the purview of the Don or the local constubalary). Outside, it turns out that Darien Montrose had come with the Don and that Rosie has been ‘attacking’ him; though the horse doesn’t like Darien at all, he’s actually making far more fuss than is warranted. The Don, after making an appropriate comment about Darien lack of animal-handling skill, manages to easily calm Rosie down and lead the businessman away. Darien did manage to overhear the invite, and is appalled at what the Don is doing. The man simply tells Darien that he wants to see these newcomers for himself and judge just how much of a problem they might be; Darien doesn’t have to come if he doesn’t want to. To the Don’s satisfaction, Darien quickly leaves.

* * *

Back at the house of Dulci’s mentor, the good guys are mulling over the events of the day. Merlin and Mary are also very skeptical about the motives of the Don’s invitation, but they agree that it’s probably a good idea to see what he really wants (even if it turns out to be a trap). All agree that they also need to check out the dragon’s cave and see what’s going on there and in the area around it; Merlin’s figured out that something’s going on around here, and he figures exploring the cave would be a good start. It’s getting on in the day, so if they want to attend to both matters they will have to split up. Dulci and Arthur will go to the castle, while Merlin and Mary attend to the cave. Arthur is more than a little reluctant to let the youngsters go off on their own, but Dulci assures him that it’s all right; people have been going to the cave regularly for centuries without so much as a skinned knee to show for it.

* * *

Elsewhere, Darien is talking with his men about the arrival of Arthur and Co. – they could easily ruin everything. At least the Don is in the dark about what’s really going on with all the ‘mining equipment’ and the villagers are unaware of the treasure hunt as well; if anything, they’ll be useful in taking care of the Don when Darien decides to leave. Just then, Mendoza comes in and says that a couple of Arthur’s people are headed towards the dragon’s cave (when asked, he says ‘he has his sources’); while Darien panics a little, he and his ‘partner’ agree that this might be a chance to lessen their ‘Arthur problem’…

* * *

A couple of hours later, Merlin and Mary have arrived at the mouth of the dragon’s cave; while he was at first worried about being able to make the climb up here, his health has seemed to improve a little (more of Quetzalcoatl’s presence at work) and Dulci was right about it not being hard to reach the cave. The two of them set to work on searching the cave, wondering if all this stuff about a dragon is baloney; they’ve seen dragons before, certainly, but so far there have been none of the telltale signs of one (at least a European one) living in the area. If that’s the case, they’re probably wasting their time.

They spend a while searching the cave, as the sun nears the horizon they have to admit that everyone was right: it’s just a normal cave. No treasure, no magical emanations, no nothing – Mary catches the faint scent of flowers from time to time but that’s it. Just as they’re about to conclude their time and head back to the village, they hear rocks moving and then a landslide comes down, sealing the mouth of the cave; though they are all right, there seems to be no way for them to get out other than by trying to move some of the rubble. Merlin tries his magic, but he just doesn’t have the strength to move that much material – they’re going to have to do it the old fashioned way, moving it by hand. Outside, a couple of Darien’s goons make their way from the cave, feeling good about having taken care of some of the nuisances Darien wanted eliminated.

* * *

Arthur and Dulci, meanwhile, arrive at the Don’s castle – really more of a large fortified manor house – and are escorted inside. Though they wonder at Merlin and Mary having taken so long, Dulci still isn’t worried enough to want to go after them yet. The inside of the castle is richly appointed, though not gaudy, with green being an especially prominent color. (There is also something strange, though the two visitors can’t put their finger on it: there are no statues, busts, or painting of any former Dons anywhere in the place.) They eventually meet the Don at the banquet hall, and proceed to dinner.

It’s enjoyable enough, and the Don is a gracious host, and though Arthur begins to think maybe this person isn’t any worse than any other grandee he’s run into before, Dulci just continues to be unnerved by him, especially his ‘aura of nobility’ (it’s not a romantic attraction, BTW, but more of an urge to want to swear fealty to him). After dinner the Don shows his guests his very extensive butterfly collection, his pastime that he uses to while away the hours (it is truly impressive). But finally Dulci has enough and asks what the Don really wanted them here for.

For the most part, he really did want to see Dulcinea in person; he’s been keeping a occasional eye on her, and he is rather intrigued by her idealism, much like that her mentor enjoyed. He finds it slightly refreshing, and had wanted to see it in person while she was here; he’s long since decided not to get involved in things that don’t concern him. Dulci responds by commenting on the outsiders he’s brought in to pillage the area, at which the Don merely says that they are useful for his purposes now, but they will be gone in time, just like all the other outsiders to come into the valley. His manner, while not arrogant, still seems to get under Dulci’s skin, and it isn’t long before the Don, seeing this, graciously lets them leave the castle; Dulci seems to take even this as an insult of some sort, and Arthur has to spend a bit of effort to keep her calmed down as they go back to the village.

