Archive of Our Own

All things considered, robbing a dragon was a foolish, reckless idea. But foolish, reckless things appeal to people down on their luck. He had been through worse far worse.

At least, that’s what Caleb’s thought process had been when he and Nott had made the plan to venture into the mountains. Venture out in search of the mysterious dragon hoard that people kept saying was full of magical wonders. The one that people had actually returned from in one piece.

But then there had been the perilous trek through the mountains, battling treacherous terrain and freezing temperatures. At one point Caleb had almost broken his neck when he had slipped on a bit of loose stone, and then Nott had gotten entirely too drunk when they had to cross a stream too wide to be jumped. It had seemed a relief when they had found the entryway to the dragon’s lair, and taken shelter from the brisk mountain winds.

And then once they got inside, it all went to shit.

The actual entrance was half blocked by rubble they had to scramble over, causing much more noise than either Caleb or Nott had wanted. They waited, hidden in the dark for any signs of life before pressing on. The wizard kept one hand lightly brushing the goblin’s shoulder, letting her lead the way in the dark. He could have illuminated the path ahead, but they had to be stealthy.

After several agonizing minutes of scrambling through the rough, natural formation, they came across light. The natural floor gave way to carved stone and geometrically trimmed walls. There were little sconces set at intervals along the hall, some with what looked like spun glass orbs full of flame set within them. Others appeared to have been plundered or broken, but there was now enough light for Caleb to see.

He wondered idly at who might have built this place- it seemed slightly dwarvish in construction- but the style was one he was unfamiliar with. As they delved further into what was slowly revealing itself to be a ruin, they passed several other passages; most of them were dark or collapsed. One rather alarming hall was pitch dark and full of webs. They hurried past that one quickly, not wanting any part of what lay within.

It was after a few more minutes of walking that they saw the dragon, or at least part of it. A long, thin, lavender tail that ended in a sharp spade trailed into the hallway, from one intersecting passage farther up. There the sound of breathing, slow and regular. The dragon was sleeping, and from what little Caleb knew of dragons, this was likely the tail of a Devil Dragon: a fiendish breed with a reputation for being dangerously capricious.

Nott glanced up at him and gave his hand a squeeze.

‘I’ll sneak ahead ’ she seemed to say, and Caleb nodded warily. The little goblin picked her way around the motionless tail, her bright yellow eyes widening as she chanced a better look at the beast. She skittered silently down the remaining length of the main hall, far enough that Caleb couldn’t see her in the gloom. He held his breath, biting his lower lip while he waited for some sign.

“ I think I’ve found something, ” her voice whispered in the back of his head. “ Youcanreplytothismessage .”

“Ah, ja…” he breathed in response, before slowly edging his way along the path she had taken. He froze, heart hammering as the tail suddenly twitched, and a muffled rumble came from the hall the dragon had wedged itself in. He could see the clawed wingtips, and a muscular set of hind legs, sprawled out on the floor. The wicked talons that tipped each of its toes were almost as long as his forearm.

The dragon shifted and rolled to one side before settling back, apparently just shifting position in its sleep. The tail flicked again, dangerously close to Caleb’s head and he jerked back, practically slapping himself against the wall to avoid the thing.

Steal some magical artifacts from a dragon, It would be worth the risk, they had said over drinks back in town. Now it was entirely too real, staring at the back half of a gods-damned dragon in some long forgotten ruins.

He only dared to move once he was certain the dragon was fast asleep, first creeping around the tail at an agonizing pace and then darting away once he thought he was far enough from the beast.

Nott was waiting for him at the end of the passage, which ended in a high, square entryway that opened into a large chamber. From the size and high ceilings this seemed likely to have  been some sort of great hall at one point. But now it it served another purpose.

It was full to the brim with...well, there was no other way to put it. It was full of junk. There were at least ten different statues of various gods and goddesses, each in various stages of disrepair. Something that was colored suspiciously like a striped carnival tent hung clumsily from the ceiling. A brilliant blue, full sized carriage was shoved over in one corner, the wheels splintered beyond repair and the door had been ripped off.

