the sun was high up in the sky, bathing everything below in its light. the top of the forest blocked some, but beams of light made it through the gaps. and where there were no trees, there was no shade. except for one place. in the side of a rocky hill, with only a handful of trees, there was a dark and deep shadow. a cave entrance. no light made it in here further than a few feet, so few had ventured into this cave. few even knew it existed. that made it perfect in some ways. and for the things that could use that cave, it was. but the original occupant was old and slow, and he had found himself attacked and forced to flee. it wasn't every day someone defeated a dragon.

it wasn't every day such a useful cave stayed empty either. the old owner was barely a speck on the horizon before a younger creature stole the cave and all it contained, moving in before the humans who attacked the other dragon had finished cheering their victory.

***

the rumour had reached the village a few hours ago, that men from another village a few miles away had driven off a dragon. it had fled, away from the likely lairs. and dragons accumulated treasure. four young adventurers had heard it. rather, two of them had, and were eager to convince the other two that they needed to move quickly.

'i know the perfect cave it could have been in. all we need to do is get there fast before someone else realises that the dragon had lived there.' jake said. the half-illithid's silver eyes shone with excitement at the idea of sneaking in, grabbing just a few handfuls of treasure, and darting out again before others came to loot the horde.

'and it's empty now so there's no risk at all.' saren said, backing him up. the two wanted to convince the girls to help. the more treasure they could carry, the better, because soon others would be taking it. they could risk one attempt at best to get it before others arrived, in numbers and prepared to clean the cave out.

mia was first to speak, the red-haired girl remembering something

'well, i heard a legend once that there was a cave near here with a dragon that had been there for years. if the dragon ran it must have been too weak or old to fight them off. so it wouldn't hurt to look i suppose.' she said, agreeing with the boys that it was worth it.

the last of the four was less enthusiastic.

'i don't know... what if the dragon comes back? or if there's already a bunch of other treasure hunters there?' bianca said.

'bi, it's fine. the dragon ran off, and dragons won't let any other dragons stay in their cave. it's the best cave for it.' jake assured his sister. she relented.

'okay, i'll help. but if there are other people there already and they don't want to let us take any we're just going to come back, right?'

'of course. and if the dragon isn't really gone we'll just come back too.' mia said.

'of course we could always try and fight it.' saren suggested. the other three shook their heads.

'no. even a weak old dragon would wipe out just four of us. to fight it off they must have needed dozens of men and even then they probably had some injured.' jake said.

having decided that they could just cut their losses and run at the first sign of trouble, the four thought that it would be easy.

***

the trip didn't take long, as thanks to shortcuts and knowing the way, they soon reached the cave. the pitch blackness inside didn't stop them. they went in, slowly.

'we should have lit our torches before we came in, i can't see a thing in here.' saren said.

'if we just move slowly and make sure the ground ahead of us is safe we should soon find the cave walls have glowing fungus on them. it grows deep underground here and it starts to glow when it gets heat from something living near it.' mia said.

'yeah, we need to save the torches for as long as we can. if we use them when we don't need it we won't have them when we do.' bianca said. she'd had the foresight to grab two, and carried one, with jake holding the other. apart from weapons, four bags, and those torches, they had traveleld light, expecting to spend no more than four hours until they'd be back in the village, and hopefully richer.

sure enough, after a short while of inching forward, the walls began to glow a faint green. the fungus stopped glowing when it cooled, so if anyone had been here before them they were far ahead or there was no one. they stopped for a minute to check the floor, letting the fungus glow brighter by standing near it. no human footprints were in the dust, but there were the footprints of a dragon. they were old though and heading out of the cave.

'it was here, but it's outside now. it must have lived here.' jake said.

'let's go then.' saren agreed. the four moved into the cave guided by the green glowing fungus, and watching the shadows it made just in case. other creatures could hide in those shadows.

soon though, they found a large empty cavern. the glow didn't break up the shadows at all in the middle.

'bi, light your torch. if there's nothing here we can put it out and move on.' jake said. a second later she struck a match and soon her torch shone a red glow over the area.

a gold glow shone back. the four stared at a massive pile of coins, jewels, and precious items.

'wow. it was true, the dragon had been here for years!' saren said.

'i'll hold the torch, you fill the four bags.' bianca said. the three nodded, but jake paused.

'wait. mia, you keep a lookout, we'll fill the bags.  

they filled them up, and nothing happened. the only sound was the drip of water, the clink of the filling bags and the crackle of the burning torch. just as the boys filled the second bag, something hissed.

