[Wyvern]

Nori Volcano.

Now that’s a place that Myrddin had heard of plenty times before. But the Tavil had never thought of the need to step foot upon this unstable region of Basantha. He had somehow endured going to plenty other nasty, dangerous and strange spots, but never through a Volcano.

He witnessed the looming clouds of dark ash and sprawling pools of glowing lava, which, to him, was quite the intimidating sight. Winged beasts soared over the stark atmosphere. All the Tavil had for his travels, was a crudely put-together leather backpack. Barely fitting inside the luggage, popped out a copper-tinted telescope-like pipe.

The Tavil climbed up a steep dusty cliff, standing firmly upon the sharp, curved edge that would have crumbled if it wasn’t for how small and lightweight Myrddin was. Taking out his makeshift binocular, he carefully stretched it out with his little claws and held the smaller end to his glowing red eye. He took a wide glance around the volcanic landscape with it.

Searching, searching.

“This ain’t fair and he knows it,” Myrddin scoffed in a low voice.
“All he had to do is to fly all across and over here. Am I too early, or too...

... Huh?”

On his lens, he had sworn seeing a figure moving within the direction he was staring at. He took the binoculars off his face and looked around.

The Tavil’s white fur stood up like bristles as he heard dust and wind picking up around him. He took a quick glance behind him... and there was this hulking, draconic figure, their shadow towering over Myrddin. Piercing green eyes staring down at the small mammalian creature; as if they had just landed near them after a short flight.

“LATE ...”

[Wyvern]

Myrddin helplessly yelped in fear as the Battleheart bellowed a response to the smaller one's doubts.

Seeing the Tavil clearly spooked out, however, made the draconic creature cackle out in joy at the little one’s distraught reaction.

“Eeek! Y-you!”
Myrddin leaped slightly backwards, landing barely on the very edge of the cliff. His binocular almost slipped off his claws. “Oogh, I must have known you were going to act all intimidating and scary. Look,” He paused, his fur still up on edge and ears perking up.

“SO scary, you even chased off all those birds that were looking down on me!”

The Battleheart blinked and tilted their head.
They looked upwards, searching among the clouds of smoke and ash.
“What... WHAT birds...?” They exclaimed, clearly confused and oblivious.

“Uh, yes... precisely! When I first arrived here, there were these big birds of prey flying overhead. Probably lookin’ for a snack.” He firmly held the binocular in his claws, fixated it into it’s more compact shape, and stuffed it inside his bag.

“They uh, might have flown off thinking you were going to eat me instead!” The Tavil started brushing down his fur, settling into his body. He slowly trotted down the rocky cliff, approaching the draconic creature.

“Hmm... I see... MYRDDIN!”

Once again, the scaled figure raised their voice, gazing down at the young startled Tavil.
“That.. that is your name, yes...? I, thank you, for coming here to help me.”

[Wyvern]

Myrddin didn’t finish brushing his fur back down before he almost let out a little yelp at hearing his name once more. “Uh, y-yes! It’s... no problem at all! Ha-ha!” He tried to keep his posture, still clearly in a bit of fear.

“I APOLOGIZE, if this has caused you any inconvenience. TRULY. For a SMALL creature like you, to come here, to the birthplace of many dangerous wild animals.”

He didn’t know if to feel complimented, insulted, or both. He was doing the Battleheart a favor, after all. And from what little they knew about them, they weren’t particularly the best when it came down to normal social interactions.

“Err, umm... nope! Maybe, just a tiny, tiny inconvenience... but that’s OK.”

Before this encounter, the two had only met once briefly. Which reminded Myrddin, he had forgotten a few crucial details about the purpose of this trip. “Uh... Ves- Vesper, right? Listen, I didn’t get the full memo here.” He took a few steps around the much larger creature, trying to hold their attention. “Can you remind me, what do you need me for? This place... you were born here, right?” He held onto the side strap of his backpack firmly, which clearly looked made up out of poorly sewn in scraps of leather.

