Buddy stopped at the entrance, watching Kevin with the same curiosity as earlier.

After a long time, Kevin made a decision, and dreaded it: He walked forwards, into the cave. Thankfully, it wasn't dark, but there were so many corners in just the entrance that anything could be hidden behind them.

The cave was quite damp, though it was a different consistency than the forest, feeling lighter against his skin. There was only one way forward, a single path that led straight ahead. Kevin turned around, finding that Buddy had disappeared. Of course it disappeared. Was it ever even there?

Shaking off those thoughts, Kevin moved again.

The path was long, but straight, leading to a large chamber that was identical to the previous, though something felt different to Kevin. Again, he followed the straight path for several minutes, leading to another chamber that was, again, the same but with a different vibe.

In the next chamber, Kevin finally figured out what was changing. In the first one, his hand could easily reach the roof, if he tried. In this chamber, his hand was out of range. The rooms were getting bigger.

For the hundredth time, Kevin looked back. He was sure he heard something. Was he? He continued forward, avoiding the questions that assaulted him. Why was he even here? Couldn't he just leave?

He knew the answer to the last one. No, he could not. Either he reached the end, or he found something that stopped him. Since neither had happened, he continued.

He must have walked for an hour since he last questioned his decision. The chambers were now so large that only giants could live in them. In fact, these should have been impossible to form as they were definitely larger than the very mountain he was in.

Something blew against his skin. He looked around quickly before throwing himself to the side, running for a corner that was shielded against the way forward. Moments later, he heard the rushing of wind, feeling the warmth of a burning fire against his skin. It left after a few seconds. Kevin stayed where he was, bracing himself for another of whatever that was. It didn't repeat, so he left his spot.

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One last time, Kevin looked to the exit. "Might as well," he said, quickly moving deeper.

In the next chamber, he felt the very air being sucked into the next passage, so he dashed for cover, recovering as the bright fire burst into the room, heading into the next. Kevin scanned this chamber, seeing corpses and skeletons piled in a different nook than the one he found himself in. The rooms were now so big that Kevin felt like an ant, the distance between entrance and exit now on the scale of a village. He also figured out that the bursts of fire came roughly every quarter of an hour.

He chose the furthest nook that didn't contain any corpses, waited until the fire came and went, and then rushed to the next room. He ran, and ran, and ran, laughing as he did so, his voice echoing off the walls. Right in that very moment, he wouldn't mind if the fire burnt him to ashes, if he could be this free.

Then, he saw what was at the end of the next chamber: A giant creature, with crimson scales larger than a house, horns larger than mountains, its body stretching farther than Kevin's eyes could see.

The very air pulled into the dragon's snout, moving with such force that Kevin was pulled along, causing him to stumble a little. Its eyes snapped open, bearing incredible weight on Kevin. Somehow, he found himself standing.

It didn't speak, so much as the words flowed into Kevin's head. A human? it said, these two words forming an immediate headache in Kevin's head.

Kevin nodded, placing a hand on his head. Too long. Kevin found the pain becoming stronger.

"Is there-" He flinched, feeling an immediate spike in pain at speaking. "Is there a less painful way for you to speak?" he asked, the dragon placing its full attention on Kevin. He almost fell to his knees, but put a foot forward to keep himself standing.

An image formed from the very air, turning into an old, motherly figure that was encased in an armour of scales. "Yes," she replied, her voice even older than her appearance. She held up a finger, silencing Kevin. "Before you ask anything," she said, her voice slow, "How did you get to this chamber?"

Kevin, confused, told her, "I walked here. If you wanted privacy, I could just-"

"No!" she shot, moving forward impossibly quick, though she didn't go very far, struggling against a barrier. "Please, don't leave me in this state!" She seemed scared, her slit eyes trembling. She stopped, backing away quickly, smoothing her armour. "I mean, you have reached my Lair. Now, there is only one thing I can give to the most adventurous human I have ever seen! I mean, sneaking in here must have been tough, especially with how many guards there must have been around the area."

"Guards?" Kevin asked.

"Oh no," breathed the dragon, looking behind Kevin. He turned around, spotting... nothing. "Quick, hide!"

Kevin moved quickly, picking a nook that was both hidden from anyone entering, and anything from seeing him, waiting. The dragon, the big dragon body, breathed out, a massive plume of fire enveloping every surface in the room before leaving for the next, where it would decrease exponentially for every room. Somehow, Kevin was fine.

A swarm of creatures entered the room, appearing from the flames as though they didn't just walk through them, and walked up to the dragon, who had abandoned the human-like image.