11 October 2012
The ground was hard, cold and slippery, a combination of rocks, scree, drifting snow and a thick layer of ice. It was dark, deeply so, and cloying inside the cave, the walls were too close and the ceiling too low to even attempt lighting a torch or casting some sort of light spell, if I could even conjure the right words in the freezing claustrophobia. I felt my way along, trying to remain focused on the distant pinprick of light as I inched forwards on my hands and knees, my armour scraping on the walls with an eerie 'screep' that seemed to echo forever.
Finally, with aching knees and my hair filled with cobwebs, I reached the end of the tunnel. I emerged into a beautiful, airy cave; a rockfall had succeeded in opening the roof and a deep drift of snow lined one side of the space. A frozen lake occupied the central area and there were several passages leading deeper into the mountain. Something was out of place, incongruous to the scene, and it took me a few seconds to register what was wrong; the remains of a fire, still warm, was lying at my feet. There were footprints too, but not like any I had seen before, and larger even than a cave troll's. This cave was a lair.
Without warning a hideous bellow echoed in the mountains, reverberating into the cave from the opening in the ceiling; like a mighty lion's roar combined with the death-wail of a banshee, only ten times louder. I knew that sound - I turned on my heel and bolted into what I thought was a passage. It turned out to be merely a darkened crevice, a nook in the cave wall barely big enough to conceal me from sight. I tucked in as far as I could, my back pressed painfully against the frozen rocks, just as a huge shadow fell the cave. On almost silent, bony wings, a huge dragon landed in the cave with a quiet 'thwump'. It stretched, sending ripples along its muscular form and pulling the skin on each wing taut, revealing small tears and rips in its flesh, before neatly folding its wings away like one would fold clean linen.
The dragon dropped a large tree trunk and a few branches on to the embers of the fire and set the whole thing alight with a burst of flame from its wide mouth. I was so close I could feel the heat and within moments the temperature in the cave rose noticeably. The flickering firelight seemed to make the dragon's iridescent scaled skin shimmer and change colour, like a drop of oil on a puddle of water. His great, gold eyes surveyed the cave and, seemingly satisfied, he yawned, revealing a row of perfect teeth, each one easily as long as my forearm, before settling down to sleep, his thick tail blocking the exit from my hiding place.
I was in serious trouble.
Here There Be Dragons - Part Two • Opuss № I