"Let's take a lunch break!" Hleara clapped her hands and yelled out.

However, I had been so focused on reading the magic auras that I barely heard her. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my right shoulder and it broke my concentration, causing me to release my Magic Sense. "Magic sense SUCCESSFUL. +500 XP. -1 Health." I turned my head and saw the source of the pain: a sharp claw! With mild annoyance, I looked at the source of my torment: Bila. "Why did you poke me with your claw?" I asked.

Kalistra used to poke in the exact same spot on my shoulder. She did it to annoy me or to draw my attention. As my sword instructor, I had to listen and obey her. I did NOT want Bila to pick up this bad habit and poke me with her claw. Since this was the first time Bila did this to me, I did not wish to make a big deal out of it. Next time, though, watch out!

The cat girl pointed at Hleara, who was sitting in the middle of the cavern with some other party members. They were eating lunch. "It's time for lunch, master."

"Okay." I allowed Bila to grab my hand and pull me toward our companions. I sat down and graciously accepted my share of the dry rations. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a bowl of soup. I was even more surprised to find meat inside the bowl! "What is this?" I asked cautiously.

"It's a bird," Dovarata answered. "I got tired of watching you dig out magic items from the piles of coins. I left the cavern and went hunting. I caught a few birds to make us this delicious meal," she explained.

I bowed deeply to her. "Thank you."

"Ah! Even a lowly simpleton like you know manners. How delightful!" she sneered.

Despite the harsh words, I saw that there was no real malice behind them. Instead, I felt that Dovarata was only playing with me. From my reading of her spiritual aura, I knew that the draco was Chaotic but neither Evil nor Good. Thus, by process of elimination, I realized that Dovarata was Chaotic-Neutral in her alignment. This meant that, while I still had to be careful in my interactions with this powerful entity, I could still work with her and avoid starting a conflict with her. I had no clue what kind of vengeance she had in mind for her father's killers, but that was a road to cross in the distant future. For now, I had to maintain at least a cordial relationship with her.

"Thank you!" the other party members said in unison.

The draco puffed out her chest. She enjoyed basking in the adulation of these lesser beings. Dovarata was accustomed to waiting weeks for her father to return to the lair. In the meantime, she kept busy by flying out of the cavern to catch prey. Ever since Hleara was kicked out of the lair a few months ago, Dovarata didn't have anyone to talk to. Thus, she was thankful for this opportunity now.

We quickly finished our lunch. As we pulled ourselves off the ground to return to work, Hleara held up her hand to draw our attention. "Are any of the Bags of Holding full?" she asked while looking at the people assigned to this task.

Quale and Van raised their hands.

"Give them to me," she requested and took the bags.

"How is it possible for these bags to be full?" I asked. From my understanding of fantasy gaming lore, a Bag of Holding could carry a tremendous number of items because it was connected to another dimension. Thus, having a Bag of Holding become full was like an oxymoron in my view.

Dovarata spoke up. She felt it was the responsibility of a superior being like herself to enlighten a pitiful creature like me. "A Superior Bag of Holding can hold 1,000 pounds in weight and 100 cubic feet in volume. By my estimate, 50 gold coins weigh one pound. Thus, each bag can hold 50,000 gold coins. With all due respect, it would be disgraceful for a mature dragon, such as my late father, to have only 50,000 gold coins in his treasure hoard. He had a million pieces of gold. Or 20 bags worth, in other words. Since you are helping my sister claim her share of the hoard, you should be filling up 10 bags of gold," she explained slowly as if I was a small child.

When we understood the enormity of the task of helping Hleara to claim her share of the treasure, our shoulders sagged in disbelief. Honestly, what we really needed were shovels to shovel all the coins into the bags. Instead, my companions had resorted to creative alternatives, such as using their shoes and even a shield, to pick up the coins.

I nodded in thanks to Dovarata and then turned back to the party leader. "What are you going to do with the bags that are full?" I asked out of curiosity.

Hleara exchanged glances with Onxyx.