'jake? saren? did one of you make that sound?' mia asked. the blood of the four young adventurers ran cold. seconds later, another sound, something being spat out. in the glow, they saw something green hit the roof near the entrance to the cavern they had came in.  the rocks hissed and then caved in, blocking the way.  the boys ran over, the four watching each others backs.

the black dragon simply landed on the pile.

'so, you come here so soon after i enter. i had expected something to arrive.' the dragon said, baring its teeth.

'you're awfully small for a dragon.' jake said, even as the green eyes stared at him hungrily.

'do you see another way out?' saren whispered.

'no!' mia hissed. the four bunched up closer together.

'the only way out is behind me. and i assure you, i won't release you. after all, i am hungry...' the dragon said, and prepared to attack.

'look out!' jake yelled. the four dived away. jake and saren jumped left, the girls dived right. the acid breath missed them, instead melting a huge hole in the floor that led down into another cavern below.

'run!' mia yelled, helping bianca to her feet. the two boys sprang up, and then came another unwelcome noise and feeling. the ground below them was cracking. the cave in and the new hole had weakened the floor the boys were on. the rock floor broke apart and the two boys fell, yelling in surprise.

'nooo!' bianca yelled. mia and her were paraylzed with shock. the dragon glared at them again.

'you two shall wait here. i'll save you for later.' he said, having an idea. he knew a spell or two that could be useful here, and so he cast one.

mia realised the danger first when the shock of seeing, or rather hearing, the boys vanish into the blackness below faded. the dragon was attacking!

'bianca, look out!' she said, pushing the blonde girl away. the spell hit her and she yelled out.

bianca hit the ground, dropping her torch. she scrabbled to grab it, and when it lifted up, she screamed and jumped to her feet in shock. in front of her, mia stood with her bow in one hand, and the other still pushing bianca away. she stood still, and in the few colours of the torchlight looked normal except she didn't move an inch apart from the blue (purple in the torchlight) skirt she wore fluttering a little from the draughty cave. but she stared at the dragon, her blue eyes blank and lifeless. her hair was only red thanks to the glow of the torch. her skin glowed the very same red. in normal light, her eyes, hair and skin would all have been pale. the white of marble. she had been turned to stone.

bianca stared in horror, not hearing the dragon cast again. she felt the cold air grown even colder.

'no...' she whimpered, staring in fear at her outstreched hand holding the torch. the skin turned paler and paler, and she couldn't move at all. she was getting very cold. soon she was like mia, a pale statue, glowing orange in the light of the torch her petrified hand still held.

the dragon came over, and picked mia up in its claws. it inspected the petrified girl as bianca was forced to watch. the two stone girls both wanted to scream in fear, dreading what the dragon had planned for them. it put mia down and stared at bianca. then it moved them both away from the unstable floor.

'you two shall wait. the other two i will find and petrify also. then i shall pick one and devour them. you four shall keep me fed until more humans come seeking what is now mine. i will return. your two companions cannot have gotten far. i shall be only a couple of hours at most,' the dragon said, then extinguished the lit torch before he left, plunging the cavern into darkness and then leaving his two victims in an even more claustraphobic environment.

***

in the cavern below, the two boys had been stunned for a moment by their fall. jake stood up.

'bi? saren? mia?' he asked the darkness. saren groaned as he stood up.

'jake? where are the girls?'

a scream came from above. the two boys became isntantly alert. jake lit his torch to try and find a way back up, but they had fallen deeply into another cavern, beside an underground river. as the two boys frantically searched to see some way up, the echoing voice of the dragon came down the hole.

'shall wait... petrify also...' they made out from the faint echoes.

'it turned them to stone!' saren hissed.

'we need to help them.' jake said, as more rocks fell.

'cave in?' saren asked.

'or the dragon. either way, we need to get away from here.'

'we're trapped though.'

'the river. it's our only chance.' jake said, putting the torch out. the two boys held their breath, jumped in and the river took them away. they fought to stay above the water and near each other, but the current was not too fast and they managed to catch themselves on the roof of a low part of the cave and struggle to a nearby tunnel. they caught their breath and jake lit the torch again, having held it up to keep it dry.

'now we find a way out and make sure the girls are okay.' saren said. jake nodded.

the two boys trudged the caverns trying to find a way back to the treasure pile, putting the torch out when they found more glowing fungus on the walls. eventually, after what seemed like days, they found the cavern and lit their torch. the two girls lay on top of the pile of gold, solid stone. mia still held her bow, bianca held the extinguished second torch and her own mace. the two unpetrified adventurers ran over.

