FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The night was as still as the crisp chill in the air; Not a sound nor a peep disturbed the silence. The tall, rocky mountain stood sentinel over the deep valley before its mighty, imposing base, like a silent guardian, ever present in its immensity. The moon in the sky cast its shadow long over the valley like a blanket of darkness to envelop the deep woods and fertile plains that had remained untouched by the interference of civilization. Far below, its twin reflected off the glassy surface of the lake, shimmering softly with the ripples of the water.

It was always quiet in this part of the country, especially at night time. Everything the shadow of the flat topped peak touched lived and hid in silence, lest their noise brought the granite and slate monolith's sole resident and protector in all his fury. It had been by far the craftiest and most cunning beast the female had ever tracked down, but the advanced payment alone had made all of her struggles to get to this point worth it. Well, that and the promise of all the treasure within, naturally.

She had spent the entirety of the summer season alone just getting the first whispers and leads on this particular beast's whereabouts. From the hot and dry Arabia's all the way across to the thick forests of Europe, she had traveled where the clues had let, slowly closing the net on her prey's domain. She had stayed as subtle and transparent as possible when asking questions, never staying in one place for more than two nights before disappearing into the night to track her next lead down. She had harried him every step of the way, and now, she could all but smell the beast, standing at the foot of his lair, and her ultimate goal.

"A dragon's weight in rewards." That was what she had been promised, and all she had to do was follow her employer's request and return with one item in particular; Anything else she could carry would be her 'bonus'. It was a small thing, judging by the crude drawing she had been given, a trinket of sorts, that her employer in Asia "Very much desires to possess." A small, golden octagonal pendant, suspended upon a plain piece of woven rope. They certainly had paid her handsomely along with the drawing. Some one thousand gold pieces upfront, to help her achieve her goal.

The payment had been far too good to turn down, especially without a time frame on the job to force her to go quickly. She'd spent a full hundred alone on the first night after walking from her employer's home, going to the local brothel and treating herself to the most expensive liquors and the most expensive whores she could get her paws on; The Bonehound had some expensive tastes, and an aggressive streak to go with her drunken pleasure. The day after, she had blown all but a hundred she left in reserve on new leather armour, and an intricate silver dagger the smith assured here would cut through even the toughest hide. The change after those purchases had paid off her travel arrangements and the remaining supplies she needed for her journey.

Her employer had assured her she had all of the qualities they were looking for in their operative; Young, healthy, stealthy and discreet about her business. She was perfect for the job, they had assured her, and was a perfect candidate. Orientals had a strange way of phrasing things, she had concluded. It wouldn't be a challenge she had told them. She was the best, after all. On that, they had both agreed.

She was lithe, standing at a modest five foot, four inches. Her species seldom grew much taller than that anyway, but her figure was still cutting, almost beautiful, if one could manage to get past the thieves tools, armour, and dagger that adorned her curvaceous figure. Most whom managed the feat soon found most if not all of their belongings of any value to be missing afterwards.

Her fur was an interesting mixture of light reds, white and stark black in contrasting roundell patterns across her body. Protective, protruding rib-like bones grew around her lower chest, thighs and wrists, as if to protect the life giving organs and arteries just below her fur. To top it all off, a pair of rear-curving horns grew from her skull, a feature that had earned her as many dismissing looks as it did curious ones in public; Seldom men from other species considered a healthy set of horns on a female attractive, let alone on a canine species.

She was in the best shape of her life as she was in her current line of work; Athletic and acrobatic, she could chase down the quickest of them while leaping obstacles the entire way, and barely break a sweat doing it. She was more than just well versed in swordplay, and an expert archer to boot. All that combined made the dragon the least of her concerns; She had slain more than one of his kind before, both feral and anthropomorphic in nature. The trick to it was simply avoiding being scorched to a crisp and being quicker than their claws were.

She had already spotted the telltale signs of her prey's presence; Claw and scorch marks in the stone, swaths of felled trees all sliced cleanly at the canopy level. Of course, aside from those few things one might look for, she had also passed no less than a dozen foolish adventurers corpses that were in varying states of decay. A few of the more 'fresh' looking ones lay at the bottom of the near-vertical cliff face that waited below the large opening in the side of the hill, victims of their own foolish demise and lack of sure-footedness. They showed no signs of the dragon's intervention to stop them.

The opening to the caves high above was immense; Easily a hundred yards wide at the mouth and half as many high. The daunting size of it and the promise of a beast that needed such a space to enter giving her the slightest moment of pause. It's brilliant face looked as though it had been carved and melted into the nigh on sheer cliff, rivulets of molten stone long since hardened forming drip lines along its length. The hill had once been an active volcano in the distant past, which lent to the lush valley below, and the dragon's reasoning behind choosing this particular hill for his lair; It would be much warmer below, closer to the magma chamber for the cold blooded reptile. The great scaly beasts did oh so love their warmth.

Still, as it was, the cliff did present itself as the first challenge, albeit, a small one. She thought briefly to risk the noise of a grappling hook finding purchase above in order to make a quick assent, but the clanging of metal on stone was an obvious sound, and without knowing how deep the caves went, could easily alert him to her presence. All of her efforts would be for naught if he were to slip away so easily after such a clumsy mistake, so instead, she tightened the straps of her tight leather gloves, and began the climb by hand.

It was an arduous task without the aid of ropes or hooks, but the time it would take to employ such methods would be lost by the time she reached the caves lip the old fashioned way without assistance. She was not beyond pushing herself physically when the task at hand called for such methods. However, the assent was higher than she had initially estimated, and by the time she hauled herself up and onto the landing far above, an orange glow had appeared in the east. The first dawn birds in the valley below had burst into melodious chorus, greeting the coming of the morning with their combined songs. She perched herself on the threshold of the cavernous opening for a moment to catch her breath and watch the sunrise, letting her legs hang over the rock face and sway in the soft breeze.

The sun crested the far end of the valley, and it was quickly apparent his choice to create an opening on this side had been purely aesthetic. The first rays of light from the rising star caressed her skin and fur with the warmth of a tender lovers touch, breaking the harsh chill that had embedded itself like daggers of ice into her leather armour. As protection went, it was almost negligible for anything but a glancing swing, and it gave her little in the way of warmth, but it was light, and didn't make a clatter as she moved. She had padded the insides to make herself even quieter with a thin layer of cotton fiber, and with her skills, it allowed her freedom of movement while maintaining absolute silence.

An involuntary shudder of anticipation coursed through her as she allowed herself to bask in the morning glory of sunrise, simply enjoying the view below for a moment. The valley below had bloomed into life with colour at the coming of the sun, with vivid reds, blues and yellows of wildflowers mixing into the lush green of the treetops and grassy meadows that stretched to the horizon. The lake itself had tinted a golden orange of dawn as the sun slowly crept above the distant hillsides on its own assent into the sky above. It had taken her much longer than she had thought to scale the cliff face though; She would have to make up the time descending into the cave and getting her job here done and over with if she wanted to make her rendezvous with her caravan back to Eastern lands.

She pulled herself back up to her feet, turning to take her first good looking into the looming maw of the hillside, and the darkness that waited for her within. The cave narrowed slowly as it deepened, seeming to shrink more and more the further in one ventured, until it disappeared into a blackness even the sun's rays couldn't penetrate. She ventured onwards for a long while, the sounds of the outside world slowly fading into obscurity along with the light guiding her, plunging her into darkness.

Her night vision was excellent by any standards, but she blinked repeatedly, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the blackness that enveloped her. Even after several minutes, her vision was still as useful as a blind man's sight. Slowly, she reached a tentative paw forwards, searching for the wall while she held her other arm before her path. It was an undesirable circumstance, but she had expected it at least. The undergrounds were always dark, and here, she was as a shadow on the darkness itself. Deprived of sight and feeling the way ahead, she began to venture deeper into the waiting caverns. She had come too far to back away now

She relied on her alternate senses to guide her, listening to the drips of moisture, the feel of the gradually roughening stone walls, the musty and acrid taste the air had taken upon itself. At least twice she had to pull her paw back from the stones as the surface became sharp as if lined with daggers, and she swore she had drawn blood on at least one of the jagged points. Her pace slowed as she took upon a more cautious approach, reasoning it better to take her time than stumble into a pitfall trap and wind up as just another body on the mountainside. A few dozen steps more, and she extended her foot out into open air, almost falling before she caught herself and backpedaled from the sudden edge.

Perhaps, she had been entirely wrong about this being the dragon's lair. Perhaps it was just another one of his elaborate attempts to throw her off his tail set up by the overgrown lizard.

Or that's just what he wants me to think...

She took a breath, considering the risk versus the reward of her next move very, very carefully. Reaching into one of the small pouches on the side of her backpack, she felt around for a moment, before grabbing her paw around the small, twine bound pair of flint and steel ingots. If this place was indeed where she was looking for, she would be wealthy beyond her wildest dreams once she got back to civilisation. Taking both pieces of the lighting implements in her paws, she knelt down, feeling her way towards the edge before she struck them together with a swift swipe of her paws.

"CLACK!"

The noise sounded like a cannon shot in the utter silence of the cave, and the echoes from its creation continued to resound from the walls and down the tunnel in all directions for over a full minute before fading off to silence. It was a full minute the canine spent cringing and holding her breath, as if not making any additional noise now would somehow allow her to stay undetected after that. "Notworthitnotworthit..." she scolded herself mentally, berating her own damned foolishness. Anything in these caves knew she was here now!

