"Is that why you brought me here?" Kalinsk scoffed. "Your treasure hoard?"
"Of course," The stone scoffed back, her voice vibrating through his hand. "What good is a dragon without her hoard?"
"And you don't want your body back?" Kalinsk squinted. "Your claws, scales, fire breath? Your legs?"
"I have all I need." She replied. "Being a dragon isn't about all that, anyway. It's about sleeping in piles of gold and keeping stray knights out of your den." Her voice sank. "My gold is under another dragon's belly, and my den isn't even mine anymore. That's why I brought you here."
"Well..." Kalinsk straightened up, "I can certainly help you there then."
"You can get rid of him?" She perked up.
"One way or another," He smirked.
"Excellent!" The stone dragon rumbled in his palm. "I knew I made the right choice." Kalinsk couldn't help but grin as a purple tinged spiral grew magically in the air, widening into a person-tall portrait of their destination.
On first touch, he was blocked by a magical membrane that separated the two places, but with a little force, the barrier split and allowed him through - still clinging close to his scales as he passed.
And with that, he was in the dragon's den.
Darkness filled the cavernous space, illuminated only by purple glow of the portal and the residual light within it - but quickly, that source of light crumbled and vanished behind him. In response, Kalinsk readied his lantern - striking the candle inside with his homemade flint fire-starter - and as it slowly came to life, Kalinsk's eyes grew wide as plates.
Hoard didn't even begin to describe the mountains of gold that sat in the cavern, and as a large, blue-scaled dragon slept snugly in its embrace, Kalinsk gazed over the piles like a child at a sweet shop window.
"This is all yours?" He whispered, his mouth agape.
"All of it," the stone answered. "See anything you like?"
Yes I do, he thought.
Diamonds, rubies and emeralds sat nestled in the glittering sea among glorious marble statues, gleaming arms and armour, long forgotten tomes of times longer past, and relics of mystical nature the likes of which he had never seen before.
But one thing in particular caught his eye.
"Is that the Tyraux Arkanis?" He gasped.
The forbidden book of endless knowledge - the tome that wars had been fought and kings had been slain for - sat half-buried beneath the golden tide.
"Ah...!" The stone rumbled. "A good eye indeed..."
Kalinsk scoffed, "How did you-?"
A snort from the sleeping dragon quickly shut him up, and silence lingered as he watched it like a hawk.
"People melt much easier than that thing." She whispered. "But right now, you have a mission, mage."
"Right..." Kalinsk took a deep breath and focused back on his target.
He was a big beast, larger than most dragons Kalinsk had seen, and for these types of threat, there was only one good solution.
"Hello!" Kalinsk called. "Dragon?"
Slowly, the creature stirred, and as the stone rumbled in protest, a great big beady eye opened up and locked on to him.
"What?" The dragon bellowed, the cave walls rumbling as it stumbled awake. "Who dares intrude my lair?"
"Your lair?" The stone piped up. "That's my treasure pile you're sleeping on!"
"Your pile?" The dragon scoffed. "You're a stone! What good is this pile to you?"
"Never you mind that!" The stone hissed. "I claimed all this with my own claws and breath!"
"And now, so have I." He retorted.
The stone rumbled violently in Kalinsk's hand as the blue dragon nestled back into the pile.
"Mage." She said. "I want you to kill him."
"You what?" The blue dragon scoffed.
"My carrier is a mage!" The stone gloated. "And he can kill you with a single look!"
Kalisnk squinted, "Where did you-?"
"Oh can he now?" The dragon huffed. "I don't think he'll be too happy if he tries..."
"Ignore him!" The stone ordered. "Do it! Go on, do your thing!"
"I'm not going to just kill him!" Kalinsk recoiled.
"Well just get rid of him then!" The stone shook.
Kalinsk scoffed, and with a wave of his hand, the earthen walls extended out and met below the dragon's belly as a hole began to grow in the ceiling. The dragon took one look up and back down again, and with an upward flick of his wrist, the dragon was sent careening up the hole by the earthy platform that had formed below him, and the ceiling closed up again shortly after.
"Yes!" The stone cackled. "At last, my home is mine again!"
"It most certainly is," Kalinsk chuckled."So..." he hesitated, "about that reward..."
"Of course," the stone chuckled in delight. "Originally, I was going to offer you a pick of the less valuable parts of my hoard, but since you've shown such interest in it..." she paused. "How about a reading session with the book that killed two kings?"
His eyes grew wide as plates, and his heart skipped a beat.
"That would be nice," he grinned.
