Hey, Everyone!
Not much of an intro this time, except to tell you that this chapter is less intense than the previous. What happened in it?
Well, Mary and her friends reached the dragon’s lair. Aurum made Mary invisible. The plan was simple – she’d have to go to the center of the cavern, plant her Patron’s tree and get out. However, she didn’t anticipate what she was going to see on the way. The dragon was ‘playing’ with its victim, the logger Fennec, torturing him and having fun in the process. Mary froze in her place, unable to look away from the horror in front of her.
Time passed…
Content warning: The text below contains descriptions that might be upsetting to some readers (torture, death). Proceed at your own caution.
Mary didn’t know how long she’d been standing there, paralyzed by the gruesome sight before her. She couldn’t avert her eyes and watched helplessly, with tears streaking down on her cheeks.
Something moved in her periphery and she jumped, afraid that someone’d found her. But it wasn’t a foe. It was a small rat with a purple tuft of hair on its head. Paulina. She was scampering about through the cavern, looking around and giving out quiet squeaks as if she was calling to someone.
Mary ran to cross her path, crouched and caught her in her invisible palms.
“Don’t be scared!” she whispered. “It’s me, Mary!”
The rat, who’d just started wriggling to get free, stood still and looked at what she probably imagined to be Mary’s head. It was a few inches to the left.
Paulina squeaked angrily. She couldn’t speak in this form. Mary almost Messaged her to be able to communicate, but at the last moment remembered Aurum’s warning. If she cast a spell, she’d no longer be invisible.
Rat-Paulina gestured with her front legs, first at Mary and then at the center of the cavern where the giant sword protruded from the ground.
“Yes! I’m sorry,” Mary said. “I know I had to finish this but I just… Did you see what she is doing?!”
Paulina glared at her, then repeated her motion. Mary–giant sword. Mary–giant sword.
“All right, I will,” Mary said. “Sorry to make you come get me. I’ll be quick now, I promise!”
She let the rat go and watched her skitter to where Bruno and Aurum were hiding. Then, trying not to look at the dragon and her captive, Mary quickly moved in the other direction.
At the exact center of the cavern there was a small meadow with a slightly elevated spot that looked like the dragon’s place of rest. The ground was covered in softer moss and there were no bugs crawling on it. Another small acid pool was dug at its edge, with more metal rods sticking from it. The liquid here was greener and denser than the one the dragon was playing around. The smell was also stronger. It seemed more acidic.
Hanging from the ceiling above it, Mary saw the hook from her dream. Back then, there was a creature there, flayed and screaming in agony. Now, the only thing left of it was the leg where the hook had been jabbed. Mary averted her eyes.
She came closer to the dragon’s sword. It stuck out of the ground, towering high above her head and shining like an enormous jewel. It looked almost unreal.
Mary kneeled at its base and dug out a small hole in the ground. It was much shallower than the one in Sylvannas’ laboratory, but she didn’t have time for more. It’d have to do. She took out the orange seed and looked at it with resentment. She hoped her Patron would be happy for her going through all this horror just to do his bidding. She could hear the dragon’s laughter in the distance and it made her stomach churn.
After she’d planted the seed, she turned around to go back, but her eyes caught an unusual glimmer in a bigger pond opposite of the giant sword. There were no metal rods around it. She approached it and looked inside. Thousands upon thousands of gold coins covered the bottom, along with many precious stones and jewels. They shimmered in the light of the nearby torch, submerged in a liquid that was just as green and nauseating as the one in the smaller pools scattered about in the cave.
So that’s where the dragon’s hoard resided.
Next to the pond, a stone plinth rose from the ground, with three rolled up parchments on top of it. Mary wondered what could be so important as to be put on display like this. She tried to take a look at one of the scrolls but the moment she touched it, it became just as invisible as her. She huffed in disappointment but then decided to take the scrolls with her. After all, they could contain something important.
She gave the place one last glance and went back to her companions.
Phew! Mary managed to do her task! She can now go back and never think about what she’d witnessed.
Right? Right?!
Well… You'll see...
See you in the next chapter where we find out what’s on the scrolls and decide what we’re going to do next.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the chapter guide. You're welcome!)