The brief flash of orange sparks had provided her with a view of what lay ahead momentarily at least and they fell downwards and faded away as they cooled. To her back lay the tunnel she had came from, the jagged and sharp points of stone just as she had imagined them in her mind. Likely, this had once been a magma chute eon's ago, sculpted round by the scorching molten earth, and then further shaped by the dragon to better suit his needs.

To her front however, lay a drop just as she had almost fatally discovered, but it certainly wasn't of any natural creation. The drop was as smooth as ice, and perfectly vertical as best as she could tell. Further below was a landing of sorts, before the tunnel dropped off dramatically once more, falling into the earth like oversized steps. The most glaringly obvious feature of the steps was the exactness that had gone into their construction and carving. Each step looked about twelve feet wide, by twelve feet long, and each drop was measured likewise.

Above her, the ceiling of the cave had shone like a sky of diamonds; Crystal stones grew from the stone in jagged and irregular clumping, but between them had been smoothed down to a mirror like sheen, polished and smoothed until it was utterly without flaw, just as the stairs appeared. More alarmingly to the bonehound however was just what each step had in store for her.

With how polished the stonework was, there would be little chance of her boots or bare feet being able to get purchase; they would be frictionless like ice. By the same virtue, it would make assent back up the steps next to impossible. She had encountered this sort of architectural trap before, designed for the hasty and foolhardy. You climbed down with few enough troubles, but once you went down, you didn't come back up. If you didn't slide on the stonework and break something or kill yourself on the descent, whatever horrors waited for you below picked you off as you tried to fruitlessly climb back up.

The dragon was damned clever, she had absolutely no doubts about that. A lot of time and energy had gone into constructing the elaborate stone stairway,but she had come prepared for this at least. Tugging her grappling hook from a strap on the side of her pack, she back-stepped into the tunnel, feeling her way along the wall until she located a large jutting stone spike, quickly wedging the metal X against it and the wall. She gave the rope a few experimental tugs to ensure it would hold her weight, before she made her way cautiously back to the landing of the first step, and tossed the rope overhand down into the darkness. Now, it would just be a matter of hoping that she had brought enough...

She started her descent anew, dropping down onto the landing of the second step with a noise no louder that a wad of cotton falling from its plant stalk. True to her predictions, her feet slipped as she moved, and she lowered herself to all fours, keeping a sure grip on the rope. The second step came as easily as the first, and in no time at all, she had dropped down another two landings to the fourth step before her problems arose. As soon as she set her weight down upon it's glassy, obsidian surface, she began to slide towards the slope, and she slipped while trying to right herself, landing flat on her chest and bruising her breasts as she went down with a whump.

She pulled herself upright on the rope quickly, but a sharp metallic 'crack' from above sent ice through her veins, and it was with a mind numbing terror in her limbs that she slipped over the edge of the landing and out into the abyss. Her squeal of terror was utterly undignified for a professional of her caliber, but it came unbidden from her lips nonetheless. She landed hard on the fifth step, rolling over onto her back as the rope came sliding down uselessly alongside her. She yanked at it's length, willing the hook to clamp onto something as she dug her claws into the tightly bound fiber, going over the edge of the next landing with a gasp as weightlessness overtook her again, and gravity did its work. She lost her hold on the rope at the next landing as she hit it with the grace of a sack of flour,the breath rushing from her lungs. She managed to get one hook back into its fibrous surface just before she left the next landing, but her momentum was already too great for such a thing to work.

Her claw snagged between the bundles, and physics did its cruel work, deciding the rope was sturdier than the muscles holding her hook-like claw in place, and thus the result was decided. The cruel mistress it was, gravity stole the claw away from her paw, and she let out a startled and terror filled yelp of pain as the bony claw was ripped from her paw by its roots,and sent her toppling over the next step end over end, head first towards the next landing below her. A foot from opening her skull up like a glass jar on tiled floor, her fall was arrested, suddenly and sharply, by her right leg tangling in the rope that had evidently re-caught on something above.

Pain burned in her right paw and her leg. She gripped her mangled claw-opening with her free hand, putting pressure on it as much as she could stand to try and stop the bleeding. "Well, so much for stealth now..." she thought bitterly to herself, grunting as she thumped against the vertical face of the step. She muttered a curse as she was forced to remove her paw, reaching for the dagger at her thigh and slashing blindly at the rope that had bound her foot. She struck it on the second swing, and dropped in a pile on the eighth step down with a snarl, stabbing her blade at the stone. It bounced away harmlessly, not even leaving a scratch on the pristine surface, but fortunately, it was an unnecessary move. The step was flat, and she rose to all fours, maintaining her posture well enough.

Oddly enough, it seemed even darker than it had at the top of the steps, but perhaps it was just her mind playing tricks on her again, like it had with the supposedly 'flat' stairs. The angle had started so subtle, it would have been impossible for anyone who had not known that fact to notice it... She crawled even more warily than before now to the edge of the step, and peering over, fumbling and striking her flint and steel once more.

She reeled back with a retch of revulsion at what had almost become her fate, fighting the urge to vomit back as she scrambled to be away from the edge. The step below was no step at all. It was a spike pit. Over a dozen corpses were impaled upon the rusted lengths of iron that jutted from the floor like vengeful pylons of death, and each body was in a different stage of decomposing, left here for the worms and maggots, if either of the grave-creatures could even reach here. Now that the smell had hit her, it clung to the inside of her nostrils in what may well have been the foulest smell she had ever had the misfortune of being exposed too. A soft draft the blew past at least brought her a moment of relief from the reeking stench, and allowed her a moment to gather some more items from her pack and light her linen wrapped torch.

It took her eyes another few minutes to adjust to the intensity of the torch-fire after being in the dark for so long, but as soon as the world came back into focus, and she could bear to open her eyes at more than a squint, she noticed something most peculiar. The flames were dancing, flickering off the the other end of the steps along with the embers that lifted from the torches wooden haft. There was a draft. Where there was a draft, there was somewhere for the air to come from! But to her dismay, the direction of the breeze led her only to the wall beside her, it's stony face as blank and unassuming as the rest of the steps, but yet...

Curiously, she brought the torch closer to the wall, and the flames continued their sideways dance, her reflection in the glassy obsidian face of the stone looking back at her with puzzlement. She blew against the torch's flames softly, holding the light right against the wall itself, and unexpectedly, the flames rose up and -through- its otherwise solid surface! She extended her paw further, and sure enough, the torch and her hand slipped through the illusionary wall with all the ease of sliding them into a pool of water, and a much alike cold sensation where it bisected her arm.

Magic!

She spat, cursing to herself. She had heard of certain people and creatures that had a natural affinity to the unnatural art, but none of the dragons that she had ever fought in past had even shown signs of possessing such potent talent. The mere presence of the flawlessly rendered false-wall was sign enough of his skill. She would have to be deathly cautious now. True magic potential could be as lethal a weapon to the right caster as any assassins poisoned blade. The difference was you usually didn't see magic coming until it was being hurled forth at you by a maniac in robes, or you took a bad step onto a concealed ward and lost a leg to a sudden detonation of energy and earth.

Steeling herself and taking a breath, she let herself slip through the illusion, and found herself in a long, broad corridor of the same, smooth and immaculate obsidian construction as the stairway, save for the exception that this pathway was lit. Flaming torches not at all dissimilar to the one in her paw lined the walls intermittently, flickering brightly against the midnight black of the walls they were mounted upon. The corridor seemed to stretch on ad-infinitum, running along until it seemed to reach a vanishing point far in the distance. How many miles of tunnels and traps did this dragon have awaiting her?!

Left with little other choice, she pushed forwards, following the tunnel and it's repeating features for some time. She kept her steps light, but even so, she could tell she was becoming more and more lax in her noise discipline with every minute that passed. Eventually, she took to counting her steps to pass the time, her legs growing tired and aching from her tumble down the stairs. Just when she thought it was another of the dragons cruel tricks of the mind, something new appeared.

A skeleton, propped against the left hand wall, lifeless and bleached white, only the tattered remains of the poor souls armour left covering the dry bones. He'd probably succumb to the hallways monotony. She had already counted well over a half an hour since she started keeping track. His helmet sat upturned beside his body, one skeletal arm wrapped around it like a beggar holding his bowl... But perhaps that was exactly what it was. A plank of wood was gripped in the skeleton's other paw, gripped tight by fleshless fingers, with strange, runic scrawling dotted across the boards surface. The language was obviously a long dead scripture; She couldn't even begin to guess at it's origins or meaning.

Even so, her curiosity got the better of her, and she leaned forwards, crouching to inspect it closer. It was old, evidently even more so than the bones. The wood had been petrified, but the wear on it alone told her it certainly had seen much before it ended up down here. Her paw brushed across the grain of the wood slowly, but the moment her fingers crossed the first symbol scrawled on the wood, she was thrown backwards, blasted away by a blinding flash of light.

When she opened her eyes, recovering from the brilliant light, the hallway seemed to have changed... The torches on the wall were much closer and evenly spaced, and the dead adventurers skull was looking right at her, hollowed out eye sockets seeming to stare into her skull and muzzle ajar in an undying scream of agony. Before her own eyes however, something else began to happen. The lettering on the board began to shift and change, forming clear characters before it settled.

