Saniel did as I said and took to the air towards the sharp mountains. It wasn't very far so he didn't fly as high as he usually did, and we soon passed under the swarms of dragons flying around the volcanos. May leaned to the side so she could see where we were headed, nervously. "Um, why the center?" I held my grip on Saniel's scales as we maneuvered through the rock formations.
"So we're at an equal distance from everything. And maybe we'll be able to find where this all-powerful dragon is easier. There doesn't look to be many dragons on the ground, so we'll travel by foot when we get there." A few minutes passed, and Saniel landed in a clear area where not many dragons were. I jumped off of Saniel's back again onto the cracked molten rock, and May followed behind me. I landed on my feet whereas May landed on her face. "Ow!"
I then drew my sword and held it in both hands as I walked ahead to scope out our surroundings. There were plenty of boulders and large bumps of terrain covering the valley grounds, so it would be easier to avoid dragons if we stayed cautious. There were also plenty of bones of different creatures laying around of all sizes, and occasional small geysers that let out steam into the air to create a thin fog.
I lowered my sword once it was confirmed we were alone, and I turned around again. "Alright. Let's start searching." May returned to her feet and gave me a thumbs-up before walking over to me. Suddenly, a loud roar came from close by, and a light blue dragon with purple eyes came flying from behind the giant rock behind Saniel. This dragon was smaller than Saniel, and from its curvier frame, I assumed it was a female. She didn't seem to notice us as she landed farther away and started to walk into a ravine with her back to us.
I became relieved once I realized that it didn't see us, but that relief went away once I turned around again. Saniel's gaze followed the blue dragon, and his head bounced a little in sync with her hip movement as she walked away. I then raised my hand in anger to get his attention again. "Hey! I know what you're thinking! Stop it! We're not here to mingle! We have work to do!"
Saniel rolled his eyes and skipped happily after her. "Where are you going?! We need-!" He was gone around the corner before I could finish yelling at him and I groaned. "Ugh! I hate everything." May came up next to me with her tone as positive as ever. "Don't worry Dedrin! We've passed four trials with just the two of us, so I'm sure we can do it again! We just need to stick together!"
Suddenly, the ground from under her feet cracked and she fell through the rock in an instant. "Ahhh!" I waited a second for my mind to process what just happened before leaning over to look down the hole, curiously. I raised an eyebrow as all I could see was pitch black inside. 'Huh. I wonder if she's dead... Nah, I'm not that lucky.' Before I could do anything else a large red dragon with black spikes along its spine came down and grabbed me with its talons. "Gah!"
It carried me into the sky as quick as a flash, and I froze at the sight of how high up we had gotten so fast. I refrained from struggling so I wouldn't plummet to my death and thought about how I would get out of this with minimal damage. I studied the ground and didn't see anything useful. I then looked ahead to see that we were about to fly over a mountain's ledge. 'Perfect.' I swung my sword as soon as I could into the dragon's feet, slicing their ankles.
The dragon roared and let go of me as I expected. I managed to land on the ledge perfectly and the dragon flew away without any more trouble. I exhaled in relief but realized how high I was as I turned around. The mountain was too steep to climb down, however, I could see the entire valley from up here. I waited and tried to think of a plan as I sat down on the edge.
As I looked over the volcanos, I noticed that one of the mountains didn't have lava coming out of it, nor did it look natural. The mountain was too symmetrical to not be man-made, and upon further inspection, I realized that it wasn't a mountain at all. It was a temple entirely made from black brick. I stood up out of response to my realization, and I only became more determined the more I looked at it. 'That seems like a good place to start looking.'
I then took a deep breath and took a couple of steps back before jumping off of the ledge. The air was strong as I plummeted, and I prepared for impact as a green dragon with two heads flew under me. I landed on its back and fell on my stomach. "Oof!" I grabbed onto its scales with my free hand before I fell off, and I lifted my head to see that I made it successfully. 'It worked?'
Suddenly, one of the heads turned around and screeched as it saw me. The dragon started doing barrel rolls in midair, and I held on tighter than before as I started to climb up its back. "Not today, bitch!" I wrapped my arms around one of their necks hard as soon as I was close enough, and the dragon stopped spinning and instead started to choke. I pulled again and made it turn to fly in the direction of the temple.
After another exciting few minutes, the dragon landed on the stairs near the peak of the temple. I flung off of its back from the jolt and landed on the stairs in front of it. The dragon roared loudly as if to tell me off before flying away again, and I shook a little as I pushed myself up and back onto my feet. "Ow." I hoped that this was the right place as I started walking the rest of the way up the stairs.
Once I reached the top I looked at the entrance with intrigue and saw that there was a large open cut-out of stone used as the entrance. The roof of the temple was a pyramid that was held up by large pillars that were each carved completely with images of dragons. I stepped onto the brick floor and walked toward the dark entrance without hesitation.
I held my sword at the ready as I walked down the short hallway, and soon a light appeared at the end of it. I walked into a large chamber and was surprised to find piles of treasure filling the room that shined from all of the lit torches. Every type of jewel could be found in the mountains of gold coins and gems, from crowns and rings to swords and armor. I stopped walking to the sight of something at the top of the tallest pile of treasures. A brown hilt of a dagger, that bent and twisted with a teal gem before the curvy blade where it attached to the hilt.