[Wyvern]

The Battleheart, seemingly out of nowhere, summoned a scrolled-up long sheet of old paper, with edges clearly burnt up as if it belonged to a book that escaped from a fire.  

“W-whoa. What’s that?” Myrddin pointed to the scroll.

“INDEED was I born, within the of the Volcano, decades ago. I used to be TINY, and young, just like you, MYRDDIN.” Vesper unwrapped the paper, revealing a crudely drawn map. “I was raised inside a region of tunnels within it. Small enough for the youngest of Battlehearts to live in, without fear of predators.”

Myrddin pondered, pressing his other claw up his fuzzy lower jaw, scratching it softly.

“So! I think I know where this is going!”

He began to walk towards a dusty path, pelted in rocks and sharp volcanic stone, taking short leaps every now and then. “You want me to go in those tunnels! That sounds... CRAZY!” The Tavil hopped about, appearing both excited and fearful. “Okay, let me guess... there’s something special of yours in there, right?”

The Battleheart gave a gentle nod, shortly following Myrddin as he kept on walking towards the volcanic road. Every step the massive dragon took caused small clouds of dust to kick up. Vesper held the map up, as he gave a soft exhale, puffing a bit of smoke.

"YOU... really haven't allowed me to finish explaining, but... alright. I am GLAD you display this level of willingness to cooperate." He stretched out the old paper, and searched across the displayed figures.

Different levels were shown, with the topmost layers showing easily accesible paths that can be taken to reach the center of the volcano. The lower levels being reached from ever narrowing, shrinking tunnels until the depths of the rocky formation were way too small for normal creatures and humans to fit in. The lowest of tunnels were shown with a scale to be only capable of fitting someone of half a human's height. "It has taken me MANY, many years to find this old map. Unfortunately, I will never know who made these geographic charts."

[Wyvern]

“Wild! I bet, uh, there’s gotta be a catch, right? It must be really hot in there.” Myrddin started scratching his forehead, pretending he started feeling the heat of the volcano upon his fur in a symbolic gesture. “W-what about big scary monsters?! N-no offense, of course.”

The young Tavil climbed up a rock that was just as tall as he was, then turned to look up at Vesper closely. “I mean... you said that the volcano is birthplace to many dangerous things.”

“That’s correct. I will ensure no harm will come to you. That is a promise.”
The Battleheart spoke softly, then walked past the rock that Myrddin was standing on.
He turned his attention to the tall, craggy formations that surrounded the volcanic path as he kept moving forward. Vesper let out a low growl as he saw shadowy figures perch by and glance down upon the two, creatures no larger than the Draconid. Bright eyes looking particularly onto the Tavil.

“Uh, you say that, and it sounds like you summoned ‘em!”
Myrddin lept off the rock and quickly scuttled up to their companion, staying close to their side.
“Did we do something wrong?”

[Wyvern]

As soon as Vesper could turn around and see the young Tavil approaching him, the draconid reached down and attempted to grab at Myrddin’s scruff to pick him up in the most harmless way possible, yet seeming as if the Battleheart wanted to give a different impression to those who were staring down at the two. “Y-yowch, yowch!” The mammalian creature let out a few whimpers as he hung limp from Vesper’s grasp. “Is this part of your plan?! I was hoping you’d give me a warning!”

The Tavil tried to grab hold of his leather bag that now barely slumped over his shoulder, the weight of the satchel shifting down and hanging from his body. Vesper lifted up in the air a short distance, briefly soaring and then landing across the field of towering stone shapes.

He then released the Tavil from his maw, making him drop a few feet onto the ground. “Oogh! What’s the matter, huh?” Myrddin plopped onto the ground, shaking the dust off his white fur.

The Battleheart glanced down with a look of concern. “You... you are easy prey for these ‘BIG SCARY MONSTERS’, as you said. I have a feeling something's not right. There is a tunnel in front of you. GO. You will be safe there. I will meet you at the other end.”