Greed brought him here. Greed kept him here. Take only so as you leave. Pay the toll; Blood or Gold.

She felt her gaze drawn again at the skeleton's helmet, rusted and as ancient as the bones that held it. At the bottom of the helmet, a loose scattering of coins and flakey, brown stains that she knew better than to assume was rust. Each of the coins though, true to the sign's demand, glimmered golden in the torchlight. Of course, being a thief, she hadn't even thought to bring any coins with her, and she bit her lip, before looking down at her still bleeding finger...

Slowly, she held it out above the helmet's rim. A thick, ruby droplet clung to the deep gash where her paw had been forcibly extracted from her flesh, before with an almost agonizing slowness, it separated from the mess that the injury had left. It fell in complete silence, before with an unremarkable splash, it spattered against one of the coins, staining the gold with a wash of red. Almost instantly, it dried and disappeared into the same brown flakes as the rest of the blood.

As if reacting to her tribute, the wall beside the skeleton shimmered and rippled, before fading completely, revealing another long tunnel, bright with light coming from the new opening. Jackpot! She stood and stepped quickly past the old bones, heading for the light with a broad grin stretching from ear to ear on her muzzle. The opening at the other end of the tunnel came up on her quickly, and taking her first step into the grand main chamber, she stopped dead, breathtaken at the sight before her.

To say the cavern was large would have been a disservice. It was utterly, domineeringly, massively, stupendously huge! If the mountain looked huge from the outside, inside, it seemed entirely disproportionate! A chandelier the size of a small cathedral and cast in gold and platinum hung from iron chains, each link as large as a warhorse. A thousand, thousand flames from torches danced across its frame, twinkling above with the intensity of a desert sun.

Troughs of molten stone ran from the length and breadth of the chamber, raised on pillars of marble dozens of feet high and carved with scenes of everything an artist could have possibly imagined. Great tapestries hung beneath the masoned rivers of lava, sewn banners and motifs that depicted scenes of lords and kings bowing before an almighty western dragon with scales of deepest scarlet whom towered over all. Other banners and carvings in the exquisite stonework showed the fate of those who did not bend the knee, entire kingdoms crushed beneath wing and flame, removed from history completely, never to be spoken of again.

Even the walls themselves had been shaped into the likeness of the massive dragon, and the Bonehound struggled to even begin to imagine the number of years and men it must have taken to create such a momentous undertaking. There was entire generations of masonry in the level of detail and care that had to have been taken for such a grand space; so much so that it was utterly beyond comprehension.

The centerpiece carving must have been hundreds of yards long,and easily another hundred or more high, and for just a moment, she feared that she had indeed bitten off far, far more than she could chew. The dragon in the wall carving was struck in a regal pose, one of his fore paws raised in a gesture of welcoming. Rivulets of molten lava formed intricate outlines, while more of the glowing, molten stone oozed from its roaring maw, stretched so wide it could have swallowed buildings whole.

Some strange though and realization hit her at the same time, and she turned, running her eyes around the entirety of the chamber. This had been no slaves work. Decades of devoted and dedicated laborers had no doubt toiled endlessly on their great ruler's works, pouring their hearts into the details of the super cave. Grandchildren had finished the works of their father's father's father's, and then willingly hidden it all from the world above, jealous guarding the secrets of their masterpiece all the way to their graves. How had no-one ever so much as heard whispers of this place before?!

And the treasures! An entire library's worth of papyrus scrolls and leather bound tomes stood assembled along one wall, and piles upon piles of notes stood stacked in their shadows. Eons upon eons of knowledge long forgotten and unread no doubt waited between their pages, but that wasn't what caught her eyes.

Literal mountains of gold cast items spread all across the gigantic caverns polished floor, reflections only making the magnificent accumulation of wealth seem even more bedazzling to behold. Coins, chalices, candlesticks, bars, bricks, bracelets, crowns, chests and circlets! The dragons had gathered enough combined gold and wealth in this one room to make even the combined countries of the world bow their heads in shame.

Even the wealthiest of the realm could not have hoped to compete, for what lay before her was entire centuries of precious metals and gemstones, over half a millennium of loot and tributes. It was almost beyond her comprehension that such a vast amount of gold could exist in the whole world, let alone set out in a single room before her, close enough to touch, and numerous enough to fill entire castles. It was as magnificent as it was utterly humbling and awe inspiring. No other words could summarize it quite as well.

Nothing in the vocabularies of any of the languages spoken by anthropomorphics could come close to expressing the absolute enormity of treasure that she had stumbled upon. This had most definitely not been what she expected to find when she woke up this morning, and she was reminded sharply of just how small and utterly insignificant she was, paling in comparison.

She took her first hesitant steps forwards, dwarfed by the grand scale of the treasure that surrounded her on all sides, stretching halfway up towards the chandelier high above in some places. She was as an ant; utterly tiny and inconsequential by comparison. She felt her heart fluttering in her chest, and an involuntary shudder of excitement raced through her, her tail flicking side to side with a mind of it's own. Never before had one of her hunts made her feel more alive and energized. All she had to do now was get her paws on the piece she had been sent for, and whatever else she could fit in her backpack and pockets.

The octagonal necklace was small and unassuming, and very much so plain in its design; it could have well blended in or been buried beneath literal tons of gold that would take her years to dig through. She had no idea what her employers wanted it so badly for, and she didn't particularly care. She was just more interested in what all of the wealth laid bare before her she would stuff her pouches to overflowing with!

She made haste to the nearest mountain of treasure, and made short work stuffing the two side pouches of her backpack with great fistfuls of coins until they were fit to burst, and the strap holding it closed was drawn taut to the last notch, barely able to contain their precious contents. The main pocket lay empty as she dumped it's few contents on the ground; she would be able to replace them later anyway, and it was just waiting to be filled.

A sudden sound disturbed her foraging, making her snap stiff like a petrified rabbit caught in a hunter's sights. Coins and metal jingled and shifted in the distance, the sound echoing around the great amphitheater like acoustics of the cavernous hoard room, and it made her acutely aware just how noisy her collections had been. She rose slowly, adopting back into her stealthy ways, and ventured carefully towards its source, rising onto her tip-toes and she stepped around the pile, following one of the many cleared pathways between treasure piles.

Set on a small plinth ahead of her as she rounded the base sat something that seemed to have been very deliberately placed; An extravagant bastard sword was mounted upon a stand, a fine burgundy velvet cloth covering the stand, it's equally elaborate sheath resting at the foot of the blade. The edges of the blade had been gilded with purest gold that shone like the light of the sun in the afternoon, and a diamond the size of one of the gold coins lining her pouches had been masterfully worked into the cross-guard of the pommel to act as it's centerpiece.

Above, a great tapestry of a brigade of mounted knights sitting astride their mighty warhorses charged what could have only been the massive dragon whom this chamber had been dedicated to, swords held out above their heads. At the head of the charge sat a noble wolf, adorned in warplate as beautiful as it seemed functional, the gold edged blade held aloft as he led the attack.

A blindingly white, crackling bolt of lightning shot from the blade to strike the dragon a hundred times his size in the breast, his scales scorched black at the impact point. In the background was a row of black stitched runes,the same language she had seen on the sign that the skeleton had held at the entrance, but somehow, she doubted these ones would change simply because she willed them to for her benefit.

She didn't even think about it consciously, her paws wrapping around the leather-bound grip of the sword and pulling it free from it's stand, before she slipped the sheath through her belt. It was almost as light as the slim, silver dagger strapped on her opposite thigh, but it's edge looked as though it had only just come from the forge, sharp enough to catch on her nail when she lightly brushed it over the sword's edge. The length of the blade seemed to hum with energy, like the air before a lightning strike, and she found herself imbued with a strange feeling of awesome power just resting at her fingertips. With a wicked grin, she stepped deeper into the hoard, giving the blade a self-emboldening swing to test it as she walked.

"And just what business does the mouse have here, venturing into the lion's den, hmmm?"

Startled, she spun around quickly, alarmed at the unbidden voice that rang with a mighty resonance within her mind. It had been loud, as if spoken from just over her shoulder, and her hackles stood on end, as she raised the blade in both paws. She stepped into a fighters posture, and rotated slowly, leading with the point of the blade as she searched for the source. The voice was spoken with affluence and age to it that seemed to speak volumes of wisdom and knowledge, and truly, she knew there could be only one other source in the entire cavern, as impossible as it was an idea to fathom; lest someone followed her in, as unlikely as it was.

"Who's there?! Show yourself, if you're not craven." She challenged the mysterious voice's owner, her heart absolutely racing like a gazelle from a cheetah within her chest, and she did her best to keep a collected air about herself in her panic. She whipped about as one of the piles of treasure shifted slightly, sending trinkets and valuables both clinging off its side and down to the floor. Coins rattled and jingled, and a larger cup dropped with a bell like 'Clang' as it bounced on the obsidian floor. She drew a deep breath in, back-stepping a pace from the mound of wealth as the mountain's defender and host crested the pile of loot, eyes of the fiercest gold piercing into hers as he rooted her to the spot with his glare.

The dragon was large, easily twenty feet tall and fifty long from his square snout to the tip of his bladed tail. His wings would have made him even more imposing, were they not folded against his sides neatly, but she guessed they would have easily spanned out another eighty feet with ease. His scales were a deep shade of garnet like old blood, and his neck was arched, holding his head down low to inspect her like a mere morsel of meat.