The mess was completed with yards and yards of different fabrics draped along the floor like a lumpy, multicolored carpet. Caleb could see dozens of other shabby nicknacks peeking out from under the folds. It certainly wasn’t the treasure hoard they had been expecting, but it was certainly interesting.

“I’m going to take a look around,” Nott said eagerly, and Caleb could see her little clawed fingers flexing eagerly. This sort of magpie mess was exactly the sort of thing she loved.

“Just be careful , Nott,” he said quietly as the goblin darted off towards the ruined carriage. Shaking his head, Caleb wandered over to a pile of what had at one point probably been very fine silks, but were now looking sadly faded and frayed. He sat in the corner and pulled out his spellbook and slowly began to cast a detect magic spell, all while keeping an ear out for the dragon.

The wizard closed his eyes as the spell took effect, and for a few breaths there was nothing. Then there was a faint ping from deeper in the room full of junk, something against the far wall. He got to his feet, putting his spellbook back in its holster and went to investigate.

There was another doorway, half hidden behind an impractically huge tapestry of the Platinum Dragon that had been tacked roughly to the wall. He brushed a corner of the tapestry away to step underneath it--and froze.

The floor beyond was littered in coins: gold, silver, and platinum of various mints, shining merrily in the flickering magic torchlight. There were ornamental statues made of precious metals, delicate oil paintings in thick golden frames, carved boxes of exotic woods, and all manner of riches and wonders. Several more magical essences flared into life in his mind’s eye as he approached.

The initial magical essence that had caught Caleb’s attention revealed itself to be a thin ivory box. He picked it up, carefully turning it over in his hands before quickly securing it in his bag. They could go over the exact nature of their finds later.

With a few minutes left on his spell, Caleb wandered down the treasure filled hall, pausing to scrape a handful of gold coins off the floor as he went. That ought to be enough to fund his paper and ink habit for at least another week.  He stopped at an intersection of two hallways. The one on the left was caved in, but the one leading to the right was filled with treasures. There was an absurdly tall, ornately framed mirror propped up against the wall here, and he frowned at his shabby reflection. A dirty, skinny, and tired looking man stared back at him, and he shook his head.

“ Caleb. Caleb the dragon --” Nott’s message ended abruptly, and Caleb froze as a high pitched, shrieking cry reverberated through the tunnels. He darted around the corner, pressing himself into a groove created by the ornamental geometric carvings. He could still see the mirror, and used it to watch down the hallway he had come, heart hammering.

“Nott?” He cast the message spell in the direction he had last known her to be. “Nott?!” There was no response.

“Looks like we’ve got rats !” came a masculine voice at a volume too loud to have come from anything but a dragon. There was a crashing sound from the room beyond and Caleb covered his mouth with both hands, trying not to imagine all the terrible ways the dragon could kill Nott. “I know you’re hiding in here, little morsels~”

The voice was louder now, and the sound of rustling fabric and rattling wood came echoing down the passageway from the great hall. There was a pause, and another shrill, keening roar before the dragon pushed its way beyond the tapestry, and its reflection rippled onto the mirror.

He was certainly a Devil Dragon, all sharp angles and sinewy coils, covered in a fine armor of smooth, slightly iridescent scales. His narrow, triangular head was adorned with a pair of thick, curving horns that had been covered in a truly astonishing number of baubles and trinkets. The wings tucked tightly against his flanks were angular, and very long, the ends flowing past the dragons haunches like the tails of some circus performer’s overcoat.

Caleb held his breath as the dragon twisted its head this way and that, sniffing the air down the curio filled passage. It flicked out an alarmingly long, forked tongue before curling its lips like a cat.

“Come on now, I know you’re in here. Why don’t you show yourself?”

The wizard went rigid as the sharp, pointed snout passed directly in front of the nook he had pressed himself inside. His brain was whirling with dozens of scenarios, and his chest felt like it was slowly being constricted by iron bands. He had to get out. Where was Nott?

The dragon withdrew with a resonant hum deep in its chest, apparently having missed the scrawny human tucked into a darkened corner, before speaking again.

“It’s okay, we’re just playing a game…” The pitch of its voice suddenly dropped a few notes and became smoother, otherworldly. “Come out and say hello...”

Caleb felt the twirling tendrils of a charm working its way into his mind with the dragon’s words. He flinched away from it, sliding a little on a scattering of coins, but resisted the effects and remained against the wall.

