A massive roar tore through the cavern, reverberating off the walls in a deafening manner. Pebbles clattered to the ground and dust drifted from above, shaken loose by the sheer force of the noise. The sound was so loud that I felt it rattle deep in my bones, and I had to steady myself to keep from falling over and crushing the sprites.

“On second thought, I actually don’t want to do this anymore,” Finn said, turning back toward the hallway we’d just come from. He gasped, and I glanced behind me to see that the door leading out had been replaced by a solid stone wall.

“Oh shoot.” I gripped my sword more tightly. Maybe I hadn’t thought this whole thing through.

“What’s going on?” Finn demanded.

“It looks like we accidentally triggered a fight,” I muttered, silently berating myself for being so impulsive. “The exits seal themselves off whenever there’s a monster to deal with. I forgot about that part.”

“You… forgot!? That seems like it would be a rather important thing to remember!” His voice was on the verge of hysteria.

“I know that,” I snapped. “From the bottom of my heart… my bad. But I think we can deal with this.” I plastered on a look of feigned confidence. “We’ve faced monsters before, right? We’ve got this!”

“Of course, we’ve never faced a dragon before,” Reed remarked quietly.

Rock and Ivy exchanged glances, but neither of them spoke.

Finn sighed, sounding more defeated than anything else as the tremors intensified. In mere seconds, the cave plunged into such violent shaking that I worried it might collapse on us. We all staggered, struggling to maintain our balance.

Something large emerged from the opposite side of the cavern. It was the dragon I had encountered on my last cave expedition. Its long, serpentine face had two yellow eyes that locked onto me. It moved like a snake, slithering over the rocky ground while its clawed feet sent shockwaves through the earth with every step. In an instant, all the sprites transformed into their animal forms, and I raised my sword to confront the beast.

“Miller,” the dragon hissed, its voice like rushing waters.

I shot a sidelong glance at the sprites. “Dragons can talk in this world?”

“They can’t in yours?” Finn asked.

“There aren’t dragons in my world,” I answered, and my voice cracked a bit.

I heard Finn sigh again, which was almost comical in his huge crocodile form. I turned back to the dragon and nodded. “That’s me,” I said, trying to sound braver than I felt on the inside. “I’m Matt Miller. Do you have a name?”

Unexpectedly, the dragon lowered its head, as if in respect. “How rude of me. I didn’t introduce myself. My name is Tyrannox the Bloodspiller, Maker of Widows and Slayer of Kings.” The dragon’s eyes bore into mine, their color like two burning coals.

I glanced back at the other sprites, who all wore various expressions of confusion on their animal faces.

“My friends, however, call me Tyr,” the dragon continued. “It’s not a fight I seek, though if that’s what you and your friends want, I will certainly oblige.”

I lowered my sword and narrowed my eyes at the dragon. “What is it you want, then?”

“To leave this cave.” The dragon straightened, its piercing eyes meeting mine once more. As if to emphasize his frustration, he slammed his tail against the floor, which made the walls quiver again. “I have been trapped in here for a very long time. For the most part, I’ve been in a deep slumber, but when you and your companions reached this level, I was awakened.”

“You can’t just leave on your own?” I asked, though I was certainly glad the dragon hadn’t done so.

He shook his head. “The staircases are too narrow, and I suspect the cave opening isn’t large enough for me to pass through.”

I stared up at the dragon. It was certainly too big to fit through the cave’s entrance. There were some staircases that even I had to hunch over to get through.

I blinked in surprise as a quest prompt flashed in front of me.

New Quest

You have a dragon problem. Help Tyrannox escape the cave by any means necessary.

Swallowing, I mentally accepted the quest. I wasn’t sure how I would help Tyr escape, or if it could even be done. Also, the phrase ‘by any means necessary’ was unsettling. I turned back to survey the door we’d just come through, as it had reappeared now that a fight had apparently been avoided. “Have you asked the Cave Spirit for help?” I asked after a moment. “He can manipulate stone.”

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The dragon narrowed his eyes. “The Spirit and I are… not on good terms. He wishes to keep me here like some kind of pet, never to see the light of day again.”

I drew my lips into a tight line, suddenly feeling wary. If the Cave Spirit dislikes this creature, then he must have a good reason. “Why doesn’t the Cave Spirit want you to escape?” I asked.

The dragon shrugged. “All nature spirits wish to control their domains. The Forest Spirit has ownership of the insects and animals in her woodlands. The River Spirit controls the fishes in her flowing waters. Even Corruption dominates anything he can snare with his tentacles. I am trapped under these rocks like a precious gemstone, and the Cave Spirit—that miser—doesn’t wish to let me go.”

“I suppose that makes sense.” I glanced around at the piles of treasure interspersed by piles of dry bones. “Let’s say I do help you to escape. How do I know you’re not going to eat all the people who live above?”

Tyr seemed horrified. “Eat them? I’m a vegetarian. Have been for centuries.”

Finn had shifted back into his sprite form, and he kicked a dry pile of bones that resembled a ribcage. It crumbled into dust upon being touched. “Really? Where’d all these bones come from then?”

Tyr shrugged again. “They might’ve belonged to adventurers before my time in this cave.” His yellow eyes brightened. “Maybe they were after this. I found it on this level when I was first imprisoned. I’ll give it to you if you help me get free of this cave.”

