The Call of Gold

There weren’t always dragons in The Valley. But then I came, ancient and craving treasure. So much wealth. How could I resist the lure of Los Angeles? The lights shone throughout the Valley like gold in the firelight, warming my heart and tickling my senses.

I’d been living in New York, feeding off the greed of Wall Street, but there was always something missing there. The energy in New York was cold. It was more than the temperature; it was something in the faces of the people in the streets. I couldn’t quite figure it out until I got off the plane at LAX. I felt the heat and caught a whiff of the San Fernando Valley. The air, heavy with the scent of asphalt and smog, had hints of an ocean breeze that tickled my nostrils. My human nostrils. 

I shuddered.

It was a millennium since ancient mages trapped me in this body, and I still wasn’t used to it. They cursed me to be a fragile human. They took everything from me. No longer a pearlescent-blue hide of scaly armor. No longer a fire that dwelt in my very being. No longer wings to soar high above the earth.

They tried to imprison me behind stone and bars of iron, but they could not count on my ancient cunning. I escaped their traps. Even in a human form I was deadly. For a century, I took my revenge, tracking down and killing their families. They knew I was coming, but not when. I saved them for last. Savored them until every bit of their blood was scoured from the earth. The decades of dread made their fear smell almost as lovely as gold. I hated them for what they did to me.

I knew they would never help me return to my true form, but I didn’t realize that my purge doomed me to my human form. By exterminating the vermin that they were, by killing them and their blood, I had also extinguished the magic from the world. No mages came along to be tempted into changing me back. I hadn’t sensed magic in centuries. I looked for it, but if it still existed in this world, it was hidden well. The only magic left was in me, immortality and an ability to find gold.

I missed the fire most of all. Everything was cold without it. Even jewels and treasure could not fully warm me.

Forced to life as a human, I tried to make the most of it. I had long since digitized the bulk of my horde. Cryptocurrency and stocks replaced the value of diamonds and gold, but it didn’t fulfill my need to be physically close to riches. I carried suitcases with me everywhere I went. I needed the gold to feel alive. To feel happy. My human body still needed sleep in a bed, but I infused my sheets with gold, so that I could feel it, smell it. I wrapped cords around my body, so tight and brutal that it cut into my flesh. I threaded it into my clothes. Wore it around my neck, my wrists, my fingers… If I could somehow plate my skin with it like scales, I would.

And now I was in LA. Wealth oozed out of its pores, a beacon to the sky, drawing me home to my new horde.

It took me a few days to find the perfect house. Privacy and security were a must. I couldn’t count on claws anymore. I needed alarms and guards. Fortunately, no one asks questions in LA.

“I’ll take this one.” My face twisted with a gleam that was too animalistic for my realtor. I had never quite mastered a human smile.

He unconsciously took a step back. Of all the mansions he’d shown me, this was the only one with promise. Half-buried against the side of a mountain and surrounded by tall privacy hedges. Traffic from the 405 clamored nearby. There was no city view, no fine, entertaining space. It had a panic room and a safe bigger than most master bedrooms.

When the realtor gaped at me, his perfectly groomed jaw hanging open, I re-emphasized, “I’ll pay in cash, and double what they’re asking.”

That was a commission he could not ignore. I signed that night. Two weeks later, my private security and my gold moved in.

One week after that, I walked around town like I owned the place. I had to move among the people. My digital investments were more money than most could imagine. I had a sixth sense for business. But all the dollars in my bank account could not replace the feel of the wealth that came from touching things. 

I would walk through the busy streets, lifting a watch or a necklace. Swift and animalistic, I’d gather their jewels. Rings, necklaces. I wasn’t picky. If my fingers tingled when it was close, then it was enough for me.

The best items were those with sentimental value. The more loved the object, the better it smells and feels. It becomes life and warmth. A bit of their human joy impresses into it, and when I hold it later, I can feel that joy. The best wealth, the only wealth worth having, is stolen.

A slight trip and a mumbled, “Excuse me.” 

So fast, it was almost invisible. The Rolex slipped off the woman’s wrist. In a fraction of a second, I tucked it into my pink and black fanny pack, hidden below the edge of my leather jacket. The weight of the pack was a small comfort as it became heavier throughout the night. It pressed against my hips, bouncing slightly as the night wore on.

Suddenly, I stopped. It was as if all my senses left me at once. Everything became hazy for one indiscriminate moment. 

Then everything tumbled back at once.

I couldn’t believe it. As I walked down Sunset Blvd, in the center of this city, surrounded by wealth and opulence, heat and smoke, I sensed something I never thought I’d feel again. I needed to know where it came from. Needed it more than my quest for money. It awoke desire I didn’t know I had left in me. A burning in my heart that reminded me of my old fire. A lust so powerful, all else was forgotten.

I quickly turned in a circle, scanning the crowd for the source. It could be my only chance, a one-in-a-million opportunity to have it all again.

I almost didn’t see the child bobbing through the crowd in front of me. His dingy gray t-shirt was at least five sizes too big, completely covering whatever shorts were beneath. His skin was pale and stretched, as if he hadn’t had a decent meal in a week. But under his arm… he held a black and pink fanny pack.

I roared when I noticed the weight was missing from my middle. People stumbled back from me as I barged forward. 

The child was fast, and it took all of my strength to keep up with it. Up and down side streets and alleys, he ran, jumping over every obstacle like some monkey through a forest. 

He tumbled as he ran into a woman exiting a store, and I made up some ground.

By then, my breathing was jagged, and each gasp tightened my chest. I sensed it again, as he squeezed through a narrow opening. I took a deep breath, hardly daring to believe that I had discovered the source of the smell. Sure enough, past the whiff of jasmine and rain, drenched with the scent of the boy, was the acrid smell of magic.