"How much farther until we see the light," Josh asked.
Shivam and the gang had been trudging through the narrow tunnel for what seemed to be days. Took, ever brave and obedient, trotted ahead of everyone, throwing an insignificant jet of fire from his mouth which only intensified the dark. Behind Took walked Josh, and he was followed by Shivam, who held his shoulder with his right hand. Behind Shivam walked his secret lover, Tiyasha, followed by the ambitious Arthur, who, of course, didn't hold Tiyasha's shoulder with his right hand.
The smell of freshly dug soil was a constant companion, along with claustrophic darkness and ravenous hunger. Everyone's moral was down, Josh being only a kid was just the first one to voice so.
"Can't be much farther. The tunnel seems a bit brighter," Arthur said. His barritone seemed to echo through the darkness.
"I do hope the opening's near. I wouldn't be able to keep up much longer," Tiyasha said. With her left hand she held one muddy side of the tunnel, for support. Her head was spinning, and she felt like retching. Naturally, she was the one most tired: she was the one who actually dug the tunnel, accompanied, sometimes by Shivam and sometimes by Arthur. Once the tunnel was ready, she and Shivam had had to walk back the entire length, for fetching Josh. Of course, they couldn't have put Josh through the strain of walking through a tunnel that wasn't ready.
"Why are you so quiet, big brother?" Josh asked.
"We've been climbing slowly for a while now," Shivam said. "We're here. Any moment now." He was tensed. His brain couldn't get around the facts that he was now in a magic world, walking through a tunnel, below an enchanted forest, going to meet a dragon, which was supposed to be ferocious. What would he say when he met this dragon of lore? Howdy?
"Light!" Josh jumped, higher than necessary, and his head bumped into the upper wall of the tunnel.
Took stopped throwing his jet of flames. He sighed, clearly relieved. Indeed, the opening of the tunnel was ahead and above.
And so they climbed, rose from the dark, into an overcast afternoon. The black lake streched out like a sky without stars.
Everyone looked around, awed. They were in a clearing, surrounded by a very dense forest. But not even a bird called. There was no wind, and the trees seemed to be dead still.
"Now what?" Shivam asked.
"Any moment now," Took said, and hid behind Josh.
The ground shook, ripples were seen on the surface of the lake. And the dragon rose, its luminous green scales blocking the black lake from everyone's view, its lantern eyes burning with magic fire. A strange, ancient, hollow and echoing roar emerged from its reptilian mouth, and the roar reminded Shivam of horses and elephants, while Arthur thought of clashing swords and shields. Tiyasha and Josh weren't thinking much, their minds numbed by the sheer size of the creature in front of them. Took, for some reason, was trembling.
"Welcome, young man," the dragon said, looking directly at Shivam. "I have been waiting for you."
Everyone stared at Shivam. He looked in the dragon's eyes, but couldn't maintain eye contact much long. "Why?" He whispered.
"You are the People's Hope, of course. The only hope..." the dragon spoke, and the quality of its voice changed somewhat. Now it was like sand and small stones rumbling through large pipes.
"I don't understand. I'm here for my beloved..."
"And by coming here, you have confirmed your Fate, young man. You speak of Love...a big thing, an elusive thing. No one knows what it is, not you, not even me. I see darkness, envy, and in Heart, you cannot hope to find Love if you are selfish. Self-desirious," the dragon's voice rose.
"I am not selfish, nor am I envious of anyone. I just want you to help me find Aparajita..."
"Young man, you were forever destined to put an end to Blikrot. You must fight him, and you don't have much time. Be very, very careful what you wish for. And this goes for all of you..." the dragon slowly turned its head and glared at everyone. "Every human who has come to me gets to ask for a wish-fulfillment. If your wish is fair, it shall be granted. If not, you shall be killed."
Arthur stepped forward. "Is that what you told Blikrot? You basically made him invincible, right? Yeah. I know that. The rules say that you have to grant a man's wish if he manages to come here, alive. Well, we are here. We should get our wishes now," he said.
The dragon was quitened by this unexpected aggression. Then it spoke again: "And what is it that you ask for, human?"
"I want to be immortal," Arthur said.