"Two gold," the merchant said. "She's a special chicken, this one. Spits fire and is able to speak."

"That's a fire hazard," Annie countered. "She could burn down my barn. And who wants a fowl that can complain and argue? Two silvers, and you should count yourself lucky to get rid of her at that price."

"Excuse me, I'm right here. I can hear you!" Daisy the hen squawked. "And I think I'm damned well worth at least five gold, you cretins."

Annie and the merchant exchanged a look. "Case in point," Annie added, folding her arms squarely over her chest.

"Fine. Four silver, and I'll be happy to see the last of her."

"Three."

The merchant threw up his arms in exasperation. "All right, all right. Three. Take her and begone, you merciless farmgirl."

Annie slipped out three silver pieces from her coinpurse, depositing them in the merchant's outstretched hand.

"All yours," he grumbled, and she scooped up the cage that Daisy was in. As Annie turned to head back home, out of the corner of her eye, she caught the beginning of a sly smile on the merchant's face. Damn. She could have probably gotten him down to one silver.

Once they were back at the barn, Annie let Daisy out of the cage and into the chicken coop. Instead of joining the other chickens, Daisy turned and looked straight into Annie's eyes.

"Now, this is how things are going to be," Daisy said. "I need to hunt every day. You'll let me out of the coop every morning and every night so I can procure my meals."

"You're a chicken," Annie replied. "You can't hunt. More likely, a wolf will have you for dinner and my three silvers will have gone to waste. No, you're staying in the coop."

Daisy squawked with laughter. "A wolf? I'd like to see him try. Don't you know who you're talking to, missy? I'm the descendant of Sezzira, Lady of Fire, Destroyer of Cities. No mere wolf could match me."

"Any old chicken could claim that," Annie replied. "And besides, I haven't even seen you breathe fire yet. Your whole story is probably nothing but a pile of balderdash."

In one fluid movement, Daisy spun away from the barn, opened her mouth, and let loose a 20-foot plume of blazing flame into the sky.

Annie shut up.

"Right, now that we've got that over with, back to my demands," Daisy continued on. Behind her, the other chickens were running away, falling over one another in a blind panic.

"I need to hunt, and I'll need a hoard. Preferably full of gold, but I'll make do with coppers in a pinch."

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/r/theBasiliskWrites