The black dragon stared down at Dare with both amusement and curiosity. Though the chamber they stood in was enormous, the tremendous size of the dragon made it seem as if there was no room at all — no room to move; no room to breathe.

Dare risked a quick glance upward past the dragon and into the infinite blackness. He’d fallen for what seemed like minutes before finally landing in this room. Had his friends also touched the gem that teleported him here? And if so, did that mean they were now falling towards the same room. He hoped so. He couldn’t help but notice the occasional bit of acidic drool that would fall from the dragon’s mouth and sizzle upon the floor.

What had the dragon said when Dare first landed? Something about someone forgetting him? What was the name? Dorsallius? Doofamous? It was something like that. It suddenly came to him: Dorsarious.

“Who’s Dorsarious?” Dare asked.

The dragon tilted his head slightly. Was he aware of what Dare was trying to do? Or did Dare totally mess up the name?

“He’s the keeper of this tower,” the dragon finally replied. “In return for my services, he brings me treasures… and food.”

Dare swallowed hard. “Umm, you said… that you thought he forgot about you? Why? When’s the last time you saw him?”

“Ages. It’s hard to keep track, but I’d say at least two hundred, three hundred years.”

“Do you think that maybe he’s not coming back?” Dare ventured. Maybe he could bribe his way out of this. “I mean, what if he’s dead? You could be waiting here for ever.”

Something rumbled from within the dragon belly — something that Dare thought was akin to a deep laugh. “Sometimes, he’s been gone twice as long. In the end though, he always rewards me for keeping his tower safe. He gives me treasures of immeasurable worth and… as I said… food. By the way, how did you come across this tower? Was it from some foolhardy adventure? Or maybe you’ve stumbled across one of Dorsarious’s puzzle boxes.”

“I… I don’t know. I was just out and about, making fun of a goblin who had no arms and poof, I was in a long hallway filled with blades.”

The dragon said no more, only stared down with those piercing yellow eyes, when suddenly from above came a strange, guttural howl. Something large was falling right towards them, and both Dare and the dragon stepped back just in time. A large black bear slammed into the ground.

It lay there motionless for several moments, then slowly looked around. Dare breathed a sigh of relief. It was Mystic in bear form. He knew it. The room was completely dark, but with his dark vision, he could see her form clearly. Could bears see in the dark? From the way she was squinting about with those tiny black eyes, he didn’t think so. He didn’t have any torches.

“A black bear?” the dragon said, elated. “I haven’t seen a bear in ages!”

Mystic jumped at the sound of the booming voice and spun in its direction. Dare put a calming hand on her side. “It’s me, Dare,” he whispered. She moved ever so slightly closer to him. “Keep being a bear, okay?”

Maybe the others would be here soon. Then they’d stand a chance against the dragon.

“Tell me, is this your pet?” the dragon asked.

“Umm, yeah,” Dare said.

“Can it do any tricks?”

“Only in the bedroom,” he replied before he could think better of it. He could feel Mystic bristle up against him. It had been the answer he’d given at Stonehill Inn when she’d done something similar. His response had gotten one helluva laugh. Now, there was only the raspy sounds of the dragon breathing in and out. Another spatter of drool landed near Mystic’s foot, sizzling the stone on impact.

The dragon bent its long neck closer as if to closer inspect them, and Dare could smell the cloying smell of rotted leaves. “And, how much do you love your pet? Enough to give your life for it?”

“Yes,” Dare said. The dragon smiled at that. They were almost out of time. Where in the nine hells were the others?

There was a loud thump, and everyone looked to where the sound came from. Nazzeth groaned and slowly got to his feet. It looked as if he’d already gotten a torch out — maybe during his fall. Sure enough, he lit it as soon as he stood. He saw Dare first and then the thirty foot tall dragon standing before him. Dare knew the moment it registered because Nazzeth’s mouth dropped open, and his eyes went wide.

