Adventure begins at the library! Read the chapter and vote by 2pm each Saturday to influence which way the story should go. A new part of the story will be posted every Monday throughout the summer.
~ Chapter 7 ~
You don’t have time to formulate a plan, except to split into two groups so the dragon can’t
easily target all of you. Your group keeps running forwards, after the goblins, while the other
leaps toward a staircase leading down into the treasure. You’re not a moment too soon—the
dragon roars, a column of flame blasting the place where you were standing not a second
before.
The goblins cower in fear, completely forgetting about you and your band. You want to run
over and snatch the box, then escape into the tunnels, but you’re too busy trying to stay alive.
Spotting another staircase that leads to an even higher level, you sprint towards it, leaping a
gap where the bridge has crumbled away. Once you reach the next level, you turn, drawing
your bow. You fire arrow after arrow at the dragon, but they all ricochet off its scales, or shatter
into splinters. You use nearly all of your arrows before realizing that you need a new tactic.
Obviously, there’s no way you can defeat this creature by force—arrows and swords are no
use against iron scales and dagger teeth.
As you watch, the dragon blows more fire, turning a patch of coins into molten gold. It flows
downhill into a small tunnel at gold level, quickly cooling and turning solid again.
Fire dragon…liquid…cooling off…you’re onto something. The idea is floating just out of
reach, but however hard you try, you can’t make it materialize.
You’re just about to get it when the dragon’s tail whips past your head, smashing the stone
staircase to rubble. The rest of the bridge quickly follows, and you’re forced to run for it. The
goblins tumble into the gold, shrieking, and land unconscious near the former pool of gold.
The box bounces off a huge shield, and lands near a staircase under the tunnel you came into
the cavern from.
Now’s your chance! You run as fast as you can towards a staircase that leads down into the
treasure, trying not to trip on your bow.
You leap down the stairs into the treasure piles. The going immediately gets harder: running
through thousands of coins is like running through sand, and you feel more vulnerable. But the
box is only a few yards away now, and your excitement grows. If you can just get away safely
with it, the adventure will be over! Your quest will be finished! You stretch your hands out for
it…
Only to have the dragon’s tail fling you into the air as it sweeps past. You see with horror,
even while tumbling over and over, that the box has become lodged between two of its
enormous scales.
You crash into a tunnel that looks big enough to row a ship through. It must be one of the
dragon’s exits, as it’s certainly big enough for one. Cold, damp air whooshes out of it, making
the walls slick.
Suddenly, your idea comes into sharp focus. This tunnel leads in the same direction as the one
above you, the one you used to get here. If you can lead the dragon into the lake, it won’t be
able to use its fire, and that would help a lot. Getting the chest from its tail while it thrashes
about in a lake will be difficult, but the water will hinder its movements. You signal frantically
to your friends, and they abandon their attempts to distract the dragon, and come running.
Without giving them an explanation, you charge into the darkness, the dragon not far behind.
You quickly find your way into the cave with the lake, just as you expected, and you and your
band stand right at the water’s edge. The dragon is running clumsily towards you, and you can
see that it won’t be able to change direction quickly if it needs to. It bears down on you, and
as it opens its mouth to shoot flame, you and your party dive to both sides into the water. The
dragon tries to stop, but can’t. It skids on the slippery stone floor, and slides right into the lake.
Steam billows up around it, the water evaporating on contact with its scales. The water seems
to be taking all the life out of it: its thrashings become less violent, and the steam begins to
dissipate. It gives one final earth-shattering roar, then goes rigid. The fire in its eyes dims to
nothing, and its natural glow fades. It begins to sink.
“The box!” the thief shouts, pointing frantically at the dragon’s tail. You become gripped with
fear—the lake is probably quite deep, and you’re not sure you’ll be able to retrieve it if the
dragon sinks too far. You dive into the water (which has been pleasantly heated by the dragon),
and swim over to its tail. The tip is just sinking under the surface when you yank the chest
from between its scales, and paddle back to the shore.
You and your band give a mighty cheer as you set the box on the sand, and pull yourself out
of the lake. You did it! You found your way through a treacherous dungeon, defeated a fire-
breathing dragon, and retrieved the item you were looking for. Now all you have to do is return
it to Arya, the merchant, and you can collect your reward.
There is one last thing, of course: help the gremlins get back their home from the goblins. But
it’s easy to find your way back through the dungeon, since you’ve been through it already, and
the journey is much shorter than before.
Once you reach the place where the goblins have laired, you walk boldly into their midst.
Before they can attack you, you bring out a sack of gold taken from the dragon’s lair, and make
a proposal. If the goblins leave, and never come back or bother the gremlins, you will give
them the sack of gold. If they break their promise and return, however, several heavily armed
guards will be waiting to meet them. For the goblins, it’s an easy choice. They take the gold
and run, which makes the gremlins delighted. They try to reward you, but the task was so easy,
you can’t possibly let them pay you.
You say goodbye to the gremlins, and the dungeon, and make your way towards the city where
Arya is staying. As you near it, though, you can’t help wondering what’s in the chest. You’ve
gone to all that trouble to retrieve it…surely you deserve to know what’s inside? Even if you
do return it to her, what’s to say that she’ll tell you? It’s her box, yes, but you nearly died
several times to retrieve it. It isn’t even locked—the lock broke when it tumbled from the
goblins’ grasp.
Finally, you reach the city walls. Your last chance to open the chest without her knowing is
slipping from your grasp.
You: