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The forest began to close in, becoming a vast, smothering presence, lit only by Dalamar's staff, which danced and bobbed with his long strides. Caves were harder and harder to detect, but neither wanted to give up the search. The dark elf found himself pointing his staff and staring at the light-less depths of the forest, willing some rise or depression in the ground, some limestone irregularity that might give them some hope of success.
Just when he was ready to quit, however, he was startled to hear Je
"We're close!" he said with certainty.
"Don't be too sure!"Je
"The ones in the ravine were limestone," Dalamar said. "But this is older. See how the face is pocked and broken all along here? And those lichens-they suggest nothing has been disturbed here for ages."
"Well, now what?" the lady asked, squinting.
"Water," the dark elf said, thinking aloud. "We have to find where water flowed out of here-that's our best bet for finding a cave."
Resolutely he started forward, still holding the light high. The top of the bluff loomed out of sight. Huge slabs of rock had tumbled from the crest in eons past, forming an irregular surface, but the dark elf began to climb the nearest steeply canted slab, noting the thick crust of treacherous lichens underfoot.
Je
"This is it!" he declared.
"Are you sure?"
"Don't you feel it?" the elf asked.
Je
Overhead rose a stone mantle that revealed smooth, water-scoured walls. The ground underfoot here had been swept clean by some force that had washed rocks, brush, and any other debris out of the way.
"Careful," Je
Halting, Dalamar sniffed, wincing at the acrid, distinctive scent that was heavy in the tu
"This might be the route into Wayreth," Je
"The smell is strong. That suggests to me that the dragon is fairly mature. But the cavern isn't large enough to admit a truly ancient serpent," Dalamar remarked. He studied the mouth of the cave, overlooking it from a curving hillside no more than an arrow's flight away from the dark entry. He and Je
"I agree-a mere newt wouldn't leave such an aura," concurred the Red Robe enchantress. "Should we explore the entrance? Maybe there is room to sneak past?"
"No," Dalamar retorted. "I'll simply kill the beast, and then we won't have to worry."
"Do you have the spells for that?" Je
"I can burn the wyrm to a crisp," the dark elf replied. "That should take care of it. But I have to be careful, if it's tight quarters, not to burn us up at the same time."
"Good idea. I'll be right behind you… as far as possible."
"Or should we pinch this snake between fire and ice?" the dark elf offered.
"That might work better." Je
Dalamar shrugged. "Hundreds of years, probably."
Je
"Let's not waste any more time. I will send an Eye to scout ahead, and we should follow at intervals, as silently as possible."
The elf raised an eyebrow as he studied Je
She snorted. "Me inside a cone of silence, so you couldn't hear a thing I say? Don't forget, I'm the one using the Eye! And I know how to be quiet when I have to be."
She removed her necklace and gathered it and her pouches into a padded pocket. Je
When they reached the base of the slope, she made a gesture that sent the magical sensor ahead of them, disappearing into the mouth of the cave. Je
The two wizards entered the cave, following the slightly winding passage, feet moving soundlessly over the ground. The dark elf held his walking stick in one hand, carefully avoiding any u
Je
"Big male, around the next bend," she breathed. "Coiled at the far wall of a large room, sleeping. To the right of where you will enter."
Dalamar smiled tersely. A large chamber around a bend meant that he could send a reliably lethal fireball spell against the wyrm, without having to worry about the two wizards being hurt by the explosion. The deadly blast would kill or incapacitate the monster, and then, if necessary, Je
The dark elf crept around the corner of the winding cavern, Je
Narrowing his eyes, the dark elf could just make out the shape of a massive green dragon, a coiled mass of serpentine scales, flanks moving ever so slightly in the steady respiration of sleep. Dalamar had seen many dragons before, but the sight always made him a little nauseated. The monster seemed simply too big, too powerful, to dwell in this world of men and elves. At least this one wouldn't be a part of that world for much longer…
Angrily Dalamar raised his finger, pointing at the creature, and muttering the command for his incendiary magic. He was vaguely relieved when that low sound provoked no visible reaction from the monster, and he watched expectantly as a tiny marble of fire appeared in the air before his finger. Soundlessly he gestured, and that spot of brightness meandered through the vast chamber, floating right up close to the coil of green scales.