Good. That must mean they’re in the chamber. It insulates the magic of the shielders so enemies can’t detect them easily.
Yes. It is surprising I can sense anything. Perhaps the door was open when the lightning struck.
Syla bit her lip, hoping that didn’t mean that rocks had tumbled inside, enough rocks to hurt Tibby and Fel.
“We need to get in there.” Syla switched to speaking aloud since Teyla had joined her. “Wreylith, do you have a way to excavate these boulders?”
Excavate? I am a dragon, not a digging tool.
“Yes, but your jaws are large, and you’re very strong. I’ve seen you pluck up humans and fling them about. Couldn’t you do the same with these boulders? And then the ground underneath…” Syla paused, realizing the rock above the shielder chamber would be solid, not loose. Removing that would take more than a few lifts and flings. “Can dragon fire split rock? Or, uhm, incinerate it? Or does rock melt? Like ore?” Syla looked at Teyla.
“That’snot the kind of information I expected you to need when I volunteered my expertise and to come along.”
“The ruins left behind by ancient civilizations don’t illuminate you on such matters?”
“The Hazondi ruins in Southern Droha have a carving of a blacksmith forging a copper bracelet. Nothing about rocks though.”
Rocks do melt at various temperatures,Wreylith stated.We are standing on a volcano. What do you think magma is?
“Molten rock?” Syla asked.
Precisely. And prolonged exposure to dragon fire can melt rock, yes, but it’s easier to keep a stream of flames flowing for long enough to raise its core temperature if another dragon is assisting and they can take turns. Webreathethe fire, which means we have to inhale and exhale.
“It’s too bad Agrevlari isn’t here,” Syla said.
Wreylith exhaled in a way that smoke wafted from one of her nostrils.
“Are you warming up to try or irritated that I brought him up?”
I would accept his help if he were here. Let me attempt to move the rocks first. That chasm and the other cracks suggest this whole area was loosened. Stand back.
“All right.” Syla scooted back. “Thank you, Wreylith.”
“I don’t think you’d want tomeltthe rock surrounding Fel and Tibby anyway.” Teyla joined her in scooting back. “That sounds like a way to roast humans. Especially if the door to the chamber is open. You’d turn the whole area into an oven.”
“Good point.”
Lightning flashed, striking down twenty feet away. Rock shards flew, pelting down on the wet ground all around. Even Wreylith jumped.
“I feel so vulnerable out here.” Syla looked around, but there was nowhere to take cover. “Especially if you’re right, and if a god is somehow directing the lightning bolts.”
“So far,” Teyla said as Wreylith chucked the first boulder away, “the lightning strikes have either seemed random or drawn by magical energy.”
“Does that mean you don’t think the storm god is guiding them?” Syla wiped rain droplets from her spectacles.
“I’mhopingthat’s the case. We’d better not do anything to attract lightning.” Teyla eyed her moon-mark. Wondering if the magic within them might be enough to bring the lightning? If that were true, the dragons would have been targets for it too. Of course, their kind might be protected. The storm god presumably wouldn’t have wanted to destroy his own creations.
“That’s always sound advice.” Syla eyed her medical kit, thinking of the magic she’d infused into some of her salves. She’d poured quite a bit into a jar of burn ointment, but small magical substances wouldn’t be enough to draw lightning, would they? “Hopefully not,” she murmured to herself. “They’re in glass jars, andglassdoesn’t attract lightning, anyway.”
Syla had no idea if that would matter, but she was reluctant to set down her medical kit and risk losing it. If they found Fel and Tibby, they would likely need medical attention.
As Wreylith threw more boulders aside, Syla groped for a way to help. The dragon growled with each toss, either because of the effort required or because she was irritated by the lowly task.
Thank you for your help,Syla told her.If you like, I can try to make healing salves that are especially suited to dragons and have less viscosity. Since you seem not to care for, er, anything with a slime-like texture.
Wreylith threw a boulder the size of an elephant.
“She’s strong,” Teyla observed.
