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Henry stumbled forward, disoriented in the darkness. He spun around, trying to regain his equilibrium, but he ended up falling to his knees instead. Holding his head in his hands, he waited for the sensation of spinning to stop, and then he looked up and around him once more. Where was he? How had he ended up here, in the dark and alone?
It took another few moments, but as his eyes continued to adjust to the dark, Henry remembered his fall. He'd been looking for the entrance to... a cave, and he'd fallen and ended up here. Looking upward, he could see a pinprick of brightness that showed him the hole he'd fallen through, and Henry thanked the gods that he'd survived such a significant fall without apparent injury. Looking around, he also realized that there was a source of light down here after all. Over toward his right there was a patch of grey against the black.
Pushing himself carefully to his feet, Henry turned toward the lighter area, the scabbard of his sword swinging with the movement. He put his hand on the pommel of the weapon to steady it, only then realizing how strange it was for him to be wearing a sword at all. He was a mage, wasn't he? Wasn't magic his weapon of choice?
The voice of his weapon master tugged at his memory. A warrior knows to use every available tool at his disposal. Of course! Henry remembered the many long hours he'd trained with both blade and spell, helping to make him the young man he was today. A young man destined to save his kingdom. Henry moved once more toward the lighter patch in the darkness.
Moving slowly and carefully, unwilling to tempt fate and provide the opportunity for another fall or an accident that would bring a premature end to his quest, Henry thought about his journey to this point. He knew that this quest was dangerous, that he could fail and die... like the others who had accompanied him. As prince of this kingdom, it wasn't usual that he travelled alone. There had been others, warriors who'd accompanied him, but they'd died one by one...
Henry suddenly felt crippling grief over the deaths of his men. The deaths had been his fault, every one of them. If he hadn't been so determined to take on this responsibility, both he and his men would be home right now, safe behind thick, strong walls. Safe from the poverty and the destruction that ruled this kingdom with an iron fist. Safe... He could be safe.
The prince shook his head, trying to banish the cowardly thoughts. This was his destiny! It was his job to save his kingdom, just as the prophecy foretold. Henry, a child of the royal family with magical gifts, would turn the fortunes of Mythesti around. He would alleviate the poverty that gripped this kingdom, he would help the citizens to rebuild their homes... He would defeat the monster that was at the root of all of the kingdom's problems.
Henry reached the patch of grey and stretched out his hand. He expected to find stone, like the rest of the cave in which he found himself, but instead his hand passed through empty air. Moving forward a little more, and keeping his hand extended in front of him, Henry found the opening to a side passage that led deeper into the heart of the mountain. If he'd had a torch, he was positive that he'd never have found the way into the monster's lair; it would have looked like the room's walls were solid all the way around without the tiny difference in light to give the passage away. Thanking the gods once again for his good fortune, Henry moved down the new branch of the tunnel.
As he moved slowly down the passage, he could feel the rock practically vibrating under his feet. Unsure if this was an actual feeling or the result of his affinity for the earth, Henry paused and took a deep, steadying breath. Extending his senses outward in all directions, the prince tried to determine what was causing the vibrations, hoping it wasn't something like a cave in or earthquake.
He could feel the earth all around him, and he drew comfort from the steadfastness he sensed. There was no impending eruption or shift in the stone anywhere within range of his spell, but what he did sense did nothing to ease his anxiety. In a large room not too far ahead of where he now stood, rested a huge beast whose very breath was causing the vibrations he felt. He wasn't far from finishing his quest now, for better or for worse.
The farther down the passage that Henry moved, the easier it was to see. Better lighting made it possible to move faster, but knowing what awaited him made him hesitant to pick up his pace. How was he, a young man alone, supposed to face this fearsome beast and survive? Waves of self-doubt rolled through him, and Henry struggled to push his way past them. What would happen to his kingdom if he failed? What would happen if he turned away right now? Would it really be so bad?
Fighting to take another step toward his destiny, Henry tried to banish the defeatist thoughts running through his mind. He was going to do this, he told himself. He would succeed and everyone would rejoice!
As he rounded the final bend in the passage, light flooded the tunnel and forced him to squint his eyes tightly shut. He could see yellow through his eyelids, and as he cracked his eyes open slowly to give them time to adjust, the sight that was slowly revealed before him took his breath away.
