Dungeon

The map? She had saved it for last, which meant she considered it more precious than all the treasure and equipment on her.

Garos glanced at the few coins she had produced, then fixed his gaze on the Rogue.

"Kill you, and all of this becomes mine anyway."

"You're trying to bargain with me using what's already mine?" he said. "That hardly buys your life."

The Rogue knelt on the scorched earth, trembling hands holding up a roll of yellowed parchment. She had stripped off her leather armor, her undershirt was soaked with cold sweat, and her companion's blood still speckled her forehead.

Under the moonlight, the edges of the map in her hands glinted faintly, as though threaded with mithril to prevent forgery. It was not something an ordinary adventurer would possess.

"If you kill me, all you'll get is an ordinary-looking map. You need a special method to see what it shows."

"I ask for nothing else," the Rogue pleaded. "I only want to live. Please forgive my earlier offense."

Garos did not answer. His tail curled gently around the map. The edges of its scales were sharp as blades, yet under his control they fitted closely together without scratching the parchment.

Garos lifted the map with a claw and studied it.

It showed only a tangle of lines, with nothing that resembled a map. It seemed to be encrypted somehow.

"Raise your head. Look me in the eye."

"Tell me, where did a low-level adventurer like you get a lead on a legendary alchemical item?"

Garos waited for her answer.

Though he was still a hatchling, his voice already carried an authority that made the Rogue lift her head without thinking.

This is a born monster, an evil dragon still in the Hatchling Stage. Our luck was terrible to run into Dragonkin like him. The Rogue trembled beneath the Red Iron Dragonet's black gaze. "It happened like this."

She told him the story in fits and starts.

Fear made her account muddled, but Garos understood what had happened.

In short:

The Rogue had used seduction and her thieving skills to lift the map from a green adventurer in a tavern.

The young adventurer had been drunk.

He had boasted that the map held the location of a legendary alchemical item. It came from the lost Duergar dungeon and marked a place called Malnes, where the dungeon had once stood.

Thousands upon thousands of Duergar corpses lay buried in Malnes Dungeon.

The dungeon had supposedly fallen when a legendary alchemical item went out of control. The item itself had then been lost inside it.

The Duergar dungeon of Malnes.

It had existed, and it had once flourished, producing many powerful weapons and pieces of equipment. A few ancient examples still survived.

But times had changed.

After Malnes fell and the earth buried it, few people knew where the dungeon lay.

Rumors of the legendary alchemical item still drew adventurers to search for it, but without Malnes's location, they found nothing.

At first, the Rogue had not believed that the green adventurer's map showed where Malnes Dungeon was.

Then a count in her city-state had flown into a rage and issued a warrant.

Only then had she learned that the adventurer was the count's son.

Enthralled by tales of adventure, the count's son had stolen the map from home, hoping to assemble a party and explore the dungeon. Reality had dealt him a harsh blow.

Before he had even left the city or formed a party, the Rogue had made off with his purse and map. If the tavern had not been so crowded, he might not even have been left with his underwear.

Garos shook the map. "What you've told me sounds like a fanciful story, not a fact."

His inherited memories mentioned the Duergar dungeon.

It was a dungeon buried by the passage of history. That much was true.

As for what had destroyed it, accounts varied. The most widespread version was the one the Rogue had given: an out-of-control legendary alchemical item had wiped it out.

There were other explanations, too.

For instance:

The Duergar had touched the deepest truths of alchemy, offended the gods, and been destroyed by divine punishment.

Hmm. Among the many strange theories, the out-of-control legendary alchemical item actually sounded rather plausible.

As for the Duergar:

These intelligent beings were a kind of Dwarf. They shared Dwarven strength and exceptional talent for forging, but their nature was nothing like that of ordinary Dwarves. Cunning and vicious, they hated most other peoples and were welcome among almost none of them. They had lived in underground cities for generations.

Meanwhile:

"I swear by the peace of my dead companions! By my grandparents!" the Rogue said urgently. "Not a word of it is a lie!"

Garos bared his teeth in a grin. "You know the price of deceiving a dragon is ten times worse than death."

He looked at the Rogue and tossed the map back to her.

"Show me where the dungeon is."

The Rogue hesitated.

It was the only bargaining chip she had left, and she did not want to give it up so easily.

After a moment, a humble, ingratiating smile appeared on her face. "Noble dragon, once you know the dungeon's location, will you forgive my offense?"

Offense?

Garos thought nothing of it.

He smiled. "I swear on my mother's name that I don't care about your offense. You may leave my territory unharmed. Whether a weak creature like you lives or dies is of no concern to me."

She had no other choice.

The Rogue had no room to bargain and feared angering the evil dragon before her. So she agreed and flattered him. "I believe your promise. A dragon's word is more precious than gems, and the word of an exceptional dragon like you is worth more than ten thousand gold pieces."

Then:

Map in hand, the Rogue walked to an open patch of ground under Garos's gaze. She held it up to the moonlight, then tore it apart with a sharp wrench.

The fragments flew everywhere, but none fell to the ground.

They danced and spun in the air, then gathered together again and became a brand-new map.

Garos picked it up and looked again.

A section of wilderness was etched across it, including the Iron Fir Hills, along with plains, lakes, and forests. The detail was exquisite. In the southeastern corner, a circle of silver thread marked a particular spot.

"According to the map, Malnes Dungeon lies beneath an abandoned mine."

"With your strength and wisdom, I'm sure you'll obtain the legendary alchemical item and become a mighty dragon feared across the wilderness," the Rogue said eagerly.

Garos studied the map without answering. He merely waved a claw at her. Samantha stretched her neck to look too, her gaze falling on the map.

The Rogue slowly backed away.

Garos glanced at her but did not stop her.

When she saw that he had no intention of preventing her departure, the Rogue turned and plunged into the thick darkness. She ran for her life, not daring to pause for an instant as she wove between the towering iron firs on the hills.