The elven priestess nodded. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a white flower. She placed it on the ground. She took out a small knife and pressed the sharp point against her left thumb. Her blood started dripping onto the ground, soaking the flower with her precious body fluid.

Suddenly, I remembered where I had seen the plant before: in the middle of the second floor of the signmaker shop! I understood what will happen next. I watched as the plant soaked in the blood and slowly grew in size. Its white exterior turned to blood red. Its roots dug into the ground and the plant started to straighten and extend upward. Eventually, the plant stopped growing when it reached the height of an adult person.

Onxyx dripped more of her blood over the petals, which responded by unfurling and revealing the center--a gaping black hole.

Hleara walked over to the hole and stuck one of the bags through the hole. She turned the Bag of Holding upside down and dumped the contents on the other side! When she finished emptying her bag, she repeated with the second bag.

I barely avoided facepalming myself. "If you're planning to dump all the coins on the other side, wouldn't it be easier to simply keep the portal open and bring the treasure to the portal directly?" I asked.

Onxyx looked at me with amusement while the other elves blanched at my suggestion. "Lord Mulligan, in order to keep the portal open, elven blood must be fed. Even with all the elves here, we won't be able to keep the portal open for the entire day," she explained politely.

I turned toward the other elves and quickly mouthed the word, "Sorry." I saw Bjoukia giggle and Bjoukin elbowed her in the ribs. However, Quale and Kourant did not respond to my apology.

Hleara waved at the other party members to garner their attention again. "I didn't realize the portal required a blood sacrifice to maintain. In that case, please bring your bags over and dump the contents through the portal. I don't care how full or empty they are now. I just want to minimize the amount of blood needed to open the portal and to keep it open."

Onxyx bowed in appreciation. After all, she was usually the one making the blood sacrifice.

The rest of the party jogged over and dumped the contents of their bags through the portal.

"Aren't you worried that the coins will be stolen?" I asked.

The draco shook her head. "Valatea has given her assurance that Gaea's servants will protect the treasure."

I turned around and dedicated myself to playing the role of a bloodhound for magic items once more. As I had originally feared, it took the rest of the day to sort through Hleara's share of the treasure. There were too many magic items for me to examine closely. Instead, I simply placed them on the ground away from the gold coins. Eventually, I saw Hleara scoop them up and store the invaluable items away. Before I knew it, the sky above my head turned dark and nightfall arrived.

With magic, Dovarata lit the numerous torches on the walls. She simply snapped her fingers and all the torches around the cavern were lit simultaneously.

Hleara muttered, "Showoff!" With her share of the treasure now stored under the watchful eyes of Gaea's minions, the cavern looked even more spacious.

Even though the rest of my party were finished with their task of gathering the coins into their Bags of Holding, they remained in the cavern. The reason was that while Onxyx was able to cast Recall to return our party to the secret base of The Elven Nation, she decided that we should return home together. The priestess did not wish to leave me behind. She did not trust Dovarata at all and she was afraid that I would become her prisoner or slave if I was left behind.

The rest of the party quickly agreed when Onxyx explained her concerns quietly to the group. Thus, the party spent a second night inside the dragon's lair.

After supper, I rested on the ground. I was developing a headache from excessive use of Magic Sense and I badly needed the rest. With the images of magic items dancing inside my head, I succumbed to the alluring siren of sleep.

#

I awoke to the bright rays of sunlight shining down on my face. My eyes were bombarded with a blinding white light. Out of habit, I lifted my hand over my eyes. I slowly began to remember where I was--the dragon's lair. I looked up and saw another unfamiliar ceiling. I chuckled quietly at this thought. Well, at least I hadn't been kidnapped again, right? I pulled myself off the ground and looked around. I saw Bila laying on the ground next to me; she was snoring softly. My eyes eventually met with those of Dovarata.

"Had a good rest?" she asked from across the cavern. The draco was sitting on top of a pile of gold coins in the western quadrant. Her share of the treasure hoard, in other words.