Much to his dismay, however, the dragon still had perfectly functioning ears.

It took a single, massive leap into the passage, pinning the wizard on either side with the points of its wings. The jaws parted wide in a toothy grin, and Caleb didn’t need to be an expert on dragon expressions to read the pure elation on his face. A firebolt fizzled on his fingers, what good would a little burst of flame do against a giant, fire-resistant dragon? He screwed his eyes shut and endeavored not to scream when the dragon bit him in two. At least it would be quick.

The expected end never came, only a gust of exceptionally hot air that smelled strongly of brimstone. The dragon began to laugh, throwing his head (which was at least as long as Caleb was tall,) back on his long sinuous neck.

“Haha! Your face--” The pinning wingpoints remained on either side of Caleb’s form, but there was a palpable release of tension in the dragon’s body as his long slender tail writhed with amusement. “What, were you expecting me to eat you? Burn you to a crisp? Smash you to jelly?” He turned his slender head to fix Caleb with one solid, crimson eye.

“J-j-..ehh....y--yes?” Caleb barely managed to stammer out a feeble reply, eyes darting around for the path of least resistance away from the mad beast.

The dragon snorted merrily, shifting on it’s clawed feet. “Suppose that comes with the territory, looking like I do, you know.” He shook his head, chuckling deep in his chest, and Caleb took that moment of very slight distraction to make a break for it. He darted under one of the wings and made a mad dash down the hall, pulling a long oil painting down behind him as he went.

“Ah! Wonderful, you know I do love it when you people make this interesting,” the dragon said, delighted, before leaping after the fleeing human, over the painting like it was nothing. His taloned forepaws came down right at Caleb, the split-second before impact, the wizard made a frantic gesture with his hands and cast Shield.

There was a horrible moment when he thought the claws had pierced through the arcane barrier at his back, but that was quickly squashed as the force of the dragon’s strike propelled him forward several feet. Like a bar of soap squeezed too hard , he thought dimly as he staggered, almost losing his footing as he continued to sprint down the dimly lit passageway.

The Devil Dragon gave an audible hiss of displeasure, but he was far from giving up the chase. He was slower about the corners than Caleb was, and couldn’t quite get enough height for a full running stride in the narrowing stone tunnels this far under the mountain, but his legs were long enough that just simply stalking after the human would likely be enough as exhaustion set in.

“Clever little thing, aren’t you?” he crooned again in that same velvety, charm-filled voice from earlier. “So brave to dare steal from a dragon. Why don’t you slow down a little…”

Caleb shook his head as he continued to stumble down the tunnels, prepared for that sort of trick now. The dragon would have to do better than that. He rounded the corner into a larger, more natural looking cavern, with stalactites and stalagmites filling the sides like the fangs of the dragon hot on his heels. He spotted a series of gaps that might fit him, and block the dragon’s access…

He darted behind the first stalagmite as the dragon’s talons came down again, catching a few threads loose from the edge of his shabby brown coat. Caleb threw himself down into the tiny gap, gasping and clutching at a stitch in his side as he scrambled back against the solid stone wall.

Cornered again. Scheiße .

The single, burning red eye came into view between the stone formations. It was crinkled with amusement, and this close Caleb could see it wasn’t truly solid.The iris was a shade or two lighter than the sclera.

“I think it’s about time to just admit defeat, don’t you? You’ve had a good go of it, but I think I’ve won.” The dragon tilted his head and appeared to settle himself down catlike before the alcove. “You did almost make it without me noticing though...maybe come out and take a consolation prize?” His lightly accent voice sounded apologetic.

Caleb didn’t trust himself to speak for several moments, his heart beating so fast he was afraid it would give out at any moment. He cleared his throat awkwardly before replying.

“I...am not so sure I am willing to trust a dragon that just tried to crush me.” He shrank even further against the stone as the dragon pressed the point of its snout deep into his nook. There was just enough room to be out of it’s reach. It exhaled loudly in his face, again blasting him with hot, sulfurous air (And maybe a tiny bit of mucus.) Caleb nearly retched.

