Dangerous Pleasures
"This is it. The moon dragon is down there," the man said, looking around with a frown.
"Does the dragon often come out? Is that why you're worried?"
The man shook his head. "Nah. Only seen her once in the horizon. She rarely bothers anyone these days. But can I get my money now?"
Zalen nodded, handing the guide the rest of his payment.
"There you go."
"Much appreciated. And now I'm getting the hell out before you enrage the dragon. You're not the first I've led to this cave. None of the others have returned. So if you're planning to kill her or steal from her I'd suggest against it."
"Nothing like that. I'm planning to have sex with her."
The man stopped to stare at him. Then he shrugged, walking away.
"Good luck with that then."
Well, he could hardly argue against it if the man considered him insane. Especially since he pretty much agreed. Still, he'd come too far to turn around now.
The cave continued down and quickly forced Zalen to use a light spell to see anything.
Deeper and deeper he went following the winding cave.
"Damn."
The path below was blocked. Looks like there had been a cave-in leaving the path full of huge rocks. He could of course try blasting the rocks away but it might just create a bigger cave-in and crush him as well. Too bad he'd never learned a spell to turn ethereal or something like that.
Except...
Searching the wall of rocks using a focused light beam he finally found what he was looking for: a downward sloping hole that led through the blockage. Perfect.
Digging through his pack he took out the small bottle of wine and the tiny bag tied with a string. Pouring the contents of the bag in the wine he shook the bottle a little and then drank it all.
Next he cast a protective spell on the vial containing the fireseed oil and dropped the vial in the hole. It bounced and slid down - and made it all the way through. Good.
Setting his staff inside the hole as well he began casting a spell. A moment later everything began to grow, forcing him to release the staff which slid down the hole.
As he reached fairy size he climbed after it.
He had tried Enayiel's spell once and noted that while it did shrink both him and his clothes, anything else he had with him would stay normal size. He'd have to return for his bag later but at least this way he could get get both his staff and the fireseed oil with him.
Still, climbing down through the cave-in was far from a relaxing experience. Twice he almost slipped which would have been deadly here. If he lost consciousness here, the spell would end while he was still between the huge rocks... Well, he'd never wake up again if that happened.
Still, he finally made it through, returned to normal size, collected his staff and placed the fireseed oil in his pocket.
Looking at the cave-in from this side there were clear marks on the wall, possibly from a dragon's tail. Had Xudaal caused the cave-in on purpose to block this route? Quite possibly.
Indeed, it didn't take long for him to find Xudaal's lair. Peeking around the corner he saw mountains of coins, gems and jewelry. And between them laid a silvery white dragon, its eyes closed and using its long tail as a pillow beneath its jaw. It was big enough to crush him beneath its foot and its breathing was causing a cold wind in the cave.
Zalen braced himself and walked in.
"Greetings Xudaal, The Beauty of the Night!"
The mighty wyrm opened her eyes. She didn't really seem surprised at his entrance which meant she had sensed his presence a long ago. She just laid there and gazed at the intruder.
Zalen stopped in front of her, waiting for her to say something. The silence went on and it was starting to make Zalen uncomfortable.
Finally the dragon spoke.
"So... why are you here? A thief would have tried to sneak in. If you were a misguided hero you would have come armed.
You are a mage, aren't you? I'm not interested in spell battles, you know."
Zalen drew a deep breath.
"I have come to offer you a trade, Xudaal."
"A trade?"
The wyrm raised her head slightly, pulling her tail back behind her and tilting her head. "What might you actually have that might interest me? And what of mine do you want in return?"
"I want half your treasure."