"I Have." The voice in her mind rang, more than a little evidently unimpressed at her presence within his lair as he held her gaze. She struggled to comprehend what she was hearing and seeing, let alone thinking to reach the only logical conclusion.

"Impossible! Dragons do not speak!" She shouted, like a peasant might shout their defiance in the presence of God himself, but really she felt like a trapped bird, her tail flicking back and forth madly as if searching for an escape route, betraying her apprehension. The dragon before her let out a deep, bass rumble as he rolled his eyes, finally breaking the stare in order to show his mocking amusement at her.

"And mice do not steal from lions, and yet here you stand in my own den, with pockets brimming with my property, denying what is plain for you to behold like a commoner ignorant of the world around him. So please, do enlighten me little mouse, it has been so long since I last had a fool make it this far into my sanctum."

She hissed at the tone he took with her, thrusting the point of her stolen sword up at the dragon in defiance of his mockery.Her eyes ran over him quickly, looking for a potential weak spot to sink it when she caught a glimpse of gold hanging from the dragon's neck. The necklace! The damned over-sized lizard had it around his neck! That created another problem entirely, and left her with even less solutions to her new dilemma. She had a dragon that more than clearly wanted her dead, and she needed what he had tied around his neck if she wanted to be paid at the end of all this. Assuming she survived beyond the next thirty seconds, that was.

To hell with this job, and to hell with the trinket! The survival part of her mind shouted at her and she took another hesitant step backwards, away from the dragon. He lay a paw forward, matching her move with a casual sort of grace as he slid down the gold like one might the sand on a dune, but his eyes betrayed his own thoughts at the sight of the blade in her paws. They were cautious, following her a little closer, and regarding her like a wary predator. Evidently, he knew just what it was...

_ "And just what might you be planning to do with that blade, hmmm? You think I would simply let you walk out with such a thing, little mouse? It is older even than me; It's power is gone, dead like its wielder. I could vaporize you with just a whisper of flame, and I confess, I'm finding less and less reasons why I shouldn't. Put it down, rodent, and I might yet let you live a minute longer." _

She had to keep bluffing her way backwards; It was the only way she was going to survive long enough to even have a chance of reaching the exit. She took another cautious step backwards, keeping the tip of the sword aimed squarely at the dragon's chest where she assumed his heart would lay. It would be a gamble, but she called his bluff.

"Then why don't you? I think you know just how powerful this sword is, and I think you know it still holds that power. Now where is the fastest way back to the surface?" She demanded, trying her best to make her voice sound much more commanding than it really was.

Though for all the good it did her, it simply seemed to amuse the dragon, the same, scraping, bass rumble escaping his chest. It was as if her actions and even her threats were so far below him, he simply lacked the ability to take them with even the slightest seriousness. Slowly though, he inclined his head towards the shelves of scrolls on the distant side of the cavern, giving a silent nod.

_ *"Beside those shelves is a passage I use to leave via the top of the mountain itself. The stairs are long, and you will not make it up them before I catch up to you though. What is your name little mouse? It would be shameful of me as a host to so casually disregard the name of one who made it so far into the mountain." * _

His voice echoed in her head, like a trapped bird within the confines of her skull. But within the echoing voice, something else quickly became clear to her. His mouth had never moved once yet for anything he had said to her. The dragon's mastery of magic was becoming terrifyingly apparent all too fast for her to try and even think of a way to counter him. She tried to think of some convincing lie amidst her drifting and snaking thoughts.

"They call me the Shadow Thief-"

_ "And they call me 'Argh! Dragon!' but that is not my true name, nor will I ask again." _ His words cut through the poor fabrication like a sharp blade through silk, and she took a few more steps backwards, slowly circling him to position her back towards the library shelves. The glare he had her fixed with made it entirely clear that there was no way she would leave here without a fight.. He was just playing with her now, like a tomcat might play with a mouse between it's paws for its own sick amusement before ending it in a single, swift snap of jaws.

She bit her lip, and tasted the metallic tang of blood against the tip of her tongue. It must have been an easy quarter of a mile dash to the shelves just as the crow flew, and that wasn't even taking into account the weaving, winding path that she would have to take between the treasure piles; Trying to climb them would be as foolish as trying to climb a steep dune. The dragon would catch her before she even made it to the peak of the first pile.

The dragon snorted at her pointless delaying of the inevitable, taking a few great steps forwards towards her, closing the distance between them to a measure of only about fifteen feet. His talons, effortlessly sharp and honed, clacked like the rapping of stonemasons tools against the obsidian floor. She stabbed the sword point at his, and brought his advance to a halt once more, buying her a few more precious seconds.

"Rouge. And you, Dragon?" she asked him, trying to cover the shaking of her voice as best she could. She would take whatever delay she could get at this point, and perhaps if she could just figure it out...

_ "Ahh, see? Not so hard now, was it. Let us at least maintain some sense of civility here..." _ The mighty drake rumbled. His next move made her jump backwards in shock, almost dropping the sword as she did. He took one step and made a slow and lazy bound towards her, the motion seeming far too graceful and feline for a creature of his size to be capable of. A mere two yards ahead of her, his eyes snapped up to meet her, and she stumbled, falling onto her behind as she scrambled backwards.

She clenched her eyes shut, expecting death to greet her, but after a moment when the reaper hadn't appeared to collect her toll, she chanced opening one eye. The dragon had what looked like a smirk written on his features, and he elegantly slid one of his forepaws down beneath his chest, lowering his fore and neck to the stone floor in what was apparently the massive beast's equivalent of a bow.

"I am Scion, the son of the Swift Talon and the Thundering Wings, Grandson to Belladon Hellfury, who built this great vault in commemoration of his empire spanning dominance, and as a pledge of fealty from his subjects who toiled here, devoting their lives to his glory. You should be honored to even set foot in such a place thief. Cower and quake before the might of his bloodline, and-"

"KA-CRACK!"

The suddenness of the deafening crack caught both of them entirely off guard, but Scion had no time to process what had just happened; The lightning bolt blasted from the sword's blade point, and caught him square in the center of his jaw. The sheer force of the blast sent him skidding backwards across the polished stone to crash into one of his massive treasure piles with a clattering of valuables over the floor. When all had come to rest, the Dragon simply lay there, motionless.

Rouge for her part dropped the sword in a panic, breathing hard as she tried to make sense of what the hell just happened.

"Holy Shit..." She blinked, pulling herself back to her feet.

She stopped herself though from retreating further. She still had a job here dammit, and she'd be damned if she wasn't finishing it! Not wasting another moment, she snatched the golden blade back up in her paws and made a quick dash forwards, sliding to a stop a few feet from the dragon's resting body. Cautiously, she prodded his chest scales with the point a few times. He didn't move.

Ducking beneath one of his splayed out forelegs, she pressed herself against his chest, managing to roll his neck to the side slightly across the pile of coins at the hoard piles' base. She removed the rope bound about his neck with a quick slip of her new sword, tugging the amulet free and immediately stuffing it into her pocket. Now, it was time to see what the dragon's word was worth.

Using the massive sculpture of the dragon in the far wall as a point of reference, she ran her way across the obsidian floor towards the book shelves, adding a few more choice pieces of loot to her rapidly filling bag's contents along her path of escape. She had the amulet, she had her payment, and now all she needed was her exit route.

The library's shelves seemed utterly towering up close, row upon row of deep mahogany shelves packed to capacity with thick, leather bound tomes and books and papyrus scrolls that looked as old as the cavern itself. All were neatly arranged in perfectly flawless alphabetical order, she garnered from a curiosity glance as she passed beneath their imposing shadow.

Almost curiously, she passed a pair of high-backed chairs before a large heath, set into the back wall of the cavern from where she had entered. She allowed herself to stop and reflect on it a moment, that maybe once, somebody had sat here and read from the exquisite collection, sharing the thoughtful company of a dragon as tall as the carvings showed. The thought itself was as impossible to her as it was absurd, and she moved on without a second glance, looking for the passage to the surface.

It was an elusive thing, but after another minute of searching, she found it, surprised the dragon had been true to his word... Well, mostly. Unmentioned to her was the massive wood and stone portcullis set into the stone of the wall. And of course, just her luck, it was lowered, firmly locked into the floor and barring her escape.

Turning on her heels, she cursed, and began dashing back towards the way she had entered. The stairs would take time, and now, every second would count if she wanted to escape without having her hide charred. Foolish girl, she cursed herself. She should have just gone with her gut and left this way in the first place.

As she skidded around the corner to pass the spot of her brief battle with the dragon, she came to a dead stop, heart pounding as she looked over at the pile of gold Scion had slammed into. Something large, red, and reptilian was not where she had left him. Instead, the beast was up and stumbling, letting out a pained roar of frustration. His eyes shot up to meet her, and he fixed the treacherous canine with a glare that was pure venom.

She turned, letting out a scream as she pumped her arms, and made her flight for the exit, literally running for her life. Behind her, lumbering footsteps echoed in pursuit as the dragon gave chase at barely more than a casual stroll after her; His strides were also fivefold longer than her own, and she knew he'd have no trouble catching her if he so wished. He would reach her before she reached the exit, sure as sure.