“I could cook you right now if I wanted! Just a tiny little morsel,” The dragon said pleasantly, before withdrawing. That awful forked tongue darting out briefly as he went, covering Caleb with a fair bit of slime. He shifted backwards a few feet, folding his forelegs neatly and looking for all the world patience incarnate, save the switching tip of his tail. “But really, I was just trying to grab you. Crushing is so...messy.”

“Oh yes, because biting me into pieces would be so much neater.” Caleb shot back, his exhaustion and frayed nerves making him feel reckless. The dragon burst into a fit of giggles, rubbing the end of his snout with a taloned paw. It was almost disarming. Almost .

“I would much prefer a nice deer to a human, if I’m perfectly honest.” he said, voice still tinged with amusement. There was a tiny flip of the tips of his wings, so very much like a shrug. “Too bony, you see. And the weeping . Augh.” There’s a beat of silence as the dragon waits for him to respond, but when Caleb doesn’t so much as peep he sighs dramatically.

“Well, if you’re going to just sit there we may as well introduce ourselves!”

Then the dragon stood again, and spread his wings in an extravagant motion. If Caleb hadn’t already been on the floor the dazzling spread of color on the inside of the dragon’s wings might have knocked him on his ass. From what he could see it was a riotous rainbow of colors, iridescent reds, blues and greens taking up the majority, along with eight enormous crimson eye spots, four along the edge of each wingtip.

Distracted as he was by the violent shock of colors, Caleb only now realized that the dragon had swept into an elaborate bow and begun speaking again.

“--Mollymauk Tealeaf, or Molly to my friends. And I suppose we’re friends now that you’ve gone and lost.” He says airily, folding those disorienting wings back against his body and settling back down on the stone floor.

“....I ah...ja that’s….that is something.” Caleb eventually stammered out, fumbling over his words and trying for the world not to come across as dazed as he really was. (Which didn’t work particularly well.) The dragon snorted, pressing up against the gap in the stalagmites again to fix him with an eye.

“Just something? I like to think I’m a little more than just something .” The eye narrowed before opening wide again, “And yourself? I can’t just keep calling you Morsel. That’s a little morbid don’t you think? Especially when I really am being honest when I say I’m not going to eat you.”

The wizard fell silent again. Somehow the dragon’s insistence that it wouldn’t hurt him made him even more wary. It had to be trying to lure him out again into the open.   Where was Nott ?

“I ahh...I am C-Caleb. I’m Caleb,” he eventually said, at the very least hoping to stall the dragon further.

“Caleb, then!” Mollymauk withdrew his head from the gap once more. “You did pretty good getting as far into my lair as you did. And I’m sure you’re after all the glorious treasures and magical artifacts contained within, hmm~?”

“That--...that was the plan...ja.” Caleb fidgeted in his hiding place, craning his head to try an see anything past the wall of shiny lavender scales in front of him. Trying to find some sign of his goblin companion.

“That’s usually the plan.” The dragon nods his head placidly, his tail now trailing lazy lines in the air instead of its previous frantic whipping. “Steal from the dragon! How hard can it be? We’ll be so rich!” He cackled again.

“Enough people said they had done it to where it seemed like a decently calculated risk.” Caleb tried not to remember the story of the group of Crownsguard that had gone to put an end to the nuisance dragon once and for all. Three out of five dead, and the other two so badly injured they had barely survived the trek home. The tales they told were of a vicious purple demon that cooked them alive in their armor.

“Yes, I don’t mind incursions from time to time. Little thieves that get in and get out with a bit of treasure are entertaining--like you! It’s the ones that come in swords drawn and out for blood that I find very... irritating .” His voice dropped to a low growl on the last word.

“Ah...I imagine that would not be a very good time?” Caleb was still intensely uncomfortable at making casual conversation with the beast, but it seemed to be doing a good job of lowering the dragon’s guard.

“Absolutely dreadful!” Mollymauk pushed to his feet again and began pacing. The cavern was a bit small for him to get more than a few paces before turning around on himself, but he didn’t seem to mind. “All the talk of ‘Putting me down for the good of the Empire!’” He drew his neck up in a tight S shape before hissing loudly between his teeth. “I do more good than any of those tin soldiers!”

