Chapter 54
Chapter 54
Miranna held her breath for a moment, giving her mother and father a nod as she pointed at the blue portal before her and the rest of the group. “Vrax, Shale, and I will go in first. You two come ten seconds after.”
After Vaelithrea and Thergar both acknowledged her words, she went first, touching the portal and taking a deep breath.
Her eyes adjusted a second after she caught the scent of the air. Both swords were drawn, and she was in a lowered position. Soft green grass was around her feet. Then she saw a portal fifty yards ahead of her.
“Mir… It’s this one!” Shale Spark exclaimed. “I can feel him.”
“So we’re certain,” Vraxion asked.
Turning around, Miranna tried not to react as her eyes saw the large mountains that rose up around them in a tight bowl, disappearing into the blue sky above.
Dad told me about how their dungeon looked like this when the moment came… Can it really be the same one?
“You’re certain?” Miranna asked, eyes flickering to her friend, who had transformed back to her dragon state. She could see the way Shale Spark fidgeted, not something she did unless there was a reason to.
“Yes! It’s like when you know your dad has baked your favorite muffins. You can smell it in the air. I can do the same, but it’s different.” “Holy dragon balls,” Thergar cursed when he and their mage arrived. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”
Miranna shrugged, weapons still held outward to her side.
“Could it really be that easy?” Vaelithrea whispered.
“We’re not taking any risks. We’ll keep our weapons and armor on, following the same plan,” Miranna said, motioning to the portal she had first seen.
“Uh… do you think we should change our armor first?” Vraxion asked, his weapon stowed as he motioned to his gold dragon armor. “I mean… this could be taken wrong.”
Very aware of how she looked in the same gold dragon armor, Miranna frowned and asked their resident dragon, “Shale, what do you think? Is it bad manners to proceed if we’re wearing the scales of the potential creature we might face?”
“Uh… no. I don’t think so,” Shale Spark replied. “We’re not like that, unless it’s family. I mean… he’s family but not like family .” The dragon paused and then glanced at her own scales, which had a golden border around each of the shiny red ones that made up her protective armor. “Besides, I think the color looks good on me.”
Vaelithrea chuckled and motioned with her staff to the portal. “All we can do is see what lies beyond. I, for one, would rather be way overprepared than walk into a bad situation assuming it’s something else. Besides, we all know what assume spells.”
Nodding, Miranna moved toward the portal Shale Spark was staring at. “We move as a group, Shale in back. I’ve got point. Three-second staggering between entering.”
Grunts came as they moved as one. Countless dungeons and years spent had made it so words often weren’t needed. Only when things were outside the norm did they discuss stuff like this.
Touching the blue portal, Miranna held her breath. A second passed, and her eyes started to work again. As she spun around taking in the same view as a moment ago, a curse came from her lips.
“Holy elf—”
“Your mother wouldn’t like it,” Vraxion said, cutting her off.
Grunting, the god child nodded and put herself between the portal behind her and the spot her friends were appearing on. As soon as Shale Spark arrived, she trilled in the same manner as she had the day they got the items they now wore from Max.
“He’s there! Behind the portal!” their dragon exclaimed. “Oh! Do I look good?”
Laughs came from everyone, cutting the tension and concern as their dragon spun around, agile enough now to move without hitting her own team, even if she was the size of a house.
“You’re fine. Except for that smudge on your snout,” Thergar said.
“Where?!” Shale Spark gasped, going cross-eyed immediately.
“He’s lying.” Vaelithrea grunted. “Ignore him.”
Smoke rose from their dragon’s nostrils as she huffed in the direction of their healer. “If I didn’t have to behave—”
“Stop, you two,” Miranna snapped. “Not now. I’m fine with the fun, but we’re not playing here.” She could feel her eyes vibrating, knowing they were glowing because of her emotional state. “We faced down everyone back home to prove we were ready for this moment, and we’ll not mess up by joking around. Understand?”
Vraxion chuckled and nodded. “Just like her father.”
She glared at the demon, who was unfazed, still smiling at her till she broke eye contact. “Fine. Same pattern, once more. Be ready.”
Once again, they moved as one, Miranna touching the portal first.
A wave of power washed over her as she tried to breathe, blinking rapidly, hoping her eyes might work just a moment faster.
When they did, her heart paused. Before her was a dragon that didn’t match the description her father had given.
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It’s way bigger than he said.
Like a mountain appearing before her, two gold eyes narrowed, their gold scales reflecting the sun’s light above.
“It’s you,” she whispered.
Thrumming came, and it felt like some of the air attacks her father occasionally threw at her. Each second her body vibrated with the force of the sound.
“Holy elf—”
“Don’t,” Miranna growled as Vraxion spoke.
Gasps came until a high-pitched squeal rang out once more.
“It’s you!”
The thrumming increased and then stopped.
“Forgive me,” the dragon said, his voice a little softer than the thrumming. “I still forget how much that affects you. Please, come and sit. I have been waiting for this moment.”
Four stone chairs rose from the plain gray stones that covered the area they found themselves in. A large shelf appeared in the middle, and Shale Spark dashed past the rest of them, plopping herself onto the stone, red eyes fixated upon the giant dragon before them.
