He didn't move. Naria said worriedly, her knuckles turned white.

"Maybe he's just asleep. If I were alone, I would have fallen asleep if I were bored lying here. Tess comforted her, glad that Nalya had finally rushed out desperately without seeing the shadow of the ice dragon this time.

They found it quickly. As expected, the ice dragons were locked in the middle of the bottom of the pit, but they could only hide in the cavern at the end of a passageway, sneaking their heads out to take a few looks, and there was no way to get closer.

More than a dozen thick iron chains on the ice dragon's body were like an unbreakable iron net, imprisoning it to the ground. Tess watched quietly for a long time, and from what she could see, she deduced that there was a huge winch at each end of each chain, and that there were at least three dwarves next to each winch. There are also quite a few dwarves guarding the ice dragon. Tess believed that if something happened, more dwarves would jump down from above.

She remembered the thick iron cables hanging from the edge when she first entered the pit and looked down from the top of the abyss, which she had thought was for a dwarf who had accidentally fallen to reach out and grab it so as not to fall to her death, but now it looked like it was part of a trap.

A trap for dragons.

As long as the chains are freed from the hooks on the rock wall, and the winch is turned, the falling cables will fall onto the ice dragon, their weight combined with the strength of the winch is enough to pull an ice dragon with nowhere to go in this narrow pit to the surface.

That's what made Tess more and more uneasy the more she thought about it. She had ventured close to the nearest winch, which had been nailed firmly to the ground, and although it was well maintained, it certainly wasn't the one that had been nailed there just a few months ago, judging by the rust that remained on the rock.

Did the dwarves know years ago that a dragon was going to fly into their mines?

Naria tugged at her sleeve and whispered, "Someone is coming down." ”

Tess looked over and saw a dwarf crawling out of the basket he had just hung from above, and the dwarves around him saluted him, looking like a great man.

The "big man" angrily drove all the guards around the ice dragon away. Even the guards next to the several winches that were closer to the ice dragon were driven to the side by him with a roar. The dwarves retreated far into a passage, and seemed a little overwhelmed.

Tess, who was helpless, seemed to see a glimmer of opportunity. Her eyes widened, ignoring the possibility of someone seeing her, and half of her body almost poked out of the hole.

"Tess!" Naria grabbed her nervously, "Do you have a solution?"

The chains began to vibrate, and the ice dragon woke up, or maybe it wasn't unconscious or asleep at all. It roared and began to struggle, the sound of chains striking each other echoed throughout the ground.

The dwarf in front of it stood firmly, not taking a step back, which made Tess a little admired, and she could feel a tingling of fear even from a distance. It is impossible for a dwarf to be so close without the influence of the dragon.

The old dwarf seemed to be saying something, but it was too far away for Tess to hear anything, and besides, she didn't know dwarven language.

She shrank back.

"Great opportunity," she said, her eyes shining brightly on the thrilling show that was about to take place, but her voice was still so nonchalantic, "Akan, get your hammer ready." Naria ...... Let's save that brother who is more likely to get into trouble than you. ”.

“...... I thought you were dead at the hands of the barbarians—or those adventurers who like to drill around, but you suddenly ran back. Kogan Brass paused, looking at the golden eyes he had never forgotten for a moment, and though one of them seemed a little cloudy, it was as cold as he remembered. When he was younger, he was full of fear under the gaze of these eyes, but now he has more complex emotions.

The white beast just struggled without saying a word.

Kogan listened to the heavy chains pounding, and had enough confidence in the ancient mechanism that was constantly repaired and renewed under the supervision of every king, including him.

He continued, but more like he was saying to himself, "You shouldn't have come back, even if you lost a hand......" He looked at the ice dragon's mutilated front paws, the wounds were huge and ugly, and the stump that seemed to have just emerged was even more glaring, "It will be all right one day." You can also find enough food on the barbarians' territory to rebuild your wealth, or fly further afield. I've heard that the snow and ice never melt there, isn't it a good fit for you?"

