Imperial

Chapter 14

More and more gemstones lined the tunnel, lighting it up. But the main cavern that was supposedly ahead of us remained out of sight no matter how far we walked. "How far is the main cavern?" I finally asked, impatient to see what the giant blue drake had called more beautiful than the tunnel flecked with glowing gemstones.

But Kronx did not answer, instead advancing silently down the tunnel. Each of his strides were long, but he was walking slow enough for us to keep up with him. Head held high, the dark blue drake looked completely calm and confident, perhaps pleased to be back home.

And suddenly, he halted.

"Listen," the dark blue dragon rumbled, tilting his massive head ever so slightly.

"What is it?" Rutilus jumped back in alarm, scanning the tunnel in front of us nervously. When he found nothing, he glanced towards me, his molten gold eyes wide with anxiety. "Is someone waiting to attack us? Are humans-"

But Kronx cut him off, more amused than he was alarmed. "Listen," he stressed, before reassuring the bright red drake. "No intruders. Just listen." Patiently, he waited, his silver eyes watching us intently as we listened.

Now that no one was talking, I realised that I could hear something. Something trickling down the cave somewhere ahead. Listening intently, I turned towards the dark blue dragon in disbelief. "Water! I can hear it... but why is there water in a cave?"

"There are underground rivers and lakes in lots of caves," Kronx shrugged casually, still watching us as he led the way to the main cavern. With each step, the trickling water grew louder and louder, until the giant dragon halted once more. "Here we are."

The cavern was not directly in front of us. I turned towards him in confusion, only to find the dark blue dragon looking at some place beside me. Confused, I whipped my head around and stared.

How had I missed that?

There was a massive hole in the rock wall beside me.

And beyond it...

On the other side of me, Rutilus gasped in awe. Hesitantly, he stumbled towards the main cavern, transfixed. I was dimly aware of Kronx chuckling in amusement, his laughter sounding like deep rumbles of laughter. But I did not care about whether he found our reactions funny at that point of time.

It was so big, so beautiful. Big enough that it could easily fit five dragons that were Kronx's size, and still have room. And it was so beautiful, so much more beautiful than I had ever seen in my life. The dark blue dragon had been right when he said that the tunnels did not compare to this. Dark, yes, it was still pretty dark, and the walls were still made of soil and rock, but...

Millions of tiny blue gemstones glittered across the cavern's walls. All of them were glowing faintly, illuminating the cave with a soft, blue light. In a beautiful blue light. There was a small cliff between us and the cavern's ground, which consisted mostly of bright blue water. What  was not covered by the water consisted of smooth, dark grey stone that shone brilliantly in the faint blue light.

"Look closer," the dark blue drake grunted beside me, gesturing back towards the smooth rocks that made up no more than a third of the cavern. And I did. Narrowing my eyes, I examined the rocks only to blink in shock. The rocks were lined with streaks of silver, with the delicacy of a spider web.

"Wow," Rutilus murmured in awe, his molten gold eyes examining every inch of the cavern. "Surely it gets cold in Winter?"

"That is what this is for," Kronx sprang from the tunnel and down into the cavern, easily landing on the smooth, dark rock opposite me. As I watched, he raised his head towards what looked like a whole in the wall. Suddenly, a silvery light filled the cavern, and the giant blue dragon moved his head to reveal a flickering silver flame dancing in the only hole in the whole cavern. Almost instantly, the cave grew warmer and I relaxed. The cave was prettier without the silver flame, but it was so much warmer!

Beside me, Rutilus surged forwards, and flared his gold-flecked wings, gently gliding onto the smooth, dark rock, beside Kronx. Hesitantly, I followed after him, circling around the cavern as I did so.

"Land in the water," Kronx's silver eyes were fixed on me. It was not an order, but more of a suggestion. Nonetheless, I stared at him in shock.

"You said that water would extinguish fire, though!" I protested.

But the dark blue dragon did not answer immediately, instead stepping into the water. Carefully, he lay down into the water, but still keeping his head high above the water. "Only if you drink it," Kronx's intense gaze held mine, watching me.

Hesitantly, I dived low enough that I skimmed across the surface of the water. Warm, it was also warm. Hot, even. Ah yes, resting in the water would be good, so very good. Snapping my jaws shut, I lowered myself into the water. Not wanting to risk slowing down my slowly returning fire, I kept my head above the surface.

"This, this is good," I sighed in contentment, dimly aware of Rutilus's gold eyes brightening with curiosity as he approached the water.

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1587 words

Sorry it took a while! Hope you enjoyed! :)