* * *

Griff is flying over the valley, heading towards where the villagers had said the excavations were located. It doesn’t take him long to find the site: several pieces of mining equipment are tearing a hole in the side of one of the mountains – curiously, it’s nowhere near the ‘dragon’s cave’ everybody knows about. Griff lands and silently watches the goings on until a familiar face appears: Darien Montrose. Now he knows who is behind all this, and he waits to see what’s going on when he notices some of the workers pointing into the sky. Griff turns to look and just sees a massive winged shape fly behind a nearby hill; after all the previous talk of dragons, he immediately makes his way there and starts to look around for it.

At the edge of the camp site, Mendoza is looking over to where the shape emerged and disappeared. He’s very pleased that the beast was dumb enough to be seen like that; it’ll make nailing him all that much easier.

For a few minutes Griff doesn’t see anything, then he catches sight of the shape again, this time headed for the cave and the village. It stays in sight long enough for Griff to realize that his eyes aren’t playing tricks on him, that this does appear to be a dragon, before it disappears around another hill. When Griff goes to investigate, however, he finds that it has completely disappeared, as if it never existed. He decides to head for the cave, figuring that it’s as good a place as any to go to.

Merlin and Mary, meanwhile, haven’t had much luck in excavating their way out, and have taken a moment to rest in the interior of the cave. (Maybe they have a ‘moment’ together, I’m not sure.) Then they hear a huge gouging sound coming from the cave entrance. Before they can do much more than look, what appear to be giant claws break through the debris and tear a hole to the outside. Then all is quiet.

When they make their way outside, they see absolutely nothing of their savior, though they’re more than willing to believe it was this so-called ‘dragon’. Griff arrives and, after ascertaining that the two teens are all right and telling them about the shape he saw, helps take them to the village.

* * *

Back in the village, everyone begins to share what information they have. It now seems pretty obvious that there really is a dragon in the valley, and that it’s most certainly active; Dulci in particular seems shaken by the news. And everyone is not surprised at the presence of someone like Darien Montrose in this mess. Arthur is disgusted with Darien for his latest display of avarice and deceit, and Merlin comments that he’s particularly concerned over what could happen if Darien does indeed break into the dragon’s lair and steal its hoard: "I’ve seen this sort of thing happen before. Somebody finds the dragon’s treasure, steals something from it - a cup, say - the dragon wakes up, discovers the cup missing, and goes out to look for it, laying the countryside waste in the process, until somebody has to slay it." Considering that Darien will take the whole hoard, and if this dragon can actually disappear and reappear at will like Griff says, then there’s a level of problem facing the village that dwarfs anything the villagers know about. And the Don’s involved as well, judging by what the others have seen, then he’s likely endangering his own people for monetary gain – a worse crime than what Darien is pulling. They decide they must shut down the operation before it angers the dragon, and see about sending Darien and the Don packing.

Dulci’s still pretty upset about the dragon, though, and when pressed finally reveals that her mentor had always believed in the dragon’s existence. He’d claimed to have seen it as a young man, and had spent the rest of his life trying to prove that it existed (not to the world at large, but simply to the village). While he was well-liked and respected, the villagers came to see him as a little ‘off his rocker’ for his beliefs, likening him to Don Quixote on the matter. And Don ******** most certainly did not help, doing everything to stymie Dulci’s mentor in his efforts. He died without ever having been vindicated, with even Dulci not believing him, and now that there really is a dragon, well.

The others say they understand (maybe even one of them shares an example of a similar episode in their life) but they need to focus on Darien and his people right now. Enough time has passed by now that there’s no way they could bring Griff into the potential battle before sunrise. Arthur suggests they get the villagers rounded up and ready to help out; granted, Arthur can’t exactly tell them that a dragon is running around, but he can probably find a way to do a little rabble-rousing against Darien (after all, Arthur’s had plenty of experience at similar things). But Merlin reminds them that, given the volatile situation in the town, doing some speechmaking might be like lighting off a powder keg. They need to be careful about even thinking of getting the villagers involved.

* * *

That day, after hearing of the dragon and the escape of Merlin and Mary from the cave, Darien decides to quickly deal with Arthur and the others before they can stop him. He gets his own men ready and starts marching them to the village, but on the border he runs into the Don. He says in no uncertain terms that while he may allow Darien to mine or do whatever, he will not allow fighting in the village or the valley; if Darien’s men invade the town, the Don will see to it that Darien spends roughly the next two centuries in a Spanish jail cell. Darien isn’t happy, but figures he’ll leave and set up an ambush at the excavation site.

