Rusted armor and scattered bones brought tears to his eyes. So many brave men had died, and for nothing!
Here and there a small helmet rose only partway above the ground. "Ah, bad seed, I suppose. Never ripened."
Then he heard it.
The sound came from the forest adjoining the field. A moan, almost ghostly in quality.
"Do the spirits of these dead warriors dwell in yonder copses?" he whispered to himself. Slowly he approached the forest edge.
It rushed from among the trees, fire breathing from its mouth. Its huge body threshed from side to side, knocking giant trees to the ground.
As it saw him it stopped, moaned again. "I see you have some tongs there. Are you perchance a dentist. I've got this terrible toothache." It had hardly finished speaking when it moaned once more.
"No, I'm not a dentist. But, see here, maybe there is something
I can do. Do you know where I'll find a dead dragon. Killed by
Cadmus, if I rightly recall?"
"I am he, eh, it. Didn't kill me. Terrible dentist. Never, never go to Cadmus for treatment. No anesthetic at all! just yanked 'em out." The creature shuddered.
"The worst part is, he left five. He left the five I really had wanted him to work on. Never, never, trust a dentist. Oh, boy, do they ache."