“Someone’s being weird,” Thergar whispered, and Miranna had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.
“Child, you are fine,” the dragon spoke. “We shall talk in time, but for now, please relax. Know that I am proud of you.”
A trill came and then cut off suddenly. Shale Spark shook her head, blinking a few times. “What… what just happened?”
The gold dragon let out a low thrum that was much quieter than before and pointed a massive talon at Shale Spark. “I eased your mood. It has been a while since one so young has been around me, and even those who are ancient have reacted… similar at first.” The dragon stopped talking, his gold eyes looking at all of them once before returning to Miranna.
She could feel the pressure of his gaze but didn’t look away.
“You are just like them both,” the dragon said. “It is fortunate you look more like your mother.”
A few laughs came from her friends, and Miranna felt her cheeks warm up. Clearing her throat, she asked the question that had been on her mind the moment they entered the first portal and saw what lay beyond. “Why?”
“That question has many different answers,” the dragon replied, lips curling upward and displaying teeth that could easily kill them all in a single bite. “Why is the sky blue? Why do birds sing? Why—”
“Did you do this place as you did for my parents and their party?” Miranna asked.
“A better question,” the dragon replied, nodding his head slowly. “That answer isn’t one for you to know yet. None of this matters right now. All that does is that you get my boon and continue on to the next dungeon.”
“Uh… how do you know we haven’t done the other dungeon already?” Vaelithrea asked.
A warm gust of air came from those golden nostrils, washing over them all. “I know things you cannot imagine, and your biggest concern is how I might know that? Perhaps I was foolish to do it this way. Would you have preferred fighting my children to earn the right to stand before me?”
“Yes,” Miranna said, leaning forward, without hesitation in her answer. “We didn’t come here to be treated this way simply because of who my parents are.” She rose from her chair, pointing a finger at the dragon, feeling a rage grow inside that had started upon entering this dungeon. “We didn’t train all these years… no, our entire lives to be handed this for nothing!”
Power came, and a force like no other assaulted her. Gone was the smile on the dragon’s snout. Two gold eyes glowed as its head drew near, the very breath that came as it spoke, almost hot enough to cause her skin to blister.
“Child… do you not wear the scales of my kind? Did you slay them yourselves? The weapons you brought in here have the scent of your father on them. Did you craft them, or did he? You dare accuse me of playing favorites when you have no understanding of the things I do and why I do them.”
The dragon growled, and Miranna fought against the force that wanted her to sit down, wanted her to bend a knee, to lower her eyes and not meet the gaze that felt hot like the sun.
“I… will… not… bow!” she shouted, struggling between each word until the last one seemed to shatter the overwhelming force. She could feel her own eyes burning, the rage of everything inside her manifesting as it did only when she let go of the control she fought to hold on to.
Years of being taught how to fight it were tossed out. She didn’t care right now. Miranna would shine so bright it would destroy any shadow someone thought she stood in.
“YOU,” she yelled, her arm and finger rising to point at the large gold snout before her, “are bound by the system! Choose one of your children to fight, or give us the boon and let us pass!”
She huffed, breathing becoming easier even with the sweltering heat that washed over her as the dragon snorted.
A few moments later, everything vanished. Gone was the pressure and the weight that had tried to crush her. It was gone so fast, Miranna stumbled forward a step, righting herself immediately.
Gasps of air came from her friends, and she turned to see each of them grunting, pushing themselves off the stone seats and moving toward her. Shale Spark’s body shimmered and shrunk, taking on her humanoid form.
Miranna could see the same look of defiance in the eyes of her friends. She could sense through the rings they shared that she wasn’t alone.
“I don’t need this,” Miranna stated, the dragon armor vanishing, replaced with the chestplate she had acquired from the 45th dungeon boss they had killed a month ago. “You don’t realize why we wore this or why it was given.” Once again, her finger rose, and Miranna let her rage run free. “Love. A love I’ve known since birth gave each of these gifts that I wore. Not because they thought I was weak or because I needed them. They were given because they want me and my friends to succeed. To stand against whatever the tower, or the system, or gods like you throw at us.”
She took a step forward, tilting her head back so she could keep the gold dragon in her vision. “I will not let you slander that love. Nor will I let you slander the work of my friends. I’m tired of having to prove I’m worthy with words or stories. Choose your champion, and we will slay them with the blade I earned through my own blood, sweat and tears.”
Silence was her reply as two gold eyes stared back at her.
“Very well,” the dragon said after a moment. “Prepare yourselves. I have chosen my champion.”
A pained cry came from beside her, and Miranna turned, seeing Shale Spark drop to a knee, holding her chest. Light radiated from under the hand of her friend since the earliest days Miranna could remember. Shale Spark cried out in pain.
“I have chosen her,” the dragon said. “Kill her and claim my blessing. Fail that task and you will gain nothing.”
Miranna’s hand trembled. Her breathing grew hotter, and she turned her eyes from her friend, seeing the smug look upon the god of this dungeon.
And then something clicked inside.