Dragonlord

Ep 11. Pay Your Respects. (6)

Raizel pinched her own nose as she was momentarily engulfed in venomous gas. The ice around her became instantly discolored before seemingly beginning to rot away, though Raizel’s skin seemed indifferent to the effects of the toxin.

“They really do try hard.”

Quite some time had passed since the steel dragon had elected herself to take the lead once more, advancing at least several steps ahead of the rest of her group. She’s been careful not to wield unruly violence at innocent icicles now, but the floors and walls had still been littered with traps.

Raizel threw her gaze behind her, specifically towards Ilias who had been examining the structures of the cavern ever more carefully. Not for traps, but for secret doors that would supposedly lead her to fulfilling her treasury dreams.

“Wanna take the lead there so you can find your gold faster?”

“Huh? Uh…no thanks.”

Serenis took a deep breath, relieved that the metal dragon still had the spirits to joke.

Despite her snarky tone, Raizel had no intention of letting anyone else take lead. Most of these traps had been lethal – even for Ilias, who she knew to be much stronger than the average dragonkin.

“Hah. Seriously, are these traps ever going to…”

Another spell circle shone into being beneath Raizel’s feet as she took her next step. The circle that had first been the size of her foot expanded to engulf her entire body, momentarily emitting a blinding light.

“What is it no…w?!”

As soon as the spell circle faded, Raizel felt her body growing heavier – and it wasn’t just her perceiving so. The ice beneath her rapidly began to crack. Just moments after, the ice completely gave away to reveal a long pit beneath, leading down to a pool of sizzling lava.

Having lost her footing, Raizel reflexively clawed at the pit’s walls. Her nails barely managed to crunch into the reinforced ice, holding her body weight literally by her fingertips.

Normally, the metal dragon would have no problem pulling herself right out using one finger if she had to; she was born as a metal dragon, and her physical capabilities had long adjusted to compensate for her weight. But right now, the hand keeping her from falling was madly shaking. Raizel’s body slowly began to descend as her amplified weight dragged her fingers down through the ice.

“…Raizel?”

Noting the delay, Ilias quickly dashed forth a few steps to find her friend struggling to keep herself from falling in. The red dragon gripped her friend’s wrist with both hands, finally realizing why Raizel hadn’t climbed back out by herself immediately.

“What in the…why’re you so heavy?!”

“Kh…if I knew, I wouldn’t be stuck here!!”

Bruton and Serenis soon followed after, looking down the pit that had opened up to find their metal dragon hanging above a pool of deathly heat. Bruton frowned as he noticed what it was beneath them in the pit.

‘Lava? In a completely frozen cavern?’

“…Hey, are you still fine if you touch that? It’d be a lot easier if I just brought over an ice pillar for you to climb out…”

“NO! Pull her back up, Ilias! She’ll melt!”

“Ugh…fine…!”

Meanwhile, Serenis couldn’t help but notice how Ilias was struggling to pull Raizel out of the pit. It should’ve been a trivial task for the red dragon; she’d already demonstrated that she could knock her friend down at will.

‘That spell circle earlier…was it a gravity curse? That would explain why the floor suddenly gave away…’

Ilias tightened her grip. Raizel could swear she heard a crunching noise snap out of her wrist.

“Hey, you could loosen up a tad bit…!”

Raizel’s complaints were drowned out by Ilias’ scream as the red dragon practically swung her friend in a full half circle, throwing the metal dragon behind her into the air. Raizel landed on the ice floors with a gigantic thud, though this time the ice thankfully didn’t crack open beneath her. Ilias fell flat unto the floor afterwards, gasping for air after the physical strain.

Bruton rushed towards the metal dragon’s side, kneeling down to examine her.

“Raizel! Are you alright?!”

“…My wrist isn’t.”

“…”

Serenis made her way to Raizel and hovered a hand over the metal dragon to examine her state. True to her suspicions, a curse had been inflicted on the youngling.

“Bruton.”

“Mm.”

The elder dragon nodded as he, too, took notice of the curse afflicting the youngling. He likewise hovered his hand over the metal dragon, channeling an overwhelming amount of mana that coursed through Raizel’s body to snuff the curse out of her.

“Fix my wrist while you’re at it, old man.”

“I…would if I could.”

“Damnit all.”

Raizel slowly rose back to her feet, shaking the wrist that Ilias had gripped. Her hand was still attached to it, but it was just that – attached. She couldn’t feel her hand beyond the broken bones.

She shot a glare at Ilias who was still lying flat on the ice. When their eyes locked, Ilias shrugged.

“You could say ‘thank you’, you know.”

“I could also say ‘did you have to break my wrist’.”

“I did. As father said, you would’ve melted if you fell in there. And you can’t even transform in this place either…”

“Tch.”

Approaching the pit that was now blocking their way forward, Raizel knelt down as she put a hand against her footing’s edge. Large streaks of metal slowly slithered forth from her palm, crunching against one another as they joined to bridge the gap of the pit. She rose to her feet and meant to continue on, but was stopped as the elder dragon put his hand over her shoulder.

Bruton shook his head, pulling the youngling back towards him.

“Raizel. You are NOT taking lead in that state.”

“Are you volunteering? Be my guest, but you would’ve died ten times over on our way here.”

“No. I will from hereon.”

Serenis stepped forward, eyeing the elder and the youngling.

“Do not pit yourselves to further danger. I…cannot guarantee anyone’s safety.”

Bruton looked up ahead. His eyes still couldn’t make out the end of this eldritch tunnel.

“I admit I know hardly anything of our old customs, but I would guess that standing by as one’s lord puts themselves at danger is not a commendable course of action.”

Bruton took a brief moment to focus his mana. He held out his hand as a dark, shimmering figure came to form.

Standing before the elder dragon was a shadow of himself, standing on its two feet.

“Go.”

The shadow turned around and began to trudge forward across the bridge Raizel had made. The elder dragon exchanged glances with the three others, only to notice the determination in their eyes.

“I’d once again advise you all to turn back, but…I don’t believe that’ll be of any use.”

Raizel shook her head, and Ilias rose to her feet to join her friend.

“Nope.”

“Not a chance.”

Serenis looked to the side, guilt gnawing at her from the inside.

“…I apologize for dragging you all in here.”

Another sigh escaped the elder’s lips. While Serenis was apologizing, it was clear that the dragonlord had no intention of turning back either.

Bruton soon turned to follow his shadow double.

“Then we can only hope this corridor reveals its end soon.”

Raizel quickly paced after Bruton. Ilias began to follow after the two, but stopped momentarily as she noticed Serenis’ stare.

“Lord? Is something the matter?”

“…It’s nothing. Let’s be off.”

“Okay!”

Serenis began to walk alongside the dragons. Her eyes were first fixed on Ilias, then on Raizel.

Even in the past, Serenis hardly knew of any kin that could do what Ilias had just done in their human form.

‘If she can swing a steel dragon affected by a gravity curse…that’s no longer at a level of simply being ‘strong.’ But more importantly…’

Up until this point, they’d been able to break through most traps by the virtue of Raizel’s toughness. She’d genuinely assumed that Raizel’s affinity would allow them to ignore any traps this dungeon could possibly pose – until they encountered the gravity trap that almost dragged Raizel down into a pool of scorching lava.

‘…It’s like the trap was designed specifically to kill dragons with steel affinities.’

The dragonlord internally hoped her suspicions to be a mere coincidence as the four continued to make their way deeper into the cavern.