Hodor nodded his approval and led the procession back through the tunnel. But instead of returning to the plaza, he took a different route, separating from the other dwarves and beckoning Emily and Sigrid to follow him. "This way to the lair of Ignis Draken," he said.
Hodor led them down a smaller, clearly much less used tunnel, and they walked a long way in almost total silence, the only sound being the padding of their fiber sandals.
"Elder Hodor," Emily began, "do you... um, is it... appropriate... for us to appear before Ignis Draken without, uh... without any clothes on?"
"Ordinarily no," Hodor said, glancing back at them.
Sigrid breathed a deep sigh of relief. "So you'll find us something to wear?"
"There is a ceremonial outfit made for the purpose," Hodor said.
Emily smiled at Sigrid. A kilt, they could both agree, was better than nothing.
"But I think we will forgo that," Hodor continued. "You spoke so beautifully of your deep humility, Emily, and what could represent that better than being naked? Especially as you are still seeking penance from the sin that created your former coverings. Yes, I think Ignis Draken will appreciate the symbolism of your nudity."
Emily could hear Sigrid's hands tighten around the handle of her axe, and half expected its blade to come for her neck. She studiously avoided her companion's furious gaze, but nonetheless felt as though it was drilling a hole through her skin.
Before Emily or Sigrid could formulate a counterpoint to Hodor's proposal, he announced that they had reached the dragon's chamber. He gestured ahead, at a short tunnel that sloped gently upwards, lit by a white-gold glow.
"We have granted you an audience with Ignis Draken, but this does not guarantee he will speak to you," he said. "If he does, it may not be in a way you expect, for he lies in a state of deep, eternal slumber. Many have spent days inside his chamber without a single word."
Sigrid leaned close to Emily and whispered, "I had an inkling that there might be no challenge from a stone dragon. We shall have our pick of the treasure."
Hodor cleared his throat loudly before continuing. "Others have gone mad merely from being in the presence of Ignis Draken. Do not assume that because he slumbers, he is not fully aware of his visitors. Be respectful and do not attempt to harm or steal from him." He shot a cold look at Sigrid.
Emily led the way, her legs quivering with a mixture of fear and anticipation. She stepped out of the dark, and her body was bathed in the entrance tunnel's white-gold glow, a light that did not have an obvious source.
Sigrid made to follow her, but was stopped by a Hodor. "You'll have to leave that axe here," he said. "Lord Draken does not allow weapons in his chamber."
Emily stiffened, the muscles in her butt visibly clenching in anticipation of a violent outburst. To her great surprise, there was only the sound of a falling axe. She glanced over her shoulder, meeting Sigrid's sulky expression.
"No harm shall come to it," Hodor reassured her.
Sigrid grunted.
The two naked women walked up the gentle slope until it leveled out. They emerged onto a wide, circular ledge ringed an immense cavern, fully lit by the same white-gold light that seemed to have no source.
In the center lay Ignis Draken.
The petrified dragon was enormous, bigger than any creature Emily had ever seen in her life. And despite being made entirely of hard, gleaming obsidian, from the plates of his scaled hide to the massive horns on his head. He sat entirely still, a statue with smokey black clouds escaping gigantic nostrils.
The dragon lay atop a mountain of treasure—gold bars, gold and silver coins, jewels, and ornaments of all sizes, shapes, and colors. The sheer mass of it dwarfed even the enormity of the dragon, spread out and heaped up across the cave floor a few feet below the ledge where Emily and Sigrid now stood.
Sigrid let out a low whistle, the mass of treasure glinting in her eyes. "Maybe this was all worth it after all. All this treasure, guarded by a statue."
"Don't touch anything," Emily whispered sharply. "Just because something's made of stone doesn't mean it's not alive. In Thessolan, anyway. And I'm really not in the mood to fight a dragon."
"I am!" Sigrid retorted, putting up her fists. Then, apparently reminded of the absence of her axe, she blushed and dropped them back down to cover her body. "Well, I would be, anyway. If I weren't naked and weaponless. It's no fair you got to keep your weapons."
"My artifacts are not weapons," Emily shot back, placing a hand against the Stoneshell pendant.
"Whoa!" Emily shouted, clutching her temples.
Sigrid raised an eyebrow at her, confused.
"Did... did you not hear that?" Emily asked.
Sigrid shook her head.
The voice was deep and rich, clear and distinct from the sounds of the cave, the low rumbling of the volcano, the distant flow of magma, and the infrequent drips of water. It took Emily a moment to realize that it was not passing through her ears, but sounding directly inside her head.
"Are you... Ignis Draken?" she asked, fixing her eyes on the dragon's slumbering stone form.
"How do you know my name?"
"Who are you talking to?" Sigrid asked, growing ever more bewildered.
"What...? How...? Why...?"
"That's what I wanna know too! Have you gone mad, Emily?"
"No, it's the dragon, he's talking to me. Inside my head."
Emily did as she was instructed, much to Sigrid's chagrin. A rough stone staircase led down from the ledge to the cave floor. When Emily was halfway down, Sigrid moved to follow her, but was dissuaded by a sudden aggressive blast of flame from the stone dragon's nostril.
"Sigrid!" Emily chided.
"I'm stayin', I'm stayin'," she replied, muttering inaudibly to herself.
Emily reached the bottom of the stairs and continued her advance, her legs shaking uncontrollably. The smell of smoke was almost overpowering, and the dragon looked even larger, more menacing, from down below. A single move from a single claw would be enough to squash Emily's small, undefended body.
For a moment, Emily considered whether to tell the dragon the same thing she'd told the dwarves at the funeral for the hares: that she had come to seek his wisdom, or whether to tell the truth, that she was after the Heartflame. Something told her that it would not be advisable to tell lies to a being who could project his voice inside her mind. Could he read her thoughts? Was he doing so right now?
"I'm... I'm looking for the Heartflame," she said, her voice sounding weak and small. "I need it to break a curse that turned my friends to stone."
The color drained from Emily's face as she realized her obvious faux pas. "Uh, well, not, not that there's anything wrong with being made of stone! Just, uh, they were turned against their will! By an evil mage named Arctulus!"
At a loss for words, Emily let out a small "Eep!" Had she just torpedoed any chance of breaking the curse?
Emily bit her lip, trying to think of the most diplomatic way to tell Ignis Draken, the pacifist, vegan dragon, that she had been wearing animal skins before but had now shorn them and was undergoing an extended act of penance for the crime of wearing them in the first place.
Before she had quite thought of what to say, the dragon's voice boomed in her head once more.
Emily gasped. So he was reading her mind after all!
Emily shivered involuntarily. She had stood naked before Lady Elara, King Trilato and Brother Kastor, and so many others, but she had always retained the privacy of her own thoughts. Now she stood before Ignis Draken, body and soul both bare to his disembodied gaze. That his enormous stone eyes remained closed was no consolation.
A strange sense of peace washed over Emily. "Th-thank you."
"I—she—"
A small jet of flame shot from one of the dragon's nostrils.
Emily shivered involuntarily, a cold dread seeping into her despite the cavern's heat. A third presence? She had no idea what he was talking about. She glanced at the Stoneshell, then down at the Bronzeband, then back at the immobile stone dragon. Unless... could he mean...?
"N-nightmoss," Emily whispered, a sharp pain flashing through her temple. She remembered the disturbing dream she'd had in the Cinder Wastes.
Emily's breath hitched in her throat.
There was a strange poignancy in the final word. "Gone?"
Deep, rumbling laughter echoed in Emily's mind.
Emily stumbled backward in surprise, tripping over a tangled pile of necklaces and falling onto her backside, her fall broken by a pile of gold coins.