She could hear him getting closer and closer with each and every step she took, outpacing her with absolutely no hope of her getting away from this. But still, she tried her best, sliding around the slope of the first pile she had passed, darting towards the tunnel leading back to her freedom; The dragon would never be able to chase her down once she managed to get inside.

She could almost feel Scion's breath tickling along the nape of her neck, and she pushed herself to her limits for the last fifty feet, her foot paws barely touching the ground. She sprinted her heart out like the devil himself were on her heels, passing beneath the tunnels lip just at the same time as the dragon caught up to the fleeing canine.The air around her rippled as the roof of the long passage rushed past above her head.

She made it exactly five more steps before she hit the wall, and all of her forward momentum stopped.

Like a pane of glass solidifying before her very eyes, the air seemed to 'snap', going taut as the simple spell increased the density of the atmosphere to something more along the lines of steel in less that the span of a swallow's heartbeat. She had broken the tollkeepers rule.

Take only so as you leave.

She had packed her bags to the point of overflowing. In exchange, she had left but the useless items that had occupied the space that was now filled with gold. The trade was not an even barter. Similar to a bank vault, you could only take out what you had placed in. She had left virtually nothing while taking a fortune, and thus, she would not leave. For an instant, she could almost hear the fates mocking laughter as the words rang loudly in her mind.

She hit the invisible wall at a dead sprint, and staggered backwards from the sudden impact, cursing and screaming at the universe as her freedom turned to her condemnation. The dragon behind her caught up, and in the span of a single second, hooked a mighty talon between her pack and her spine; In the next second, he had ripped her from her feet and tossed her like a child's plaything carelessly out of the corridor and back into the hoard room with all the effort of a strongman hurling a pebble.

She soared backwards, bouncing like a stone on water across the polished obsidian of the chamber's floor. Hard. The straps of her leather pack were shredded like paper with the force of her throw's trajectory. Her bag hit the floor, spilling the contents in every direction, and she slid with the breath knocked from her towards one of the piles where she came to rest. Slowly, she pulled herself back up to her feet shakily, taking an opportunistic swing with her sword in the general direction of the approaching dragon.

One of his massive paws batted her chest and stole the air from her lungs again, swept aside like she was little more than a fly, and the back swing tossed her away through the air, one of the gold piles cushioning her fall as effectively as stone would cushion the impact of glass. She groaned, managing to compose her stunned self enough to roll aside as his talons came racing down through the coin pile like a ship through water, scattering gold in their wake.

She still didn't manage to make it up in time however, and the dragon's mighty forepaw came down atop of her, knocking what little wind was left in her lungs out of her with a strained gasp. His talons pinned her to the pile beneath, the razor tipped claws slowly applying pressure down on her torso between her breasts. Finally, she screamed, struggling beneath the weight trapping her.

"Stop! Stop, please! I yield! I'll give it back! I'll do anything! Please, don't kill me!" She howled out, her mind finally snapping at the all too real prospect that this could be her very last moment, and recoiled in terror at the very idea. All the wealth she had been promised would never be hers if she died here, and it was by far the last thing on her agenda.

Scion hesitated, his talon halting just short of piercing her armour and puncturing a mortal wound in the tiny anthro who had dared intrude upon his family's hoard.

"You yield, girl? What makes you think for a moment that I would accept such an offer after you tried to kill me? Tell me that, whelp, and I might let you live yet." His mental presence pressed in on her own like floodwaters against a crude wooden dam, threatening to engulf her completely if she wasn't very cautious with her next words. Instead, she simply blurted out exactly what her frightened mind wanted to, and she had no conscious choice in the matter.

"Please, have mercy! I'll do anything, I swear it." She begged for her life like a man presented to the headsman's block, her eyes wide with fear. The dragon's own gazed down at her impassively; Her life held no more value to him than that of a fly or an ant. He was a dragon! The most noble and fearsome of all the beasts of the land, and he certainly wasn't about to let a petty thief make a mockery of him and his kin's name by letting her go so easily.

_ "Stay. Do not move." _ He finally snarled to her, removing his paw and letting the girl breathe as he turned and padded a few steps across the room to where he had tossed her backpack. Curiously, he spent a few long moments looking at the contents that had spilled from the now ruined leather bag. There were coins, yes, but that was not what had gotten his attention.

With all the delicate grace of an artist's touch, Scion slid a single talon down, using it to scrape up the medallion on the floor, a most curious thing for her to try and take indeed. Beside that, there was the sword, and the full bag of gold that would have set her home free for life from the mere value of the coins, discrediting the enormous wealth of the sword as well. Rumbling thoughtfully, the dragon gave his tail a broad flick, swiping it across the floor slowly and pushing all of the scattered contents around himself into the edge of the nearest pile.

_ "You certainly have a jeweler's eye, but in this instance, it has worked against you." _ He commented cryptically, even as Rouge attempted to sit. Her entire chest cavity felt bruised, and she inspected herself for any serious injuries or broken ribs, probing at various places over her body.

"I'll give it all back! Everything I brought a well, you can keep it a-"

_ "That is not how the spell works, thief. You crossed the threshold of the tunnel with these items. By law of this place, those are now your possessions. But in order to leave, first, you must pay for them. Don't you get it? You took three items, the gold, the sword, and the pendant, none of which you have any way of paying for. At this point, it might be a mercy for me to kill you here." _ Something about the way Scion said that last part made the canines fur stand on end, as if he were genuinely considering it as a viable option.

"Please! I can work off the debt! I'll help you maintain this place! I'll polish treasure! I'll do anything, just don't kill me..." She shifted on the pile until she was kneeling, before bowing low, humbly before the dragon as he regarded her with those cold, golden eyes.

_ "You intend to repay the cost of a pricelessly valuable magical sword, a sword of legend no less, with polishing my hoard, not even beginning to account for everything else you took?" _ He asked, though it was as rhetorical as any daft question, laced with his sarcasm and doubt. He was taking amusement in her torment as the gravitas of her situation dawned on her.

"I will give you an hour to consider the gravity of your situation, girl, before I expect you to return to me with a better answer than that... I suggest you make your peace. I will give you one chance, but be warned! If you disappoint with your response, I won't hesitate to reduce you to ashes in a heartbeat."

The dragon did not make the threat idly in any sense of the term, his long tail lashing across the floor again and scattering more of the loot gathered in his hoard over the polished floor as if it were no more significant than a gathering of ants underfoot. He would destroy her in a single breath if he wanted to, and wouldn't so much as spare her a second thought afterwards. She would just be another dead fool who tried to rob a dragon.

Scion turned, his claws clacking on the marble as he padded away, smoke trailing from his nostrils behind him like incense from a pair of censers. He let her be for the moment, quickly disappearing away behind one of the piles that dominated the room. Only then did Rouge allow herself to let out the breath she had been holding, her heart racing like a fluttering bird trapped in her ribcage. She dropped to her paws and knees, panting hard, and then retched over the floor. The adrenaline coursing through her had her wound tighter than a hair-trigger on a flintlock, instinctual terror finally catching up with the gasping canine. She had been -that- close to dying right now, and in an hour, she would be right back there.

What could she possibly do? She hadn't thought to bring anything but the tools she needed, and even they were worth only a fraction of all the scattered coin that she had taken. Looking across to her now ruined backpack, she picked herself up, tail dragging low behind herself. She limped over and picked up the shredded leather, examining the damage the dragon's talon had done at the slightly tug. Had he slid the pointed tip an inch forwards, that might well have been how her chest cavity looked right now. She tried to push that thought quickly from her mind.

Gathering up the enchanted sword, and a few handfuls of the thoroughly dispersed gold, she tried to try and get an idea of just what the toll for her freedom would cost her. Aside from her daggers, all she had was her grappling hook, a few other thief's tools, and the finely made leather armor on her back. Hardly worth even a third of the small pile of gold in front of her, and that was with some generous rounding up. She sighed defeatedly and sat down, crossing her legs before resting her elbows on her knees, and her head in her hands. The only thing that seemed even remotely feasible to her was a lifetime of servitude to the Dragon in order to repay her debt, but he had already shown her that he had no interest in keeping her in his lair any longer than necessary

If anything, he probably was just giving her this time in order to let her fear build, or to make her peace. Clasping her paws together, she did both, silently praying for some sort of way out of her predicament, and asking whatever gods would listen at this point for forgiveness. Her tail coiled around her lap, and without any particular grace or attempt to hide it, she began to sob quietly. From her aches and pains, from the despair and hopelessness she felt, and from the fact that she would never get the chance to live out her dreams that all this gold could have brought.

"No. Snap out of it, you're stronger than this." She snarled to herself, shaking her head and digging her claws into her thighs. The sharp pain did the trick, making her grit her teeth and move. Standing carefully, the canine began to pace back and forth, her tail flicking from side to side as she collected her thoughts, gathering her wits back to her. She had gotten out of situations that were almost as bad as this in past using nothing but her cunning and quiet paws; She could do it again. The dragon couldn't have possibly planned for every scenario possible, could he have? There had to be something he hadn't thought of; A minor detail overlooked or a single doorway left unlocked. All she had to do was find out what it was, and she could be out of here in no time.

She strapped the magical blade to her waist, displaying the elegant sword almost proudly, before stuffing her trouser pockets with what gold she could fit into them. She looked about one last time, before suddenly remembering what she had come here for. Shit! The Dragon had the amulet again, and she doubted he would be so foolish as to let her try that sword trick against him again. She needed to find some kind of way to get it back!

