Dragon's Hoard

The squeal of a pup echoed from the bowels of the castle, and concern clenched in the male's chest. He knew Rain tended to keep test subjects in a corner of the dungeon, as well as his stash of poisons. Had a child wandered in? That wouldn't be good. Broad paws thundered across the main foyer, following the last echoes of the cry. He took the crumbling stone stairs two and three at a time, leaping precariously into the darkness with each long stride. He came face to face with an old wooden door, half rotted with age. Cerulean gaze drifted to the small hole that had been dug through the lowest part, and he frowned.

Jamming his left forepaw into the hole, he curled his toes around the warped wood and began to pull. Claws bit into the old door, and chunks began to pull away. Once the hole was beginning to widen, he started rearing back to slam his weight against the surrounding edges with his forepaws. A few minutes of effort made short work of the lower right corner of the left door. He could fit himself through well enough now. Dropping onto his belly, the male wriggled into the awaiting room. At least, until his elbow bumped up against a mound of puppy fur.

Recoiling from the sudden contact, he pulled back. This left his ass end sticking out through the hole in the door, shards of wood poking painfully at the soft skin of his belly."You alive in here?" he grunted, eyes straining to make out details of the pups form in the darkness. The angle wasn't quite right, and he could only tell that the pup was sitting down a few inches in front of his face. So, he pulled himself the rest of the way through the hole in the bottom of the door. That gave him the chance to stand, relieving the sharp pain of rotting wood trying to breach his guts. Lowering his crown between his shoulders, he scrutinized the boy. "What are you shouting about?" he questioned in a low, wary voice.

He didn't immediately notice anything dangerous. A beam of light was illuminating a corner of the room, and a worn tapestry that had likely not seen the light in ages. Mildew was crawling up from the bottom corners towards the elaborate effigy of a serpent breathing fire. The tapestry in his room wasn't nearly that elegant.