Fireball

The Ruby Stone

"That would be great Dronin." Fireball said as he set the trunk back on the floor. "Maybe you will have better luck."

Dronin inhaled, pausing briefly. Then as he exhaled, he sprayed out several gallons of a scalding hot liquid directly onto the box. The force lifted the box and sent it spiralling backwards, where it crashed into a stone wall. The pair raced over to investigate, but the box was unscathed. Nothing, it seemed, could penetrate the outside seal of the box.

Just as the two were about to give up, a strange thing happened. The box started to glow. It was faint at first, but then grew stronger. The light intensified to almost a blinding glow. Then the box just disappeared. All that remained was a large, shiny, ruby red stone.

Fireball reached down to pick up the stone, but as he did, he realized the box had not disappeared as he had first thought. The box had turned invisible, as if just to reveal its contents. The ruby stone now began to glow. Then as fast as it disappeared, the box was solid again, hiding its contents behind its securely locked golden walls.

Fireball looked at Dronin. He did not understand why a box, so secure, revealed its contents to him. All he could think was that maybe the stone was important and maybe he was the dragon meant to hold and protect it. That must be it, he thought. Why else would it reveal its contents to him?

Dronin was not so convinced. The dragons had never removed anything from any of the caves. They wanted others after them to discover the same treasures. He did admit it was a very unusual box and that it seemed to have intentionally revealed its contents to Fireball. That was as close to an endorsement as Fireball needed. The truth was, he had already decided the little chest and the ruby inside, needed go home with him.

As they left the room, Fireball and Dronin heard a noise. They both spun around quickly, but saw nothing. Though they saw no one, they had an eerie feeling that they were being watched.

"I think we need to go now." Fireball said nervously. "I'm not sure about you, but I have had enough excitement for today."