Did she? Did she really though? The gold in her pockets alone would keep her happily clothed, housed and fed for the rest of her life, let alone the price she could fetch for this supposedly priceless artifact blade. Why then, did she need to finish her job? She could retire on just what was here in her possession right now. If she managed to make it out, she could buy her own island and live out her days without having to ever deal with another person ever again.

Grinning at that thought, she set off at a quick jog towards the door on the library side of the cavern, now that she had some time on her paws, even if it wasn't much. At this point, she resigned herself to two simple outcomes to her situation. Either she made it out in one piece, or the dragon would murder her for her trespass, and it wouldn't matter what anyone thought.

True to form, the door was still solidly barred and locked, but she had time now, and there wasn't a lock this side of the capitol city that she couldn't open; She was the best after all! She ran her paws across the solid frame of the doorway, searching for any weaknesses, any kind of release mechanism. If the dragon used this to leave, there had to have been some kind of release to pull the great portal back up into the stone ceiling.

It would have had to have been operated by some kind of counterweight system on the opposite side, which would mean pulleys, which would mean... The thought drew her gaze up and along the wall, before her eyes lit up like so many gems scattered over the floor in this place. There, thirty feet up and set in a small recess within the otherwise flawless stone wall was a metal plate of some kind, almost like a switch.

Naught but a minute later, she had hauled one of the massive library ladders from it's mounting, before dragging over on of the leather chairs to hold it steady (As the floor offered little for the feet go brace against). She double timed it up the ladder, paw over paw until she drew level, and lashed out with her foot. It struck the plate with a resounding 'Clang!', and somewhere nearby, she heard the deep rumbling of ancient gears rolling into motion as the portcullis slowly began to rise.

It was halfway open by the time she reached the door, and she slid underneath it with a broad grin, her tail slipping across the smooth obsidian floor as she slid towards her freedom. True to the dragon's word, the passage slanted upwards, seeming to curl around on itself like a serpent coil, leading slowly upwards and upwards towards the peak of the mighty mountain.

Or at least it would have, had she not ran headlong into another of the invisible barriers after just a handful of yards.

The string of curses that left her muzzle would have gotten her evicted from anything resembling holy ground as she swore and shouted and screamed out her frustration, swinging her sword at the invisible barrier to absolutely no effect. The blade sailed clean through the air as if nothing were there, but the moment her paw reached the threshold it was as if she was punching a redwood.

Out of frustration, she turned, and threw the sword to the ground with a loud clattering of steel that seemed to sing out in protest of the blatant mistreatment.

"I'd much prefer if you refrained from destroying that blade. Not, to say that I suspect you could, but simply that the resulting release of energy would likely kill you and possibly damage the structure. You understand, I'm sure." The dragon snaked his way into view at the mouth of the tunnel, his wings folded against his proud form as he stood, regarding her cooly from between the book shelves of the library. He was mocking her, and she hated every second of it.

She scoffed loudly, rolling her eyes as she turned. More than anything at this point, she no longer cared. No longer cared that she was stuck here, no longer cared that she was trapped at the mercy of a dragon, and she certainly no longer cared for the dragon treating her like a petulant child. She scooped up the sword, and marched towards the dragon, waving the ancient blade out in front of her. Scion didn't so much as bat an eyelid.

"Well why don't you just kill me and take it, hmm? Stop it with your taunting and just-" She never got the chance to finish. With a cat like leap, the Dragon bounded forwards, and deftly pinned her beneath one of his massive forepaws, holding her firmly down against the obsidian stone. The sword skittered away out of her grasp, and she felt the pressure of his foot against her chest increase, squeezing the air from her lungs.

_ "Because if I wished to kill someone who may have something to offer to fill my fault with, I would have already. Don't expect that same trick to work twice, mouse." _ The dragon snarled, curling his lip up so close to her face that she could smell his last victim on his breath, making her gag in disgust before the pressure against her ribs was removed.

_ "Perhaps if you had spent more time trying to think of what you have to trade me instead of your foolish escape attempt, you might not be lying there dazed and looking more the fool for it." _ The dragon patronized her some more, just to add insult to her injured pride. "I take it then that you spent no time at all considering my offer? An hour seemed more than generous, but apparently trying the hard was out of your situation was closer to your agenda's notes."

The unwanted presence of his voice in her head wandered through her thoughts like a stranger, and she dug back at the intrusive words his mind formed for her with claws digging at her scalp, fighting back against him since it was clear now he intended to toy with her rather than kill her right this moment. She'd deal with that problem when she reached it.. "Gaah! GET OUT OF MY HEAD, DRAGON!" the canine spat, her hackles along her neck rising aggressively.

That only seemed to amuse the dragon, his long, serpentine tail lashing back and forth. Her keen eyes caught the glint of a pair of fearsome blades strapped to either side of his tail's tip, like menacing scimitars that whistled through the air, full of deadly intent. Had he always had those? She couldn't recall; perhaps she had landed harder than she had thought. Even so, she still held her ground against the dragon, challenging him defiantly. If he thought she would simply roll over and make it easy for him to end her life, she'd be more than happy to prove him wrong.

They stood there for a few long moments, dragon and thief, the tension building. She, poised with the blade at her side, wondering what her chances were of getting another lightning bolt out of the blade.

It seemed to thrum dully in her paw, like a weak static charge gained from rubbing one's feet across carpet. Probably not good odds, she concluded, but her thumb settled over the slightly raised rune she had discovered in the hilt regardless.

After a moment, the dragon flashed his teeth, and unfurled his wings, before giving them a single, mighty beat. She was entirely unprepared for the force of the air that struck her, and it bowled her over like a twig before a hurricane, sending her once more sliding and swearing her way across the polished floor until she came to a stop against the invisible barrier blocking her escape.

_ "You see? I don't even need to physically strike you to end you. I could just knock you around until the trauma becomes too much, or turn you to ash where you stand, or-" _

Rouge swore in frustration, and instead, pulled herself to her knees, and threw the sword over arm at him. It was a desperate and foolish thing to do, but fueled as she was by her fury, she didn't even care. It clattered past his right side harmlessly, before coming to a stop somewhere behind him in the library stacks. She'd missed by a margin. Swords were not her first choice of throwing weapon.

"Fine! I get it! Well, aside from my previous offer, and it's a funny thing. I still don't have anything else to offer to you!" Rouge snapped, before sitting down in front of the dragon, not twenty feet from his face with her paws folded across her chest.

_ "Not entirely correct, but perhaps if you thought for just one moment. Your armour. It is hand forged, no? The leather has the subtle attention to detail that shows someone put great care into it's creation. For it, I would give you the coin that you took from the vault." _ Scions voice rumbled within her head like an earthquake, his golden eyes staring at her expectantly. Well shit, what choice did she have at this point anyway?!

"And what would you expect for me to do? Walk back to town naked?"

"Would you rather not walk back to town at all? If you truly wish for death so much, I can still arrange for that." Scion punctuated the threat with a pair of plumes of smoke that rose from his nostrils as they flared, carrying the scent of ash and charcoal to the canine.

"Fine... I'll give you my damned armour..." She snapped back after a few moments of internal debate, and slowly stood, her nimble paws working the clasps of her leathers. It took a few moments, but when she was done, she was left standing in nothing but her courage before the might of the dragon, without even a shred of the expensive suit of armour to protect her. Her vivid fur was bared for all to see, along with the slender curves of her hips and her rear. She tucked her tail between her legs in an attempt to preserve some semblance of modesty, but this was just humiliating. Now she was trapped, naked, and still needed to find an arrangement to pay for the sword before she could leave.

As if reading his thoughts, Scions tail dragged along his side, the shrill rasp of steel on stone seeming to echo far louder than it should have. Almost delicately, he placed one talon on the crossguard of the sword, and slid it across the polished floor towards her. His great golden irises and those slitted pupils like daggers seemed to stare at it for the longest moment, and quietly, Rouge folded her paws over her chest, trying to keep herself covered lest he returned his gaze to her.

_ "This blade is worth more than you could ever possibly have hoped to afford short of your life. It is the only sword of it's kind, forged for a singular purpose of slaying my ancestors; A task that it regrettably, excelled at. The historical value alone makes anything else you could offer paltry in comparison..." _

Rouge gulped, feeling bile rising up in her throat. She'd been afraid he might say that. His gaze flicked up to her, and with practiced grace and care, he lay himself down before her, one of his claws rapping idly against the stone. Each sharp clack echoed like a gunshot around the massive cavern. After an awkward silence, she finally spoke.

"I thought you said-"

He predicted her words before she even finished speaking. _ "I did say I have no interest in keeping you here. It is, however, the only thing that would come near to paying for that sword... Perhaps if I grow bored of you, I can just vaporize you like the last one..." _ He only let out his deep, rumbling chuckle once she'd turned a suitable shade of pale in fear for her life.

"Is... Is there anything else at all that I might-"

_ *"There is not. You can swear yourself to my service, or you will not leave. Those are your two choices here... Come, walk with me. I'm sure we can find you a suitable collar so that all will know who you belong to..." * _

Whether it was just fear that made her follow him or not, she couldn't have said, but follow she did, keeping her tail between her legs submissively, her paws covering her more than ample bosom, despite the fact that she was walking behind the dragon as his massive footfalls let the way with percussive whumps each time he set one of his paws down, his claws clacking atop the granite.His attention was elsewhere as he led her through the maze of treasures, giving each the same level of disinterest he did to her body.

