The woman sighed, turning toward the door.
CRACK! She heard the chains crackle behind her. The divine aura increased for a moment as the sounds of a heartbeat faintly reached her ears. A faint golden light forced her shadow to extend forward.
Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump, Ba-boom, Ba-bump,
The woman froze in place, slowly shifting her head back.
Thud! Chad stood there. The chains around him burned in a golden flame, illuminating the cell. He glared at her. His eyes flashed with divine flare.
"Where is the king?" Chad asked, glaring down at her as he was taller. The woman's teeth started to crackle as her legs shook. Now that he was moving, she could feel it. This man wasn't someone she would dare to fight.
"The king's lair is in the mountain to the side. You have to break through the main gate." She said, pointing with her shaking finger toward the wall. Chad looked in that direction, his head slowly turning. "North?" His eyes shifted back at her, making her flinch.
"Yes, sir," She replied, and Chad walked past her, reaching the door.
CLICK! The door didn't open. "The keys," Chad stared back at the woman.
The woman scrambled inside her pocket, quickly getting the keys out, "Here are they," She rushed and handed them to Chad.
Chad took them from her hand, quickly opening the door and giving them back.
"Wait a moment. What do you intend to do?" She called him, but Chad didn't respond, simply leaving the room in silence.
Watching his back as he left, the woman sighed, "Just what is he?" She wondered, stalking from behind.
Chad walked the hallway and suddenly crouched in the shadows, and his divine aura disappeared immediately. The woman behind him rushed back, hiding behind the corner and peeking, seeing Chad sneak around one of the guards.
Chad walked with the shadow, reaching behind a lone guard who patrolled inside the prison.
In a moment, Chad stood and grabbed him from the back. One hand closing his mouth and the other snapping his neck. A sudden rush of golden flames engulfed the dragon, consuming it from the inside so he won't stand again.
As Chad silently dragged the body to the corner, the flame consumed the corpse, rendering it golden ash, blown by the faint breeze.
The woman watched in horror. Silently killing a dragon was thought to be impossible, but this man did it. How could a mere human do it? She was right not to start a fight with him.
Chad kept walking while keeping his aura as low as possible. Alerting dragons was a bad idea. After walking past a strange metal door, he could sense three dragons resting behind the corner.
The woman stopped, 'There are three ahead. How will he deal with them?'
Chad hid behind the corner, and a faint light glimmered from his back.
From the light, two angels emerged. Chad signaled with his finger, pointing toward the dragons.
Evelyn and Ariel separated, each going in her direction. Behind the door, the dragons sat around a wooden table playing a game.
Chad looked at them, rushing ahead in the blink of an eye. CRACK! With one swing of his hands, he snapped one of the dragons' necks. Evelyn and Ariel did the same, finishing the dragons silently. The golden flame rushed from Chad, burning the dragons before they could rage or even react.
As Chad stood to head out, Evelyn stared back toward the woman stalking them.
The woman quickly hid behind the corner, 'Did she notice me?'
"Let her be," Chad said, looking toward Evelyn.
Evelyn shook her shoulder, "Fine. I hope she won't get us in trouble."
The two angels disappeared, hiding back inside Chad as he walked outside.
The woman stared at him, her heart beating faster than a crazed drummer. For a moment, she thought she was dead.
Chad looked around the outside. Four watch towers surrounded the stone prison. Three dragons stood guard on each one.
Chad could find an easy way to sneak around, and the dragons would notice his absence shortly. His best bet would be to rush toward the king's lair.
When Chad was about to rush away, a hand grabbed his shoulder. "Please, wait." It was the woman from earlier.
Chad looked at her, "What do you want?"
The woman looked outside and quickly closed the door, "There is a passage through the basement. You can use that to head out," she whispered.
"Why help?" Chad glared at her, lifting one of his eyebrows.
"I don't know why, but let me help." She replied.
"Fine, where is this basement?" Chad asked.
"To the left, follow me." she turned, leading the way.
After walking a bit, she whispered, "Why do you aim for the king?" she asked, looking back at Chad.
"He made some problems for my son. Killing his is the best way to solve them." Chad replied as he breathed.
The woman looked shocked, "You know how strong the king is?"
Chad stared at her, "Why do you care? Because I don't."
His reply surprised her even more. This man didn't care about the dragon king's power. He only knows he is a problem to his son and that he needs to die.
"You will die. The king isn't like other dragons." She replied, "He's like the dead goddess, able to manipulate the five elements."
Chad stared at her, "Fire, Lightning, Acid, Poison, and cold. That's all."
"What do you mean that's all?" She stared back at him, "Do you know how crazy that is?"
Chad glared at her, "It isn't that impressive. Tiamat could call all the elements from the ground to water. The king is a weaker version of her."
Evelyn emerged from his back, smiling as her wings extended, "You refused to bow to Tiamat and then bowed to a weaker, mortal version of her. I can't understand how you think."
The woman stared at Evelyn. For a moment, she was mesmerized by getting a closer look at an angel.
"What do you mean?" The woman stared at Evelyn with a sharp glare.
"Nothing. You will understand later when your king falls. You will have to rely on Tiamat again." Evelyn replied, quickly disappearing.
The woman stared at Chad with a puzzled face. She wondered if this was the end of the dragon king, would this human manage to take him down?
"We reached the door," The woman said with a stern face, looking down at the wooden trapdoor.
"This thing is always rusty and will cry like a monster," She said with a worried face, looking down at the trapdoor.
Chad gently pushed her to the side, staring at the trapdoor's hinges. They were small to the point they looked meaningless.
With two fingers, he grabbed the left pair and started squeezing. Like dough, he tore a part of the metal. He did the same to the other side, releasing the door.
Chad then silently lifted the door as the woman stared at him, puzzled. She is a dragon. She could do that. But this was a human.
"Since when did your people get this strong?" She asked, looking at him, "I have never seen a human like you."
Chad looked at her, "Tearing metal like this only requires twenty strength." He replied, "You will find a good number of adventurer capable of doing it."
She glared at him, shaking her head rapidly, "Twenty strength doesn't let you twist adamantium!" The hinges aren't of steel. But from the most resilient material in the world.
"Adam-what?" Chad stared at her, "But it has Adam in the name, so it's strong, right?" He looked at her.
The woman lifted a finger about to reply but stopped, "I never thought about why it was named Adamantium." She looked at him, puzzled.
"How much strength does it need to break?" Chad asked, looking at her, and she glared back at him.
"Fifty strength for easy, hands-on manipulation. How much strength do you even have?" She couldn't believe the man standing beside her.
"Sixty, but why are you using Adamantium for hinges?" Chad grabbed one of the torn pieces, "This thing must be expensive."
She looked around, "This mountain is a natural mine of Adamantium. You might not believe it, but it's more common than Iron here." She replied.
Chad looked around, pointing toward a candle holder, "And that?"
"Adamantium, almost everything here is made of it, including the weapons and fortification. Even the buildings got reinforced with it inside the cement."
Chad looked at her, "Inside the what?"
"Cement. A type of mortar that we developed a few decades ago." The woman replied, looking at the walls.
Chad approached the trap door, "This is more than I care to know. For now, I will deal with the king first." He said, going down.
The woman followed him, "Wait for me. I will go with you."
"I'm going to kill your king," Chad said with a serious face.