The ice dragon suddenly stopped struggling, but the sound of the chains did not stop.

- Something is not quite right.

An anxiety caused the elderly dwarven king to look around uneasily, but the ice dragon's deep voice quickly took away his attention.

"Thief. ”

Although the voice was not loud, the contemptuous salutation made the old dwarf blush: "You are the thief! everything you have is stolen...... You stole it! Oh, you must have stolen it!"

"And what have you done, righteous dwarves, have you taken them from me and returned them to their true owners?" the ice dragon lowered his head mockingly, "Even if I took something, it would have been mine. ”

"We don't know who their owners are!" the old dwarf yelled as he jumped up, realizing that his voice was a little too loud for even the dwarves he had chased far away could hear what he was saying.

"You dare not even let anyone know that you have driven a dragon out of its home, that you have given up that great glory, for you know very well that there will be countless pairs of greedy eyes staring at you, and you will not be at ease for a moment. The ice dragon deliberately lowered its voice, and the failure of hundreds of years ago was also a great shame for it, and it had no intention of letting more people know about it.

It struggled slightly. As the verbose old dwarf began to ramble on the old things, it felt the chains that bound its body begin to loosen little by little.

The ancient ice dragon, known as the Silver Fang, couldn't think of anyone who would come to his aid—its true name was known only to him.

Those who come to its rescue must have had other purposes.

Thousands of years ago, when the only kingdom that belonged to the dragon fell apart, every dragon was alone. They survive alone and die alone in the fear and hatred of almost all living beings.

Silverfang knew that some dragons had flown desperately to the edge of the barren world, and in their slumber they had stopped breathing, their massive bones forever untouched.

It spurned such cowardice and evasion, but it had to retreat again and again, straight to the isolated island above the icy sea.

Even there is not security. Mortally wounded in a battle with a young ice dragon, it fled back to the barbarians' ice fields, and it took a long time to heal its wounds, but its front paws still did not recover, and its left eye had only a faint eyesight.

Silver Fang's body has aged and heals very slowly. Given enough time, it could recover completely, but one day, as soon as it left the cave where it was hiding, it saw the white figure flying above the sky.

The young ice dragon chased after him, seemingly not intending to let it go.

In its rage and frustration, it remembered the treasure that had been taken six hundred years ago by the dwarves of the Bronze Flame Clan, who had established their kingdom near its original lair. Pride can only admit that it is impossible to reclaim the wealth that belongs to it, but it can at least find a way to get back one of them.

Silverfang wondered if the dwarves knew the preciousness of the object. With it, it will be able to quickly regain its former strength, if not enough to reclaim the Silver Tooth Mountains, the place that bears its name, enough to kill the young ice dragon and reclaim its lair above the ice sea.

It had to humiliate itself as a dwarf with a broken arm to infiltrate the mines. It didn't know how the young ice dragon learned of his whereabouts, and soon appeared in the Silver Tooth Mountains.

It seemed to have been chased away by the dwarves, but Silverfang had no doubt that the ice dragon was hiding in the nearby mountains, waiting for it to appear. It had also seriously injured the ice dragon, and it knew how strong the desire for revenge was.

It lives with the dwarves in hiding, amazed at the carelessness and naivety of these young dwarves, who are too well protected by their tenacious and determined ancestors. Several human adventurers were also able to sneak into the mines, steal the dwarven gems and gold at will, and escape easily.

But Silverfang didn't expect the dead dwarven ancestors to leave such a surprise for it—when its golden eyes and white scales covering its cheeks were spotted by the dwarves, it simply turned back into a dragon, hoping to break through the rock formations above and leave the pit first. However, the young dwarves had no idea what the ancient trap was for, and it was trapped by the chains and pulled back to the surface.

It doesn't know if there's a bigger danger behind the glimmer of life in front of it, but it's not going to sit still.