After the first few hundred feet into the maze, she gave up on trying to cover herself, and just paced along after him. She saw no other way out of the situation, as grim as it was. The dragon had said everything she had taken past the threshold had to be accounted for... And perhaps she could still find some way to make good on her escape later, if it came to it. She did not plan on remaining here longer than she needed to.

Eventually, they came to a large hollowed recess in the far corner from where she had originally entered. If the great piles of pillows were anything to go by, this was where the dragon made his bed. They had been sunken flat in many places, flush against the edges of the smaller cave-within-a-cave, made from exotic silks and fleeces. Off to the side, sunken into one wall, she spotted a simple wooden door, that Scion gently inclined his head towards.

_ "In there, you will find in the first room a rack. You may pick whichever you wish from the collection. Once you have, return to me wearing it. Take nothing else, and do not dawdle, unless you wish me to add it to your running list of debts owed... Go, little mouse." _ He beckoned her onwards, corralling her with one of his wings, like a great leathery wall that pushed her towards the doorway.

She stumbled to keep ahead of it, all too aware of the way the dragon was staring at her expectantly. The door itself opened without resistance or sound, and she closed it behind herself, grateful for the moment's reprieve from the dragon's ever watching presence. True to his word though, she found herself in a sort of ante-chamber, another door leading... elsewhere, just in front of her, though the rack he had mentioned was all too obvious.

Neatly arranged in rows of pegs five deep and ten across, the rack was a simple hardwood thing, but as for the collars that hung from each and every peg... They were as exquisite as every other treasure she had seen here, and made from dozens of different materials. Fur, polished leather, glistening gold and platinum, and each with hanging charms and gems fit for a king's crown embedded within them.

Well, at least she was being given a choice with these... She stared at the rack almost loathingly. She knew it would only be fore a little while, and once she escaped, she could just take it off and run. Just a little while she quietly tried to reassure herself again, feeling her heart thudding in her chest, threatening to rise up into a lump in her throat. Like cauterizing a wound, she reasoned, it was probably better to just get this over with.

In the end, she chose a smooth, plain gold band, with a trio of rubies each the size of her claw inlaid into the front. The clasp seemed simple enough, and the inside was lined with soft leather that wouldn't chafe against her skin or snag on her fur. She felt like a criminal getting the honor of choosing which noose to use for her sentence.

She paused, just short of settling the gentle weight around her neck, her finger toying over the clasp. Just a little while. That would be all. She could to that... With a quiet snip, the lock fell into place, closing the golden collar around her neck. At least it was comfortable she mused, taking a moment to slip it back and forth, and to get used to the odd sensation.

"If you're done in there... I am still waiting." Scion's voice rumbled within her mind like an angry thunderhead, and she stepped back out into the main cavern itself once more, looking down and once again finding her tail and paws covering herself. He was scrutinizing her, she could feel his powerful gaze bearing down on her, and the collar felt far, far heavier a thing than it had just a few moments prior.

"An interesting choice... But it will suffice." She shuddered when his serpentine head leaned down, the heat of the dragon's breath like the hot air from a furnace wafting across her. Her neck broke out in pinpricks of sweat instantly, and despite her attempts at bravado, she felt herself shaking slightly, her heart racing like a trapped bird. She heard a snap like lightning arcing between metal, and jumped despite herself with a startled cry.

The collar around her neck had grown almost uncomfortably hot, like the Dragon's breath across the nape of her neck as he inspected his work. Her paws flew around to grab at the little metal clasp, but felt nothing but perfectly smooth metal. She began to panic, scratching her claws across the perfect collar of gold.

"It has been sealed by your choice to wear it. It will remain such until I relieve you of your duties. There will be no removing it. I trust you are pleased with your choice..." His deep, baritone rumble of mocking amusement drew up a fury inside of her, and she turned, lunging at his snout despite being entirely unarmed. He withdrew deftly, before opening his mouth. A deep throated growl came out, and suddenly, the collar cinched tight.

Rouge dropped to her knees like an anvil from a second floor window, gasping for air as she tried to dig her claws in under the collars vice-like hold on her throat. She couldn't breathe, couldn't even gasp! She looked up at the Dragon with wide eyes, suddenly realizing what a foolish, foolish thing she had done. Stupid, stupid girl! She clawed helplessly at the collar.

Her eyes met the Dragons narrowed, Golden slits, judging her wordlessly, as if daring her to try it again. His ivory teeth glinted around the corners of his curled lips. She pleaded with her eyes. Pawing uselessly at the space where the clamp had once been. Scion looked away, letting out an unimpressed huff of air, and instantly, the pressure around her throat vanished.

She fell to the ground, gasping heavily for air, each breath followed by a wheezing cough as she filled her aching lungs once again.

"I trust that your little stunt will conclude that lesson, yes? Any attempt to escape or do harm will not be tolerated. It is an honor to wear that collar. Remember that, and show some gratitude that I haven't simply incinerated you like the rest. Do that, and you won't have any troubles from it." His condescending tone painted her a fool for trying it, and she knew he was probably right... It had been foolish of her to come here in the first place, and now she was well and truly in over her head.

She managed a few breathless nods, laying curled up on the hard granite floor.

_ "Good. That brings us to the last item you bargained for..." _ His toothy grin alarmed her as he tilted his head back, revealing the amulet once more around his neck. How had he even gotten it back there?! The dragon didn't even have any thumbs to pick it up with any degree of care, much less tie any sort of knot. This whole place just reeked of magic. If it wasn't for stupid damned magic, she wouldn't even be in this situation... Though in her defense, she'd probably be a small pile of ashes on the floor of the cavern as well...

In hindsight, being forced to wear the dragon's collar and at least being alive was probably a step up from the ash pile. She found her knees, pulling herself upright with a ragged gasp, and kept her head bowed in deference to the dragon. She was his now, whether she liked it or not.

The dragon turned his head, locking eyes on her as the amulet around his neck swayed slowly, as if taunting her. She'd been -this- damned close to being done with this job. Perhaps if she'd just tried taking that alone, she wouldn't have gotten into this mess. She rubbed her throat, her fingers tracing the edges of the collar now securely fastened around her throat. Scion seemed most amused, a quiet chuckle rumbling from his chest.

"Do you even know what this is?" He asked her. The way his lip had curled almost made it look like the great feral beast was grinning smugly at her, mocking her defiant attempt to steal his treasure. She chose to remain stoically silent.

"This amulet is older even than that sword. A trinket from a forgotten folk, far in the lands to the south. Nothing else remains of their culture save ruins, and a few tablet carvings that I have elsewhere in my collection. From what I understand, it is a trinket from their fertility god, who granted good soil, good children, and many, many offspring to her followers..." He paused, watching for any sort of reaction, but she only tilted her head slightly, more confused than anything.

He continued, unabated. _ "Regardless, for this, there is a special price I would ask of you... I have three whelps of my name, not yet matured, and in need of someone to instruct them in the finer things once they are ready. You will raise them, care for them, and teach them of the world from my library until such time they are suitable to leave this place." _ Rouge watched as he seemed to look around longingly at his empty halls, the dragon's eyes showing something other than the bitter hostility she had grown used to.

What was that? Remorse? Longing, perhaps? When he turned back to face her, it was gone though, and his voice continued to rumble in her mind like the thunderhead of an approaching storm.

"There are no staff here any longer. All of the artisans and master masons died long ago, but perhaps you shall be the first of a new type of master to leave your mark on this place. I cannot say any other thief ever made it this far before you, and certainly not with quite as much spirit. Take pride in that, if you wish, but that is my final offer for your stolen goods. The amulet for your help in their upbringing."

There were more of them?! She looked around almost panicky, barely managing to compose herself enough to turn back to him, once more on his feet. He could evidently sense her unease, and one of his wings unfurled from his back, giving a lazy, dismissive flap.

"They are not here yet, but soon. I trust we have a deal?" Scion's voice rumbled. What choice did she have? She was as good as his slave at this point. Naked save for the collar, and already humiliated to rock bottom, it really couldn't get worse, or so she thought at least. She let out of quiet sigh.

"Fine. We have deal." The moment she said the words, it was as if something around her popped with a snap, and an odd tingling like static electricity gathering on her fur. The amulet around Scion's neck rose up as if on it's own accord, but as she watched it unloop itself from around his neck and float towards her, she could see his eyes carefully following it. Was he manipulating it with his magic too? When would the wizardry end?

Scion seemed pleased by this. She snatched the amulet from the air where it mockingly floated before her eyes, but the moment she did, it disappeared from her grasp. She heard a quiet click, and glanced down. How had?- The amulet was attached to her collar by a pair of small hinges, hanging like an oversized pendant across her collarbone and between her breasts!

"What is this?!" She snapped, demanding answers from him as the dragon took a step towards her, the ground shaking gently beneath his massive weight. She took a step back as he approached her, his snout barely a few feet from her as he extended his neck, his forked tongue flickering out to taste the air.

_ "Your end of the bargain. Foolish girl, do you see any dragoness in this place? We're scarce enough creatures as things are, but with you and that charm... Well, let us simply say that dragons once more will rule the lands as we should..." _ His eyes locked on her, but this time, it wasn't amusement, or even loathing that she saw in those sharply slitted golden eyes. It was something different entirely, and it scared her more than even the prospect of being incinerated.

