In retrospect, this idea sounded better from the safety of the ground than it did now. Asana clung to small ledges and handholds dotting the side of the near vertical cliff face with no ropes or climbing gear of any kind. She tried not to look down at what must surely be a fifty foot drop below her and instead focused on the last thirty feet to go above. It was nice that she didn’t have a fear of heights, but this was still nerve wracking. Her arms burned from the intense strain and the chill of the wind assaulted her mercilessly. Even her thick layers of clothing did nothing to offset it anymore.
Breathe. Just keeping breathing, she thought as a repeated mantra. A difficult task with her lungs shouting at her too. Forcing down any complaints she reached up to the next handhold and continued the dangerous trek upwards. These mountains were impressive. Enormous peaks bathed in snow and ice. She more or less figured only creatures with wings would have a decent time here, but so far she had managed somehow. Unfortunately dusk had quickly fallen and her body was reaching its limit. If her eyes weren’t lying there was a cave on top of this cliff. The only shelter for miles around.
As she neared the top every step became an internal struggle. She was in great physical shape, but no one could outlast cold and exhaustion forever. Whenever the wind picked up she felt like it was about to blow her off. A scary thought. And more than once her grip had slipped; inspiring a string of swear words and more morbid thoughts of her body broken down below.
“This…was a horrible idea, Asana…who thought of doing this?” she muttered to herself.
At last she reached the ledge and heaved herself over with all remaining ounces of strength. She collapsed with relief and let out a mix of laughter and gasping for air. Victory! Take that you stupid mountain. Next to her stood the cavernous mouth of a very large tunnel boring farther into the earth. Ah hell there had better be nothing hungry living in there. The sun was gone and the temperature was dropping fast. There was no choice. She forced herself to get up and stumble blindly into the cave.
Inside it was, as expected, very dark and oddly musty. There was a strange organic odor she couldn’t quite place. She heard no sounds nor saw any signs of movement. That was good! Her stomach growled in dire need of food. What she would give for a bowl of hot stew right now. Towards the back of the cave the cold died down enough that it was merely uncomfortable and not aggressively lethal. Her legs finally gave way and fell over not at all gracefully.
As she lay there on the hard stone floor with heavy eyelids her gaze fell upon a cluster of strange large rocks nearby. Did they have spikes coming out of them? Or was she hallucinating? “Huh…weird…” There was no time to give it much thought as she slipped into unconsciousness.
Asana was woken by something nudging against her arm. She barely registered it at first and tried to shove it away to let her rest. Then several more hit her from other sides. This jolted her senses back to alertness. She opened her eyes and rolled to her feet, falling into a familiar defensive fighting stance. The quick action summoned a brief wave of dizziness due to lack of food, but she was too surprised to pay it much mind. Instead of trolls or bandits or wild animals, as she anticipated, there were little creatures watching her curiously.
Dragons! Seven of them to be exact. About the size of small dogs, if dogs were reptilian with horns and wings. Their ruby scales glittered resplendently in the sunlight pouring in from the cave’s entrance. On the other side the strange rocks she saw before were all broken and crumbled apart. They must have been eggs. Of course, only a dragon’s nest would be up at this elevation wouldn’t it?
The seven bounced around her playfully now that she was awake. “You guys just hatched, didn’t you? Well at least you didn’t eat me so thanks for that. You’re alright in my book.” Now relaxing more, she smiled and reached down to pet them. “You’re kind of cute, where’s your mother at?”
“Right here,” responded a woman’s voice from the entrance.
Asana looked over with mild surprise and saw a blood elf woman striding forward. Her auburn colored hair cascaded in elegant waves over a brilliant red dress that was beautifully styled and form-fitting to her slim frame. She wore a pair of golden sandals on her feet with similar gold bands as bracelets. It all looked more fitting for the palace of a king rather than the rugged harshness of the mountains. “Points for the well timed entrance,” she joked smartly.
The woman raised an eyebrow. “Are you not afraid? You’re in a precarious situation you know.”
She shook her head. “Should I be? If you wanted to kill me you wouldn’t have waited at the entrance for me to wake up or approached in your avatar. You’re quite beautiful by the way.” A little flattery never hurt anyone.
It seemed to work a little too since she smiled at it. “Fair point. My name is Kariastrasza, but you may call me Kari for short. And you are?”
“A wandering traveler. My name’s Asana—Ow!” One of the whelps had nipped her finger more sharply than she expected.
Kari whistled softly and all seven migrated over to her as if trained to do it. Or perhaps they could just sense who the adult of their species was, even if in another form. “My apologies, they are hungry I’m sure. We weren’t expecting this brood to hatch so soon or I’d have brought something.”
“Are you their mother?” she asked curiously, not quite sure what was considered polite etiquette in dragon society. She always failed at that in every other society.
She shook her head. “No, this clutch’s true parents have already fallen. Nevertheless we keep a careful watch over any eggs that are found. Though we weren’t expecting human intruders.”
Asana flashed a smile. “Should have locked the front door then.” She began digging into her pack for food. Her arms still painfully sore from the previous night. “But I am glad you didn’t or I might have died.”
“May I ask what you intend to do now?” Kari sounded more inquisitive than cautious.
She shrugged, her mouth full of dried rations. It took a few seconds of chewing before she could speak again. “Well for starters, find my way back down and out of here. I tried to be clever and take a shortcut that apparently doesn’t exist through these mountains rather than going around them. Instant regret.”
Kari laughed lightly with an almost musical sound. “You are an odd one. And there are paths mortals can use through them, but they’re difficult to see and all are perilous. I wouldn’t recommend it.”
“I’ve survived worse. Really this kind of thing happens to me on a regular basis.” She took another bite.
The woman paused in thought for a moment. “If you’d like I’ll take you back down from here. I need to see to the hatchlings as well. In return I’d like to talk for a bit. We rarely get visitors, I’m interested to learn more.”
“Seriously?” Her eyes lit up and she almost hugged Kari in joy. She had thought of asking for a ride of course, but didn’t want to overstep any boundaries. Instead her mind was steeling itself for the inevitable descent alone. “Deal! I also rarely get to meet dragons, this will be fun.” With much less chance of her tumbling down a mountain. Funny how bad decisions sometimes led to the most interesting paths.