Caleb took a moment to shift into a crouching position, wondering if another opportunity to flee would present itself as the dragon became more and more distracted by its own grandstanding.

“It’s all unfair taxes on the peasantry and harassing innocent dragons I tell you!” the dragon continued. “When was the last time you’ve seen the Empire do good for anyone? Hmm?” He pushed his face up to the nook again to regard Caleb. “Besides the frankly shoddy infrastructure .”

The wizard didn’t have a response to that, twisting his fingers on the edge of his coat and regarding the fiery orb in front of him with a guarded expression. The dragon narrowed its eyes, a low, ominous rumble issuing from his throat.

“You’re not with them are y--”

The dragon jerked with a horrible yowling growl and writhed away from where Caleb had hidden himself. It staggered away and crashed against the wall, knocking a few spindly stalactites loose, before spitting out a substantial quantity of nearly black blood. There was a crossbow bolt pierced deep into the juncture of his jaw and his neck.

“What--?!” The dragon whipped his head around, those dazzling wings mantling as a second crossbow bolt came out of the darkness. This one plunged into the meat of the dragon’s shoulder and Mollymauk screamed like a wildcat. Whether in rage or pain, it was truly an atrocious noise. He held his wings half aloft in an attempt to make himself seem bigger, and shifted into a more defensive crouch, head swinging from side to side, trying to find his assailant.

“Caleb, get out of there!”  Nott’s voice, this time out loud. He spied her tiny figure at the opposite end of the cavern; she was shaking, but kept her crossbow trained on the dragon. Using herself as bait. Caleb’s heart sunk, but he took the opportunity to make a break for it.

“Oh, no. I don’t think so.” The dragon brought a paw down, this time knocking the wizard from his feet. Caleb went spinning dizzily over the floor, hearing the sound of a crossbow firing and wild shrieks of the Devil Dragon. He tried to right himself but found himself quickly pinned by the press of a three taloned foot on his chest.

“You fire another bolt at me and I’ll crush him,.” Mollymauk snarled at Nott, applying just enough pressure to drive the breath out of Caleb’s lungs. He was pinned under one of the dragon’s hind feet, his left arm pressed painfully against his chest, and the other flung wide. He couldn’t cast any spells--

“You let him up or I’ll fucking kill you,” came Nott’s shrill yell. He could hear the pure panic underneath the bold claim. How had this gone so wrong?

“I don’t think so.” The dragon snarled at her, before coughing horribly. Caleb could hear the splatter of blood on the stone. “I was happy to let you scurry around, but now you’ve gone and shot me.”

Caleb whimpered as the pressure on his chest increased, he felt something in his shoulder pop.The standoff lasted for about thirty seconds, by his reckoning. Thirty very painful seconds, before there was the sound of something clattering across the stone.

“Just let him go, okay?” Nott’s voice trembled, and Caleb screwed his eyes shut.  Useless, useless , she was going to die because of him--

His train of thought was interrupted by the pressure holding him down lifting. He rolled to his side, gasping for breath and clutching at his shoulder. Suddenly, Nott was there beside him, fretting over him and casting frantic looks back over at where he assumed the dragon was standing.

The confrontation was over as quickly as it had started.

Nott pulled him into a sitting position and Caleb looked over at the dragon. Mollymauk was coiled up against the far wall, his luminous crimson eyes fixed on the two of them. There was blood pouring from the wound on his neck, and alarmingly, from between his teeth.

“Nott--” Caleb was interrupted by the goblin throwing her arms around him briefly.

“Thank goodness you’re alright. We need to get out of here--”

“Nott!” He grabbed her shoulder. “I think you might have hit something…” He looked back at the dragon, chewing on his lower lip.

“Oh, definitely. She hit several somethings,” Mollymauk growled darkly, his voice was rougher than it had been earlier, and he spat out more blood on the floor. Caleb noticed there was now a third bolt sticking out of his shoulder. He made a low, miserable keening noise in his throat, before twisting his head around to try to pluck the bolts out with his teeth.

“Let me help.” The words were past Caleb’s lips before he had time to bite them back. He blinked a few times, startled by his own audacity. Nott seemed equally shocked, sucking in a startled breath.

“Caleb! He just--” She began, but he cut her off with a frown.