Myrddin quickly turned his head sideways, shaking and panicking, still trying to process what was going on. He pushed his satchel onto the side, resting onto his hip, as he started crawling towards the tunnel on his four paws. "O-okay, Okay, I'm going!" The Tavil squeezed his way inside the tiny cave.

[Wyvern]

Myrddin created a small, green flame from one of their paws, lighting the narrow tunnel that he could barely fit in. It was becoming warmer with every step, the small mammal aware that they were getting closer to the actual volcano. They raised their paw with the magical flame, and looked around for the other end.

He swore he had faintly heard something from near the entrance he had crawled in from. Like a high-pitched screeching from the distance. The Tavil squeaked, then kept crawling forward, still a bit scared and shaken.

As he approached the end of the cave, he sniffed about as he slowly peeked his snout out of it.

He picked up the scent of burning, of ash and soot. Myrddin crawled out the final distance, and saw pools of lava a few metres from the hole he had just popped out from. Specks of volcanic dust were already floating by, dotting the fur upon the head and shoulders of the canine.

“Wow, now that’s too close for comfort.”

---

Vesper began to fly, hovering over the dark cliffs that surrounded the volcano. The dragon slowly glided across the hills, keeping an eye out for the shape of a small white creature.  Above him, were many figures of winged creatures circling overhead, like vultures surrounding potential prey. Bright green eyes fixated at the figure of Myddin walking among lava and trotting towards the great volcano itself.

The Battleheart let out a relieving sigh in a form of a puff of light smoke upon seeing their companion making the last steps to reach the major caverns of Nori.

[Wyvern]

The draconid slowly descended onto the craggy area that led to the volcano. Myrddin gave the Battleheart an excited wave with a wide, cheery grin. The Tavil, looking up towards the other way, could see the shape of the ever-smoldering Nori Volcano, in it's full glory. Fountains of lava pouring out from the very top, and the sky completely darkened by the black clouds.

"Thinking about it, the word 'crazy' isn't enough to describe this. This is insane, and it's gettin' real hot already!" He exclaimed, making his way to the nearby opening of another cave that led into the volcano itself. Vesper followed him closely shortly upon landing on the dark stone.

He felt much at ease seeing that both were able to make it inside Nori volcano safely. He brought his old map forward, holding it between his two front claws. “I believe, this cave system is one of few that will take us to the core of this region. I am... admittedly, forgetful, and uncertain of the path we must go. It is why, I sought this map from a library of ancient books, far away from this land.”

The young mammal took a few steps further, but paused, and then turned their head to glance up at Vesper. “Ancient? Like... REALLY really old? How old is that thing?” He spoke up, toying with the green flame that he had summoned while in the tunnel.

While the streams of lava dotting the tunnels were able to provide some form of illumination, they were not as bright as the fire that Myrddin held in his paw.

[Wyvern]

“Hmm...” The green dragon gazed down back at Myrddin. “Perhaps older than myself...”

“Huh! Well... I don’t know how old YOU are, but, you sound like you’ve been through a lot! I can only guess how old must that map be!” The Tavil tiltled ther head slightly, before they picked up the pace, padding up the cavern path with upbeat steps. The two could see greater streams of lava and fire coursing through tiny interconnected tunnels near and besides the main cavern.

The intense heat and the sound of flowing magma grew ever stronger.

Some of these tunnels were too small for even Myrddin to fit in. Myrddin joyfully pointed at the branching paths with his free paw; which entrances happened to be large enough for him to peek through. "Hey! Is there anything on the map about shortcuts?"

Vesper shook their head sideways. "No... the ONE issue, with this old map, is that it was recorded back when the caves that led to my birth nest were first discovered. Things.. things have changed, indeed... I would NOT trust these new paths..." They stopped to observe, although at a distance, the different caverns Myrddin were acting so persistent about, the Tavil wanting to inspect closer.

