Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The Dragon’s Death Game

The Combat Mage had one of the lights brought all the way forward, just past their group. A skilled mage could keep one at full strength even when manipulating it from a distance. But he only had it go about twenty or so feet in front of him before indicating to have it held in place.

This corridor was smaller than the others they had traversed, so it was hard for Emil to get a good look at what was ahead of them. It seemed like the hallway opened up to a larger area, but he couldn’t tell anything more than that. The Combat Mage had them stop once more, and convened with the professionals. With how little room there was, this time they had to speak in front of the students.

“It seems like some kind of cavern is ahead. The design of the wall is different from where it begins, it seems to change into undeveloped earth. So I’m not sure if it's simply a new part of the dungeon, or where it meets a natural cave system. How often does an old dungeon end up connecting to the environment?” he asked. One of the experts, an older woman, was the first to respond.

“Naturally? It’s never been heard of. All dungeons, including ancient ones like this, are fully closed off from the surrounding ecosystem. If there was a cave in this area, it would have simply developed around it. There are instances of large earthquakes or magical events forcing them to open up. But that’s often accompanied with significant structural damage, which does not seem to be the case here.” Her colleagues all nodded and indicated their agreement.

“I see. In that case, let us continue onward.” Their team once again began to move forward. And indeed, the corridor opened up to what looked like a cavern for all intents and purposes. The ceiling seemed to rise up and went out of sight. When a light was sent up, Emil was able to see rows of mass and stalactites hanging above them. As they walked, he swore he was able to see movement along the walls. Something or multiple somethings that constantly moved just out of sight.

The perfect silence from the previous parts of the dungeon was also now broken. For the sounds of water dripping seemed to be coming and echoing from all around them. And as they walked, a buzzing sound from somewhere ahead increasingly grew in volume.

As the noise only became more intense, something new appeared to the team. For the first time since they had entered the dungeon, they were able to see a source of light separate from their own. As the walls around steadily widened out and gave them more room, the group had slowly become more spread out without noticing. As such, everyone was able to have a clear view of the spheres of purple flame floating through the air.

With those flames proving new lights for them to see with, the details of their surroundings suddenly become much easier to spot. The source of the buzzing had been from hundreds upon hundreds of insects, crawling on the walls all around them. But at least that would explain the flickers of movement he had seen.

Normally, the flames must have been the only thing the insects ever knew as a light source. But each time their group had passed any on the walls, the bugs would have scattered and hid as they walked by.

But aside from the moss, insects, and occasional clump of vegetation, the dungeon seemingly remained a barren place. There was some kind of pile of bones in the middle, with a few of them also scattered around. As they all entered, it became clear that they had entered another dead end. For on every side around them, it was only solid walls, with no other visible ways for them to go.

“Hmmm.” Began one of the professionals. “Perhaps we should take another break before turning back? These bones seem to be all part of one large animal. If possible, I’d like a little time to study them and see what kind of creature they once belonged to.”

No sooner did the words leave that man’s mouth, than the chamber began to shake. Instantly and suddenly, the passageway they had just come through was slammed shut by slabs of rock. Stalactites fell from the ceiling and exploded against the floor.

“Assume formation! Students remain in the middle of the group! Everyone get back, I’m going to blow away the stone and open the path back up!” The Combat Mage barked out. He stuck his arm out and closed his eyes to concentrate. With the reputation Combat Mages had, Emil expected a giant ball of flame or bolt of lightning to shoot out and explode against the wall. However, not a flicker of magical power came out.

“How many years…” a voice tore through the minds of every person there. The group collectively turned around. Bones flew around in the air, a string of arcane light connecting them together. Nobody was able to speak or move, dumbfounded by the sight before them.

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The last bone to move into place was a giant skull, decorated with a pair of horns. Cold, blue energy filled up the area where its sockets should have been. But even without actual eyes, it felt like the skeletal monstrosity was able to see right through their very souls.

“Many, too many, it seems. In your minds, the word ‘dragon’ simply does not exist. Has history truly forgotten the name of my kind, or are the mortals of this age simply ignorant? It matters not, the end result is the same. You.” The beast that called itself a ‘dragon’ turned its gaze to one of the dungeon experts. Even from where Emil stood, he could see her legs visibly shaking. Her face was deathly pale, as though she were about to faint right there on the spot.

“Your mind is too noisy.” A crunch echoed throughout the cave. The woman collapsed onto the ground, hitting it face first. Every person there looked on in horror as they watched her body. She began to practically deflate as her skin became grey and cracked.

Within seconds, what had once been a living human being was now just a dried-out husk of skin and bone. A younger student, one of the first years, fell onto his knees and started to vomit. Instantly, he too met the same fate.

“Oh, what’s this? It would seem that all of you are capable of wielding magic. Not much though, however, but still more impressive than the mortals of my time. For that, I offer your species a small bit of praise for making that much progress. Let me see here, it’s hard to tell with how relatively weak you all are. But it would seem that the most powerful of you is…”

Sensing his fate, the Combat Mage turned to flee. He ran to the wall, where the entrance had once been, and slammed his fists against the stone. Letting out a pained scream, he too crumpled to the floor like the two others before him. But even though three people had now just died, nobody else dared to move or even make a sound. How could they, if doing so meant they would be killed on the spot? At least by being quiet and remaining still, there was a chance that the monster would be satisfied and at least spare a few.

“How incredibly disappointing. I even removed the casting restriction. I thought when sensing his magic return, he would have at least tried to fight back. But even as a useless coward in life, at least his death shall serve as my fuel. Hmmm. The power I can gather from your collective death is slightly better than that of these insects, at least. But even then, I likely won’t have enough to free myself from this accursed prison. So rather than kill you all now and return to boredom, how about we play a game? I will allow one of you mortals to live and escape, but only one.”

The undead dragon’s gaze steadily turned to each of them, one by one. Within a second, five more people collapsed and died on the floor. Their group originally had fifteen members, but they had already been reduced down to eight.

“Well, this method is simply no fun. My intent had been to read your memories and spare whoever I felt had the most interesting one. But just from those first few alone, it seems you all led the same, boring lives. Let’s see, what to do, what to do. Ahah, this should provide more entertainment. First, I grant you all permission to move and speak again. Simply do not annoy me by screaming, crying, or attempting to run away. Second, form a line in front of me.”

Suddenly, it felt as though they had been given the ability to breathe again. They followed the dragon’s instructions and moved into a row. But even with direct permission to speak, nobody dared say anything.

“Alright, here’s the game. I will ask you all to give me your answer to a question. I will spare whoever’s answers I find pleasing. If more than one person survives, then I will ask another, and we shall keep going until a winner can be crowned. Here’s the first question: five friends and five family members are about to be killed, and you control the lives of all ten. However, only half can be saved. So do you save all of one group, or split it between the two? You may answer, starting from the mortal on my right side.”

Starting from the right meant that Emil would be second from last in answering. Meaning that he had a chance to hear the answers of six people before it was his turn. As such, he knew he needed to use this opportunity to listen and think carefully about his own answer.

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