Behind me,
the party of dwarves looked nervous, but I was cool as the rink at Rockefeller
Center. I nodded to Pyreus, who pulled on the door with four of the dwarves.
The rock wall swung open slowly, the mechanism allowed it to swing open, but it
was still a few tons of solid rock to move, reminding me of the door from Tron. The first one, not the second one.
When open,
I started through, but Pyreus put a hand on arm. “Hmm, are you sure, Friend
Sam?”
“I’m sure,
Friend Pyreus. Close it up after I go in.”
The dwarf
didn’t look sure behind his beard, but he nodded and gave a kind of musical
grunt.
When
through, the wall slid closed with barely any noise. Keeping the secret
entrance silent into the dragon’s lair was a prudent move. I had no interest in
being prudent, though.
“Redscale!
It’s Sam Faraday!”
Flame
erupted into the cavernous lair, providing light enough to make my way around
the passage until it opened up.
“It is
curious,” the dragon boomed, “to welcome someone to my lair instead of eat
them. It is a good thing I do not bear a grudge for the last meeting.” Giant
eyes narrowed to malice-filled slits.
“Hey, you
arranged the last meeting. And this one! So, what can I do for you? It’s the
raids, isn’t it?”
He snorted
smoke, which curled into impossible shapes, kind of like the Caterpillar’s
hookah from Alice in Wonderland.
“All right.
Let’s make a deal.”