Sophie stood dumbfounded, the only sound in the cavernous space was the dripping off the stalactites. There in the center of the dais, stood the very treasure they had come here to get. Unguarded. Grush, the ogre she had hired for protection, made to move towards it and she motioned him back. There was supposed to be a dragon.
The lair, she had been told many times, was a massive cave network, filled in each tunnel with various treasures. They descended the echoing tunnels, alert for any change in temperature. Despite the many variances in the local’s stories, all agreed the rarest treasures were guarded by a dragon.
So where was the thing? The further down they had climbed the greater the group’s nervousness grew. The goblin relic specialist, Patok, muttered repeatedly about a bad feeling. Sophie shared this feeling when they came to a huge room, so large they couldn’t touch the rock formations that hung like daggers above them. Like the tunnels the room was empty, save for a gold dias in the middle. On it stood the Amulet of the Rose Queen.
It truly was beautiful to behold. Made of rare elven metal the amulet’s large pink crystal glowed softly. Said to give the wearer the power to woo anyone, all Sophie cared about was the paycheck when she delivered it to her employer.
But, this was too easy. She scanned the room for any sign of a trap. Nothing but bare rock, her own team and an unguarded priceless treasure. Finally, Patok could wait no longer. The goblin tiptoed towards it, his hands hovering over it for only a moment before snatching it up. For a brief moment nothing happened. Then a cracking began.
Stalactites of all sizes began to rain down, morphing into dragons as they fell. Iridescent stone flew around the upper space, with more and more joining them. The group stood in shock as cries echoed loud enough to deafen them, then the glowing stone began to descend.
“Run!” The ogre’s shout knocked Sophie out of her shock. The team ran back up the tunnel, the grinding of stone wings in pursuit. The tunnel began to heat up and the ogre picked up Sophie and the goblin to sprint.
The trio barely made it outside before flames erupted from the mouth of the cave. The ogre didn’t stop running. Sophie looked back to see dragons at the edge of the cave. They shot fire and roared but they didn’t emerge.
At the bottom of the mountain the ogre finally slowed. They caught their breath at a stream. Stone golems? Sophie thought of how great the hoard must have been to go to the length of enchanting an entire cave network with personal guardians. Then also, who or what is powerful enough to do that?
C.M. Wellsmore 