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The roar reverberated down the tunnels of the underground complex. In one room, Malchion tilted his head. Drevis looked to his commander and shuddered. He had never seen that look from him before. He had never known Malchion to show fear.
Down a different tunnel, Armin, Haldis and Wil looked at each other.
"Oh….what do ye s'pose them two got into now?" Armin asked, shaking his head. Before the other two could reply, he hefted his axe and started running down the tunnel. Haldis and Wil looked at each other, shrugged, and ran after him.
In a different section of the complex, Toren and Strom paused.
"What was that?" Strom asked?
Toren shrugged. "Beats me…but I'll bet ye two kegs that loon and his friend are involved."
Strom chuckled. "I'll take that bet. Lets check it out."
Toren nodded and the two started down the tunnel towards the sound. They rounded a bend and immediately skidded to a stop, nearly bowling over Armin and the other two dwarves females.
"Good ta see ye made it." Armin grinned, though his smile faded as he looked over Strom. "yer a'right?"
Strom nodded. "I been better."
Haldis walked over and looked over Strom. "Yer not so bad….here….let me." She began to chant softly, her hands glowing slightly. Strom blinked as the worst of his open wounds began to close.
"Nice trick." Strom nodded his approval. He opened his mouth to speak again, but was cut off by another ground shaking roar coming from a side tunnel. "Ye thinking' what I be thinking?"
The other dwarves all nodded in agreement, and Toren gave voice to their thoughts. "Those gravel heads…its gotta be." He shook his head. "I suppose we oughta go see what kinda trouble they are in?
With a chorus of agreeing grunts, the five dwarves hefted their weapons and started down the tunnel, following the sounds of the roars. They stopped suddenly as another roar shook the foundations of the mountain, raining rock on the heads of the dwarves. Once the rubble stopped falling, they stood, brushed off the dust and looked at each other.
"That was different." Wil mused. "More like something' big hittin' th floor."
Armin hefted his axe, adjusting his grip on the haft of the weapon. "Just around th' corner. Best ta be careful."
The dwarves moved around a final bend. Haldis quirked a brow as a small white feather drifting towards them caught her eye. He motioned to her companions, and received shrugs all around. She blew the feather away as it drifted past her and she continued on with the others. As they entered the giant chamber, they gawked at what they saw. A red dragon lay on its side, both wings twisted and bent. Four rather large stone hands protruded from the ground, each one clutching one of the arms or legs of the dragon. Even more bizarre was that the dragon seemed to have its tail in its mouth. There did not seem to be a large amount damage to the creature, but it was definitely dead. Scattered about the vast room were the carcasses of dozens of chickens, lying about on a floor covered in grease. And there, atop of the dragon was Kendrac. He was jumping up and down on the belly of the beast.
"Gimme back da Rum!!" He shouted.
The other dwarves could only stare at the scene before them. It was Haldis that finally broke their silence. "Err…Kendrac lad? Ye mind telling us what's going on here?"
Kendrac, startled, shrieked and tripped over a scale as Haldis spoke. He tumbled off the beast's body and landed on his rear on the ground. He looked at them, and then struggled to his feet. He began explaining what happened, his words spilling from his lips at an incredible rate of speed. "WefoundadragonandgotburnedandRummsmackeditandIcastspellsandRumgrabbeditstailanditateitstailandchokedonitstailanditateRumandIcantgethimout!"
The other dwarves blinked.
"What?" asked Armin.
Toren echoed his words, as did the others.
Wil walked up to the blond dwarf and put a hand on his shoulder. "Easy kid. Are ye telling us that Rom is inside the dragon?"
Kendrac nodded, then took a deep breath. "LikeIsaidwefounda…"
"Woah!" Wil said. "Slow down."
While Wil tried to cajole information from the blubbering Kendrac, the others walked up to the massive head of the dragon. Armin set his axe down and grabbed a hold of the tail. He pulled, but it did not budge.
"Gimme a hand, yes?"
Toren, Strom and Haldis all grabbed hold of the tail and the four pulled. At first, nothing moved, but then, slowly, the tail started to come free. After five feet of tail was pulled from the mouth of the dragon, Armin called a pause.
"Ain't never seen that before." He ran a hand through his beard. "Looks like the durned beastie swallowed its own tail, choking it."
The others nodded, and started to pull once more, but stopped suddenly as the tail started to go back INTO the mouth.
"What the?" Strom exclaimed.
Kendrac, seeing this jumped up and clapped his hands with glee. "Its da Rum! Pullpullpull!!"
The others shrugged and grabbed the tail once more. With a mighty heave, they pulled the tail the rest of the way out of the dragon's mouth, bringing a soggy bald dwarf with it.
"Wheeee!!" Rom giggled. "Again?"
Kendrac ran over and grabbed Rom, and the two went to the ground, Kendrac hugging him mightily. The two rolled around in the grease still coating the floor, along with the feathers, giggling like madmen…errr…dwarves.