Mystic, for the first time, saw the dragon and immediately backed away. In a flash, the creature was there, sinking it’s teeth deep into her neck and shaking her in its jaws. When Dare tried to intervene, it lashed out with its claws. Dare blocked the first strike, and managed to slash at it’s belly with Talon, though the sword barely cut through the dragon’s thick scales. The dragon slashed at Dare again, this time tearing deep into his chest while continuing to bite down on Mystic. Dare grunted in pain. Through the bear’s eyes, Mystic saw the world go black. She felt it die. Then she felt nothing.

All at once, the bear disappeared, and Mystic apparated in its place. The dragon, surprised at the sudden change, dropped Mystic to the stone floor. She quickly sprang to her feet, next to Dare who was bleeding profusely.

“Back up!” yelled Nazzeth, as he lifted his hand. A small spark materialized on his palm. As the spark started to grow, Nazzeth hurled it at the dragon where it ignited into a massive fireball. With a flap of its wings, the dragon was able to escape a direct impact. The same couldn’t be said for the mound of crystals on the floor, however. As the fireball dispersed and the smoke began to fade, everyone could see that the crystals, once dull and gray, had now taken on a purple hue. The dragon noticed as well.

It roared in anger as it quickly turned to face the spell’s caster. “Dragonborn,” it growled as it landed before Nazzeth. The ground trembled as it rushed him. “Abomination, lowest of the low, a mockery to Tiamet and all dragon kind! Instead of eating you I think I’ll decorate my lair with your innards!”

The dragon distracted, Dare opened his satchel and pulled out a health potion. Though blood poured from his chest, he still offered the potion to Mystic first.

She shook her head. “I’m good. The bear took most of the damage, poor thing.”

Dare swigged the potion, and his wounds healed almost at once.

Nazzeth manifested spectral wings and was just able to take flight before the dragon reached him. He flew high above Dare and Mystic and further into the lair. He could hear the mighty sound of the dragon’s wings as it gave chase. He turned and cast a ray of sickening greenish energy at the dragon, but the dragon swooped to the side. Instead of hitting the dragon, the ray hit the mound of crystal, which started to glow even brighter — enough to cover the room in a shimmering hue of purple. The look of intense hatred in the dragon’s eyes shook Nazzeth to his core. The dragon was on him in a moment. It opened its mouth, trying to clamp down on him with its rows of sharp teeth, but at the last moment, Nazzeth cast a magical shield around himself. There was a loud snapping sound as the dragon bit down, but the shield held. The dragon tore free, and thrust out his claws with such tremendous power that the shield shattered. The claws sunk into Nazzeth’s side.

Mystic had seen the crystal glow brighter when Nazzeth’s magic struck it. “You see that?” she said to Dare. “It must be some sort of blight rot.”

“Blight what?”

“Blight rot. The crystal upstairs? The one that we disabled to stop the traps?”

The mound itself wasn’t that high — maybe three feet, but it was over twenty feet in diameter. Dare looked at it. “Oh. Yeah,” Dare replied. “That one was blue though.”

“Maybe this one uses magic in some other way. Some other way that we can use to our advantage.”

Nazzeth was still alive, facing the dragon from about thirty feet in the air. Dare hoped Nazzeth could fend the dragon off a little longer. He also hoped that the rest of his friends would arrive soon. And hopefully this glowing purple mound of crystal could aid them in some way. For as dense as Dare was, even he know that those were a lot of things to be hopeful for. All he could worry about, he supposed, were the things he could control. He ran for the mound of crystal.

Meanwhile, Nazzeth’s magical shield was gone. There was nothing to protect him from the dragon, and from the look in the dragon’s eyes, it knew it. Nazzeth touched the astral shard he’d pinned to his sleeve earlier — the one he’d found in the shimmering tower. If he understood its powers correctly, it could be his saving grace. If he was wrong, well… then he might be dead.

Just as the dragon lunged for him, Nazzeth disappeared. At the next moment, he apparated near the crystal — thirty feet above Dare.

Dare stared at the glowing mound for a few moments, looking for anything that made sense. Nothing did. He went ahead and did what he always did in these types of situations: He hit it with his sword. A chunk of crystal broke free, but that was it. Whatever happened before when Nazzeth hit it with magic failed to happen again. A tiny bulb lit up in his head.

