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Predatory. Endless. It looks at us like it’s been waiting.

“You don’t belong here,”the dragon says, and its mouth doesn’t move, not the way a mortal mouth would. The sound blooms through the vault like smoke.“But I suppose… you’ll do.”

There’s a beat of silence.

I step half a pace behind Luna. Not for protection—gods no. I’m not suicidal. But maybe for something like comfort. Or plausible deniability.

“So,” I say under my breath, “that’s a dragon. A real one. With a hoard and a voice and everything. That’s… awesome. That’s horrifying. I am turned on and deeply afraid.”

Silas exhales slowly beside me. “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“He’smolting gold,” I hiss.

“Iknow,” Silas whispers, awe-struck. “I think I’m in love.”

Luna doesn’t speak. Doesn’t move. Her eyes are locked on the beast’s. There’s no flinch. No step backward. Just that eerie calm she gets when she’s about to do something impossible.

The dragon tilts its head, gold scales along its cheek catching the vault-light and fracturing it into spears.

“You woke my seal.”The voice doesn’t question—it accuses.“You think because you carryherblood, you can take what was hidden?”

At that, Ambrose finally speaks.

“You’re not guarding the treasure,” he says, tone clipped, analytical. “Youarethe treasure.”

The dragon turns its gaze on him—and it’s like watching divinity blink. If Ambrose is unsettled, he doesn’t show it.

“Clever,”the beast murmurs, almost fond.“You’ll die first.”

“That tracks,” I say, nodding. “He usually pisses people off. Mostly people. Sometimes gods. Occasionally himself.”

Luna lifts a hand.

The dragon stills.

Her voice is steady, clear, low. “We’re not here for your gold.”

The dragon’s eyes narrow.

“Everyone who steps into my hoard says that. Right before they bleed.”

And then the creature lowers its head, tail coiling, body tense—but not with rage.

Withdelight.

“Prove you’re not here to steal it,”it purrs.“Or you die with it.”

So. That’s the game. Luna steps forward. And I’m about to watch her either reason with a dragon or be eaten alive by one. Either way, I amnotmissing this.

The gold responds. It shivers beneath her boots—not aggressively, not like it’s resisting her, but like it recognizes something in her. Like the dragon’s hoard, this endless monument to power,knowsshe’s not afraid of it. Not in the way the rest of us are. Not even like Silas, who wants to fuck it. Luna’s calm in that terrifying way she gets when she’s already made a decision the rest of us haven’t caught up to yet.

The dragon watches her like she’s a riddle it already knows the answer to. Its eyes—liquid gold rimmed in void—track her like a predator tracking movement, but it doesn’t strike. Not yet. Its wings shift, casting shadows that crawl like oil across the mounds of treasure. