Moving Mountains

14

.^^ Dominique ^^

— Josef —

Following the sound of the dragon's roar, I traveled deeper into the tunnels, before having to crouch, and sigh. "Evagil? Make all the Tunnels big enough for me to walk in, please? If that means a restructure, I'm more than happy to wait a moment."

'Hmm? Ah, Yes, you are too big for those tunnels. Hold on.'

The ground shook, the rock around me condensing, it seemed, in an effort to increase the size and stability of the tunnels, while also retaining their shape and not hitting the ones that crossed nearby while expanding.

I started walking again, as I heard more draconian roaring, and entered the main chamber of the mountain, a massive space that spanned nearly the entire width of the mountain, give or take 50 feet on either side. 900ft across, a wobbly circle...

And filled with chunks of crystal and gemstones, both cut and uncut, being lorded over by a large dragon, perhaps fifty feet long, (the same size as the Matron,) who was now staring at me, growling softly. Pure white, with the four-leg-two-wing combination that gave him the title 'Dragon', though his wings were tattered and frail.

"Oh! Hello, sorry to scare you, I wasn't aware there was someone down here! I am Josef, how do you do?" I smiled at the dragon, and waited for a response.

"I am François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, High-Dragon and Lord of this Mountain... who are you?" He sat up primly, almost seeming to Frown at me, though the scaled lips and harsh beak made it hard to tell.

"Ah... I am Lord Viscount Josef Von Eisenberg, and I have recently purchased and magically claimed this mountain, the surrounding forest, and the mountain to the north of this one. I am, in fact, the Lord of this Mountain." I chuckled.

He narrowed his eyes. "By what right does one purchase the land of another?" He asked, sounding offended.

"By What rights does someone who never purchased a property claim it as his own?" I fired back.

His lips curled back slowly. "I won this mountain from its previous inhabitants, the Dwarves, and I have allowed the Lesser Dragons to live in its tunnels."

"You mean you stole it and slaughtered those who didn't want to leave, or that you legally challenged the owner of the mountain to an honorable duel and defeated him?" I raised an eyebrow.

"It is not THEFT!!! I Claimed it!!! It's MINE!!!" He snarled.

"Sorry, 'fraid not, buckaroo. You should just surrender, my friend... you are entirely outmatched." I calmly informed him.

He snarled again, and stalked forward. "Surrender? I think not." He lunged, and I grinned, sliding under him and lassoing his mouth shut with the cable. When I was all the way behind him, I hauled on the rope, dragging his head towards me and between his legs, flipping him into his back.

When he attempted to stand, I settled a foot on his upside-down chin, then gripped the floor, so it was my strength against his, straight-up. After a few minutes of struggling and flailing about, he managed to lift his head up a few inches, but that only prompted me to growl, and slam his head back down with an extra push of my already maxed-out muscles, which I was sure would cause me some soreness in the morning.

A nearby crystal began ringing harshly, when his claws twitched, and the sound spread by virtue of resonance, until it was so loud that the ground around us was shaking, and my eardrums had popped.