In the middle of the room, massive chains covered a large dragon from head to tail. Its mouth and head were wrapped multiple times and connected to collars and even a solid body brace. I could hear it breathing as its labored breaths echoed across the room.

Opening the door a little wider, I glanced around the room, thankful for the vision my goblin eyes had in the dimly lit hall, I saw there were no guards or dwarves in the room. I stood there a moment watching the beast as it took long, gasping breaths. I then noticed huge sections of the dragon were missing scales, and those sections appeared to have scab and crusted over.

The horns had been cut off the top of the brown dragon's head and it appeared that part of its mouth was sunken in. I had to guess they had ripped its teeth from its mouth.

Taking a deep breath, I figured the beast was not a fan of the dwarves as it looked like they were using it as a farming tool. Opening the door all the way I entered the room and slowly closed the door behind me. The dragon had yet to move or even open an eye.

With Light Drinker held out before me I slowly made my way around the side and watched as the cut-up and scabbed-over side of this dragon, which probably stood twenty feet high if not chained down struggled with each breath.

I noticed its feet and the fact that each of its talons had been clipped at the base. A few small short stubs were there. I was not sure if they were going to grow back.

"You poor thing," I whispered out loud as I watched it struggle.

"Going to just watch me, or are you going to take pity on me and end my life?"

Jumping back a few feet and the sword held out like a fool, I glanced toward the dragon's head and saw its eyelid was open and its yellow eye was staring me down.

"I smelled you from the stairs. I have not smelled a goblin in a very long time and not one with the power you possess. Come closer where I can look without having to strain."

Moving slowly to the side of the dragon's head, I saw his eye tracking me as I moved. I lowered my sword some and stood a few yards from the beast. I noticed he talked well even though his mouth was chained tight.

"I can talk," the dragon chuckled and then coughed. "The dwarves like to hear me scream in pain as they take what they want from me. You appear more like a thief than a conquering hero who has killed them all."

"I was put inside the city when my party exited the labyrinth."

The dragon's eyelids raised up, and I could see its eye dilate wide before it went tight as it focus on me.

"Goblins and orcs are in the labyrinth? How is that possible?"

I chuckled and stood straight as I rested my sword tip on the floor. I told him about our party and how we had snuck into the city and entered the labyrinth. I shared our success and then ended with the mid-bosses on the 55th floor.

When I started to talk about how we had escaped and got to the part of Dirk being injured I got choked up and needed a minute before I could finish the story of how I ended up in this room.

Wiping a few tears from my eye, I saw the dragon staring at me. I could see the confusion in his eyes.

"I'm Zolb, a champion, and the other goblin is my son, a champion as well."

The dragon gazed at me for a while. I was not sure why, but I could tell it was studying me for a while.

"Champion, I am Naydras. I have never dreamed of meeting a champion goblin in the three hundred-plus years of my life. Tell me, what is your plan for your tribe?"

I coughed and was befuddled on how to answer that statement. Right now, I just wanted to help Dirk. Nothing else mattered.

"I had planned on reclaiming the city and the labyrinth the humans had stole from the goblins thousands of years ago, but my foolish desire for power led me to enter the labyrinth. If he dies, I am not sure what I will do though I doubt any of it will be good."

I watched the dragon try and shake his head, only to be restricted by the chains that held him. Not knowing why, I walked over and gently ran my hands through the ridge above his snout. The dragon's snout scrunched up a little, but I heard a trill from his chest.

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"Zolb, you have shown me more kindness in the years I have been abused and harvested within mere minutes of meeting me. I thank you for the kindness."

I nodded and grinned.

"I could try to free you from these bonds if you would like," I offered. "My sword will cut through many things, I can see if it will on these chains."

"It would not be wise or helpful if you did. The chains are bound to me," Naydras explained. "The dwarves have spent decades binding them to my life. If I was free from them without the right spells being cast on the chains first, I would die a horrible death far worse than I have experienced."

"Decades? They have been torturing you for decades?"

