Inside the Volcano

When I arrived at one of the caves, I noticed some marks all around the entrance. 'So, something seems to be inside. I no longer have to worry about dark places though. Let's see what's inside then' I thought and entered. The cave inside was really dark, I stopped for a moment, and awakened my Darkness Perception.

What I saw inside, stunned me even more. There were claw marks all over the cave, but no creature was visible inside. 'The cave or old lava channel might be natural, but those marks are not' I thought. This proved one thing, there was something alive in those caves. The question was, what was it?

I decided to go deeper and explore more. The cave had many twists and turns, until I hit a dead end. 'This is weird. If it was formed naturally, shouldn't this extend towards the core of that Volcano?' I thought. Hitting a dead end, was a weird sight, so I decided to look around and backtrack my steps. 'Maybe I missed something' I thought.

I checked every turn and twist in more details. Then I stumbled upon some sort of large crack, hidden away in a corner. It was very hard to notice it, if I didn't look for something like that specifically, I would never be able to find it. I came closer to the crack, and noticed that there is a tunnel behind it.

The crack in one of the walls, was large enough for me to walk through. I did just that and arrived at the other side. What welcomed me, was the peculiar view of a short tunnel, and an open area beyond it. 'So this is the original channel, that lava used to come through, but why was it sealed like this?' I thought, and moved towards the open area.

I stood at the edge of the entrance and realised what it was, that the Volcano hid in its core. It wasn't lava, but a whole colony of creatures. The creatures weren't that simple either. It looked like they actually managed to create something like a village, inside that Volcano. The creatures themselves, looked like Frosty? I was very confused at that point.

The creatures were like lizards, but were much bigger compared to Frosty. They were also different colour. Most of them either red, black or combination of both. They also walked on their hind legs, just like humans. What was even weirder, they had simple clothes on them. 'It seems, I stumbled upon another intelligent species. I wonder if they occupy more than one Volcano' I thought to myself.

There was one problem. I had no idea, whenever these creatures would attack me on sight, or try to be friendly. 'I was lucky with Avians, but I might not be so lucky with these creatures' I thought. As I stood there admiring the sights, I heard a voice behind me. "What are you doing here, human?". 'Shit!' I turned around, and saw three lizard creatures standing behind me. 'I don't know how they were able to hide their presence so well, even though I was lost in my thoughts' I thought.

I calmed down and said "I was exploring the Volcano, and stumbled upon this place accidentally". The lizard creature looked at me but didn't say anything. I continued "I'm new to North. I saw the caves in the Volcano, and decided to explore them, nothing else".

The lizard responded "We know who you are". I was a bit stunned and asked "What do you mean?". The lizard creature responded "I mean exactly what I said. We know about the Avians, and what you did there". I looked at the lizard creature seriously, and said "Bullshit. The Avians are spouting shit again". The lizard paused for a while, then said "Maybe, but it's a whole race's word against yours. Tell me, why did you come here really?".

I answered "Do you think, I came here to cause trouble? I told you, Avians are talking shit. I can tell you exactly what happened". The lizards looked at each other, then one of them said "We will listen to your side of the story then". I began describing, how I helped Avians exterminate the Corpse Dogs, then how I explored the Vulture Cliffs, and that I discovered new race inside a pond. I told them, that I notified Avians about those creatures, and that the King of Avians asked me to deal with them, in exchange for some herbs. I also mentioned that I only killed couple of Yagaroths, before the King of Avians realised, these were Yagaroths, and shouldn't be disturbed.

It took me a while, to explain my part of the story, but the lizards were listening attentively for the whole part. When I finished narrating my account of the past events, the lizard creature said "So it seems, Avians placed the whole blame on you". I replied "Pretty much. A whole army of Yagaroths chased after me, together with Avians. What I did to that army, is no doubt true, but I value my life as well".

The lizard creatures exchanged some looks between themselves, and one of them said "You are quite lucky to stumble upon us though. If it was another race, you might not be so lucky". I asked "Do you mean that, you will not chase after me?". They nodded their heads, and the leading lizard creature replied "We didn't intend to do that, in the first place". The leading lizard continued "I actually believe your story. I don't think you could fabricate the whole thing like that, on the go. What you said, is most probably true, but it doesn't change the fact, that many races of the North hate humans. This gives them even more of a reason, to hunt humans down".

I decided to ask "Can I stay here for a while, not to hide, but to explore your race. Maybe we can exchange some things". The lizard thought about it, then said "I can allow you to stay for a short while. Let this be a good will from us, in exchange for your honesty. We value honest creatures, and humans as well".

He then continued "Follow me, I will introduce you to some people. This way, you will be able to walk around this place for a while. If you want to buy goods, or exchange something, I will show you the market for that". I replied "Thanks, it seems you have something like a whole village in here". The lizard said "Kind of, It's one of many". I then followed after the lizard creatures, down toward their village inside a Volcano.