[Wyvern]

The white-furred creature gave a little huff, the fire on his paw flaring up before shrinking into a tiny wisp. "Humph. I guess that makes sense... This map of yours, being really, really old and all." He stopped near the entrance to the inmediate closest path to the main tunnel they were climbing onto.

"Well... now that I look into it..."

He reached into the small cave opening, and gently rubbed their free paw against the volcanic stone. It was, surprisingly, not too warm too the touch. The rugged stone looked very uneven and unnatural.

"It looks like... something, or someone, recently dug into these..." Myrddin approached his snout into the hole, taking a brief sniff to catch any unusual scent. "Something's certainly fishy here!"

The Battleheart briefly squinted at the sight of Myrddin’s observation. “You don’t have to worry, small one. I PROMISE you, you will be safe as long as you stay close to me.” They gave a soft nudge onto the side of Myrddin's fuzzy head, enticing them to keep moving forward.

[Wyvern]

“Well, if you say so. I trust your um... wisdom! On the volcano itself. Maybe we should only focus on finding that old tunnel then.” The small mammal, as they were slightly shoved by the draconid, shrugged as they treaded back onto the main path, standing now in front of Vesper.

“So... How close is ‘close enough to you’, huh?” He stepped forward, gesturing to the ground. “Like really really close? OH! Maybe I should climb on your shoulder? What do you think?”

Still holding onto the map, they raised it slightly to look down onto the Tavil, noticing them emphasizing on the proximity of them to Vesper.

“That’s... actually a very GOOD idea! How have I not thought of it before, that, it is a mystery...”

Keeping their grasp on the scroll on one claw, they reached with their other to pick up Myrddin from around their chest, this time being much gentler and careful than the other time they had grabbed hold onto the youngster. Slowly, they were raised in the air a few feet. “Eep! At least that’s a LOT better than being carried by the neck!"

[Wyvern]

Myrddin gave a soft squeal as he was placed onto the draconid’s shoulder.

“I apologize for that. I was hoping, considering your age and biology, perhaps you would not feel much pain when pinched in that particular area of your body.”

The Tavil carefully settled onto Vesper’s muscular upper body, with one paw firmly holding near one of the thick plating that covered their shoulder. The other one still held a weak, tiny flame, which he shortly put out realising how close it was to the old scroll in Vesper’s claw. “H-hey, I’m not THAT young! And I was never-not-ever picked up that way in my life!” Myrddin glared down, making brief eye contact with Vesper, seeming a bit annoyed.

Vesper was surprised, staring up at Myrddin before quickly looking at their map. He was left silent for a while, unsure on how to respond. With the lowest, faintest of voice tones yet, he softly spoke, "Hmm, I see... I am sorry... Let us... look for that tunnel, then..."

Truthfully, the Tavil didn't know what it was like to have any parental figure or true family. All he knew since birth, was having to compete for food and a safe place to sleep. The reminder that their entire life revolved around fighting to survive for the basic needs had fairly upsetted him. His ears were tilted down, with a clear pout on his face. "Yyyyyeeaah, okay. It's... it's fine, really! Come on, I wanna know what your old place looked like!" He squeaked, motioning the Battleheart into moving on.

Fortunately, things were much different in the present, and Myrddin was thankful he could escape from the constant strife of his childhood. Even though deep down he was a bit jealous Vesper technically, had a place to return to; albeit being too large to call it home again, the Tavil still was genuinely curious and interested in helping them out. A promise is a promise, after all.

The draconid began to walk cautiously, map again held wide between their two front claws.

[Wyvern]

The Battleheart treaded foward with careful steps, the sounds of flowing magma becoming ever clearer as even tiny droplets of magma made their way into the ceiling of the tunnel. Sizzling of the drops making contact with the cooler ground was evident. While Vesper was able to resist the heat and lava just fine, he still went ahead with caution so that the Tavil that sat on his shoulder would be safe.

"Oh, dear. What... what is that ahead?"