Scion took another step towards her, and without hesitation, she turned to flee. Scion was quicker though. With his still unfurled wing, he gave a mighty beat towards her, the sudden impact of the air knocking her onto her front. She scrabbled across the smooth onyx floor on all fours instead, her heart fluttering. Surely he couldn't mean for her- That... That was impossible.

The collar around her throat grew suddenly hot, and she felt it constricting even as her paws reached up reflexively to try and pull it away from her skin, but she could feel herself choking already, the panic in her gut welling up into an unbridled terror.

"Of course, normally I wouldn't bother with things such as this... But it has been such a long time, and your appearance was most fortuitous. What did your employer tell you of the charm? That it was a family heirloom? What did he promise you? A dragon's weight in gold?" The dragon's massive paw came down on her back, pinning her shoulders to the floor, and pressing her cheek against the cold surface of the stone. She could see her own terrified reflection in the glossy black surface, and his massive head smirking down at her from over her shoulder.

"Every one before you fell, or was unsuitable... But now, with that charm around your neck... Well, that changed everything. Don't worry little mouse... I promise you'll be paid handsomely for your... Services..." The deep rumbling in Scion's chest made her bones rattle as he took a lumbering step over her. She was so exposed like this! What the hell was he going to do? She was too small! Despite herself, she realized she couldn't lower her hips, her ass shamefully raised like a dog in heat, her thighs apart as if she was presenting herself.

"What... What are you going to do?" She stammered, trying to make her body obey her will, but she couldn't move from the position. Glancing down, she realized the small gems on her collar and the amulet were giving off a faint glow.

"Don't tell me you've never lain with a male before girl... Surely you must know by now. After all, you will be the one to bear my children into this world. All that charm is doing is... Making you more accommodating to my needs, subtle changes to ensure you uphold your end of the deal. Three children, that was what you agreed to..." His voice openly taunted her, making her realize what a fool she had been. This had been a set up all along, and she had walked right into the dragon's lair, both figuratively and all too literally.

"But- I-I can't! We're not even the same species! And you're too big! You'd crush-" She grunted as his paw pressed down on her back for a moment, silencing her, before he removed it entirely. She tried to squirm, but the amulet around her neck only glowed brighter, keeping her in her compromising position beneath the dragon. She could feel his hot breath against the back of her spine before he stepped over her completely, shuffling slightly as he lowered his haunches down towards the ground, like a cat ready to pounce.

"On the contrary... That amulet has many interesting properties, most notably making any attempt to sire from a female successful, regardless of her species... No, little mouse. You will swell, and you shall lay, and you shall make good to your end of the agreement. Care to watch?" He rumbled darkly, and Rouge struggled as her head was turned against her will, looking back between her spread thighs. Her eyes went wide at what she saw.

The dragon's length was massive, his maleness hanging behind his hind legs like a serpent, tapering and curved, like the way the reptile's neck moved. The entire thing was a red fleshy beast, the whole surface looking as if it had a thin film of oil upon it, the natural lubricants from his body dripping in slow, fat droplets that clung to the very tip of the foot long monster aimed at her exposed sex.

"Please! Don't! Don't do this! She tried to squirm, but the magic binding her was completely unyielding. All she succeeded in doing was awkwardly shifting less than an inch in place, her body quivering with the fear and anxiety flooding her thoughts. The dragon's girth pressed up against her body, running along the inside of her thigh as she watched the tip curling and twisting, as if it was searching for the entrance to her body.

"Please! Scion, anything but this- Ahhh!" Rouge screamed when the dragon finally found his mark, the tip squirming its way between the puffy outer lips of her sex, before like a spear driving forward, his length went rigid inside of her, piercing into her depths in a single, brutal thrust that forced her body open around him.

Above her, Scion's rumble of pleasure drowned out all other noises, including her quiet whimpering as she was raped by this beast. She was no virgin by any means, but she hadn't exactly had a fetish for stallions either; The dragon felt like he was going to rip her in two! She let out a grunt as his hips rolled above her, drawing his girth out from within her, leaving her passage coated in his slick, almost oily precum, before he drove home once more like a battering ram against her womb.

"Ahhh! Please! It's too much!" Rouge grit her teeth as Scion forced more of himself into her, the tip of that long, tapering length squirming around inside of her, probing for the opening of her womb.

"If you stopped clenching so hard, you would have an easier time, but it matters no to me. We've barely begun, little mouse. You can relax and try to find some enjoyment in this... Or not. Either way." His voice seemed to laugh within her head. He gave his hips another roll, all but hilting himself in the canine that had never been intended to breed with such a large beast.

She could feel each ribbon of preseed that sprayed from his cock-head, deep inside her passage. They stung like somebody had flicked droplets of boiling water against her skin before they cooled rapidly, aiding the dragon in his forced claiming of her body. He was by no means a gentle 'lover', taking his pleasure from her without any care for her own. She was simply a thief, a stupid girl who had been caught, and now, a vessel for him to dump his load into, no better than a common whore who he'd paid with his hoard.

"Ahhh~ Gods, enough! You've made your point!" The canine tried moving again, once again getting nowhere with it. Scion seemed to be amused with her attempts at defiance, and leaned his head down low until he was growling right beside her ear, his hot breath washing over her face in long, drawn out pants.

"On the contrary. You are about to learn a lesson that you will not soon forget. Your dear employer had promised me a breeder, and you will be the first to bear my linage. Think of it as a privilege, rather than a punishment." He chuckled darkly, giving a loud grunt as his tip stiffened within her, driving into her cervix with a powerful thrust of his cock.

She bit her lip, stifling her cry. Oh gods, he was inside her womb! She could feel the tip of his shaft lewdly wriggling like a worm within her, spraying her womb with his boiling cum as he filled her, thick pulses of the off white cream forcing her omb to expand rapidly to accommodate the sheer volume. Surprisingly though, there was almost no pain- What the hell was going on? She felt disgusted; abused and horrified at what the dragon was turning her into, little better than a breeding bitch, out to stud.

She felt bloated, and looking down, she could see the faintest of swells to her stomach; The sight made her cringe. "Please, No more Scion! Canines are- Ahh~ Not meant to take dragons like this!" She growled, before a sudden, startled squeak escaped her, something hard and firm pressing against the outer lips of her womanhood. "Wha-What is that?!"

_ "The first of my heirs.... Don't worry. It'll fit." _

Rouge could only look down between her legs in horror as the orb-like bulge at the base of Scion's prehensile shaft stretched her out, making her groan in a perverse mix of pleasure and pain, her mind so far gone with her treatment the two were starting to blend. There was a few long moments of resistance as she watched on, wide eyed, trying desperately to clench her inner muscles down and deny him, but in the end, it did her no good. With a messy sounding pop, the egg slid into her body, and with a torturous slowness that let her feel every second of its passage, it slid down the length of his buried cock towards her womb.

He didn't give her time to focus on that however, a second egg already threatening to violate her again, and as before, it only took seconds before it was traveling along behind the first, snugly within her birth canal. She gasped as the third pushed against her sex, stretching her wide with a furious moan of frustration.

"Ahhh! You fucker! You sick fucking fuck! Make it stop! Please!" Rouge would have thrashed if she could, but instead, all she could do was close her eyes and pant as the first egg made it's way up against her cervix, dilating the opening as it slid into it's new home for the next few months, the leathery orb settling heavily deep within her womb. She stared at the new bulge in her belly with fascinated, and awe struck horror, gasping as the second egg made to join it's predecessor.

"Go on then, do your worst!" She spat in defiance, groaning and letting her head sink to the floor as the next orb pushed into her womb, making her gasp at the sudden, unexpected pleasure that set her nerves alight. 'Oh gods, no, no no no. Don't make me do that as well... Please, not now' Rouge silently bit her lip, trying to resist her bodies confused signals. You don't like this. This is sickening. Oh-

The moan left her lips entirely against her minds will as the third and final egg entered he vulnerable body, seeking passage straight to her womb, and Scion's massive cock granted it just that. It slid through her passage without resistance, garnering only quiet gasps and muted huffs of pleasure fro mthe canine.

_ "There you go... So much better just to enjoy, isn't it, pet?" _ Scion taunted her, his last 'heir' pushing through her cervix with a pop that sent his slave over the edge. Rouge couldn't have helped it if she tried; There were strange and twisted magics at play here, and her body went into spasms despite being unable to move, a long, drawn out moan on the dog's lips as her sex coated the dragon's invading length with hot puppy slick.

The final egg came to rest in her swollen womb, the bulge of pregnancy obvious in her previously trim and athletic figure. The Dragon withdrew after a few more moments, a wet streak of canine and creamy white dragon cum dripping from her stretched honeypot to pool on the onyx floor beneath her.

"Ahhh... Much better, it had been so long... Perhaps I shall re-evaluate the choice to free you in a few years, once you've laid, and the children have had an opportunity to grow and mature... Or perhaps I should just put a new clutch into you once you're done with these ones." His tongue brushed across the side of her cheek, and the spell holding her finally released. Rouge collapsed to her side in an exhausted mess, reaching down to rub at her sore and swollen sex as she curled in on herself, her other paw cradling her swollen belly.

"We shall see, little mouse. You're in my den now."