Hello Everyone!
Last time we were with my poor Mary, she had just done the task her Patron wanted her to do. She managed to not get noticed both by the black dragon and the lizard people surrounding it. She stole a few scrolls from the dragon’s hoard and went back to her friends. She was safe. And then… she did something very stupid.
She went to put the scrolls back.
Heavy silence fell on the cavern. Mary, still invisible, stood between the acid pond and the dragon, with her hands over her mouth, trying to hold the whimper that wanted to get out of her chest. The Dark Lady was so close that she could see every detail on her skull-like face – her fangs, her bright green eyes, her twisted horns... If she wanted, she could count every single scale on the huge head.
The dragon looked around, taking the time to inspect her treasure hoard in the pond and the scrolls on the plinth. She didn’t seem to find anything out of the ordinary and swung her head back in Mary’s direction. She was looking a foot or so to the right, Mary realized. She couldn’t see her. The girl stepped aside and started making her way around the pond.
The dragon took a deep breath and smelled the air.
“I CAN SENSE YOU,” she said with a low rumbling voice that Mary could feel in her bones. “COME OUT, LITTLE MOUSE!”
The lizardfolk who up ‘til now had been keeping their distance, unaware of what was going on, now rushed to help their mistress find whoever she was looking for. She chuckled and waved them off. Her feet made a step towards Mary and she saw the dwarf--Fennec--’s limp body tied to one of them. Even when going for a new plaything, the dragon wasn’t letting go of her old one.
“LET ME WELCOME MY GUEST,” the Dark Lady said. “I WANT TO MEET YOU.” She lazily swung her claw around. “TO SEE YOU.” She stepped forward. “TO PLAY WITH YOU.”
The way she’d said ‘play’ made Mary take a ragged breath. She’d seen the dragon’s games and she just…
‘Crunch!'
Her foot had crushed a nasty beetle on the ground. The dragon’s head whipped around with a speed Mary didn’t suspect she was capable of.
“THERE YOU ARE!” she giggled excitedly and darted towards her prey.
Mary ran backwards, trying to keep her eyes on the monster. Her hand found one of the columns holding the cavern's ceiling up, and she hid behind it.
That was a mistake.
The Dark Lady encircled the column and stood between Mary and her escape.
“I CAN SMELL YOUR FEAR, LITTLE MOUSE,” she cooed. “STAY HERE AND PLAY!”
Mary was trapped. With her back to the rock and the dragon surrounding it, there was no way out. It was a matter of time before she was found and captured for real. So, in her desperation, she Messaged for help, dispelling her invisibility in the process.
“OH, THERE YOU ARE!” the dragon said. “YOU’RE A PRETTY LITTLE MOUSE!”
She took Mary by the collar of her coat and dangled her in front of her eyes, then hummed happily and circled back to the little meadow near her hoard.
As dire as the situation was, it reminded Mary of one of her favorite storybooks. It, too, had an invisible protagonist and he, too, was faced with a dragon. And so, she did the only thing she could think of. She tried to recreate a scene from the book.
“Oh, m-mighty and gla-glamorous L-lady,” she said, her voice high-pitched and quivering, “I’m so h-happy to finally b-be able to meet you! I’d h-heard legends of you… of your beauty and, and, and greatness, but I had to see it for m-myself, f-for I didn’t believe them!”
“OH?” The dragon took a chain from a pile near the stone plinth and started tying Mary up. “TELL ME MORE, LITTLE MOUSE.”
“Y-yes!” Mary squeaked. “I… the tales I h-heard… they said you were brilliant and m-magnificent…”
“TRY TERRIFYING,” the dragon said with a chuckle.
“Yes! Yes!” Mary said, her heart racing in her chest. “So terrifying!”
She caught Fennec’s eyes. He was conscious but only barely. He looked at her blankly, his disfigured face showing no emotion at all, like he was dead on the inside, and closed his eyes again.
That’s not how the storybook went. In it, the protagonist was witty and brave, he managed to escape the dragon and went back to his friends. But it seemed that Mary was going to fail with that. She wasn’t going to be able to get out. She was going to die... or worse.
She, too, closed her eyes.
This is it, people. I don’t think Mary can get out of this one, do you?
This part of the story is very special to me. When we played, our DM took care to be really serious and did a ton of RP to embody the dragon. Well, he usually RPs his characters very well, but this time it was exceptional. I felt almost as if I was there, in the dragon’s clutches. It felt real.
I hope I’ve managed to recreate the experience well enough with my writing.
Oh, and did you get the book reference in this chapter? About the invisible protagonist facing a dragon? If you did, sound it off in the comments! I’ll be really interested in talking about it .
Anyway. After the next post we’re going to have a bit of a breather. You’ll see why.
Until then, take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the chapter guide. You're welcome!)