I nodded as I returned her gaze. I realized this was her way of reminding me of my promise to help her locate the magic items buried in her share of the treasure hoard.

Abruptly, Dovarata threw something at me.

Dice started rolling inside my head. "Dexterity check SUCCESSFUL. +25 XP." I had reflexively caught something in my right hand. I looked and discovered that it was an apple.

"Breakfast," she explained succinctly.

"Thanks," I replied and started eating the piece of fruit. Since we were inside an inactive volcano, it was unlikely that an apple tree was growing in the vicinity of this area. This meant that the draco had to travel to another place to get it and she gave me food from her limited supply. Thus, I was very appreciative and ate the apple quickly. It was the polite thing to do.

When I was finished eating my small breakfast, I activated my Magic Sense and resumed my search for magic items hidden inside the piles of treasure. I started to approach the pile that the draco sat on top of.

Dovarata did not move from her perch. Just like yesterday, she watched me like a cat watching a mouse.

I ignored her presence and focused on reading the magic auras. Whatever remained in the cavern now belong to Dovarata. As I had noted yesterday, approximately half the magic auras were in the western quadrant where I was standing. Thus, I was reading a ton of magic auras.

I decided to start digging for the magic item closest to me. After a few minutes of careful searching, I felt my hand touch a necklace. When I pulled the item out of the coins, I discovered that it was a pearl necklace. Most of the pearls were rather tiny with one notable exception: the biggest pearl was two inches in diameter. I read the caption above the magic item and its name was, "Necklace of Infinite Wisdom."

Suddenly, Dovarata flew off her perch and swooped down like a hawk. She landed right in front of me. "Give me that!" she demanded and reached out with her arm.

I immediately handed the item to her.

With a bright smile, Dovarata put on the necklace. "How do I look?" she asked while twisting her body from side to side as if she was a fashion model.

"Beautiful," I complimented. "What does it do?" I asked out of curiosity.

The draco looked at me for a moment. She decided to answer my question. "It doubles the wearer's Wisdom attribute and also provides some resistance to mental intrusion."

"You mean like a charm effect, mind control, or telepathy?" I asked.

She nodded.

"Don't you have magic resistance already as a dragonkin, though?"

"Yes and no. While I do have 25% magic resistance as dragonkin, this pearl necklace will double my resistance to mental magic."

"I see." My curiosity satisfied, I turned back to the pile of coins awaiting me, activated my Magic Sense and started digging for the next piece of magic item closest to my current location. By the time I was finished digging out all the magic items inside the pile, two hours had passed. The result of my search? Two swords, one orb, one staff, one shield, one lance, and two rings. When I was finished pulling all the magic items out of this particular section, I turned around and announced, "I'm done with this pile."

Dovarata nodded. She took all the magic items off the ground and put them in her Bag of Holding.

By now, my party members had awakened and they were eating breakfast. I decided to join them. After all, one apple was not enough sustenance for me until lunchtime. Thankfully, Dovarata did not try to stop me.

"Good morning," my companions greeted me in unison when I joined them in their section of the cavern.

When I sat on the ground, Bila handed me a bowl of oatmeal and a cup of honey tea. I thanked her and started eating. To my delight, my oatmeal was topped with small pieces of fruit. When I finished eating, I discovered that Dovarata was standing behind me tapping her foot impatiently.

My companions had noticed her presence long before me but they wisely declined to object to what she was doing. They realized that she was not going to harm me and they simply dismissed her rudeness as part of her upbringing. After all, they saw that she had lived in isolation away from other people, especially after Hleara was forced to leave the lair. Thus, they took pity on Dovarata and granted her some latitude in her behavior toward me.

When I finally noticed her, I glanced back at my party members and gave them a dirty look. In response, they either looked down on the ground or at their bowls and refused to meet my eyes. "Thanks a lot, guys!" I muttered softly. I rose to my feet and jogged over to the next pile of treasure in the western quadrant. It was going to be another long day of searching.