Naydras tried to nod, but his chains held him fast.

"I was foolish and allowed myself to be tricked, my greed was too great. It is a long story but from what you have told me about your son, it does not appear he has much time left. Perhaps I can assist him with for a favor."

"Anything! Can you heal him or something else?"

Naydras laughed quietly for a moment.

"My ability to cast spells now has been taken away. I cannot even breathe fire due to the collar around my neck. No, what I propose is a trade. End my suffering and free me from these dwarves and their joy of hurting me. Strike down the ones who have done this while you escape the capital with your son. For that, I will help you heal your son."

"How will that work? Do you have knowledge you can share?"

"No, but I have a heart and know what one like mine would do for him," Naydras said as his eye dilated before me. "Free me and take my heart and share it with your son and the rest of your party. It will heal your son and give you all the strength you will need to escape this place. Promise me that you will do this and wreak havoc on the dwarves, and I will tell you where to travel to find my hoard. I doubt you would desire the gold or jewels there right now, but there are many items you might find useful."

Unconsciously I felt my left hand grip the handle of my sword. A dragon's heart! I had not yet considered killing the dragon, but what he spoke was true. Bob had told me a dragon's heart would be a powerful thing for us to eat. Knowing the dragon was over three hundred years old meant it was probably on par with May's heart in power.

Bending down, I took a knee and held my sword out with both hands.

"I swear on my life and the life of my two boys that I will bring as much destruction as I can to the kingdom of the dwarves as I can for the gift you have offered."

I heard the intake of breath through Naydras's snout as I finished.

"Two boys! They are both here and champions?!" he exclaimed. "I accept your pledge and will tell you how to find my hoard though it will be a few weeks' journey for you once you escape."

Rising I nodded and reached out and scratched the snout once more with a little extra zeal. The trill from Naydras made me chuckle, and I knew I saw a smile on his lips.

"Listen closely, Zolb, champion of the goblins. Remember the directions I give to find my hoard, and then do what you must."

Naydras shared with me the route to find his lair high up in the mountains to the northeast. After he had finished, he turned his head as much as possible.

"End this life and save your sons and the goblins. If you encounter another dragon, share the word I told you, and they will parlay with you and not attack. I shared that with you as a reward for your honor. You could have easily come in here and struck me down with no regard for my life. Instead, you showed me kindness and compassion, things I have not seen from any race, especially a goblin. For that, you will earn honor for this deed."

"Thank you, Naydras," I whispered as I ran my hand along his snout. "I will never forget you and find some way to make sure the goblin race never forgets the day you gave your life for our cause and for my son."

With those words spoken, I climbed on top of his body, doing my best to cause as little pain as possible because I knew he had suffered enough. Lining up the sword, here the back of his skull would be, I knew it was the best spot to drive into his brain and end Naydras's misery for good.

"Be safe in the next life," I whispered as I drove Light Drinker through a scale I had gently wedged it between and into his brain. I felt his body shudder for a second before the last of the air in his lungs escaped through his nose.

As much as I wanted to stand there and honor his gift, I knew time was of the essence. Jumping off his body onto the floor, I turned my sword to a new task. Retrieving his heart and saving my son.

I tried not to think about the size of this heart I was carrying as I ran up the stairs. Light Drinker was smacking me in the backside as I took these stairs two at a time. Naydras’s heart was bigger than the entire top half of my body. It easily weighed one hundred pounds. Though its weight was nothing for me, I was still lost in my gratitude for what the dragon had offered.

All I could think about was if Dirk was still ok. He had to be ok. The gods could not be this heartless to bring us here and have him die so close to being revived. If that happened and I ever met Bob again, things would not go well for him at all.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I pushed open the door and started running down the hallway to the other end, where I knew Dirk, Turk, and Vreek were waiting. They had to be waiting for my return.

As I approached the door, I heard loud noises and what sounded like shouting coming from the other room. Noise that sounded like a battle.

My heart almost gave out as I reached the door and pulled it open, and gazed at the scene before me.