The dragon stepped into the cave. The remaining two men stumbled backward in a panic, their backs quickly hitting the rock wall.
Fear drove them to squeeze themselves into the cracks of the rock face. In that moment, they wished they could shrink into nothingness.
There was only one exit. To escape, they had to go past the dragon. Yet the image of the old man exploding like a watermelon was seared into their minds.
Fear can shatter a person's courage, scare them to death. But fear can also drive a person mad, rendering them fearless in their insanity.
One of the remaining two—the one with the wooden leg—charged at the advancing dragon. He didn't cast a spell. He just roared and ran forward.
He just wanted to fight, to throw his life away, because he had been scared out of his mind.
Smack!
Another muffled explosion. The one-legged man was slapped against the hard rock wall by the dragon's claw. Then, a mixture of blood and shredded flesh began to slide down the stone face.
"Don't come over! Don't come over!"
Trembling voice, twisted expression. The last remaining man was utterly paralyzed by terror.
The dragon wiped its claw clean. Its chest and abdomen began to glow a fiery red. Its maw opened, and a stream of dragon fire erupted. Amidst a scream of despair, the last man was incinerated against the wall, reduced to ash. On the rock face where he stood, a lifelike humanoid shadow remained, scorch-marked into the stone like a record of his final moment.
The range of the dragon fire wasn't large; it only incinerated the man and heated the rock wall behind him to a glowing red. But the temperature in the cave spiked immediately, shifting from slightly chilly to sweltering.
Hidden under the cloak, Rey and Helena were drenched in sweat—half from the heat, half from sheer terror.
Before seeing the dragon, they wanted to verify the legend. Now that they had seen it, they wanted nothing more than to flee. Humans are contradictory creatures like that.
From the moment the dragon smashed the first man to when it moved toward the second, Rey and Helena had been quietly inching toward the entrance.
Their speed varied; when the dragon moved, they moved faster. When the dragon stopped, they froze or crawled like ants.
Having swatted two and burned one, the dragon shook its head and inspected its hoard. It still felt annoyed.
There were still thieves in its treasure vault, but it couldn't find them.
"I know you're still here. Come out." The dragon growled, turning its massive body in circles within the cave, trying to force the hidden thief into the open.
The dragon was huge, and the treasure vault wasn't exactly spacious for it. As it spun and whipped its tail, protruding rocks were knocked loose from the walls.
The dragon wasn't stupid. Even while thrashing about, its tail constantly swept near the entrance. It didn't want the hidden thief to slip away while it was distracted.
Not only was it not stupid, it was clever. Seeing that intimidation wasn't working, it returned to the entrance. Its large eyes scanned the vault intently for any movement.
---
The vault was dead silent. You could hear a pin drop.
With the dragon guarding the door, not even a mouse could escape, let alone Rey and Helena, who were much larger than mice.
The two were out of options. They huddled motionless under the Invisibility Cloak in a small corner to the right of the entrance.
Rey stared fixedly at the dragon. Although the beast was facing forward, its large eyes were positioned on the sides of its head, giving it a field of vision exceeding 180 degrees.
They couldn't move. They dared not move. Even when Helena's legs grew tired, she could only slowly crouch down in place. Shifting her feet was out of the question; the gold coins beneath them would make noise.
Yet, despite her caution, a coin under Helena's foot gave a soft clink.
Rey's heart jumped into his throat. Helena's grip on Rey's arm tightened painfully.
It hurt. Her nails felt like they were digging into his flesh, but Rey didn't dare make a sound. He didn't even dare to breathe.
Hearing the clink, the dragon's head snapped to the right like a guard dog, fixing its gaze on the rocky corner.
It saw no one. At least, its fist-sized eyes registered nothing.
Suspicious, the dragon let out a low growl and pressed its body to the right. Its massive head pushed right into the corner.
The walls met at a near ninety-degree angle. The dragon's head was too large to reach the very back. Moreover, Rey and Helena were crouched down, so the dragon's snout loomed directly above their heads.
They could smell the sulfurous heat of the dragon's breath. If it decided to unleash a breath of fire right now, they were dead. No question.
If... if only I knew how to Apparate, none of this would be a problem.
Rey regretted his lack of progress again. Up until now, he hadn't even mastered a flying spell. He couldn't Apparate, nor could he use the Mist Form spell he got from that old man, Borgin.
In this moment, Rey had never felt so useless.
After a tense moment, the dragon finally pulled its head back and retreated to the entrance. Rey and Helena, drenched in cold sweat, finally let out a silent breath.
---
"What do we do?"
Rey felt anxious. This dragon was patient, not irritable in the slightest. It acted as if it had them cornered and had all the time in the world.
The cute little ghost dragon was gone. Since the Great Dragon appeared, it had vanished. Rey didn't know why, but he hadn't seen it since.
Was the little guy afraid of the Great Dragon too?
Rey wondered. If so, maybe the Great Dragon could see it.
If the Great Dragon could see it, having the little guy lure the dragon away outside would be a great strategy.
But now, they couldn't count on anything.
Maybe if they waited a bit longer, it would reappear. The little guy had followed him faithfully so far; it hadn't let him down yet.
Wait. Just wait a little longer...
With no other options, Rey and Helena could only wait for an opportunity, engaging in a battle of endurance with the dragon. When it got tired, or when the ghost dragon reappeared—that might be their chance to escape.
Half an hour...
One hour...
Then three hours...
The ghost dragon didn't come, and the Great Dragon's patience hadn't waned in the slightest. However, Rey and Helena were reaching their limits.
Not being able to move their feet an inch, only shifting between squatting and standing, became torture as time dragged on. Moreover, Rey felt the dragon's gaze drifting toward them, intentionally or not. It seemed the earlier noise had locked its attention on this specific area.
Five hours passed. Still no ghost dragon. And no other wizards had found this place.
Helena was coping slightly better, though she looked at Rey with guilt written all over her face. She surely regretted her decision to come see the dragon.
Rey, on the other hand, was nearing his breaking point.
Physical exhaustion was one thing, but another issue was becoming exceedingly awkward.
Nature calls, and right now, it was calling Rey loudly. His bladder was full, and holding it in was making him panic.
Another half hour passed. Rey, his endurance finally shattered, involuntarily shifted his feet.
Just that tiny movement caused the gold coins beneath him to clink.
---
The noise came from the same spot as before. This immediately caught the dragon's attention.
Its maw opened slightly in a semblance of a grin as it moved closer. Its voice dripped with mockery: "You hide well. Let's see how you escape this time."
Rey was at his limit, especially physiologically. The dragon had discovered him, and it was certain of his presence.
Resigned, Rey opened a slit in the cloak and stepped out.
Helena tried to follow, but Rey stopped her.
Stepping out of the Invisibility Cloak looked like the Disillusionment Charm wearing off.
The timing was perfect; Helena remained hidden inside the cloak, undiscovered.
Rey stepped out, unsure how to face the dragon. Nervous as he was, he tried to keep a calm expression on his face.
His appearance surprised the dragon slightly. It hadn't expected the person who had endured for so long to be just a child.
"Oh, a little wizard. Your Disillusionment Charm is excellent. But tell me, how would you like to die?"
The dragon's head pressed close to Rey, hot air blasting from its nostrils. It praised Rey first, then immediately pivoted to asking him to choose his method of death.
---