The Dragon's Maw is a corridor of death. It is a narrow canyon, its volcanic rock walls rising steeply for about fifty meters. The ground is littered with sharp rocks and black sand. It is the perfect place for an ambush. And I am the bait.
The night is complete, but the landscape is illuminated by the ruddy glow of lava fissures that run through the cliffs. The mercenaries of the Iron Claw are in position, hidden in the heights, silent shadows armed with bows and spells. The dwarven miners are ready to collapse the canyon entrances. Everything is in place.
I am at the center of it all, alone, in the middle of the canyon. The egg is in my satchel, on my back. Its warmth is a comforting weight. Through our bond, I feel its anxiety, but also its trust in me.
"I won't drop you," I whisper.
I pull out a torch and light it. It is the signal. I am now a visible target, a lone point of light in the darkness. The show begins.
I start to run. Not a frantic sprint, but a steady jog, that of someone trying to flee without exhausting themselves. I head toward the north exit of the canyon.
The waiting is the hardest part. Every stretching second is torture. What if he doesn't come? What if I misjudged his instinct?
Then, I hear them.
A seismic rumble. A roar of pure fury that shakes the canyon walls. He is coming.
I glance over my shoulder. A wave of fire and fury is pouring into the canyon. The Saurian King, in all his terrifying splendor. He is not alone. He is followed by about twenty of his elite guards, Saurians larger and darker than the others, veterans of Level 15 and higher.
The King has seen me. His charge is that of an angry god, his war maul leaving trails of fire in the air. He does not see the archers on the cliffs. He does not see the traps. He sees only me. And the child I have stolen from him.
This is exactly what I had planned.
"NOW!" Kaelen's voice echoes from above, amplified by magic.
The plan is set in motion. A rain of arrows pours down on the elite guard. Lightning bolts and fireballs, summoned by Lyanna and the other mages, explode in their ranks.
The Saurians are surprised, but they do not panic. They are elite warriors. They form a defensive circle, their obsidian shields parrying most of the projectiles.
At the same moment, two deafening explosions shake the canyon. The dwarves have done their work. The south and north entrances collapse in a cloud of dust and rock.
They are trapped.
The Saurian King ignores all of it. The chaos around him does not affect him. His only target is me. He continues his charge, plowing through the magical barrage as if it were a summer rain.
I run. I run for my life. He is incredibly fast for his size. The distance between us is closing at a terrifying rate.
I have to slow him down.
I throw my torch behind me, aiming for a seep of natural pitch I had spotted. The pitch ignites, creating a temporary wall of fire.
It does not stop him. He plows through it, his incandescent scales protecting him from the heat. But it slows him down, if only for a second.
The mercenaries of the Iron Claw are now rappelling down the cliffs, engaging the elite guard in melee. The canyon transforms into a chaos of clashing metal, war cries, and death screams.
But no one is dealing with the King. That was the plan. He is mine.
I cannot fight him. He is too powerful. My only goal is to survive, to keep him occupied while Kaelen's men decimate his guard.
He is almost on me. His maul comes down. I throw myself to the side. The impact pulverizes the ground, creating a crater.
I am out of breath. I cannot keep dodging forever.
That panic gives me an idea. A crazy idea.
"Stay with me," I project my thought to the egg. "Trust me."
I stop fleeing. I turn to face the Saurian King. I gently take the egg from my satchel and hold it in front of me with one hand.
The King stops short, his maul raised for another blow. He looks at the egg, his child, so fragile, so close to his destructive fury.
"You want it back?" I shout, my voice echoing off the canyon walls. "Then stop! One more move and it shatters!"
It is an absolute bluff. He could kill me in a fraction of a second, before I had time to do anything. But the image of his own heir, used as a human... or rather, draconic shield... makes him hesitate.
That hesitation is my only weapon.
"Release my child, vermin," he growls, his voice an earthquake.
"Order your men to surrender. And I will give it back to you."
He lets out a laugh that sounds like an avalanche. "You think you can negotiate with me? I am a King! I do not surrender!"
"Then your heir dies with us!"
As we face off, a figure slips in behind the Saurian King. Kaelen. He has taken advantage of the King's focus, entirely on me, to get into position. He holds a massive two-handed sword, glowing with a powerful enchantment.
"DIE, BEAST!" he yells, bringing his sword down on the King's back.
The blade sinks deep between two plates of scales, where the neck meets the torso. A geyser of lava-like blood erupts.
The Saurian King lets out a roar of pure agony that vibrates my bones. He spins around, completely ignoring Kaelen, and backhands me with his clawed hand.
I have no time to react. The impact is that of a battering ram. I am thrown into the air, the egg slipping from my grasp.
The world spins. I see the red sky, the canyon walls, the chaos of the fight. I see the egg, tumbling through the air, about to smash against the rocks.
The egg's cry in my mind is an explosion of pure terror.
My body reacts without my mind's command. Berserker Charge. I right myself in mid-air, push off a rock with my feet, and propel myself toward the egg.
I catch it just inches from the ground, wrapping my own body around it to cushion the impact. I land heavily, the pain from my injuries exploding in my back.
HP: 55/65 → 25/65
I am seriously wounded, but the egg is intact.
I look up. The Saurian King, despite his mortal wound, is still standing. He turns back to Kaelen, who is preparing to deliver the final blow.
But the King ignores him. His gaze is fixed on me, and on the egg I am protecting. And for the first time, I do not see fury in his reptilian eyes. I see... understanding. And gratitude.
He saw me risk my life to save his child.
With a final growl, he collapses to the ground, his maul falling beside him. The King is dead.
Silence falls over the canyon. The elite guard, seeing their king fall, lose all will to fight. They are quickly overwhelmed by the mercenaries.
The battle is over. We have won.
Kaelen approaches, his sword covered in the King's blood. He looks at me, then at the egg I am holding against me.
"Well done, kid," he says, with unfeigned respect in his voice. "You saved our asses." He looks at the egg. "Now, give it to me. We'll find the Ember-heart and get out of here."
I clutch the egg to me.
"No," I say.
Kaelen frowns. "What? Don't be stupid. The job is done."
"There is no Ember-heart," I say, a certainty dawning on me. "Or rather, there is. It's right here."
I place my hand on the egg. It pulses with an intense heat, with an immense power. This is not just the King's heir. It is the artifact we were looking for. The legend was a metaphor. The "heart of the volcano" was the heart of the royal bloodline.
Lyanna approaches. Her Magical Analysis must be confirming what I have just guessed.
"He's right, Kaelen," she says, her eyes wide. "The artifact... it's the egg."
Kaelen's face hardens. His greed takes over. "Then that's even better. A living artifact. Its value is inestimable. Give it to me, Reinhardt. That's an order."
The surviving mercenaries begin to gather around us, their weapons still in hand.
I slowly get to my feet, my body protesting, the egg still clutched to my chest.
"No."
I am no longer the bait. I am the guardian. And I have just made a new enemy. Not a monster. But the man who hired me. The Iron Claw.