Aril and the Dragon

Editor's note: this story contains scenes of non-consensual or reluctant sex.

*****

Karil did not know how long he had been walking in the dark tunnels of the Shadowed-Tops, he was completely cut from the outside and could only try to guess whether it was still night, the only certainty, and truly what only mattered in this instant, was the knowledge that he was not far from his destination. He swallowed, feeling his anxiety increase with each step, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and kept going. As a dragon-kin, a lizard-man as humans crudely called his people, this was one of the few times he did not curse his dragonic heritage, it not only allowed him to see in the complete darkness, if not perfectly, enough at least to see the giant scrapes and claw marks on the walls without a light source, it also allowed him to feel comfortable in the high temperature of the caverns. The air was hot enough to boil a human in his own sweat, which was impressive, considering the blizzard that was raging outside. It only made Karil wish harder he was already back in his arid home of Scera.

Karil shook his head, he had to focus on the task, however suicidal it was, he would do his best to not let his last chance to escape these damned frozen lands pass him by. He shook his head, as if to physically chase his distracting thoughts away, and centered his attention back on the cave's walls and floor in search of traps. He already had to disable magical traps at the entrance of the lair and throughout the tunnels, they were well made but quite simple for an experienced cat burglar like Karil. You don't steal hundreds of thousands of gold worth in magical artifact throughout your career without learning to handle these magical circles and sigils. This only increased his bitterness toward the Takers, the gang of criminals he was forced to serve, they had made more than a profit since the cursed day they brought him almost 9 years ago, and yet, it still wasn't enough. He was barely 14 years old when slavers attacked his village, snatching him away from his parents, and his people. All to sell him a year later on a market in Oskurg, the freezing hellhole he was now trying his best to escape from. Since he was now a slave, he had to find a way to buy his own act of property from the Takers, and all the gold he made for them in these long years did not count, as their leader, Heimad, had told him with a smirk on his smug face: "This gold is not yours lizard. How did you get it in the first place? With the skills and information we provided. We owe you nothing".

Karil did not hear how much Heimad paid for him at the time, he was too busy trying to survive the freezing cold while being barely clothed, but he knew it was far from the 100,000 gold he was asking of him now, even if slaves with dragonic blood and features are quite valued on the market. It was just another way for Heimad to stomp on Karil's hopes and dreams. He stopped himself from cursing out loud, it was not the time to get noticed by the creature that made the Shadowed Tops its lair. The dragon-kin felt his throat tighten at the thought: a real dragon was somewhere in this mountain, and Karil had to pilfer its loot under its nose. Stealing from a dragon was pure madness, but of course, that was the real price set by Heimad for Karil's freedom: die trying to burglarize a young adult red dragon's lair, with the beast supposedly sleeping inside or give up, and Karil had always been stubborn.

The temperature was climbing even more as he got deeper into the entrails of the mountain, a clear indication that he was close to the main chamber of the lair, and of the treasure. And yet, after another turn in the snaking tunnels, he reached a dead end. He felt a surge of panic at the idea that he might be lost, but his instinct told him he was very close to the drake and its hoard. Karil put his hand on the rock wall, examining it with both his eyes and fingers, it quickly became obvious to him that something was wrong. He stepped back, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and walked forward as if nothing was there, and indeed, nothing was as he stepped right through into a large natural chamber. He opened his eyes to see light for the first time in hours. He blinked a few times trying to adjust to it, putting one hand above his thick scaled brow to protect his eyes. The circular chamber before him was hundreds of feet large, and its ceiling so far up that even him would never be able to climb up it and reach the hole in the middle that was letting in some of the light the blizzard was allowing through. Where snow was supposed to fall down, there was only water that would never reach the ground as it evaporated not even halfway to the ground creating a thin cloud of fog.

Karil was standing on the rocky ground but a few feet from him was a desert of gold pieces, jewelry and furniture which covered the ground of the whole chamber. He would have dove into it and slid down its golden dunes if it was not for the large shape breathing slowly just under the hole in the ceiling. His heart was beating so hard, he thought the creature would hear it and pounce but he did not move. The dragon was laying on his stomach, eyes closed, his square thick jaw to the ground. Judging by his size and the shine of his red scales, he was a young adult, just as he was told. Only the slow rising and falling of his chest was indicating that he was alive, it seemed like he had not moved in weeks. Heimad's information were right, this red dragon had entered a deep sleep and would probably not wake up for a while.

This knowledge did not reassure Karil, he wanted to walk out, tell the idiots waiting for him outside to go fuck themselves, fight them if he had to. But he didn't, something else called out to him in his guts, and he hated himself for it. This was the opportunity of a life time, how many thieves could say they broke into a dragon's lair? Not only that, if he succeeded, he would be free, "If you get burned alive, you'll deserve it, you fucking idiot." he thought to himself as he took one tentative step forward, his eyes never leaving the dragon. He congratulated himself for having the foresight to abandon his heavy coat and equipment a few steps into the caves, it would have been impossible to do so now without probably waking the beast. His linen shirt and pants as well as his boots and the leather bag hanging from a strap on his shoulder were enough for such delicate work.

Walking silently on the layer of gold pieces was difficult and tiresome, thankfully, it was thick enough for his feet not to sink in like quicksand. He scanned the room, searching for what Heimad had asked him to find: a stolen pile of rare gemstones, each worth enough to buy him his freedom and more. He chose to stay as far away from the dragon as possible by walking close to the walls, moving around heavily decorated dressers and half buried chests, there was even a bed fit for a king laying on its side against the wall.

Finally, he noticed his prize, stockpiled, of course, at the end of the room, surrounded by other piles of random golden objects. Karil held tight to the strap of his bag, and cautiously made his way through the other half of the chamber, looking regularly at the dragon to make sure he was not moving. When he finally reached the piles of what he could now see to be golden cutlery, goblets and other small objects, he looked at the gems. They were indeed impressive, their color were the clearest he had ever seen, they even had a glow to them, each one was as big as his fist. With renewed enthusiasm, Karil took as many as he could from the pile, putting them gently on top of each other in his bag, taking care to not scrape them with his claws.