“Mystic!” Dare yelled. “Hit this thing with a spell! Maybe it’s giving the dragon its power!”

Mystic nodded and raised her arms. Bright energy sparked in her hands. She never saw the dragon swoop down from above. It reached her in seconds and swung its mighty tail hard enough to drop her to the ground before flying back up towards Nazzeth. She lay there, unmoving.

Nazzeth, already thirty feet in the air saw not only the dragon rushing up to meet him but something else falling from the sky. It was Mercarri. She was falling — not end over end as he had — but gracefully. She landed on her feet right next to Mystic. It took her only a moment to assess the situation. She knelt next to Mystic and healed her. Mystic groggily opened her eyes. “What happened?”

“No time to explain,” Mercarri replied. She started helping Mystic to her feet.

Nazzeth braced himself for the dragon, who was quickly approaching, but instead of rushing him head on, the dragon continued its upward climb another twenty feet. Nazzeth managed to cast Chill Touch and was satisfied to see bony figures apparated next to the dragon and tear down its belly as it went by. The dragon let out a roar but wasn’t slowed in the least. In fact, he barely seemed to be hurt at all. This wasn’t looking good for Team Ramrod. Nazzeth glanced upward, hoping to see Livari and Frank, Lilvari’s demon friend. There was no one.

Nazzeth cast Chill Touch again, this time at the mound of crystals. It glowed even brighter, bathing the entire lair with unnatural purple light. A fissure of pure energy appeared, seeming to emanate from the center of the mound. The dragon roared in fury again.

“Leave us be, or I’ll hit it again!” yelled Nazzeth.

The dragon, still another twenty feet higher than Nazzeth, made a strange sound in the back of its throat. Nazzeth waited intently for what was to happen next. Maybe attacking the mound with magic hurt the dragon, and it was about to call a truce. The dragon opened its mouth, and a stream of hot acid gushed out at Nazzeth, it’s power forceful enough to reach Dare on the ground. To Nazzeth it felt as if every nerve ending in his body had been lit aflame. He screamed, and the moment he opened his mouth, acid poured down his throat. The last thought he had before going unconscious was that he was glad the pain was over.

Dare had managed to dive to the side and avoid a direct hit from the dragon’s acid, but it didn’t make too much of a difference. Under his melted armor, his skin blistered and burned. He’d never known this much pain. He managed to get to his feet. That’s when he saw Nazzeth lying several feet away, unconscious. The dragon had turned its attention to Mystic and Mercarri. Dare hobbled over to Nazzeth and used his unending flask to wash some of the acid off him. Then he started for Mystic and Mercarri.

“Nevermind us!” Mystic yelled. “See if you can figure out that blight rot. It might be our only hope.”

Dare had to squint — the crystal was so bright that it hurt to look at it. He thought he saw something near the center… something different… something new. No longer was it glowing bright purple. Instead it appeared to sink inward a bit and took on a brown, muddy color. He got closer and made to poke at it with Talon, but instead of the sword clanking against crystal, it went right through. He had hardly a moment to register his surprise because a scream came from somewhere within the brownish area — a girl’s scream. Someone was in there. He locked eyes with Mystic.

“What is it?” she yelled.

“A way out!”

He didn’t know how he knew it, but he just did. Dare jumped in.

The dragon landed right in front of Mystic and Mercarri. Mystic could see the rage in its eyes. They had no chance against an adult black dragon. Even if Frank and Lilvari were to show up right now — it was hopeless. Their only chance was the portal. It didn’t matter what awaited them on the other side because the only thing here for them was death.

Mystic needed to buy them time to reach it. She used the last of her strength to summon a wall of water. It materialized right in front of her and Mercarri — a wall of water ten feet high and thirty feet long. She pushed out with her hand, thrusting the water at the dragon. Startled, the dragon took to the sky, beating its wings with all its might. The force knocked both Mystic and Mercarri to the ground. The back of Mystic’s head struck a rock, blurring her vision. She had to fight to keep from succumbing to the darkness. Mercarri got her to her feet and while the dragon was dozen or so feet in the air, she made a break for the mound of crystal. The last thing she heard as she fell through the portal was the dragon’s roar.