That afternoon, Dulci, wanting to really have it out with the Don, makes her way to the castle on Rosie. As she approaches, she sees the Don leaving for what looks like the dragon cave, and she goes to follow. Unknown to her, Merlin follows them to the cave. She sees him enter the cave, and after a moment follows in herself, where an amazing sight greets her eyes: the cave is filled with gold and precious stones, much as one would expect a dragon’s cave to be. The Don is standing there, about as puzzled as Dulci is by the sight, and when she comments on the treasure, he merely says this is the first time he’s seen this stuff here before. When she asks how he would know, he thinks a moment and then admits that technically this is his cave.

Before she can say anything, he transforms into a dragon - though, oddly enough, not the conventional fire-breathing dragon of western European legend that she was expecting to find, but a great feathered serpent straight out of Mesoamerican art and legend. She asks who he is and what’s going on, and the dragon replies that it’s Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent of Mesoamerican lore, and he figures he might as well tell her and her companions (at this point he calls out Merlin) about what’s going on because he needs their help in sorting this mess out.

Quetzalcoatl tells them about how he was once a "god-king" over a people called the Toltecs, teaching them the arts of civilization and even persuading them to abandon human sacrifice; unfortunately, his corrupt and envious brother, Tezcatlipoca, brought about his overthrow and exile. Filled with bitterness at Tezcatlipoca for his act, Quetzalcoatl departed eastwards for Europe, hoping to find there his means of overthrowing Tezcatlipoca; he settled in this cave in the Pyrenees, set himself up as part of the local nobility, and proceeded to help subtly influence the Spaniards, through a series of gentle nudges (only assisting events in a direction that they would have gone in anyway, sooner or later), to sailing westwards, "discovering" the Americas, and finally, under Cortez, sacking the Aztec empire that Tezcatlipoca now dominated on the moral level. (Merlin comments at this point that that may well explain the astonishing coincidence that Cortez landed in Mexico in the very year that Quetzalcoatl was supposed to return, which convinced the Aztecs and their ruler Montezuma himself that he was Quetzalcoatl returned - Quetzalcoatl, knowing the prophecy, must have seen to it that Cortez and his conquistadors would arrive in Mexico that very year, precisely for the purpose of deluding the Aztecs so).

However, Quetzalcoatl now found, in the aftermath of the conquistadors’ sack of Tenochtitlan and overrunning the Aztec empire, that revenge was not so sweet when actually tasted; the culmination of his vengeance was the destruction of the very civilization that he had helped found, and a slaughter of his people (not to mention the introduction to them of European diseases such as smallpox that only further decimated their numbers). He returned to the Pyrenees in a quiet melancholy, having decided to renounce all further revenge; he no longer even hated Tezcatlipoca after this, feeling that their feud simply wasn’t worth continuing. And here he has resided, all this time, for the last few centuries posing as the line of rulers of this little valley and trying to avoid contact with the outside world.

Dulcinea asks him puzzledly why he helped Darien on his expedition, something which would certainly sound like working against his best interests. Quetzalcoatl explains how, as part of the masquerade he’s put on the past few centuries, he’d let anybody come in and explore the dragon’s cave to their heart’s content; there is no physical treasure, and so all he’d have to do is lay low until the searchers got tired and went home. That’s largely what he did to Dulci’s mentor, and though he is a little sorry about what happened to the man, Quetzalcoatl figures his own existence is slightly more important than the reputation of one human. In any case, Darien and his people have turned out to be far more aggressive, and have access to more powerful machinery than Quetzalcoatl had bargained for (the bad side of isolating himself). Now he just wants them to go away, and he’d be perfectly happy to let Arthur take care of the problem; Merlin decides to go back and tell Arthur of this development, while Dulci elects to stay.

When Merlin leaves, Dulcinea asks Quetzalcoatl why he insists in keeping to himself as a veritable hermit; she can understand why he’d be ashamed of what he did, but simply going into reclusion isn’t the answer, as this mess with Darien has shown. Why not take care of the problem himself? She knows a little of him, and his benevolent role, and says that after what he’d done for Mesoamericans before Tezcatlipoca overthrew him, and with all the knowledge and wisdom that he’s gained through the centuries of his existence, he has a lot to offer the world. Why not do something positive with it?