'i'm so sorry bianca, mia. i promise i'll help you.' jake said. he was then surprised to hear bianca's thoughs.

you have to hurry away from here, jake!

'bianca?! why do i need to hurry?'

'what is it? what do you mean?' saren asked

you can hear me?

'yes! i can hear your thoughts somehow.' jake said.

'can you hear mia?' saren asked. jake shook his head.

'no. bianca, why do i need to hurry?'

well, the dragon will be back soon. he'll turn you to stone and eat us if he catches you.

'we need to help you and mia though! saren, you carry mia and i'll carry bianca, we can get them to safety.'

the two boys carefully tried to pick the girls up, but they found a problem. the petrified girls were too heavy even for them to carry one away at any speed.

'great. what do we do now?' saren asked. jake looked at him.

'we get help. bianca, how do we turn you and mia back?' jake asked.

there was no reply.

'bianca?!' he almost yelled, turning to look at the statue's blank eyes

i said you need to go to the temple. ask the priest there what to do.

jake suddenly realised something.

'hold on bi. say something now.' he said, looking away from her eyes.  he heard nothing until he looked back at her eyes, getting the end of the conversation.

'i need to look into your eyes to hear you.'

'wait, does that mean you could hear mia too?' saren asked. jake looked into mia's petrified eyes and heard her.

can you hear me after all?!

'yes, mia. don't worry. we're going to help you both.'

okay, but hurry. the dragon looked hungry...

jake nodded. the two boys left, leaving the girls as they found them. the dragon could not know they had been there.

***

the boys had left, and the two girls were now alone entirely. both wished they could hear the other. they couldn't. all they saw was blackness, all they heard was the faint ambient sounds of the cave: dripping water, the faint whistle of draughts, the echos of the river below. they lay there, hoping saren and jake had escaped to get help.

then the dragon returned.

'hello, humans. you will be pleased to hear i have a new plan. you will also be pleased to hear that i can hear what you think if i wish.'

what? mia asked.

'my plan is simple and elegant. you two humans make nice statues. i have decided to collect the humans that make good treasure, and eat the ones who do not. petrified, you humans keep. i will start with the village that chased off the old dragon. i will turn everything there to stone. you will soon be joined by those i find pleasing. you will also be joined for a short time by those who look tasty.'

that's horrible! bianca said.

'you humans would say that. but soon there will be no humans for miles around, only statues. i will turn every male, female, and all your human young to stone and make this entire area mine.'

if you were a human you'd be insane. mia told him. the dragon laughed.

'yes, but i am a dragon. and so if i say so myself, i am a genius. but first, i shall await your two companions. i will find them. if they have not fled and left you here...'

he turned and left them again, leaving them dreading the fact that if he found the boys, it was more than just the four of them at risk now. the two had visions of villages petrified, men women and children changed from flesh into terrified statues. some would live as stone forever but those the dragon did not like would soon be gone forever when he ate them alive.

***

they had ran as soon as they found an exit from the caves, racing to the temple. they found it empty except for the old priest, who sat outside on the steps. he looked up at the two boys when they stopped in front of him, breathing heavily.

'jake. saren. greetings. i see you seem to be in a hurry. catch your breath and tell me why, ' he said. the two boys caught their breath, but the priest spoke again.

'i notice mia and bianca are not here. are they in trouble?'

jake nodded. the preist sighed.

'oh dear. the caves?'

saren nodded this time.

'black dragon... petrified them both...' jake gasped. the priest stood up.

'i see. you must be quick to return to them. come with me.' he said. they followed him inside, to a library. he pulled three scrolls out from a wall.

'these scrolls, read aloud, can revert stone that was once flesh.'

'but if the dragon sees us again and petrifies us all we're done for.' saren said. the preist nodded.

'yes. that is why you need a basilisk elixir. come with me.'

they followed him once more, to another part of the temple. he picked out two bottles, a green liquid and a red liquid. he held the green bottle

'listen very carefully to what i say. this is pure basilisk venom. it will petrify any flesh it touches, but if that flesh is restored by these scrolls it will then be immune from all petrification for a day. but if mixed with this red potion, you should be safe for an hour without petrifying first. however, at the end of that hour you will then petrify for five minutes. i will prepare four doses of this. you must revert the girls, then all four of your drink and make haste to leave. if the dragon should catch you petrified, you will be doomed.'

