The castle's lower halls were a maze of scorched stone and collapsed corridors, but eventually they found it a sealed door, reinforced with steel bands and faint traces of old magic. The sigils had long since faded, but the air around it still hummed with residual power.
Vaelros had already unraveled the enchantments, though it had cost him another nosebleed and a pounding headache. Now it was up to Calen.
The bastard knelt beside the lock, tools in hand. "This one's old. Real old. But not clever."
"Just careful," Vaelros muttered, chewing another wad of redleaf. "This was a lab. They didn't want anyone getting in. Or anything getting out."
With a soft click, the lock gave way.
The laboratory was a tomb of forgotten ambition.
Dust coated every surface. Shelves sagged under the weight of rusted tools and shattered glass. The air was thick with the scent of dried herbs, old parchment, and something faintly metallic blood, long dried into the stone.
Vaelros stepped inside, eyes wide. "This is it."
He moved quickly, gathering what he could alchemical tools, preserved reagents, scrolls sealed in wax. Some of the equipment was unfamiliar, but the purpose was clear: medicine, poison, enhancement.
Then he saw the glass case.
It was long, reinforced with iron bands, and sealed with a faintly glowing rune. Inside were five eggs, each the size of a melon, their shells mottled and leathery. One was larger than the rest, its surface cracked slightly, as if something inside had shifted.
Tharn peered over his shoulder. "Dragon eggs?"
Vaelros shook his head. "No. These are Komodo dragon eggs."
Calen frowned. "Komodo what?"
"Big lizards. From the east. They don't breathe fire, but they're fast. Strong. And their bite is venomous not magical, just... biological. The venom causes massive tissue damage, internal bleeding. If one of these things bites you, you don't die from the wound. You die from the infection."
Tharn grunted. "Sounds charming."
Vaelros flipped through the notes scattered across the nearby desk. The writing was dense, clinical. Observations. Feeding schedules. Growth rates.
"No blood magic," he said. "Just... experimentation. Breeding. Selective enhancement. The mage who worked here was trying to create a more efficient predator. Something that could survive in Valyria's climate. Something that could be trained."
Calen raised an eyebrow. "You think any of them hatched?"
Vaelros looked at the cracked shell of the largest egg. "I think at least one did."
He stood slowly, eyes scanning the room. "And if it's still alive... it's big. It's fast. And it's hunting."
Tharn tightened his grip on his axe. "So what do we do?"
Vaelros closed the notebook, tucking it into his satchel. "We take what we can. We move carefully. And if we see it we don't fight. We run."
Calen smirked. "You're the one with the sword."
"I'm also the one who knows what a Komodo dragon can do to a man."
They shared a grim look.
Then Vaelros added, almost to himself, "And this one's been surviving in Valyria. That makes it worse."