Federix's Folly
Note: Image associated is from Ironage.media, specifically their prompt, 'The Kobold'
Magic had all but faded from the world, and without intervention, so too would the Evenstide Forest fade from existence. So many trees had already disappeared, her borders collapsing in on themselves for longer than any of Federix's family could remember. Even when his great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather had told stories of her grandeur, he spoke of it as something that had already been in decline such that only the Goddess could say she had seen its glory in days past.
Months ago, Federix had asked their mighty Goddess if anything could bring the Evenstide back to her ancient splendour. The Great Green Dragon had opened one eye as she felt him skittering closer, and following an appropriate amount of grovelling before her, Federix heard her reply, her mighty thunderous voice echoing in his mind. She claimed that the only way to return the Evenstide, indeed all the world, to its past magnificence would be to convince Humanity that its ancient tales were not the mad imaginings of children, nor their parents trying to protect them, but were instead a past long gone and poorly remembered.
He had dreamed of his kin this past evening and had heard both their words and those of his Goddess as clear to him as the first time. Their fears for him as he packed what he could for the journey to these humans, their fear of the broader forest beyond the caves dug beneath Her glade, and the world that none of them had seen in uncounted generations. He smiled as he remembered brushing their concerns aside and telling them that this was the only way they would even keep the glade. That any risks were acceptable against the inevitable loss of each member of his family. Simple words to say, and had proven almost too naïve more than once before he'd escaped the Evenstide's bounds. He growled in time with his stomach as he remembered the loss of his pack to the blasted gnomes, his missing food foremost in his mind. Scavenging and trapping had been simpler than he'd expected and more often profitable than not. Still, it had added weeks to his estimated travel.
Still, he carried himself forward, grateful that the Goddess had gifted him a compass to guide him, as he saw something wholly strange and awesome stretching across the land before him. He was reminded of the tales of castles passed down to each hatchling, yet this was not merely one grand building of hewn stone but thousands gathered around each other. It was perhaps even more crowded than his family's den and produced more smoke than the Elders did in their meetings. Untold masses were teeming in the spaces between each castle. As he drew closer, he saw flocks of birds favouring some castles more than others, and metal bars were laid in the ground for an unknown purpose.
Strangely, there was no gate to pass through into this crush of castles. 'A city, that's the word,' he thought, finally remembering what his grandfather had told him so long ago. Stranger still, few of the humans seemed put off by his approach, with only the ones closer to his height staring or tugging at the sleeves of the ones that were taller than he. 'To be so large, little could threaten you.' He marvelled as he shuffled along, instantly understanding why so many of his ancestors had spent their lives fighting against them and why cleverness and traps were so lauded. No one Federix knew could stand up to these humans on their own. Even with all his kith and kin behind him, he'd be outnumbered by only the humans he'd seen, let alone the horde of the entire city.
However, he noticed something utterly alien to him. Only a handful of the humans appeared to have any weapons, and most of them that did were dressed alike. And there was no fighting despite this. Even in his own family, only two fights would make for a remarkable day, yet not once had he heard a raised voice among so many humans. Or so he had thought when a piercing cry rang out, his supple ears flattening against his scales as he tried to figure out where the noise had come from. Had he been in the Evenstide, he'd have assumed it was the cry of a baby God fresh from its egg, yet the Goddess had assured him no human had seen a God in ages. Instead, it seemed to come from a monstrous mish-mash of black metal, brass, and happily, some red, the colour most favoured even by his tribe. It crawled by without legs, sliding like a cave slug along the bars in the ground. He watched it closely as it passed, recognizing it as not a monster but a machine. It was incomprehensibly complex by the standards of a common tripwire or pressure plate but still no more magical than any trap he'd ever built.
He was so fascinated by the hulking machine that he almost forgot his purpose in being here. Pulling the compass from his satchel, he found it seemingly broken, the needle spinning wildly around as it struggled mightily to work so far from even a trace of magic power. The truth of the Great Green's words washed over him, "Magic has all but faded from their world, fled from their lives." New resolve permeated his being as her words played in his mind. He must bring understanding, or his world will pass into nought but legend and fairytales. As he returned the compass to his pack, however, he felt the scales on his hand begin to shed, and picking the loose ones free, he saw something truly terrifying. No scales had grown underneath; instead, skin lay on the top of his hand. Rushing to find something reflective, he saw he had grown in height by a hand or two, and his snout had shortened. He was becoming like them. He was becoming human. He conjured the memories of his family, and they, too, were changed. More human, less themselves. No magic could survive in this place, and he knew not how to return home. No trace of magic would guide him, for none existed here. Federix was lost in an alien world, and soon, he wouldn't even know he'd ever been anywhere else.