The dragon extended his clawed hand, the talons as large as my sprite companions. This revealed a softly glowing crystal in the center of his scaly palm, the cylindrical gem emitting a cool light.

I focused on the stone, and my magical identification perk caused the item’s name and description to shimmer into existence just above the object. I gasped when I read the words.

“A life crystal?”

The dragon nodded as the crystal’s light swirled hypnotically, resembling a swarm of fireflies. “That’s right,” he rumbled. “A potent magical ingredient… or a token capable of bringing the dead back to life. Of all the treasures I’ve collected in my long years, this is among the most precious.” Its glow gracefully danced on the cave’s walls, briefly illuminating the space before Tyr retracted his claw. My heart thumped wildly in my chest. A life crystal was the final component I needed to be transported back home. It had been on the farm all along.

“I’d be willing to help you find a way out of the cave,” I said. “Although… it may take some time.” My thoughts drifted to my pickaxe. I could clear a few boulders in a single day, but widening each entrance would be a monumental task. Plus, I was in the midst of a harvest and replant cycle, so it would be difficult to make time to devote to the cave.

“That’s wonderful,” Tyr replied, a joyful plume of smoke rising from his nostrils. “Of course, I would expect nothing less from the progeny of Bartholomew Miller.”

I started. “You knew my grandfather?”

“Who do you think gave him that ring you now wear on your finger?” Tyr smiled, and rows of gleaming teeth sparkled in the light of my lantern. “He, too, helped me long ago, and I rewarded him handsomely for his efforts.”

Finn pulled me aside, and I leaned down so he could whisper in my ear. “Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked. “I’m all for doing good deeds, but a helping dragon? We sprites have legends about dragons, and none of them are good. They’re known, above all things, to be tricksters.”

Ivy and Rock nodded at my side, and Reed appeared uncertain.

I shrugged. “I’d rather help him than fight him,” I whispered back.

Finn chewed his lower lip. “As would I. But if Woods were here, I know he’d caution you against acting too hastily. There may be… unintended consequences down the road.”

I thought about this for a moment before responding. He was right, Woods would probably disapprove of this whole thing. But that life crystal was an essential component to my transportation spell—the only thing I needed to get back to my world. And seeing Tyrannox up close made me realize that our chances of defeating the beast in combat were next to impossible. There wasn’t any other option in this scenario. Plus, I thought to myself, having already made up my mind. Tyr seems genuine enough… for a giant fire breathing lizard, that is.

I straightened and turned back toward the dragon. “You have yourself a deal,” I said, putting away my sword. “You give me that life crystal, and I’ll find a way to get you out of here.” I’ll probably want to keep the Cave Spirit in the dark on this one, just in case, I added silently. Seeing that he’s the one who put him here in the first place.

“Splendid.” Tyrannox grinned, and again I was struck by how many teeth he had—as well as their size. “You truly are cut from the same cloth as your grandfather.”

***

We bid the dragon farewell and made our way back up to the entrance level. The sprites seemed subdued, but nobody voiced their disagreement with my decision. As we stepped into the velvety night, the stars winked from across the black expanse of sky. The moon was present as well, although it had certainly moved, signaling that time had passed, and it would be replaced by the sun before too long.

“I appreciate you all including me, but next time, just let me sleep,” Finn said, waving to us as he returned to the forest, yawning. The rest of us made our way back to the farmhouse. We quietly stepped through the door and took off our boots, trying not to disturb the still sleeping sprites within. We all settled in, and soon I heard the familiar snoring from both Rock and Reed.

My trip into the cave had certainly taken my mind off the things that had kept me awake before, but now I had a whole new worry to occupy my racing thoughts.

There was a life crystal on my farm this whole time. If I could find a way to free the dragon, I would get my hands on the last reagent needed for the spell to send me back home. And Melvin was already here, in Sagewood! If I wanted to, I could drop everything and focus on the quest to release Tyr from the cave and be back on Earth within a few days.

But was that what I really wanted?

I felt torn, as if divided within myself. One part of me saw returning home as a clear choice—opportunities to world hop didn’t present themselves every day. There were a lot of reasons to leave. This world was dangerous, and there were people in high places who wanted me evicted or dead. But then… there were also reasons for me to stay. This farmhouse had become more than a home than my dingy apartment ever had, and despite losing the love of my life, I’d made plenty of friends—many of whom had become as close as family.

I blew out an exasperated breath. It seemed that I was always grappling with the same question: should I stay or should I go? That song by The Clash started playing unbidden in my mind, and a small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. No matter where in the universe I ended up, it seemed my memories and my past would always stay with me. But what about my future? Where was I supposed to be? I wished, and not for the first time, that Grandpa Bart was still alive to share some of his wisdom. He would be able to tell me which choice I should make.

Sighing softly, I rolled over and screwed my eyelids shut. I wasn’t going to come to a decision in the wee hours of the morning, that was for sure. Right now, I needed to get whatever sleep I could so I’d have energy when the sun came up.

Luckily, by this point, I was plenty tired, so sleep found me quickly. When it did, it brought dreams of yellow eyes in the darkness and the heat of dragon’s fire.