Dracopical Isles: Rise of the Underground

Chapter 18

Just as quickly as summer became fall, winter follows to bring in its blankets of crisp, white snow. The months seem to be passing by fast now that there's nothing to get in the way of things.
Soon, Emeraldus is happy to say that it's probably time to begin the brew. Rechecking the book to be sure, he nods in approval. Just about everything necessary had been collected. Now all that's left is to get some souls and something to transfer them with. Collecting souls shouldn't be too difficult if you have the right tool(s). Some will use magic gems, and others a bewitched item. Whatever you use has to have some type of absorbent quality to hold onto said souls in the first place. It is possible to make one of your own, but like many other spellcasting crafts, you need the right brew(s).
Setting aside the ingredients necessary for Midna's resurrection, Emeraldus then takes on another task. He doesn't own any gems that may be of proper size or density to hold onto the required number of souls, and the best ones are incredibly difficult to find. As for a tool.. nothing beyond the typical brewing equipment.. Supposedly the only thing he does have is the silver bookshelf. Silver can be used as a collecting tool, though it would be kinda awkward to be lugging around a piece of furniture outside. Perhaps he could melt some of it down to be molded into a handheld.?
"Slim," Emeraldus begins, calling the Alchemy over to him. "Here is what I have for your task, this evening. Remember that silver shelf you made? I want you to melt down a piece of it for me to make a tool for soul gathering. Can you do that?"
Immediately, Slim nods with rapid compliance. "Of course, Boss! Erm… how much of it..?"
"Enough to fill this," Emeraldus says, passing a small cauldron to the Alchemy. "That should be plenty."
He leaves Slim to the task as he goes out once again for scouting resources. Now he must find some souls to take. Consider it the biggest hunting mission the Sorcerant had ever taken - whether it be for prey or intellectual being.

As for Slim, the hardest part is moving the shelf to somewhere that he can melt it down safely without causing any unnecessary damage to other nearby furnishings. Unfortunately, pure silver is a lot heavier than it looks - Slim cannot even get it to tilt over without significant effort.
Perhaps if he's careful, he could think of some other genius strategy to get the melted silver in the cauldron? Maybe he doesn't have to melt it immediately - he could just soften up pieces of the shelf with intense heat and snap them off to put in the cauldron.
Using some wood and his firebreath, Slim commences to the plan, starting with the thinnest of the boards. With time, piece by piece is tossed into the cauldron. The assistance of some extra tools speed up the process, and within a couple of hours, every last middle shelf segment is removed.
Pausing for a break to catch his breath from all the fire spitting afterwards, Slim goes to take a seat next to Emeraldus' eggs in their own little hideaway. Instead of a fireplace, their father now uses a bed of molten rock and coal to keep the eggs warm. The heat also tends to last longer this way, so not as much rekindling is required.
Each gem is now very rich in their signature color - solid black, white, and silver embedded in the still sparkling health of a blueish shell. When asking Emeraldus if he had any idea why the gems are doing that, he only said he wasn't too concerned and to just let it be. Well, I suppose if Dad isn't worried about it… Otherwise, does he know exactly what's going on? The funny thing is, however, that he never says.
Slim ends up just staring at the three eggs for the next few minutes, a thousand thoughts rolling through his head. So much so, that he's completely taken by surprise when one of the eggs suddenly leaps out of its spot!
By instinct, Slim jumps backwards with a startled yelp as the one egg tosses itself straight out of the magma bed. As if it had instantly sprung to life, the egg proceeds to roll around and hop on the ground.
"Sweet mother of..!" Slim exclaims, forelimb to his heart and trying to catch his breath.
Then, it stops. The egg calms down with only a small kick to rock itself softly.
What was that? The nest too hot for this little one? Kinda odd though, as the shell should be able to keep the developing offspring safe and sound in such conditions. Is it.. thinking about hatching..?
Then why this one and not the others?
Slowly approaching to get a better look, Slim can see that it's the egg with the black gem that had hopped out of place. Another second later, and it begins to move again - rolling around in circles at its leisure until hitting a wall.
"Erm.. hello..?" Slim mutters, giving the egg a careful poke. It only resumes to its rocking for a moment or two before rolling off again, and into another wall.
"Can you hear in there, little guy..?" Slim gives it another poke, before it yet again decides to take off rolling in a random direction - but this time, farther down a nearby cavern tunnel. Uh oh.
"No no, come back!" Slim exclaims, tailing after it. The downward slope of the said tunnel allows it to pick up speed and Slim is forced to run to keep up.
Hop, hop, hop - the egg proceeds to skip along the cavern ground, and deeper into darkness. To Slim's misfortune, this particular tunnel hasn't been explored yet, so who knows where it may lead. This fact makes his heart skip a few beats. He must catch that egg fast before it goes too far!
A dragon's night vision is fairly decent, but even it can only pick up so much. Slim is able to keep track of the runaway egg for a good stretch of distance; though unfortunately it manages to keep its pace ahead.
Just when the darkness is about to swallow them both, a distant glow begins to show itself. It's a faint, green haze offering a peculiarly warm light. A minute later and the egg emerges from the tunnel and into another cavern. The rich smell of sulfur and burning ash waft in the air along with the brilliant light of a gaping pit. In the very center of this large room, said pit yawns with fumes rising into the air like ghosts and steam hissing from a linework of cracks, both in and outside of this enormous drop off. Heading straight for it, however, is the egg with nothing to stop it. A couple more heart pounding hops and a final kick off the ground sends the egg flying into the pit, only for trembling hands to grab it at the very last second! Slim with his tail wrapped around a jutting stalagmite, hangs just over the edge with the egg in his grasp.
"Great Ancestors..!" He exclaims again, beads of sweat rolling down his face. "That would've been really bad..!"
Opening his wings, Slim hovers back and out of the danger zone. Wiping the sweat off his brow, Slim takes another moment to catch his breath, and this time being adamant to keep the egg still.
"What is the matter with you?" Slim wheezes at the egg. "Your pops would tear me apart if I…" He stops. Looking around, he can finally take in the anatomy of this new place.
...Where are they? The cavern room is so huge, it's as if it could fit two or three human villages - perhaps even four. The ceiling is so high up, one can barely see the stalactites through a thick cloud of greenish fumes. Peering over the edge once again, the pit stretches for an incredible distance down into the Earth below with boiling hot lava to fill its bottom. Chemical gasses turn the heated rock into a shade of green seen from above and giving the enormous cavern room its stench. Was this once a volcanic vein?
Although pretty to look at, it's an incredibly dangerous place to be. Slim should probably head back before Emeraldus returns and begins to panic about him and the egg.