“If he had really wanted to kill us he could have done it ten times over by now.” He said quietly, glancing back at the Devil Dragon. Mollymauk was looking at them, eyes wide with surprise. “Besides...calculated risks.” he muttered under his breath.

Caleb pushed to his feet, wincing as he felt whatever had gone in his shoulder pop back into place as he moved the arm. It hurt ferociously. He looked at the dragon warily before slowly making his way towards it. He walked in a sideways stride, ready to bolt in the opposite direction should the beast lash out at him.

But Mollymauk was still, watching the wizard cautiously. His gaze sometimes flickered to Nott, who Caleb now realized was following behind him with her hand clutching at the edge of his coat.

“I’m going to t-try to get these out, ja? So don’t bite my head off if it hurts a little,” Caleb said, finding his words as he came close enough to touch the dragon.

“If you could just manage this one, that’d be wonderful.” Mollymauk croaked, lowering his head down to be at a level with Caleb to reveal the spot where the bolt had pierced his jaw. Caleb frowned at the wound, trying to recall anything he had ever learned about dragons or dragon anatomy. Unfortunately most of the learning he had on the subject was how to kill them…

But he could at least use that a little to his advantage, couldn’t he? Upon closer inspection the bolt hadn’t punctured the main artery, despite the absolutely profuse quantities of blood. What seemed a lot for a human was apparently trivial to a fully grown dragon. Nott had, however, hit at a very sensitive point just behind the jaw at just enough of an angle that Caleb was sure it must have poked into the dragon’s mouth.

“Ouch....that was a good shot, Nott.” He glanced down at her, eyebrows raised.

“He was going to eat you!” she snipped back, still clutching the edge of his cloak and glaring up at the dragon.

“I was going to do no such thing--” Mollymauk began, a few rivulets of dark dragon blood spilling out from between an impressive set of fangs, before the wizard shushed him. The dragon let out an exasperated breath through his nose, but went silent.

This close to the dragon’s head, Caleb now noticed a fine tracery of peacock blue markings that snaked its way across the right side of his snout, before flowing down his neck, growing darker as it twirled about his foreleg. Very peculiar.

It took the better part of a half hour to remove the bolt from the dragon’s jaw, which included a very brief--and very slimy--incursion inside his mouth to snap off the head of the bolt. Caleb wasn’t very bothered by dirt or grime, but there was something very uncomfortable about being covered in a layer of dragon blood and saliva. It didn’t help that the beast’s breath smelled strongly of sulfur.

While this was happening, Nott removed the two other bolts from the dragon’s shoulder. She kept her eyes fixed on Mollymauk while Caleb was fishing around inside his jaws, having made it very clear that if he were to bite down, he’d be getting a bolt to the eye this time.

After Caleb finally crawled out of his mouth for the final time, Mollymauk yawned expansively, opening and closing his mouth. He regarded the wizard as he tossed the broken and bloody crossbow bolt to the side.

“You wouldn’t think holding your mouth open for so long would be so difficult,” he griped. He swiped his long, forked tongue around his teeth, then twisted his head around to examine the punctures on his shoulder with a critical eye. “I think I could drink an entire lake. Or!” He paused, lighting up. “Be the absolute ruin of a meadery. That would be fun.”

Caleb was a little thrown by the dragon’s jovial tone; not more than an hour ago this dragon had nearly been the death of them. Nott still seemed wary, having retrieved her crossbow from where she had tossed it earlier..

“So what now? Are you going to go back to trying to eat us?” She asked, eyeing the dragon sidelong. Mollymauk straightened before cocking his head from side to side like a dog that had heard something interesting (a frankly absurd expression on such an intimidating creature.

“Well, I wasn’t trying to eat you in the first place. Eating humans and uh…” He squinted, lowering his head to get a better look at Nott, who skittered back a few paces. “Goblins? Isn’t actually something I particularly enjoy. Something about the grasping horror of your meal completely understanding everything that's happening to it takes all the flavor out of it.” He flipped his wings pragmatically.

“So then what were you doing, Mollymauk? Just trying to scare us to death instead?” Caleb asked, brow creased in a frown. The dragon turned to look at him, expression one of absolute delight.

