The heat escaping from the mouth of the cave was enough to make sweat break out on their skin. Blistering air burst in a rhythmatic pattern, nearly every second. The leader stood a few steps back and watched Tobias slip the ring onto his finger.
Immediately, rock began rushing out from the ring, covering his body in the black pebbles that now seemed familiar. Behind him, he heard Aston's son gasp. With a smirk, Tobias began walking through the enorumous cave, leaving a very, very worried Maso behind. Bryce had told them not to do anything reckless, yet Tobias was walking into the lair of a plasma level contract. As the layer of stone settled around his skin, he began walking deeper into the cave. It was a straight tunnel, but the width of the walls made it feel like it was an infinitely large space.
The gravelly ground crackled under his feat, and sounded like broken glass beneath his rocky feet. He walked on and on, seeing scorch marks covering the walls and the floors, and even the remains of animals lying in heaps, some bones untouched, the others smouldering ashes.
As he continued to walk, even his stone armour began to feel the heat of the beast. it felt like the heat was prying open his armour, leaving cracks in his impenetrable defense. He walked ever closer to the source of this temperature, and after rounding a bend, saw the massive Guardian. It was enourmous, reaching up to more than ten times his height. He could see the shackles that bound it to the sides of the tunnel, and saw the crumbling walls, testimonies to it's attemps at escape.
The great monster appeared to be sleeping, and as he came closer he realised the waves of nauseous heat were it's heartbeat. There were four chains in total, and each of them connected to a respective leg. He tried to remain as silent as possible, as he crept towards the first chain, avoiding it's previous meals so he wouldn't join them.
The chain was made of a greenish grey metal, a substance unknown to the apprentice leatherworker. He reached out to it, and felt it's sturdiness in his hands. How was he supposed to break this, when a dragon had failed!?
He followed the chain to the wall, and saw that the chain was attached by a lock at the wall. This lock was made of ordinary steel, and had been scorched black by the dragons fire. He looked back at the dragon, and saw that the chains had almost no slack, which kept it refined inside of it's own home without any chance to break the chains or the lock. As Tobias got even closer to the lock, he saw how fragile it had become.
With a strong pull, the catch inside of the mechanism broke, and the chain unraveled to clatter to the floor, causing Tobias to flinch. When he saw that the dragon had not woken, he stepped over the rather large chain, and clung to the wall as he made his way to the next lock.
This one was just the same as the last, as both had been directly in the line of the fire of their prisoner. This time, Tobias held onto the chain as he pulled on the lock, and once again the chain was free, but now Tobias could camly place it on the ground.
Now he had a large stretch of wall between him and the locks chaining it's back legs, and he was already feeling overheated. Feeling the pressure of time, he increased his pace along the wall, walking at a steady pace instead of a slow crawl.
His eyes remained on the dragons, feeling if he watched it, it would continue to rest and would not wake up to devour him. He knew that it was a Guardian, but it had been trapped here for too long, so it was bound to be hungry.
At last, he reached the lock containing it's back left leg, and realised that this one was in pristine condition. The lock was the size of his head, so he was unsure if he could break it or not. Puttig his confidence ahead of him, he grasped the lock and pulled, feeling the lock protest in both his hands. Eventually a crack resounded through the air, and the lock came undone.
But Ganrir was waking up. Tobias ran to the last lock and started heaving with all of his strength, but thisone wouldn't come undone. He pulled and he pulled, but either from lethargy or terror, he couldn't muster the strength to pull it out.
'Little one, I shall help you.'
The voice resounded in his head, and brought with it a surge of strength, enough strength to break the last lock containing Ganrir.
'How are you able to withstand my heat?'
The voice was curious this time, and upon uttering that sentance, Tobias knew who the owner was.
"Ganrir..?"
'Yes child, you are the first person I have spoken to in a while, for you are able to withstand my heat. You are truly remarkable for being to do so I might add'
"you can speak? I thought the Guardians were just like normal contracts, and couldn't speak!" The dragon laughed at this, but the laugh was unsettling as it came from inside his own head.
'I thank you for freeing me, and I grant you a wish to ask of me.' A wish... What should he ask for? Should he ask for transport? Should he ask for directions? Tobias slapped himself and told himself to save it for when he truly needed help.
"I would like t save my wish for another time, for I do not have any desires at this current time."
'I shall hold onto this favour, for as long as need be. Now, forgive me, but I must regain my strength. I suggest you leave now, for when I have regained my strength you would be melted into a puddle.'
Tobias quickly hurried to do his bidding, watching the dragon run out, and then spread it's wings into the bright sky. The heat grew stronger and stronger, till it felt like the dragon was the sun itself.
Tobias was greatful that the others had left to retreat back to the village, for if they did not, they would have suffered the price. As he left the mouth of the cave, he removed Gord from his finger.
"Transform!" Gord once again retained his body, and the two ventured back towards the town of Ginea.