Arriving at a wider section of the tunnel, great pools of lava were forming from streams pouring from above. Paths between these pools were narrow, barely enough for the average-sized creature to pass through. But with Vesper's resistance to fire in mind, he had no issue moving forward. He did, however, make a short stop upon entering the larger cave, then looked around.

"Hmm. We arrived here much sooner than I thought... OR... maybe..."

Vesper, rather than proceeding straight onward, walked to the edge, towards the nearest wall of the cave. As Myrddin had done with the small tunnel earlier, he reached forward to brush his claw against the stone. "My theory is that something, or someone, is causing the lava found within pockets of the volcano to reach into places it normally has not..." The draconid gave a small puff from his maw, cleaning his claw of dirt. "Whatever it is, it must be recent. As in... VERY recent. These rock formations have barely settled in." He kept walking close to the cave wall, inspecting it along the way.

[Wyvern]

Myrddin softly squealed once more, one of his claws held to his snout as he gave a wide glance across the cave’s walls. He was slightly concerned about witnessing his suspicions, growing closer into a reality.

“Uh, oh. We should get a move on!”
He exclaimed at his partner, who quickly, without hesitation, leaped into a short glide into the main, safe stone area between the pools of lava, and trotted onward. “It goes without saying!”

After a few minutes of speeding and jumping from rock to rock, Vesper stopped upon seeing a great stream of magma pouring into what was once the exit of the cave. While it was possible to climb out from the surrounding walls into the tunnel above them, Vesper handed over the map to the Tavil on his shoulder, before beckoning to them; “Hang on tight!”

He gave a long leap and flew a short distance into the upper exit of the cave, reaching into the new level. This tunnel level had even more streams of lava pouring from above. At the distance, the two could see a wide opening with columns of steam and sparks floating upwards.

Upon landing on the nearest stable stone that was floating still above the lava’s level, Vesper gestured to that direction. “Well... according to my memory and the map. THAT right there,  is the exterior section of the Volcano’s blazing core.”

Vesper settled upon the piece of volcanic ground, as Myrddin was still holding firmly onto the draconid's body; with the map in a scroll and shoved between their fuzzy chest and the strap of their leather bag.

[Wyvern]

"Wow. Is that really it? That was... fast!"

The Tavil's ears perked up in surprise. He began panting slightly at the increasing unberable heat emanating from the lava, his tongue peeking out of his jaws. "From here, we now have to go down, right?" He was tempted to unwrap the map to personally take a look at it himself, but decidedly held back, knowing it was too dangerous. Myrddin, for a moment, began to ponder about how the map itself already looked like it had been through a lot, especially considering it's age.

He gave a quick glance down to the scroll held against his body and underneath their satchel. Just by observing the edges of the map alone, it seemed as if it had survived some kind of fire. A coincidental fate for it would be to happen to catch aflame again, from the embers of the volcanic field.

"Correct. We will find tunnels leading into the lower levels from there. These are barely large enough to fit someone like myself." Vesper gently shook their head, as he prepared to take another long leap forward into the area that led up to the great chimney of Nori.

As he stretched out his body, and lept on, Myrddin gave out a low squeak. "Yikes! G-give me a sec'!"

Myrddin rushed to looking into his bag, and took out what appeared to be a makeshift leather mask, paired with old goggles. The framing of the goggles and the metal that adorned the straps looked like old, rusty copper. "I'm not getting any closer without these. That smoke's gonna kill me!"

He gasped softly before quickly shoving the headgear onto his forehead, placing the mask to cover his nose and maw; the Tavil anxiously gesturing towards the ever-approaching columns of smoke that poured into and grew upwards from the core of the Volcano.

Vesper's head fins tilted attentively, as he stopped upon the outer rocky rim of the volcano's center, standing a few metres from the massive pool of glowing magma in which the smoke and ash was rising from. "Glad you come VERY prepared, small one. I wonder, what other gadgets do you have?"