“Well Mr. Caleb, if you must know, I was just having a bit of fun. It’s not a very good raid on a dragon hoard if the dragon doesn’t make it at least a little difficult.” The dragon thumped his tail on the floor, the corners of his mouth rising in an alarming approximation of a winning smile. “That way when the little thieves get away with their treasures they also have a really wonderful story to tell!”

Caleb blinked stupidly up at the dragon, his words taking a few moments to process. Nott spluttered, glowering at Mollymauk with deep suspicion.

“Wait, you just let people steal from you?!” Nott demanded.

“Why yes?” The lavender dragon lowered his head to look at her, confused with her confusion. “What’s the point of having a giant pile of treasure all for yourself? It’s not very useful!”

“That is...very un-dragonlike, I think.” Caleb managed to get out, taking a moment to rub a bit of slime off of his face. In all his experience, be it in reality or books, dragons one and all seemed very attached to material possessions--particularly ones that were beautiful, shiny, or had some other sort of intrinsic value--and guarded them jealously.

“I’m not really sure what you mean. I have my trinkets.” He shook his head, setting the ornaments decorating his horns to jingling. “What am I going to do with a handful of those stupid coins you people insist on using? I can hardly pick them up!” He brings forward a taloned paw and tries to pinch at nothing with the points of two claws.

“That is a very valid point but it’s still...unusual.” Caleb conceded, grimacing when his hand found the mess in his hair. “I suppose we should be uh...getting out of your way, shall we?” He asked, glancing down at Nott.

“What? Go back outside now?” Mollymauk’s red eyes widened and he sat back on his haunches. “It’s got to be nearly nighttime!”

“There’s still two hours of daylight left,” Caleb said with a shrug, “We can find our way out.”

“Nononono,” the dragon immediately swept back up to his feet and lunged forward. Caleb barely had time to yell before the dragon’s teeth were fixed firmly into the scruff of his coat. He looked down to see Nott had fared similarly, clutched firmly in the dragon’s right claw.

“Put me down right now or I’ll rip your tongue out of your stupid mouth--” Nott shouted increasingly colorful invectives as Mollymauk began to awkwardly hop three legged back down the hallway. The dragon gave a disapproving rumble, not releasing the poor wizard to speak.

It was a highly uncomfortable way to be transported, the coat pulled tight around Caleb’s arms and shoulders, constricting his movement. He kicked his legs a little, at least until it became clear that Mollymauk was just returning them to the junk filled great hall. He dropped Nott unceremoniously, and with a bit more kindness deposited Caleb down on a rumpled pile of moth eaten velvet.

“You both can stay here tonight! As guests!” He proclaimed grandly, spreading his lurid wings wide. Caleb was prepared for the dazzle, but  something about them still jarred his mind in an uncomfortable way. “And then in the morning you can tell me some stories of what’s going on in the towns and cities! And I’ll give you some presents to take back with you!”

“That is...that is very generous of you, Mollymauk.” Caleb anxiously glanced over to Nott, who was dusting herself off after being tossed on the floor. “I am sure we don’t want to impose…”

“Don’t be ridiculous, there’s plenty of room here for…” Mollymauk trails off, head scanning around the room. “At least three more of me. And you two don’t even add up to more than half of one of me!” He nodded once, before settling himself down in a great heap of silken fabrics that Caleb now realized had been arranged in the shape of a large nest.

Nott and Caleb just exchanged looks.

“Well...it would be better to do the worst of the climb during the day…” Nott began uneasily, settling down close to Caleb. “As long as he doesn’t squash us in our sleep…”

“As long as you don’t put any more bolts in me, there will be absolutely no squashing!” Mollymauk called, before tucking his head under one of his wings and sighing in a relaxed manner.

“...We’ll keep watch, ja?” Caleb suggested with a weary look down at Nott. Then he grabbed a rather ratty looking piece of silk and made an attempt at clearing any remaining slime from his face. “And I’ll set up the silver thread.”

Nott spent the next few minutes arranging the mess of fabrics into something more comfortable for sleeping, while Caleb walked around them in a circle setting up his alarm spell. He glanced over at the now deeply asleep dragon with a sigh and sat down next to Nott to take the first watch.