A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas

Chapter 70: Into the Dragon's Maw

The next morning, we set off again, the forest growing thicker, to the point that it could almost be called a jungle. I soon had that familiar feeling on the edge of my perception: we were entering another dragon's territory. The plants around us rose up into dense, thorny thickets. As we cut our way though the tickets, I heard a subtle rasp of scales and spotted something very large slithering our way. I looked closer, and spotted an absolutely massive snake coming towards us, its body coming in seemingly endless coils.

"That's a Titanaboa!" said Verrax, "A rare sight, and a dangerous foe!"

I moved towards the serpent, I tore into it with my claws and fangs, wounding it but this snake dwarfed me. Krisyra came up near me, and blasted the titanaboa with a nasty-looking spell. Immediately, the snake looked a bit ill. Afterthis, Krisyra changed into a giant scorpion. Lydratir took aim at the serpent, firing two arrows into its hide. The titanaboa hissed, opening its maw wide, wide enough to engulf me. Its jaws closed around me, its teeth piercing my hide. However, I managed to escape its gullet. It then tried to constrict me, but again I slipped away. The titanaboa still looked a bit unwell. Narcrath reached into his coin pouch, and pulled out 10 copper pieces. The coins began hovering, and then flew towards the serpent. Two simply bounced off, while other 8 seemed to hit with a decent amount of force. Verrax channeled his magic, sending an arrow shaped blast of magic at the titanaboa, wounding it further. Charles moved in as well, slashing at the massive serpent with his greatsword. It looked to be in bad shape now, but it was still coming after us.

I tore into the titanaboa with claw and fang again, and it was wearing down. Krisyra-scorpion snapped at it with her claws, one managing to catch the massive snake. It hissed at her angrily… which has its fatal mistake. Kirsyra's venomous stinger caught it right in the inside of the mouth. The titanaboa trashed and writhed, before falling still.

We collected ourselves, Krisyra changing back and Narcrath commanding his coins to return to him. We continued deeper into the jungle. Ahead, we could see the falls, rising several hundred feet into the air. The jungle only got denser from here, and the path would not be easy.

"The trail looks more difficult than I imagined," said Verrax, "Not much for it to press on. I'd recommend flying to our destination, but I feel that may be unwise. You feel it too, don't you Valignatirisk?"

"Yes, we're in the area around a dragon's lair… and it's occupied," I said.

We continued cutting a trail towards our destination. By late afternoon, we'd reached the base of the falls. We arrived at a narrow path leading along a steep cliff. Slick with condensation from the nearby falls, the rocky way twisted and turned, climbing and descending as it headed towards a cave behind the falls. The thunderous cacophony of countless gallons of tumbing water rendered converstion impossible. Finally, we were here. We pressed on, heading behind the falls.

With the curtain of water at our backs, the slick, rocky trail led into a massive cavern. It was about 100 feet wide, and stretched on into darkness. A faint light shone at the opposite corner of the chamber, hundreds of feet away. More flickering illumination emitted from above the chamber to the northeast side of the cave. The ceiling disappeared into the darkness as well, with the sounds of the falls echoing throughout. The floor was covered with turbid water, lapping onto the rock path. The path ran parallel to the waterfall for about 40 feet, befor twisting to the south. The path became a ledge along the southern wall and then turned sirectly north, arching above the water while angling towards the light in the corner.

We made our way along the path, and just after it turned north we came upon a worn dais rose from the path, though its exact purpose eluded me. Krisyra had an answer after looking at it for a moment.

"This looks like some sort of altar," said Krisyra, "dosen't look like it's been used in a long time, though".

Before we could discuss it any further I heard a splashing and caught a flash of something green burst out of the water to tackle Lydratir, but he pushed it aside. I could see that it was a green dragon, smaller than me and likely a wyrmling. I could also see that they were quite thin, and likely hungry. The wyrmling snapped at Lydratir, wounding him.

"Food, food!" said the wyrmling in Draconic.

"Do you want us to bring you food?" I asked, not wishing to harm a child.

"No! Food!" snarled the Wyrmling, "You food! You food!"

It seemed there would be no parley here. I readied myself to do what I need to to survive.

A second wyrmling leapt from the water towards Narcrath, but he managed to evade its attacks. Another wyrmling leapt from the water towards Krisyra, but it too missed its strikes. Charles moved up the the wyrmling near Krisyra and brought down his greatsword, cutting deep and knocking it prone. Narcrath's hands sparked with lightning, and he unleashed it into the wyrmling near him. The water splashed as another wyrmling burst out heading right for me. I saw it coming, and dug my claws into the stone floor, meaning I was shoved nowhere. The ravenous wyrmling snarled and bit me, its fangs finding purchase and wounding me slightly. A fifth wyrmling leapt from the water towards Verrax, but he easily flew out of the way. He also easily dodged the wyrmlings snapping jaws. Krisyra summoned a small flame and lauched it at the wyrming near her, finishing it off. Lydratir drew his rapier and jabbed the wyrmling near him, making it stumble a bit. The water rippled again as one more wyrmling emerged and started towards Krisyra, only for the wyrmling to slip and up tumbling to a stop next to her having dealt no harm. I considered my options, saw how things lined up, and unleashed my fire, striking three of our foes, with the furthest from me managing to evade the full effect. Verrax channeled his magic and unleashed it in a burst. The movements of all the wyrmlings except the one near Lydratir seemed to slow.

The badly wounded Wyrmling near Lydratir tried to bite him, but injured state made evading its attack easy. The Wyrming near Narcrath attemped to dite him, but its slowed movements made dodging simple. Charles struck the the wrymling near Krisyra, cutting deep and leaving it reeling. Narcrath blasted the wyrmling near him with lightning again, damaging it further. The wyrmling tried to bite me again, but it couldn't pierce my scales. The Wyrmling near Verrax tried to bite him, but he easily dodged its attack. Krisyra's staff glowed with power, and she brought it down on the wyrmling near her, finishing it off. Lydratir defeated the wyrmling near him with his rapier, and the quickly drew his bow and put an arrow into the one near me. I brought my claws down on the wyrmling nearest to me, slaying it quickly. Verrax called up six orbs of magical energy around him, which pummeled the wyrmling near him.

The wyrmling near Narcrath lashed out with its claws, and managed to catch him. Charles moved over to Narcrath, and with two mighty swings of his greatsword, finished the wyrmling off. Narcrath pulled one of the stars of his robe, and lauched it at the last remaining wyrmling, pummeling it with 7 bolts of magical force. The wyrming snarled and leapt mightly, catching Verrax off guard as it bit him. He slipped loose of its jaws, and seemed to be alright. Krisyra lauched a flame at the wyrmling, burning it badly. Lydratir took aim with his bow, and put an arrow right between the wyrmling's eyes, killing it.

As the dust settled, I looked over those we'd been forced to slay. It was clear they were wyrming green dragons, likely siblings. It was also clear at a glance that they were starving. They were unnaturally thin, their ribs showing clearly beneath their scales. Verrax seemed interested by this as well.

"Intriguing," said Verrax, "from what I've seen in the past Green Dragons tend to be highly protective parents, and watch over their children well. To see wyrmlings it this state… hells I've got some harsh words for whoever is these wyrmling's caretaker. We can properly inter them on the way back. Whoever else resides here likely won't wait forever".

I slowly nodded and turned away from the sight of our battle to continue deeper into the caverns.

A/N: Yeah, that last battle. Whoever is the owner of this lair will be given a piece of their mind for leaving its children to starve like that. But anyway, next time, our heroes delve deeper, and encounter new foes... as well as some new allies. See you then.