At last, in the very heart of a sea of dunes piled like mountain ranges,
Lo Quen noticed something amiss.
The spires of enormous structures thrust stubbornly out of the sand. Though badly scoured by wind and buried beneath thick layers of dust, their immense scale and distinctive stepped design still proclaimed the grandeur they had once known.
This was Hyrkoon, the ancient capital of the Patrimony of Hyrkoon.
Riding Blooddancer, Lo Quen circled the ruins for a long time, his eyes sweeping over every exposed fragment of broken walls and collapsed structures. There was nothing but silence. Absolute silence.
Most of the city lay buried beneath yellow sand, as though every secret had been entombed along with it. He sensed no unusual energy fluctuations and found no trace connected to the visions of the House of the Undying.
Just as he was beginning to wonder whether the prophecy's guidance had been mistaken, Ashshadow, flying slightly behind and to the side, suddenly let out a low roar. Its wings beat restlessly as it circled in agitation.
Lo Quen's attention sharpened. He immediately urged Blooddancer to follow.
Ashshadow dropped lower, flying toward the rear of an especially tall sand tower near the city's center, one whose upper half had already collapsed. The area behind it was cleverly enclosed by two massive crescent-shaped dunes, forming a natural hollow that was easily overlooked from above.
When Lo Quen brought Blooddancer down at the edge of the hollow, he finally saw it clearly. At the angle where the base of the sand tower met the dunes, there was a vast cave entrance slanting inward.
The opening was enormous, easily a thousand feet across, like a gaping mouth torn open in the earth. It plunged straight down into pitch-black depths, its end nowhere in sight. Sand along the rim slid slowly inward without ceasing, a sign that the interior had not been completely filled by the desert.
Lo Quen narrowed his eyes, studying the path into the unknown.
There were few things left in this world that could truly threaten him. If anything, this mysterious cavern only stirred his desire to explore.
He did not hesitate. Patting Blooddancer's neck to signal it onward, he entered the darkness with both dragons at his side.
Ashshadow seemed especially sensitive to the atmosphere here, showing a mix of excitement and caution. Its massive eyes glimmered faintly in the gloom.
At first, the cave sloped sharply downward, strewn with loose stone and sand. Before long, however, the passage widened, and to his surprise, it showed no signs of collapse or blockage.
The stench of sulfur in the air grew stronger, and the temperature steadily climbed, as if they were descending toward the heart of the world itself.
After roughly half an hour of travel, a faint glow appeared ahead. It was not natural light, but a pulsing crimson radiance, accompanied by a deep rumble like rolling magma.
They passed through the final narrow stretch of the tunnel, and the space before them suddenly opened wide.
An underground world of staggering scale spread out before their eyes. Its height and breadth far exceeded anything Lo Quen had anticipated.
The vaulted ceiling rose at least a thousand feet above the ground, its true dimensions impossible to judge. Even more astonishing was what lay below. The floor was not stone or earth, but a vast expanse of molten lava.
Rivers of magma crisscrossed the cavern, glowing dark red and casting the entire space in a hellish light. The air was thick with an overpowering sulfur stench.
At the center of this sea of fire stood several immense platforms fashioned from black obsidian.
Lo Quen's gaze locked in place, his expression tightening.
Amid the lava and flames, a colossal figure loomed.
It lay sprawled within the fire itself, as though the flames were its natural bed.
The dark crimson glow traced its powerful silhouette, radiating a raw, violent presence.
At that moment, as if sensing the intruders, the creature suddenly moved. It twisted its body from its prone position, its pupils snapping into focus on Lo Quen and the two dragons at the cave entrance.
Its full form was revealed.
It was a massive beast, its size rivaling that of a young dragon. Its entire body was covered in rough black-gray armor, muscles knotted and bulging with strength.
Most terrifying of all was its neck. Where there should have been a single head, there were three.
Three heads shaped like vicious hounds, baring pale fangs. Thick saliva dripped from their jaws, hissing as it splattered onto the searing ground.
Hellhound.
The word flashed through Lo Quen's mind.
This was the creature Star-Eyes "Symeon" had once claimed to see at the Nightfort on the Wall. Legends spoke of two Hellhounds fighting beneath the Nightfort itself.
Most people had dismissed it as a hallucination born of extreme conditions, or outright nonsense. How could creatures from hell, or from the Shadow Lands, exist in this world?
Yet the living, three-headed giant before him proved that Star-Eyes had not been lying.
Not only did such beings exist, they were hidden deep within the infernal depths beneath the ancient city of Hyrkoon.
Lo Quen recalled the visions he had seen in the House of the Undying. Now, they were unfolding before his very eyes.
"ROAR—!!!"
All three heads of the Hellhound bellowed at once, their thunderous roar reverberating wildly through the underground cavern.
Six massive eyes locked onto Lo Quen as the Hellhound braced its hind legs and launched forward, astonishingly fast for its size.
Its central head reared back and unleashed a torrent of twisted flame, blasting straight toward Lo Quen and Blooddancer.
Caught off guard by the sudden ferocity of the attack, Lo Quen remained calm. His thoughts moved swiftly as he ordered Blooddancer and Ashshadow to evade, then strike.
Responding at once, Blooddancer let out a resounding dragon's roar. Her vast blood-red wings snapped open and hammered downward, lifting her massive body sharply upward.
The Hellhound's raging pillar of fire screamed past, grazing Blooddancer's belly scales before slamming into the rock wall behind her. The stone hissed and melted on impact, leaving behind a gaping, corroded hole.
At the same time, Ashshadow revealed its battle instincts.
Instead of meeting the beast head-on, it used its smaller size and agility to circle around the flank, exhaling a stream of black-red flame toward the Hellhound's side.
The dark fire struck its black-gray hide, immediately billowing thick smoke.
The Hellhound howled in pain. Its left head let out a furious, wounded roar and snapped toward Ashshadow, spewing fire in retaliation.
Ashshadow was ready. It folded its wings and dropped straight down, narrowly slipping past the blazing torrent.
"Keep your distance. Use the air."
Lo Quen issued the command calmly from Blooddancer's back.
He had already seen it clearly. The Hellhound was immensely strong, terrifying in close combat. With three heads, it could handle attacks from multiple directions at once, and its fire breath was lethal.
But its weakness was just as obvious.
It could not fly.
Blooddancer understood. She circled high above, searching for the right moment.
In the next instant, she dove.
This time, her target was the Hellhound's right head, the one trying to lock onto Ashshadow. Searing blood-red dragonfire erupted from her jaws.
The Hellhound reacted with incredible speed. Its left head surged forward, blasting fire in an attempt to intercept the attack.
The flames collided violently in midair.
"BOOM!!!"
A thunderous explosion followed as fire crashed into fire. The shockwave tore across the ground, hurling loose stone and debris into the air.