It had taken another two hours of rolling the crystal around along the cliff face until he found a rough path he'd be able to traverse. A zig-zag path with stubborn ferns that kept swatting him in the face. They could always be burnt away, but the forest fire above was already too much of an annoyance. The smoke, while not much of a hindrance to his breathing, had made it difficult to see.

Now that the sun had fallen as well the moon stuck out even more. It was strangely beautiful despite looking like a giant, flaming ball of death. Almost like a fire opal sitting in obsidian with countless other stars framing it. The part of him wanting to hoard such shiny trinkets yearned for everything above him, but common sense told him it was an impossibility. Still, it stung and didn't help his mood.

Another hour passed until he finally got to the ground. Pushing past more ferns he allowed himself to stop and breath. Pushing the thing down a mountain was exhausting with such a feeble body, one that his cramping stomach reminded him, needed food and water.

"Let's see how the locals taste." He grumbled.

Setting the crystal to the side, out of sight and out of mind, he approached the lazy river. Clear, hopefully clean water gurgled by with small fish. There were others of a larger size, but he didn't pay them any mind. Nothing had any jutting fangs or spines so it was safe to assume they were mostly harmless. Still, he came to the conclusion he wouldn't know until he observed them, but that would only fill his thirst for knowledge and not for substance.

Keeping a careful eye on the fish he bent down and started lapping. The water was warm, hopefully not from an animal upstream, but it made his dry throat feel better. Every shake from of the ground from those giant beasts further up made him pause and check around him. They were herbivores he noted, which meant there was likely a predator that fed off of them.

He wiped his lips dry after he slated his thirst somewhat. It wouldn't do to fill up on water and grow sluggish. As patient as he was, he didn't have the luxury of setting a trap and waiting for food. There were still too many unknowns. He needed familiarity and food. Food came first.

He outright dismissed going after the one's with the long necks or whatever had found him when he awoke. Of course, it wouldn't be a terrible idea to sift through the remains up above to see if anything hadn't escaped the fire.

"I may as well prepare myself." He grumbled. The facts were that he was the size of a baby, human or otherwise, his claws were made for digging than cutting right now, and his teeth were sharp but too small to do any harm. That narrowed his prey down to whatever were crawling under the rocks and logs around the area.

Looking around he did spot a large stone. Padding over to it he hooked his fingers under an edge and lifted. It rose up, then fell as his already tired body couldn't manage the rest. Panting, frustrated, he felt tears threaten his vision as his juvenile body didn't help his emotions. Snorting at it he flipped another, smaller rock over. Nothing moved nor did it look like there had been anything to begin with.

Sighing, he continued the process and was mildly successful. Worms and beetles gave him the nutrition he would need. As disgusting as it was imagining the crunchy shells as the bones of his enemies helped them go down. The worms could just be intestines, but he never cared for eating an organ that was a literal poop chute.

"Now, how to get across this?"

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That was his first big problem of undoubtedly many to come. The group of fallen trees he had spotted were on the other side of the river. He knew that, even well rested, he wouldn't be able to fight the current and there was no telling how deep the water actually was. Plus, he hadn't thought to test if the crystal was buoyant or waterproof. It was Dwarven made afterall.

Thinking on it as he went to check on his stolen property he traced the riverbanks on each side. It looked like it was a consistent nineteen feet across with some trees poking out on the edges.

"Now there's an idea." He looked back at the towering beasts from before as they trudged through the water without worry. "Something that size is sure to have knocked something loose." They might even disturb the water enough to act as something to grab onto.

That last idea was too adventurous. Rolling the crystal out from where he had put it he resisted the urge to clean it and restore it to its shiny state. It was covered in mud and ash had fallen on it as well. Having something shiny was sure to feed that self-destructive addiction his species was known for but even malicious King's like himself needed something to comfort them.

Despite his body demanding rest he started the slow process of moving it again. Thankfully the ground was easier to navigate than before. The destination was easy enough to spot, but he did have to keep a better grip on his possession as the ground began to shake even more in regular intervals.

Those giant animals were easy anough to follow. They were a constant sight even if they were moving away. The damage they left behind was obvious. Large footprints stamped shapes in the mud and riverbank, tress had been toppled and strewn in the water, and unfortunately one or more had defecated. He didn't need to think twice about avoiding those particular spots.

Looking along the trees he was glad to see they did intersect in places. The water still moved over them, but it was certainly no white water rapids. Even better there was a spot where they had flattened the ground by where a tree had been uprooted. Pushing the crystal up onto a fallen tree and climbing up next he rolled it along, pushing it over onto another log when necessary and getting a mild panic attack when he nearly slipped twice. The whole situation made his blood boil. He was supposed to have just travelled back in time, give himself the medicine and he and his wife would be conquering the Dwarven kingdoms like before. Maybe their daughter would have joined them?

He snorted a puff of flame at the thought. She had grown distant from them, despite both their efforts. She just had no interest in war despite how easy she collected gold.

Now a tear did roll down his face as he dropped down to the other side of the river. She had been so proud to show him the small chest of gold and jewels she had stolen from his rival. It took him a year to discover his missing treasure, but by then his scent was long gone from it.

"We'll be together again," he sighed. "In time."

His magic was still growing, but the lack of mana around him was no help. There were ways to fix that, but he needed to grow first, which meant he needed to atleast wait until his current body was at full power. That could take a day, maybe two, which left him some time to gather food and supplies. Just as soon as he made his way to the trees he spotted earlier.

There were two of them that had fallen against a third. Holes spotted the 'roof' and both ends were wide open. Still, it was better than nothing, which was all he had. Rolling the crystal inside and up against the standing tree he wasted no time and got to work despite the fatigue he felt. He was a dragon, stubborn and prideful by nature, he pushed himself past the uncomfortable soreness he felt.

Sticks were gathered, stones as well, lines were dug at the rear and entrance and filled with stones. He used another to shave off ends of the stronger sticks after blackening the ends. Satisfied with his work he pointed them not outwards, but inwards, so they made a smaller tent over him. If anything tried to get him they would have to bend down and avoid the sharp ends while also minding the ceiling. They would then have to deal with a face-full of dragon's breath.

His crystal buried and under him, his temporary nest prepared as best he could, and starvation and dehydration beaten back for the moment he let let his tired body rest. Sleep came easy and the sound of the river was comforting despite the nocturnal animals coming out. Today was over and he completed all the tasks he made for himself. Tomorrow would carry its own problems, but that was tomorrow.