116 Picking The Battlefield (2/2)
”I suppose I should intervene.” I muttered as I teleported from my lair to a place not far outside of the dragon's lair. I chose a place between the reptilefolk encampment and the dragon's lair, solidly in the middle of the two places, even as the dragon began to fly right in my direction. A natural tunnel that connected the two places.
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The shadow-scaled dragon was currently in mid-air. The gigantic beast lazily flapped its wings through its own utterly massive cavern lair. Its massive body slowly sailed towards one of the walls that separated its lair from the rest of the world below Puerto Rico.
The monster was a gigantic and terrifying beast, a nightmare given physical form. It was only lazily flying, but it still moved with terrifying speed and horrifying ease, through the confusion architecture of its treasure-filled lair.
The treasure that littered this cavern was piled dozens of meters high in some places and should have made flying in this place a challenge especially for the massive creature. It was not a challenge for the dragon who expertly maneuvered through his home.
The beast was making his way towards one of the walls that defined his home. Had any untrained eyes been locked on him, they would have noticed that he looked to be going towards a dead end. The dragon was not bothered by this fact, as it was the one who had made its home.
When the dragon had closed in on its targeted wall the monster opened its maw and unleashed a magically charged and guttural roar. The sound exploded out of the elephantine beast and collided with the wall. The wall stood firm for a moment, and then immediately began to collapse.
By the time the dragon would have hit it, there was no wall to obstruct him. Instead there was an opening into a natural tunnel that the sapient beast had once widened to fit its gigantic frame. It took the dragon next to no effort to fit itself into the tunnel, wings open and all, and to begin to fly towards its destination.
Stones and soil posed no risk to a black dragon. Such creatures were practically made from the stuff. Their magical blood and potent souls gave them eerie powers over even the greatest rocks and the most fertile or least fertile soil.
The dragon believed it was now free to fly carefreely until it reached its target: the reptilefolk encampment where it foolishly believed an easy meal would be waiting for it. Unbeknownst to the beast, it was on a collision course with destiny.
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When I entered the tunnel that connected the encampment and the dragon's lair I realized something. I found myself inside of a massive tunnel, one both wide enough and tall enough to house an entire city, one big enough to dwarf even Aronms or San Gerardo.
”So this is the dragon's power...” I muttered as I waited for the beast to appear off in the distance. The tunnel around me was amazing in its dimensions and haunting in its disuse. It was as if anything sentient that might once have lived here had long been scared off.
”This place... The dragon made this.” I mused, as I studied the dimensions of the tunnel. It was almost lifeless, hauntingly unused by any sort of natural life aside from small plants and fungi.
The cavern was tall enough that even my deific vision couldn't quite see the natural ceiling that existed above us. It was amusing to try and strain my vision so that I could see it, but also a childish distraction I occupied myself with just once before refocusing.
[Dragons are among the strongest mortal lifeforms in existence. And ancient dragons are the pinnacle of their kind. An ancient dragon could defeat armies on its own. Ancient dragons in this world are older than empires and many of them have singlehandedly brought entire kingdoms to their knees.] The system told me, excitement slyly sneaking into its not quite robotic voice.
A smile found its way onto my face as I listened to the system. It was right when the system finished speaking that I first heard it: the incredibly distant sound of wings flapping against the still air of the cavernous tunnel I found myself in. And a moment later, the beast came into view. The gigantic dragon.
For the first time in my life, I could see the black dragon that had once cowed the ancestors of the reptilefolk. It was the single largest living creature I had ever seen, and it was moving towards me at an impressive pace. But the dragon hadn't yet noticed me. It would soon though.
I lifted a single hand and chuckled as I began to manipulate the earth that surrounded me. Deep underground I was in my environment.