Lilvari still saw nothing but darkness when heard the roar. It sent shivers up her neck. A dragon. Shit. Suddenly falling in infinite darkness wasn’t the worst thing imaginable. She thought to what had happened just minutes before.

With Nazzeth, Mercarri and Frank at her side, she’d fought the two mimics. In no time at all, the mimics were reduced to nothing but broken wood and chunks of bloated purple flesh — even without Dare or Mystic’s help. And after that?

After that, Nazzeth, Mercarri and Lilvari took some time looking over the rest of the study. They didn’t see Dare or Mystic anywhere, and it was eventually Nazzeth who touched the red gem centered on the enormous globe. The moment he did, he disappeared.

“I think I know what happened to Dare and Mystic,” Mercarri had said. They both stared at the globe for several moments before she added, “should we go after them?”

Touching things that made you disappear didn’t seem like a great idea, but at the same time, there wasn’t any other way out of this study. Of that Lilvari was sure.

Mercarri touched the gem and disappeared. Lilvari looked over to Frank. Frank was about four feet tall, had leathery skin and bat-like wings. His eyes were like little yellow orbs of fire. “Okay Frank. Go ahead. Touch the gem. I’ll be right behind you.”

Frank did as he was told. Lilvari took a few more moments to gaze around the room, hoping a better solution would present itself. When none did, she sighed and touched the gem as well.

There was a moment when it was like she was looking at herself through a red haze. Then there was nothing but blackness. Minutes later, she was still in that blackness, falling into nothing. But then she heard the roar.

She fell for another thirty seconds or so before the ground came into view. She was tumbling end over end, so it was hard to really figure out what was going on. Most noticeable was the large mound of glowing crystal in the center of the room. It lit everything in a bright purple hue. On one rotation she saw the dragon. The next, she saw Frank standing his ground in front of it while Nazzeth lay on the ground not too far away, probably unconscious. No surprise there. The whole area surrounding him was covered with steaming acid.

On the last rotation before she hit the ground, Lilvari saw the dragon rake its claws across Frank’s middle, causing Frank to disappeared. She tried to land on her feet but was unable. She hit the ground with a thud. The dragon was directly in front of her, and it was smiling.

I”Looks like I’ll have my meal after all,” it said.

This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. She looked back to Nazzeth, still unmoving. Where was everyone else?

“Hey!” she heard from somewhere near the mound. It sounded like Mercarri. “Nazzeth! Frank! Lilvari! If you can hear me, run towards my voice. Run to the crystal!”

The dragon’s head snapped in the direction of the sound. It gave Lilvari at most a few seconds to act. She jumped to her feet. By the time the dragon had turned back to her, she was just pulling her goat staff free. The dragon, already guessing that she’d try to attack, stepped back, but Lilvari didn’t intend to attack. Instead she held the goat staff up as if making an offering. She knew that black dragons loved their treasures. And the Goat Staff of Maglubiyet was a fine treasure indeed.

The dragon stood there, not sure what to do and was still doing so when Lilvari let go of it. As it fell to the ground, she rushed towards Nazzeth. The dragon, realizing it had been a trick slashed at her with its claws. The staff was sent flying across the chamber, and Lilvari felt a sting of pain in her calf. The force behind it almost brought her down, but she managed to stay on her feet. She grabbed Nazzeth by the neck and pulled him towards the voice of her friends who were now all calling their names.

As she reached the portal, she took one last look back. The dragon’s face was pure hatred as it raced after her, already knowing that it was too late, that they’d beaten it. She flipped it the middle finger as she went through.

Lilvari landed on a hard wooden floor with a thunk. Luckily Nazzeth broke her fall.

“Holy crap! That was amazing!” said the voice of a young woman. Lilvari looked up to see all her friends standing around her — all of them bleeding and bruised. They seemed to be all standing in the middle of some general store.

The young woman before her was maybe in her late teens. She had wild black hair and was wearing aviator goggles. “I swear that that was the coolest thing I ever saw!” she exclaimed. “I’ll definitely buy that bronze puzzle cube from you. I could make a fortune!”