Converging Destinies: Part 1

Chapter 160

       Cedric was meditating the moment first light began to touch the sky. Before sunrise, the rest of the group was awake. Ella was practicing with her blade, Eris was inspecting their daggers, and Ara' Sei was stretching her wings.

       Cedric magically provided the group with magical berries and filled all of their waterskins with his magic. Then, in about half an hour, they had made it to the edge of the dragon's grove.

       Cedric went to each group member besides himself, put his hands on their shoulders, and muttered an incantation. Each of them glowed briefly with emerald hued light, which then dimmed back down.

       Then, he transformed into an eagle and picked up Eris.

       Zerai placed his hands on Ara' Sei and Ella.

       "Can you fly there on your own?" Zerai asked.

       "Not as quickly as I could with your spell." Ara' Sei answered. With a quiet murmuring, the three grew spectral, angelic wings. They were nowhere near as majestic as Ara' Sei's but they were functional.

       Following Cedric, the group flew above the grove towards the center. After just barely under ten minutes, the whole group had arrived near the center of the grove. Here there were noticeably fewer bramble walls. However, the ground was covered in lush vegetation.

       After about two minutes of searching, Cedric found a massive bramble cluster that obscured something dark on the other side. A flame appeared above his hand and flew towards the bunch. About half of it was instantly burned away, revealing a cave entrance on the other side. With one more blast of his flames, Cedric had cleared the cave entrance. It was almost fifteen feet tall, and about twenty feet wide. It was clear the dragon would probably have had to squeeze to enter and exit.

       "Is everyone ready?" Cedric asked. Everyone nodded. Then, they descended into the cave.

       They didn't bother with stealth, after all, the dragon probably knew they were coming.

       The cave descended downwards. Here, the faint smell of the dragon's poison breath wasn't so faint anymore. The smell stung, and all of them could feel tears gathering in their eyes from the sting.

       Zerai and Ara' Sei fully illuminated the way. Soon, the light began to reflect off of something ahead. On the ground, scattered here and there, were glittering gold and platinum coins. The group glanced at each other and took it as a sign they were getting closer.

       After a bit more walking, they came across the main chamber. A skylight coated with vegetation covered the roof of the massive cavern, casting green light across it all. The cavern consisted of a stone outcropping around a deep pit within the rock. The outcropping and walls of the cavern were covered with overgrown ivy. The pit was filled with gold, treasures, and various other trinkets. Various other chambers were attached to the main one, which contained yet more chambers.

       However, at first glance, the dragon was nowhere to be seen.

       "Where could it be?" Zerai asked.

       "I'm not sure. Dragons do like treasure, so I don't think it would just leave it behind like this." Eris said.

       "How insightful." A deep, thunderous voice said. The entire group looked up towards the voice in panic, but they were all immediately shrouded in poisonous, green gas.