Quetzalcoatl isn’t convinced by her words, however; his basic response is ‘Why should I?’. He hasn’t been so entirely isolated from the outside world that he doesn’t know the depths to which humanity can sink in treating itself. Why should he kill himself helping people, only to be knocked aside at the first call of a ‘dragon-slayer’? Because that’s who he is: it’s his nature to help people and nurture things, much as it was Roland’s nature to behave chivalrously to the death, or for Dulci’s mentor to go looking for the dragon, or Arthur to look for the Grail. Is the mighty dragon going to go against his own nature? With that, she leaves for the village, with the dragon taking time to think about what’s been said.

* * *

That night, Arthur and Co. assault the camp and Darien makes his play to try and stay in business here; his first thought near the start of the battle is to grab hold of Mary to use as a hostage, but she’s learning her trade as Arthur’s squire and a future knight well, and makes him retreat ignominiously. Darien frantically calls for his henchmen (while, say, limping from where Mary kicked him in the shins), to see if he can overpower Arthur and his companions, but Arthur, Griff, and Mary together prove to be their equal, even with the element of surprise on Darien’s side. Mendoza gets involved as well, and turns out to be an excellent warrior, fighting Arthur nearly to a standstill. The battle begins to slowly turn towards Darien’s forces until suddenly a mighty voice says, “Enough!”

At that moment, a large spear comes flying in from above and pins one of Darien’s pant legs to the ground, then the dragon appears in all his glory. As Darien screams and tries to (unsuccessfully) free himself from the spear, and his men try to shoot the creature, Quetzalcoatl calmly brings a large conch shell to his mouth and blows. Strong wind issues from the shell and, after slowly intensifying, blows away Darien’s people in a scene reminiscent of the line of ‘stern nannies’ in Mary Poppins; they are soon out of sight, headed for who knows where, and only a terrified Darien and calm Mendoza are left standing among the good guys (who were unaffected by the wind). The dragon then looks Darien in the eyes and tells him to leave and never return; when Darien responds by saying that he won’t rest until he has the treasure, which causes the dragon to reply that he is the treasure. Without further explanation, he frees Darien by pulling him out of his pants (revealing the obligatory heart-patterned boxer shorts underneath) and starts to use his conch shell again; Darien, seeing this, runs screaming into the night, with Arthur and Co. not trying to stop him (they just don’t have the heart).

The dragon then turns on Mendoza and says that now all his toys have been broken, so why not just end the charade? Everyone is puzzled until the man himself transforms into a handsome fay dressed as a Mesoamerican warrior. Quetzalcoatl introduces his nemesis, Tezcatlipoca, who had been going by a human alias (Jorge being the Spanish for George, as in St. George the Dragon-Slayer) and the cause of the trouble here, no doubt. The fay just takes it all in stride (he’s a trickster by nature) and when Quetzalcoatl says that he’s calling an end to the feud, Tezcatlipoca simply says that he isn’t interested in revenge, just in having ‘fun’ with an old ‘colleague’. The others are appalled at his version of ‘fun’ (namely, nearly starting a minor war and causing more than a little damage to the local area) and wonder when Oberon’s people will come to pick him up; he points out though that he wasn’t ever directly interfering in human affairs (Quetzalcoatl was his main target, and he’s a dragon), and he’s been keeping a low profile. In any event, seeing as how his fun’s been spoiled, he decides to leave, vanishing from sight, though not before telling the others that he may pay them a visit or two, time permitting. Quetzalcoatl warns them that he’s far more dangerous than he looks, and some of the others hope Oberon will overlook his own laws just this once. With that, they all head back to the castle and the village to try and calm things down (especially by telling the people that Darien is gone and isn’t coming back).

Later, at the castle, Quetzalcoatl is wondering if maybe Dulcinea is correct about his current state of apathy being wrong, though admitting that it’ll take a while for him to know just what to do here. Dulcinea, now able to at least somewhat forgive the dragon for what happened to her mentor, offers to help him out here, since she’ll be staying in the area anyway, and he accepts. Quetzalcoatl and Arthur have a few final words about Arthur’s quest (perhaps relating to their both having been kings who left but would return - and with the hopes that Arthur’s return will fare much more happily than Quetzalcoatl’s), with the feathered serpent offering some words of wisdom here, as well as the knowledge that he has never seen Monsalvat anywhere around here (despite the better part of a millennium traveling the Pyrenees), after which Arthur and his three companions part ways with Quetzalcoatl and Dulcinea. Since by now it’s clear that there’s no Grail Castle in the Pyrenees, they head off to seek for the Grail elsewhere.

And now, here's the part where I either get executed for stepping heavily on Todd's toes (which I figure I deserve, now that I think of it), or for making you guys wait forever for an inferior piece. If you really don't like it, then throw it out and use what Todd wrote originally, and you can proceed to flame me the next time I show my face in a Gargoyles chat room (or any other, for that matter :)

Nicodemus