Another half month passed, and snowflakes began to drift through the sky above the Storm Heights.
Bedrock Fortress now stood imposing at the entrance to the Cinder Nest, barring all encroaching creatures.
The goblins, ill-suited to the cold, threw together crude camps throughout the valley, huddling together for warmth. The ogres fared somewhat better, claiming several massive caverns where they slept soundly, snoring away.
Cassius was also resting in the Giant's Mouth Cave. At this moment, he gave a thoroughly bored yawn, puffing out plumes of sulfurous heat that left the cavern hazy with smoke.
Red dragons naturally favored warmth, and the geothermal heat within the cave made him reluctant to leave.
Several wyverns shamelessly sprawled near the entrance to rest. Ostensibly, they were on watch to guard their master, but in reality, they were merely basking in the cavern's warmth.
Seeing how attentive they were, the red dragon turned a blind eye.
Langpu, meanwhile, had found a warm, secluded cavern to serve as a library, spending his days studying his books and constantly complaining to Cassius about how weak the goblin forces were, unable to rob human caravans of new reading material.
"Awoo—"
A wyvern circling in the sky let out a screech.
That sound meant someone was coming.
Cassius perked up. Pushing himself up on all fours, he gave his wings a brisk shake, strode out of the cave, and took to the sky.
For the past half month or so, he had spent his time in the cave either sleeping or researching spells.
As for food, the hobgoblin had led an elite hunting party to corner several mammoths, delivering an entire carcass specifically to the Giant's Mouth Cave.
The red dragon had truly lived a life of pampered luxury, waited on hand and foot.
Just when he was feeling thoroughly bored, brooding over having no outlet for his surplus energy and destructive impulses, trouble—or opportunity—came knocking on its own.
Seeing Cassius prepare to leave, the wyverns huddled at the entrance scrambled up in trepidation. Bowing their heads respectfully, they parted to clear a path, then fell in closely behind him.
Yet when Cassius flew toward the entrance of the valley and looked down at the uninvited guests before Bedrock Fortress, his interest waned.
Beneath the fortress gate stood a pack of gaunt, diminutive humanoids, numbering around a hundred.
They were covered in scales ranging from dark brown to black, their heads resembling a cross between a dragon and a dog, with two pale horns sprouting from their foreheads—kobolds, burrowing reptilian humanoids who often revered evil dragons as demigods.
These kobolds were clearly in terrible shape. Many bore wounds and bloodstains, milling about beneath the gate in frantic disarray, chattering noisily.
Cassius could recognize it as Draconic, but spilling from their maws, it sounded like a cacophony of barking dogs.
"It's... it's the great dragon!"
"It really is a dragon!"
One kobold strained to tilt its head up, caught sight of the red dragon in the sky, and shrieked,
"We're saved!"
At once, as though pious devotees witnessing a divine miracle, all the kobolds dropped to their knees in heaps, muttering slurred, reverent phrases in Draconic.
*Boom—*
The red dragon touched down with a thud, kicking up a flurry of light snow before the gate.
"Why have you come?" Cassius demanded in Draconic.
Under the oppressive pressure radiating from the depths of their bloodline, the kobolds remained prostrated, none daring to lift their heads.
Only after quite a while did a slightly sturdier kobold shove aside its kin and struggle forward from the crowd.
Throwing itself at the red dragon's feet, it spoke in yapping Draconic, its tone thick with sobs. "Lord Dragon, we have come to pledge ourselves to you—!"
The red dragon stared down coldly at the tiny creature before him. A mere twitch of his body would be enough to crush it into paste.
Kobolds were said to carry a sliver of dragon blood and were naturally inclined to seek the protection of evil dragons. However, their strength was pitifully weak, and with goblins already on hand to serve the same purpose, they offered very little practical value to him.
Seeing that the red dragon remained completely unmoved, the kobold peeked up with an expression of profound sorrow. "Our kin have all been devoured by that monster. Only this handful of us survived. When we felt your mighty aura, we all fled here to seek your shelter..."
Only upon hearing the kobold mention a "monster" did Cassius feel a glimmer of interest.
"If I take in a wretched pack of kobolds like you, what do I gain?"
Sensing an opening, the kobold's eyes darted slyly, and it blurted out, "Gold! We can bring you lots and lots of gold!
"Our entire tribe used to live in the mines, enslaved by human smugglers to dig gold for them. We know everything about the place! We know how the veins run, and we know where the most gold is!"
The kobolds behind him chimed in immediately.
"Yes, yes!"
"That's right! I mined chunks of gold as big as my head every day!"
"Lord Dragon, please, you must take us in!"
Cassius's interest grew sharper.
Gold was hard currency anywhere. With enough gold, he was confident he could obtain all sorts of contraband from humans—including, but not limited to, arms, equipment, and grimoires—to swiftly expand his domain.
If something couldn't be bought, it only meant the bribe wasn't big enough.
What was more, there was the "monster" in the kobold's tale.
Cassius pressed further. "What kind of creature is this monster you speak of?"
At that question, an unmistakable terror washed over the lead kobold's face. The throng behind him erupted into fearful commotion, and a few of the more cowardly ones even burst into tears.
The kobold leader patted his chest to calm his nerves before speaking slowly. "Master, you must believe what I am about to tell you."
The red dragon didn't quibble over the title, offering only a slight nod.
As if plunged back into the nightmare, the kobold spoke in vivid terror. "It was truly a terrifying monster. Its body was... was bigger than a hillock! And its mouth was... bigger than a cave! With one bite, it could swallow ten kobolds whole!"
At this point, a tremor crept into its voice.
"In the mines, it was everywhere, like a shadow. No matter where we ran, that monster found us! Our tribe originally had over seven hundred people, but... but all of them were eaten by it! It didn't even spit out the bones!"
The kobold shivered, lingering fear etched into its frame.
"I strained every nerve to lead over a hundred of our people out through a secret tunnel." At that, it finally let out a long breath.
When it finished, the kobolds behind it huddled together in terror, not daring to utter a sound.
"Is this monster you speak of bigger than me?" the red dragon asked with keen interest.
Cold sweat instantly broke out across the kobold leader's brow, leaving it at a total loss for words.
In its mind, red dragons were the proudest and most cruel of creatures; a single offending word could leave one without even a corpse to bury.
"Speak the truth," Cassius snapped impatiently.
"Y-yes..." the kobold answered tremulously, squeezing its eyes shut.
"What is your name?"
"Jinya."
When the expected talons did not fall, the kobold leader breathed a massive sigh of relief. A fawning smile spread across its face, revealing the remarkably conspicuous gold tooth in its mouth.
Chapter 16