Meanwhile, out in the evening air of a chilly beach, Emeraldus soars. He had found at least a few spots for hunting souls on his search, but they're probably not gonna be enough to satisfy the brew. In that regard, he shall aim to cover as much ground as possible before heading back. A colorful sunset of orange, red, and purple paints the sky behind a few brush strokes of black clouds as a light snowfall is brought in with it. Along with the frigid Winter breeze, it scatters its white powder amongst the grass and dirt.
Stopping to give his wings a rest, Emeraldus comes to land upon a hill overlooking the stretch of beach below. A fine, outer layer of scales gives most dragons protection from the cold. Not only that, but contrary to common reptilian biology, many dragons are also warm blooded - body heat is easily trapped within said scales. And especially after a long flight, Emeraldus is definitely warmed up.
He hasn't been to this segment of beach yet before. It looks to be rather vacant, like it hasn't seen much company in years, if not any at all. The only traces of life are a thin line work of animal tracks and the stirring of sea creatures in the icy shallows, as far as Emeraldus can see; Though something more catches his attention. To the left, a bit of a distance down along the shoreline, is a risen mound of rocky earth, covered in snow like the icing on a cake. Above it all sits an old light tower, that too looks as if it hasn't been used in decades - yet it still exists, standing tall and proud. At first, this isn't all that interesting to Emeraldus, but later the eventual stirring of wingbeats brings him to look again. As the sun is just settling below the horizon, the faint shadow of a dragon takes off from the supposedly "empty" tower. Into the darkening sky it flies until it is only a speck amongst stars, Emeraldus watches curiously. What sort of breed was that - a night dragon species? Although it probably wouldn't be that much of a big deal to just anyone, something about this dragon peaks Emeraldus' interests. His senses could pick up on something peculiar as the beast flew off.
The old light tower is just as rundown and abandoned as Emeraldus had suspected when he comes to get a closer look. Its foundations are covered in cracks and erosion; Even the iron door looks to be completely jammed in place with years of rust gluing it to the threshold. One thing seems to linger, however… a scent.. an aura.. a few auras.. Someone's here.
They do not appear to be approaching where Emeraldus stands - his senses do not speak of danger. Though this aura and this scent seems familiar somehow… like he had met this species before… but not in years… it is definitely a dragon, though mixed with something somewhat… humanoid. To top it all off is the fine aroma of sour blood and bitter magic. Is this tower a nest?
Prowling as quietly as possible and keeping low, Emeraldus tries to find an entrance. Soon, he sees it, but not carved out of the tower itself. Just below the rocky drop off, a cavern lit with torchlight yawns. Unfortunately Emeraldus cannot get a very good look without dropping down from where he is above, but what his senses are noticing is definitely coming from inside. It is now like the strong waft of a baking oven. Voices… now approaching the entrance bring two long shadows into the torchlight. As soon as they're within eyeshot, Emeraldus can finally see what's teasing his senses; Black robes, pale skin, the scent of blood, and colorless hair.. it now comes clear - vampires!
Are they aware of Emeraldus being here? Seems almost a little too coincidental for them to come walking outside the moment he had arrived at their lair. As for the dragon, there's one breed known for its connection with vampires, but the memory is currently too hazy for Emeraldus to recall. The small pitter patter of wings breaks his thinking. Looking back, he can see that one of the vampires had gone, replaced with a decent-sized bat. It doesn't go far, only coming to land upside down on a stalactite a few yards away from where Emeraldus is hiding. Two, tiny red eyes gleam like fresh blood directly at him, sending a harsh chill up through his scales. It is now he gets the urge to flee, and fast. Without trying to be stealthy, Emeraldus turns tail to fly away and not with a moment to check if he's being followed. Did it notice him? Did it even care? He is uncertain if vampires have similar senses to those of dragons, but that was definitely a little too much for comfort.
Sharing territory with another dragon is one thing, but sharing it with another magical being known for its dark and haunting nature is something else. At the very least, they're not too close to Emeraldus' cave.
This sudden encounter was quite the experience, despite how quickly it ended. At first, one would think (or at least hope,) that no more of it is to come - yet only time will determine that. Especially given how much is new in this place compared to the former tower nest. Could there be something just around the corner waiting for Emeraldus to find it? It's almost as if fate has come with a special package to bring the results of such an astonishing outcome to all this determination - a marvelous victory, or perhaps a sickening defeat? Only time will tell.