"Fine.. Fine if you want to die here but don't implicate the town." I said before muttering under my breath a universal phrase that all our citizens knew.

"We have enough problems" it was only after I had said it that I realized that I was still in unfamiliar company.

However I didn't care, 'we had enough problems' and they were just another added on top.

If I just handed them the information we had on that ravenous dragon then they would leave. Hopefully never to return back to this town.

It was a hopeful thought, though not unfounded. People as powerful as them had tried and they all died.

It was no problem for me to give them information.

I reached into the cabinet behind me and pulled out a scroll. It was old, dirt and other markings held to it from its rough travels into my hands.

Slowly I unfurled it and handed the map and corresponding information to them.

"Here and here, you go through those paths and you'll have no problem finding him."

With that little tidbit of information I handed them the map and instructed them to keep it.

Not like it won't just find its way back to me. Like it always did.

I watched their backs as they departed, a cough filling my lungs.

Once they had I slowly sat up from my chair, the aching bones of old age catching up to me.

Slowly I brought my hand towards a hidden drawer, a key in my hands.

I turned the lock, making sure that I input the right string of numbers before opening it.

It was a little extra security just enough to alert me of if my key was stolen.

I brought the drawer open and towards me. Ten small vials filled with a slimy liquid greeted me.

I brought one to my lips, all the while uncorking it. The pungent smell filled the room however I was used to it so even despite the terrible smell and taste I didn't recoil.

The liquid fell down my throat, a slight disgust washed over me, knowing what these were made of but I needed to take it.

Instantly I felt a bit more revitalized, the aching bones no longer aching. My body went from pale and old to late middle age however I did not drink another one.

Instead I closed the drawer and pulled another one out going through the same security measures and brought the other vials out.

This one was not one drunk but one that I needed to inject into my blood.

I found the needle that came with it and placed it in its rightful place with the vials

Then I found my vein and stabbed it in gently, the contents filling my veins with its sickly sweet contents.

My eyes closed as I sighed in relief. All of my worries fell from my mind as I went into joyful bliss.

No longer did I need to worry about my citizens' wellbeing, the looming threat of the dragon, nor of the sacrifices we had to pay.

Everything just faded into a joyful black. Nothing mattered, only the sweet ride that this drug gave me.

..

"That was easy.." I muttered out, voicing the thoughts of all of us.

"Yeah, but it was information nonetheless. There's no reason for us to be suspicious of it, the man was honest"

I just nodded my head at the observation, he may have been a bit eccentric but other than that he told no lies to us.

I could tell through his soul, resigned as it was.

Through the town we went, the residents looking at us with wary eyes as we left.

We didn't bother even booking a room for the night. It wasn't that long of a journey to the dragon's cave from here.

Maybe just another four or five miles though that was another reason to be suspicious. If the dragon was as described, it was not one to like living people in its proximity.

So unless this proximity was only around its cave then something was wrong, otherwise this town would have been wiped out long ago.

eaglesnov?1,сoМ These suspicions were just that though , suspicions not something that I wanted to act on for now.

The gate closed behind us, the guards giving us a wary glance before the stone gate closed with a resounding echo.

I took one last look at the town, surrounded by stone yet seeming so alone and unprotected.

..

The land gradually crept from common stone to more exotic kinds. Ones only seen around volcanoes.

Or at least that was what Delta had told us and I wasn't going to question Delta's knowledge, not when I couldn't even identify the slight differences.

It was a weird sight though, for a cave to fall into a volcano. I usually thought of them as being things above ground with only lava underground but I was being proven wrong today.

Or I guess a better way to look at it was that I was being educated, in the intricacies of volcanoes.

It was moments after these thoughts that I found myself facing abnormal heat. Heat that actually felt like heat not the muted temperatures that I had felt ever since I had ascended into the higher tiers.

Distant bubbling noises of lava echoed throughout the chamber we were in.

It was the first time I had ever heard something like that and I was curious what it looked like.

It was for that curiosity that I followed the sound, through multiple caverns I went until I found where the bubbling lava had come from.

It was the middle of the volcano, lava pooled into rivers that seemed to cross everywhere.

However they all avoided one spot l, as if they were consciously avoided it. The place was a giant rock or something of the like that was placed right in the center.

Though on second look it wasn't a rock, it was actually something curled into a ball.historical

"I think.." I said, "we found our dragon."

..

I yawned, presences appearing in my senses. They were stronger than usual but the quality, oh the quality.

It was great. Those villagers really outdid themselves this time.

My eyes sparkled at the beauty of the three of them. Though one of them looked a little like a man, it was still beautiful.

'Strange' it was a thought that came to the back of my mind.

They weren't afraid nor were they lustful as many of them were. It was weird that they would be lustful.

I just wanted some women for my collection. What were they thinking that I, a great dragon, one of the strongest beings in this realm, wanted their measly bodies?

These ones were different, they looked at my lair with amazement at less the two younger ones did.

It was like they didn't know fear. However that could be remedied.

ROAR

I yawned, turning it into a roar before gazing right into their eyes. However when my eyes gazed upon them a daft became known to me.

They weren't tribute by that mayor but invaders. One that had already taken part of the realm for themselves.

It was an instinctual sense but I knew just by that very instinct that I was not going to be given an easy battle.

My wings spread to the side, the aether that hid deep within my head spreading through them and creating a realm of fire.

They would soon learn that there was a reason that I lived in a volcano.

The air around me grew warmer and warmer until even I, in all my resistance could feel it.

I smirk appeared on my face, my preparations were complete. Yet still they did not move from their spot.

It angered me, despite the intrinsic competitive feeling that I had they still underestimated me.

ROAR

With that declaration I was upon them, my body shrinking until it was the size of them. Claws enchanted with fire grazed their skin before they dodged.

The purple one jumped above me, a dagger unsheathed from wherever it was hiding before it was thrown at me. I dodged that but failed to notice the spear that had made its way into my wing.

The other child, the one with long gray hair had pulled the spear from his back and pierced my wing.

A roar of pain was upon my jaw but I ignored that, instead channeling it into a haze of smoke.

The momentary blindness barely affected them but they did need a millisecond to adjust. It was barely enough time for me to retreat.

However by the time that I was a couple feet away from them they had already recovered.

Both of them were upon me, their attacks coordinated to overwhelm me. It was double layered, the one with the spear in my face with the spear poised to rip my throat out and the other covering both my back and retreat.

I was forced to dodge it. For a moment I saw death but combat instincts brought me back to safety.