The Last Gambit! A Peasant's Road to Victory!

Demerius stared into the sky, stunned at the newest arrival. Against all rhyme or reason, a dragon was flying into view.

Even with all of his power, all of the gold he’d built up, the natural strength and resistances of a dragon were impossible for one man to overcome.

Fear overwhelmed him. He left the peasant alone for this new threat. What was the point of winning if he became a dragon’s dinner?

----

Midas was just as angry. “How did he do it? How did he summon a dragon?”

“Can’t you tell?” Metis offered Midas some of her chocolate bar. “Do you not see it?”

“He was broken!” Midas gasped. “Helpless! Unable to cast magic that could harm a fly! Stripped of all his inventions! Forced to fight alone! How did he do it?! I have to know! Do you hear me, Metis?! I HAVE TO KNOW!”

-----

The dragon landed without any fanfare. Nothing else mattered in that moment. All that existed was Demerius and the dragon’s cold stare.

Demerius threw Kyle to the dragon. “Here! You want food? Have him! He’s yours!”

The dragon looked down at the peasant thrown at its talons, head craning down from the neck to sniff the offered morsel.

Kyle looked up at the mighty beast with a smile. “Spare my life… and I offer you all this gold of my own free will.” He felt the dragon continue to smell him, to take his measure.

When the dragon stepped past Kyle and towards Demerius, he began to panic and realize something terrible. Kyle had offered the dragon all of the gold.

That included the armor he'd stolen.

And when he realized that, he understood how exactly he’d come to this moment. The gold. All of the power he’d tapped into, it was a lure for the beast. Even if Kyle had known nothing before, he never needed to even lift a finger. All he had to do was survive.

“Let me out.” Demerius commanded. “You built this thing, let me out!”

Kyle slowly started getting to his feet. “Why would I do that?”

“I-I can offer you anything! Gold! Titles! Women!” Demerius backpedaled, running into something soft that pushed him to the ground.

Bloodied, battered, but alive, were Abagail, Kari, Fiona, and Meredith. Each taking a part of the armor and dragging him towards the greedy monster.

“And why would I trust the word of a liar,” Kyle called out, shuffling towards Demerius. “You offered me my village before and broke your word.”

“I can give it to you now,” Demerius pleaded. “Your village is yours!”

“Not good enough!” Kyle continued towards Demerius.

Demerius stared at Kyle, stunned. “What?!” His lower lip quivered as the dragon’s drool began to drop onto the golden ground around him.

“That deal’s not on the table anymore,” said Kyle. “We live in a different world now. I want more. I want the entire region, all of the villages and the forest. Swear them off.”

“Are you mad?!" The dragon lunged at Demerius, with the Prince diving out of the way. “You would take my hunting grounds from me?!"

Kyle nodded. “If you want to hunt on our lands, then you can buy that privilege from us. For money.”

“You dare to dictate terms to me!” Demerius darted around again, only to be caught by a stray talon and sent flying. “When I get out of this, I will show you your folly!”

“Just digging yourself a deeper pit in the dragon’s stomach,” Kyle teased. “I want my amulet back too.”

Demerius was now pinned beneath one of the dragon’s feet, the dragon sniffing its newest prey. “You’re lying,” he claimed. “What were the words you said to get out? Control, Alternative, Delete, Cycle!”

The dragon was not amused at his improper use of magic incantations and roared directly into his face.

“You think I’d let it respond to anyone saying the words? That’s like telling everyone your password,” laughed Kyle. “I have to say the incantation, moron. You’re only getting out of it if you agree to my terms.”

Demerius kept looking back and forth between Kyle and the dragon, unsure what to do.

CEO Demerius was fidgeting, uncomfortable with the idea of taking the deal. “I don’t want to see a decline in our next quarter projections!”

Real Demerius, who was now having the dragon’s spittle land directly on him, had enough. “Fine. Fine, You have a deal!”

“…” Kyle watched the dragon rip off the golden helm and toss it aside, leaving Demerius’s head exposed.

“I said you have a deal!”

With a shrug, Kyle said the words. “Control. Alternative. Delete. Cycle!”

Demerius was ripped out of his golden armor, skidding along the ground in naught but his undergarments. The amulet flew off of him, landing in Kyle’s hand. Freed from the dragon’s golden dinner plate, he feebly crawled as far as he could from the dragon.

He was stopped in his path by Kyle and everyone else. “One more thing.” Kyle helped the Prince onto his feet. “This time, I want it in writing. In front of everyone. After all, how would anyone know you’re a man of your word if we’re the only ones to bear witness to it?”

----

Midas was ready to throw hands with Metis over what had just happened. “You duplicitous little godling! You tricked him!”

“Now now!” Metis got out between laughs. “He didn’t make your chosen do anything he didn’t already want to do. Is it his fault that a peasant knew that massed amounts of gold draws dragons like moths to a flame?”

Midas punched the air with his golden hands.

“Is it my chosen’s fault that yours put himself in the perfect situation for mine to exploit?” pressed Metis, pulling out yet another sweet. “Is it their fault they convinced your champion that there were infinite riches at the bottom of the cliff, and he jumped off?”

“Yours couldn’t beat mine in a straight fight.” Midas grabbed the dessert out of her hands and bit into it, only to grow annoyed when it had already turned to gold in his hands. “You know that.”

Metis wagged her finger. “But that’s not how life works. It’s not always the strongest who survives, or the smartest who makes the breakthrough, or the luckiest who wins the contest.” She pulled out yet another snack and bit into it, enjoying the sugar rush it gave her. “Besides. It’s not like he’s taken yours off the board.”

Midas finally slowed down, taking that into consideration. He turned on the victorious goddess, flashing his golden teeth once more. “That could be a fatal mistake.”

“It could,” said Metis. “Or he could be offering you more rope to hang yourself with. Which one it is, I leave to you.”