The passage opened out into a natural cavern more than large enough to swallow the entire city of Danmoor with room to spare. Henry stood on a ledge about ten feet above the bottom of the cavern, and somewhere around fifty feet or so below the top.
Looking around, the prince tried to determine the source of the very bright light, and he blinked a few times to clear his vision to be sure of what he saw. The bottom of the cavern had initially seemed to be something like a yellow quartz, something that was reflecting light, but he realized now that he'd been mistaken. The floor was actually covered in gold and gems that were reflecting the light, and he readjusted his estimate of his current height to closer to fifteen feet from the actual stone floor. That much treasure would not only correct the downward slide of Mythesti's economy, but it would propel them into an economic boom of... draconic proportions. All he had to do was slay the beast that guarded the treasure.
It took him some time to find the actual monster, his eyes dazzled by the light as they were. It took him even longer to realize that the light emanated from the beast itself, a dragon partially buried beneath its hoard. Once he realized what he was looking at, once he traced the sinuous body with his eyes, Henry nearly turned and fled.
The dragon was so large that it could have easily crushed the walls surrounding his city just by stepping on them. The beast could flatten the capital just by laying down, and the yellow light that poured from beneath its scales told Henry that it was a dragon that could likely breath fire as well. It was no wonder that his citizens hid inside their homes in fear, that the kingdom was so incredibly poor, and that nobody seemed to have any hope. Faced with this monster, Henry felt the same need to run and hide and give up. There was no possible way that he could defeat this dragon.
The hopelessness of the situation drove Henry to his knees. He couldn't advance and he couldn't go back. Everyone expected him to defeat this monster, but how? He looked around the cavern again in desperation. Seeing nothing that could possibly help him, Henry turned his eyes to the heavens to look for some fortuitous divine intervention, and there it was, plain as day.
The roof of the cavern was rough and full of protrusions, many of which looked sharp and dangerous. There wasn't any single stalactite that would do anything other than make the dragon angry, but if he dropped the entire roof...
Closing his eyes and gathering his strength, Henry prepared to cast the largest spell he'd ever attempted. He needed to ensure that he brought down enough of the stone and rock overhead to kill the dragon because making it angry would only lead to more damage to his already troubled kingdom. He knew that the amount of rock he needed would mean that it would take a long time to dig out the treasure that would also be buried, but the mining operation would provide jobs to a large number of people, so that would be a good thing too.
Henry clenched his fists and brought them to his chest, using the gesture to symbolically gather the
magical energy he needed to do this. When he felt full to bursting with power, he flung his hands outward, spreading his fingers as if he was letting something go. He felt the spell rush through the air and slam into the ceiling high above. The impact was loud, and if Henry hadn't already been on his knees, the shockwave would have knocked him down.
The spell was more than loud enough to wake the sleeping dragon, and the beast raised its massive head to look up at what Henry hoped was its doom rushing toward it. The dragon breathed in, almost casually, and let loose a blast of fire that made Henry cover his face and head instinctively, trying to protect himself from the heat.
Stone melted beneath the onslaught of the dragon fire, becoming liquid that rained down upon the treasure and the beast. Presumably immune to the effects and consequences of its own weapon, the dragon seemed undisturbed by the liquid rock, but Henry had started a chain reaction of sorts when he'd cast his spell. As the fire from the dragon's attack died down, there was an enormous crack and another section of the room came free. The dragon seemed almost surprised when it glanced up, but this time it didn't have the chance to breathe fire. The rock slammed into the beast, which crumpled and was buried.
Henry jumped to his feet, startled by his sudden victory, but as the dust settled and there was no movement below, he was able to admit to himself that he'd done it. Mythesti was free of the tyranny of the dragon, and Henry had done what he was born to do. His men hadn't died in vain, and now everything would be fine for his people. His elation got the better of him, and Henry leaped into the air with a whoop of jubilation. As he landed, however, his foot came down on a patch of loose gravel. As his boots went out from under him, Henry wind milled his arms in an effort to keep his balance, but gravity had a hold of him and pulled him over. His head hit the ground hard, and Henry blacked out.