Chapter Sixteen: The Handsome Dragon

In the volcanic northlands there was a split in the black soil. It was a cave entrance, the size of ten coliseums. It was an entrance to a wide network of tunnels. These tunnels connected to deep underground cave systems all over the world. Navigating them is impossible for humans, elves, orcs or dwarves. But some wizards and fairies had survived to gather information to share.

The tunnels were extraordinary, they were dark, except for volcanic magma rivers. The rivers illuminated an undergrowth where mosses grew. A lot of running water flowed as well, rains from above. Mixed with glacier melt all over the planet. This allowed plants to grow as well, though the leaves were grey, or the plants had very carnivorous appetites.

Monsters of all kinds were found here. Prehistoric, or evolutionary cousins of species that lived on the surface, the animals often fitted into two categories, albino skin colour, or a colourful, glowing display, that were designed to lure prey.

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Down in a cave close to the centre of the earth lived a Dragon. He sat atop a pile of unimaginable gold artefacts. The pile of treasure was so vast that it spanned miles. Waterfalls of lava illuminated the rocky terrain. The gold made the cave glow yellow.

The dragon had been hunting monsters in the caves for a long time. Long ago, the dragon had swallowed entire kingdoms, claiming their shiny shiny.

It was HIS shiny shiny.

The dragon was massive, the caves were wide enough to easily fit the dragon and his hunting grounds.

It had been doing the same thing every day for a long time. Fly around the caves, do some exploring, get a meal and fly home to stare at his reflection in the mountain of gold.

“I’m so handsome,” said the dragon to himself.

He got bored and decided to go explore.

He flew away from his cave, to the outer surface. He smelled something shiny outside. He decided to seek it out.

The dragon flew out of the crack in the earth and appeared in the sky above the volcano.

He was beautiful. His wings stretched out and he flew into the sky. His size was impossibly huge.

“I’m so handsome,” the dragon thought to himself.