'we would.' saren sighed.

'we have to risk it though.' jake said.

'of course.'

the preist prepared the potions, and gave the boys the tools they needed to save the girls. jake had a question though.

'i could hear bianca and mia when i looked into their eyes. why?'

the priest smiled.

'it's because of your eyes. you are half-illithid after all. when petrified, you can only see and hear poorly, and other senses are very weak too. but the eyes are the window to the mind. with your heritage, staring into the eyes of a petrified person means you should be able to hear their thoughts as their minds will be stronger.'

'oh. i see.'

'well, of course. if you didn't, you wouldn't hear them.' the priest chuckled.

***

the two boys managed to find their way back in. the dragon was thankfully still absent, searching for them elsewhere in the caves.

'we're back. we'll turn you back, but we have something to help us get away. when you turn back we're going to drink a potion each. it will keep us immune to petrfication for an hour, but we'll petrify after that hour, but only for five minutes. once we drink it we need to run.'

jake held the scroll up to the torch and read it. a second after he finished, the two stone girls began to glow. their whole bodies shone a faint white glow. before the eyes of the boys, the two girls pale stone skin turned back to the peach toned flesh it was supposed to be. once blank eyes blinked, once immobile limbs moved. the two girls jumped up in joy and hugged the boys.

'jake, the dragon wants to petrify more people. it says the nice statues will become treasure and everyone else will be his larder.' bianca said. the two boys were shocked at this.

'he's threatening to turn everyone for miles around into stone. we have to stop him or warn everyone.' mia added.

'okay. we'll drink the potion, run out of here, and then warn everyone else. hopefully we can get enough people to stop him.' jake said.

'wait! the gold!  we make sure we take the gold before drink the potions. i'm not leaving after that without it.'

'come to think of it we should have taken some earlier.' saren realised. jake sighed.

'you're right. if we drink now we waste time that could be spent running before we petrify.'

'grab the bags of gold then. they should still be filled.' bianca said. sure enough, the ones that had been were. the others were soon filled too, and the four drank their potions. they swallowed, gagging at the bitter taste. it made their tounges feel numb for a brief moment.

'now we get out of here!' bianca said. everyone agreed.

***

they made good time. about fifty minutes later, they saw the way out, precious sunlight indicating the way to safety.

'come on! if we can get far away we can wait as statues somewhere safe!' jake said. they ran out into the sunlight, then heard a hiss behind them. the dragon was there!

'so, you humans have saved each other. well, a shame. i shall have to petrify you all now.' it taunted, and cast the spell. but the four adventurers were glad to see the potion worked. the dragon roared in rage.

'if you will not petrify, you will simply die! meteor shower!' it screamed.

'back into the cave!' jake yelled as the spell was cast. the four just managed to evade it, the summoned meteors slamming into the forest. the earthquakes they caused collapsed the cave entrance.

'oh no! now we need another way out!' bianca realised. the dragon unfortunatley had found its own way in. it smashed a hole from outside, giving the four a sight of escape, but now trapped between the collapsed entrance and the dragon.

'a meteor would have been less painful, you know.' it said. the four drew their weapons, prepared to try and fight.

'we're not going to win, are we?' mia said softly.

'i think we're doomed.' bianca agreed, fighting fear.

'we can try and put up a good fight at least.' saren said, his sabre ready. jake however, was looking at the roof. the dragon breathed in, ready to use acid breath to melt them. jake realised that the roof was covered in stalactites. one had a crack, and it was right above the dragon. he had to try. he readied his psionic abilities and attacked the rock formation. the crack became bigger, and just as the dragon was a moment from breathing out, it fell. the spike of rock impaled the creature straight through the head, killing it. the acid breath it readied was swallowed as it died, and the four breathed a sigh of relief.

'now we just walk out and... oh, wait a minute.' jake said. his body felt numb.

'wait five, actually.' bianca grinned. the four of them had reached their hour limit, were going to turn to stone for the next five minutes, but couldn't care less. they'd saved themselves and everyone else from the dragon's threat. and they also had four bags of gold...

***

a few hours later, the sun was setting. jake had snuck away after they had returned, having spotted another treasure. he returned to the dead dragon, glad to see no one else had been there yet. carefully, he removed the dragon's green eyes, and a few of its scales. they could come in most useful in future, he knew, and he wasn't going to pass up the chance to claim them. after all, it wasn't every day you killed a dragon...