Three men rough and two women tough traversed the forest floor.
But where were they headed? To the mountain of course, where no human had gone before.
Adventurers? No! Their cause was not good, to slay the dragon, who lived alone in the wood.
Much travelling later, the dragon could be seen, they hid in the shrubs, taking cover in the green.
The attack had to be swift, the dragon’s wings may not lift! A heavy net was thrown over his back.
As the hunters approached, a brutal weapon in each fist,
little did they know, this story would soon take
a very strange twist...

Hunters have been coming to the mountains more and more lately. It was only a matter of time before they decided to hunt bigger game. Hunt dragons.

Egil was always careful when he was out and about, doing his own hunting. He was not completely oblivious to the different traps hunter set out and often thought hunters to be obvious or predictable. But today, he had been given a wake-up call. As soon as the net came down he whipped around to face his attackers. He sucked in air and let out a blast of fire. That usually frightened them off.

But the leader, a woman who looked like she had many years experience behind her, did not falter and her men remained at her side with their shields raised. They had come prepared.

She ordered her men to strike again.

Egil growled and tried to spread his wings but found that the material the net was made out of would not give. The more he struggled, the tighter it became. He tried swiping, and succeeded in slamming one man against a tree hard enough to make noise. But the group had seen an opening and lodges a spear into his flank. The leader had thrown something at him then; the smell of the liquid burned his nose.

He decided to retreat, and they followed.

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Shouted orders echoed around the forest, encouraging the other hunters, but carrying a promise of pain to the dragon.

Above them stood the mountain top, rising high up as they came closer. A gap by its foot offered shelter for the hunted, the cavernous system would give him advantage. Should the hunters enter after him, he might release his burning breath, and where would they escape then?

A choice was laid out for the dragon, to enter or not enter, the cave gaping closer for every hurried step.

The hunters were aware of this too, their impending disadvantage was to great dismay.
The volume of their shouts increased, and frustration boiled in the air.
The hunt that had recently started, might end just as quickly. And not in the favour of the hunters.

The cave was indeed a double-edged sword, but Egil was willing to take the risk. He might have been a dragon, not some ordinary prey, but he was still an animal being hunted and instinct was kicking in. The opening was just wide enough for him if he lowered his head and kept his wings closer to his body as to not damage them further. Whatever the huntress had thrown at him, prevented him from reverting to his human guise. He went deeper, deeper, until he found and area where he could turn around and face his pursuers again.

He stood vigilant as he waited. It was dark, he couldn't rely on sight alone. But they had either not followed him or had not caught up. He did not see or hear them. He waited. It was starting to get cramped in this space, he had to move. But still he continued to wait, perhaps to see of they had left him.

Egil shifted his weight and let out a huff. It was then he felt something shift beneath him. He listened again, and that was his mistake. He should have moved out of there. The ground beneath him gave way, sending him even deeper into this mine tunnel.

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The huntress was not foolish, she knew how clever a dragon was. It would have been a too soon death, to follow the dragon into the dark.
However, it would be a great strike to a hunters pride, letting their prey get away like that. As the dragon no doubt waited in the cavern, the hunters silently spread out, before a signal was given, and the cave collapsed...

A job complete, but not well done. Or so they thought anyway. No, the cavernous system was an expansive mine, the twisting and intertwining passages crossing and paralleling each other. What the hunters had done, was merely sending the dragon into a passage below, surely alive, but perhaps not completely unscathed after the events...

The clattering of footsteps echoed, but from which direction? The sound bounced and repeated across the stone walls, between the stone roof and the stone floor. Then faint light was casted from one of the passages, but who carried the source? It was still impossible to tell due to the curve of the passage, only the light flooded around the corner. Had one of the hunters really come to finish the job?

Everything had vanished, become dark, and the mountain forest returned to the way it was before those damned hunters showed up. But not for long.

Egil’s head was pounding and his body ached all over. He was buried under the rubble and probably suffered a cracked rib or two, but he was still alive. Slowly, he dragged himself free and rose to his feet, trying to assess the damage. He was at least still able to move from the looks of things, that was good, he knew he had to find an exit and get out of here.

He looked up to where he had fallen, but before he had the time to think about his next move he at last heard the footsteps. Immediately, he thought that it was the hunters trying to corner him. He was not going to have that! If they thought he was going down this easily, they would be sorely disappointed. After all, he was a dragon.

A mighty roar meant to serve as a warning erupted from his throat, followed by a blast of fire which, for a few seconds, lit up the tunnel.

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The miners had heard strange sounds, and split up to find the source. They got separated, when suddenly, the tunnel collapsed! How were they now supposed to get out? Who, or what had caused this? One woman was certainly going to find out.
"If I so have to dig my way out with a spoon..." She grumbled to herself. She followed the light of her lantern deeper into the cavernous system, for she thought the disturbances came from this area.

She was prepared for a surprise, but what happened next was almost enough to send her running back up the tunnel. A rumbling roar shook the very foundations of the mountain, or maybe that was just what it felt like...
However, this woman was a miner, she was strong and resolute. "If I so have to dig my way out with a spoon." She repeated, to herself if no one else. And she continued forth, barely turning the corner before she had to lunge herself back. A blast of fire, she was sure now that this was no ordinary beast. Potentially, no, unquestionably deadly.

Pickaxe in one hand, lantern in the other, she turned her options over. Such was a difficult feat when one had their likely death literally waiting around the corner.
The woman could swear she had seen two glimmering eyes in the brief moment of fire. Two glimmering eyes and a scale like texture.

And so, the dust covered woman, nearly all grey to the colour, decided to wait until the beast came around the corner. She would take a quick swing at the beasts eye with her pickaxe.
Now that was a plan she could get behind.

Egil stood silently for a long time, listening. It was just far too quiet for his liking.

Thinking he had either roasted or scared away whoever had been there, if there had been anything at all and it wasn’t just some illusion created by his dazed state, he turned his attention to the gaping hole through which he’d fallen. His wings were still bound by that damned net, which meant he would have to climb. But from the looks of things the footing was awful. This was proven when he tried to actually climb up, only to slide back down before he could get anywhere.

He stretched, trying to work the remaining kinks out, and then started moving once his eyes adjusted some more. The only way he could go was further down the tunnel. He hoped he could find a way out sooner or later…

When he did, that huntress was going to regret her little ambush.

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