You slowly regain conscienceness and discover that the light you had seen earlier was still there. Hoping it would lead to a way out of
the cave, you force yourself to stand up and follow the glimmer. You realize that the light is not sunshine, but firelight. You weren't so
sure about following it now, not knowing who or what was causing the fire. It could be a dangerous fugitive hiding from the law, or a
methane leak that would poison you, or any number of things. But eventually you decided that any chance you had to escape this dark
hole must be taken. You warily approach the source of the light and are amazed at what you see.
It is a large cavern filled with gold, silver, and precious gems. There are antique suits of armor, jade statues, fine China, and a large
assortment of other priceless artifacts. They are stacked in mountains twenty feet tall at the shortest and stretch a good two hundred
feet back and across. The room is lit by a roaring fire on top of a giant golden pedestal. It appears to be fed by a continuous supply of
oil dripping from above out of a gold pipe protruding from the cave wall.
And in the midst of all this treasure, asleep with its back turned to you, lay a large anthromorphic dragon. It was coated with beautiful
cobalt blue scales that shimmered like glitter in the firelight. Its body was like that of a model with large but not extreme muscles. Only
the dragon's body was a good twelve feet tall. It had a silky silver mane that ran from its head to the base of its leathery wings which
were folded up along its muscular back. Its long tail was wrapped around a stalagmite jutting from the floor. Rings of smoke
continuously puffed from its unseen nostrils and dispersed along the ceiling.
While the sight of the dragon and its hoard amazed you, you noticed that the smoke didn't linger. You also figured that the large dragon
could not have squeezed through the entrance you had just come in. There had to be another way out, and you wanted to make sure
you could get home before you did anything about the dragon.
Carefully, you crossed the cave along the far wall so as not to disturb the dragon. As you passed the second pile of treasure, a
tremedous roar came from the beast and fire shot from its mouth. You feared it had heard you and was going to kill you, but when you
looked, it had merely rolled over in its sleep.
"Dragons snore too!" you laughed to yourself mentally.
On the other side of the cave, you found the exit you had been looking for. A large pile of treasure created a ramp to another tunnel
from which faint sunlight shone. This was your ticket out!
As you climbed, you were thrilled at the prospect of making it out of the cave alive. And not only that, but you had the knowledge of the
whereabouts of a previously mythical creature. Of course, you weren't the kind to just go out and tell everyone. But your best friend was
a biologist. If he could study the dragon and make a detailed report on it along with photographs and samples, he could become
famous. And you making the original discover wouldn't hurt your future.
As you thought of these things, you lost your footing and went sliding down the mountain of treasure, metal clanking together and
creating a loud crash as you were deposited at the base of the mountain.
"Shit," you thought.
And for good reason. The sound had awoken the dragon who sat up and looked directly at you. Due to the lack of breasts and the quite
large sheath and sack of the reptile, you realized that this dragon was in fact male. He stood up faster than you could blink and
swooped over to you with his powerful wings. He picked you up with his clawed hands and slammed you against the wall. He was even
stinger than he looked, and he looked pretty damn strong.
"Mortal!" he bellowed in a deep, rumbling bass, "You dare to enter my sanctuary? Are you aware that a dragon's lair is his most sacred
haven? I should rip you apart right here!"
"Please!" you beg with him, "I didn't know!"
"How do you explain your presence?" he demanded.
"I was exploring a cave by my house," you quickly spit out, "I fell down a hole and saw the light from your fire. I thought it was an exit so
I followed it. I wasn't going to do anything to you or your treasure, honestly!"
The dragon stared at you, seeming to scrutinize your very soul with his glare. After a long while of your sheer terror, he spoke in a
much calmer voice. He was clearly still angry, though.
"Fortunately for you, mortal, I can see the true nature of others. I sense that what you say is true. However, dragon law dictates that
anyone foolish enough to enter a dragon's lair shall have a spell placed upon them. The kind of spell is chosen by the dragon who has
been violated from three options. One, you will become a dragon like me and be forced to live away from humanity. Two, you will die
and be reincarnated as my animal assistant of any species. Or three, you will become my human slave with whatever kind of body I
wish you to have. A spell must be placed on you, it is unavoidable. But as you are an innocent mortal, I shall allow you to choose what
type of curse shall be placed upon you. Choose wisely."