POV Kidnapees:
The air quickly turned hotter and hotter, sweat pouring down everyone’s bodies. Everyone wanted to shout in panic, but they couldn’t.
Their mouths closed so firmly that they felt like they were stitched together.
Finally, the young-looking elven girl spoke without any fear, only with awe in her voice, “Your Highness, these are some additional helpers that I hired to help me with my work.”
The two golden lights looked straight at them, everything still remaining quiet except for the sound of loud breathing coming from the dark tunnel.
No one dared even to move a single muscle under the sharp emotionless gaze.
Finally, the dragon spoke, their cold voice resounding through the dark tunnel, “So be it, Alesia. From now on, they will work for you and, in the extension, for me.”
As everyone wanted to breathe in relief, the dragon turned back towards them, “Enjoy your opportunity and glory, my new minions! Bow before your new lord!”
All of them fell to their knees, bowing their head without even thinking as if some invisible force compelled them.
Finally, everyone breathed out in relief, knowing that they likely avoided the fate of becoming a meal to the dragon.
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon launched out of the hole in the ground, his body reaching the sky in a blink of an eye, throwing its black shadows over the land under him.
His golden eyes swept over the land, trying to find the thief that was still at large. Hatred burned within him, pushing back his interest towards the project his minions worked on.
There was nothing except his monsters and minions running all over the plain, turning every stone and cranny in their search. Their small black bodies moved around like a swarm of ants.
‘That reminds me, that is maybe a time to finally get runes on my armour.’
Suddenly loud shouts interrupted his thoughts, “Catch him. He is not a player! He must be the thief.”
The dragon immediately turned in the direction of the shout, his eyes quickly zooming towards the location of the shout.
A commotion was happening on the ground. More than six robed minions surrounded another robbed figure. They all stood on a narrow, spiralling path leading down from the mountain peak where the tower stood.
“No, I am one of you… I just reached level thirty-two.” the figure didn’t budge under pressure, his voice not faltering under the focused attention of the six people.
If he weren’t angry, Vesuvius would be now laughing like a maniac, ‘There is only one thing that no NPC can ever pretend to be… and that is being a player.’
At first, he couldn’t even understand why the thief would even attempt it, ‘Players were in this world for a long time. There is no way that the thief wouldn’t know that it is impossible to impersonate one of them.’
Then he realised the reason, ‘He must be desperate, or likely not even knowing how unusual NPCs are in my organisation.’
The six players drew their blades, pointing them towards the thief. Suddenly a ball rolled out of the thief’s sleeve before exploding in a blinding flash of light.
All of the players immediately became blind, with the thief slipping between them.
The dragon, not waiting, flapped his wings, the wind loudly roaring around him as he descended from the sky with flames and smoke in his tracks.
His massive body pierced through the layer of clouds and closed towards the ground at an immensely high speed.
His heart was beating with anger. His eyes only locked on the thief that tried to rob him. He wanted to crush his body, to tear his limbs one by one and condemn him to long-suffering.
‘No, that is not enough! I need to make an example out of him that will send shudders down the back of anyone even thinking about trying to rob me.’
The dragon’s mouth twisted in a feral grin, with magma and blue light leaking out as he started to imagine torturing the thief.
The thief turned his head towards the sky, freezing just for a split second before turning back towards the tower, running as quickly as possible, his body turning into a grey blur for any normal human.
Dozens of draconified monsters growled, their roars echoing throughout the whole plains as they rushed behind the thief.
The dragon wanted to unleash his breath and burn him to cinders, but he held back his rage, knowing that it would be too easy of an ending for the thief.
He kept quickly closing towards the ground, his horns already brightly glowing with strong winds collecting around them. He wanted to squish the thief towards the ground.
POV Thief:
The thief kept running already, almost reaching back towards the entrance to the tower. He turned to look towards the sky, his eyes going wide in fear when they fell upon the wyrm.
He immediately speeded up, pushing past all of his limits with the help of fear.
His breath was ragged, his heart pounding as if it was going to explode at any moment, with rivers of sweat flowing down his body.
His vision was already turning black from the exhaustion, yet he ground his teeth and endured the pain, knowing that he would die if he slowed even for a moment.
The wyrm in the sky was quickly closing towards him, its wide open massive mouth filled with sharp teeth, its unbreakable looking armour with blue glow and its glowing eyes sending shivers down his spine.
“Graaah!” a boar covered in stone with magma leaking out of the cracks in it suddenly ran at him from his left side. Its sharp tusks glowed in heat, glinting in a metallic lustre, ready to skewer his stomach.
The thief jumped, his body lifting from the ground while making a flip. The boar narrowly passed under him, the heat searing his skin.
He didn’t even flinch under the pain.
His hand holding the dagger moved, turning into a bullet that stabbed the boar straight into its reverse-slitted eye.
The sharp blade pierced through the soft eyeball, destroying it like a ripe cherry.
“Gaaa!” the boar squealed with blood flowing out of its eye as the thief landed back on the ground, quickly running back towards the entrance, the air around him already turning hot, heated by the wyrm in the sky.
‘What is going on? I should already be dead. Am I that lucky?’ he simply couldn’t fathom why the fiery breath didn’t already blast him.
The entrance was only a few steps away, his hope returning. Lights flashed behind him, multiple magical arrows shot by the cultist aiming at his exposed back.
Finally, he slipped into the black entrance, a strong wave of winds smashing to the ground behind him with a loud bang resounding through the plains and with the stone ground of the peak cracking.
He shuddered, imagining all of his bones getting crashed under the impact. However, he could finally breathe out in relief, ‘There is no way that the wyrm will unleash its breath attack and destroy the tower.’
POV Vesuvius:
The dragon, braced with his massive wings, stayed floating high above the ground, each flap of his wings sending clouds of ash through the air.𝔬𝗏𝐥xt.𝗇t
All of his minions turned towards him, seeing his new form for the first time.
The dragon watched in anger as the thief vanished inside his own tower. He even started to regret not just killing him on the spot with his magic, ‘No, I can’t just let him die without making an example out of him. He has nowhere to run. It is only a matter of time before he gets caught.’
It was one thing to try and steal his gold before it even reached his lair. He could be merciful in that case and give perpetrators a relatively quick death, but it was different when someone sneaked straight into his home and tried to steal straight from his hoard while defying the sanctity of his lair.
He shouted at his minions, bringing them out of their stupor, “Go catch him! I want him alive, don’t let him die too quickly!”
The monsters and hooded players rushed into the tower, pursuing the thief with a murderous glint in their eyes.
POV ???:
A rider rode down a road, dust clouds rising under his horse’s hooves. A small town before him was getting closer, its walls still blackened after a fire, with its surroundings carrying still fresh marks of battle.
An evil-looking tower on the horizon, throwing its terrifying shadows over valleys under it. The valley was turned into unholy land after being washed under the blood of the dying angelic army.
The rider raised his hand, making a quick gesture of blessing, ‘Ooo, please, god of light, protect me in this land of heretics and evil monsters.’
He urged his horse to gallop even after, wanting to reach the safety of the walled town as soon as possible.
Honestly, he just wanted to turn back, but he couldn’t, as his benefactor depended on him.
‘He took care of me when I was just an orphan. It is time to at least partially pay this debt.’