“Yes, you’re hot.” Lith replied to Kamila, making her blush. “Also, yes, it’s hot in here but it can’t be just because of the volcano.”
“Correct.” The Fire Dragon nodded. “It’s because of us Wyrms. We can’t affect our surroundings like Phoenixes do, but when so many of us gather, our inner fires resonate, releasing lots of heat.”
He pointed at the people around them. The magical lighting of the tunnel was poor yet it was as clear as day. Every Dragon emanated a radiance from their skin, not even their enchanted clothes could contain the raw power burning within them.
‘This is weird.’ Kamila thought. ‘With the baby, I should…’
She tried to shapeshift her hands under the cover of her evening gloves and failed.
‘Leegaain awakened the kids’ bloodline and suppressed mine! He must have wanted to ensure no one could notice my pregnancy. Thanks, Leegaain.’
‘You are welcome.’ An annoyed voice answered in her head.
Shargein had yet to fall asleep, which forced Leegaain and Salaark to delay the “peace talks”.
Soon the tunnel came to an end and the group reached Valtak’s lair.
The space inside the mountain had been cleared out, creating a room half as wide as Mount Blackfang itself and over 45 meters (150′) high, enough for many Wyrms to stand comfortably together and stretch their wings if needed.
Lith had never been inside the lair of a true Dragon. In the past, he had visited Xedros’ secret lab and Faluel’s home but they were just Lesser Dragons.
Even with his status as the Father of All Wyverns and his title as quasi-Dragon, Xedros’ secret lab paled in comparison with Valtak’s lair as much as their owners would have while standing side by side.
The space inside the mountain was large but far from empty. Piles of gold, platinum, and silver coins formed shiny hills connected by pathways of precious gemstones.
Light came from the walls, reflecting on both metal and jewels.
By bouncing on the coins, the magical lights were equally spread throughout the lair, making it possible to see anywhere across the room and forming a starry sky in the darkness of the ceiling.
By passing through the gemstones, instead, the white light was split into its components, generating dozens of perennial rainbows that seemed to bridge distant hills of treasures between them.
Lith and Solus gasped in amazement, their jaws almost hitting the floor from marvel and surprise yet they kept walking. As for their companions, they froze like statues in the middle of the path with their eyes and mouths wide in wonder.
No Dragon said anything, considering admiration toward a fellow Wyrm’s treasure the highest form of praise.
“It’s too soon to be impressed.” Erghak chuckled. “These are… how do you humans call them? Oh, yes. Knick-knacks.”
“Knick-knacks?” Lith echoed in disbelief.
There was already more treasure in front of him than Faluel’s and Xedros’ combined yet the Fire Dragon had just dismissed it like bauble.
“Correct.” Erghak nodded. “Few Dragons are art connoisseurs but each one of us can tell how precious and beautiful something is. This is the typical outer rim of a Dragon’s lair, filled with precious things.”
He led them to the middle rim through a path of sapphires.
“This is where beautiful things are kept.” He waved at the countless crystal displays holding paintings, statues, vases, and artifacts. Some were made of very precious materials, others of common wood or clay, but they all bore the hand of a true master artisan.
“The artifacts are either weak or obsolete beyond redemption.” Lith explained to the kids while looking around with Life Vision. “Maybe they were powerful at some point in Valtak’s life or maybe he appreciated more their craftmanship than their magic.”
“Correct again.” The Fire Wyrm nodded while guiding them to the art pieces Valtak had been prouder and fonder of. “You can consider them the Dragon equivalent of your ceremonial weapons. Eye-catching but useless.
“The good stuff is always kept in the inner rim, the bedroom.”
Solus only half listened to him, staring at the paintings in the hope of spotting one of her father’s works.
‘Dammit, I forgot that Valtak was slumbering during the past thousand years.’ She inwardly sighed after failing to find any. ‘He didn’t know even Mom, let alone Dad.’
“It’s beautiful.” Lith looked around, feeling like he was inside one of Earth’s most important museums rather than a Dragon lair. “But also boring. Some of this stuff is so weird that Aran could do it better.”
“Yeah.” Aran nodded. “The weapons are pretty, though.”
“Have some respect!” Leria was equally bored but Rena had taught her that adults often took pride in what might look insignificant to her. “This is still Grandpa Valtak’s stuff!”
“Don’t worry, young lady.” Erghak stifled a laugh. “It’s indeed boring. For us. Each one of these pieces dates to an important moment in Valtak’s life. Their value for him went beyond their rarity or materials, it was mostly sentimental.
“Most of them, albeit beautiful, belong to forgotten artists who didn’t make it to the pages of history and have been forgotten by the rest of Mogar. Consider it like Valtak’s private diary.
“Without knowing the feelings behind every entry, most of them are bound to appear trivial, like when you write down an argument with your mom.”
“True… Hey, how do you know that?” Leria blushed hard, fearing that the Fire Dragon had read her diary.
“It wasn’t hard to guess.” He said with a laugh while ruffling her hair. “Most girls keep a diary and all of them argue with their mothers. Don’t they?”
“I don’t know. I don’t have many girl friends.” Leria fiddled with the gemstones comprising the path with her foot. “Aunt Kami? Aunt Solus?”
“Sure.” They both nodded in a rush, one swearing she would find and destroy her own and the other glad that the tower’s past collapse had gotten rid of it already.
“And now, the precious and beautiful stuff. Where Valtak rests.” Erghak’s smile dimmed and his eyes became sad.
Lith unconsciously clenched his fist while the kids needed to take a few breaths before finding the strength to move forward.
The inner rim was comprised of the smallest hills of all, formed by orderly piles of ingots and mana crystals. Adamant and violet gems formed the tallest hills while Davross and white crystals were arranged into small bumps in the ground.
Powerful weapons, armors, and artifacts of all shape and size were orderly arranged in a circle, giving their master instant access to them and displaying his prowess.
In the very center of the cave, there was a huge pile of gold with several ingots of magical metals, precious gemstones, and mana crystals decorating its wide base. On it, rested the corpse of the Father of Fire.
Valtak’s body had been arranged with his long tail coiling around his shiny bed. He was crouched on the pile of gold, his long neck extended to its full length as if he was just sleeping.
His wounded wing had been draped with silk to hide the exposed flesh and in turn the wing was furled so as to cover the ruined flesh beneath.
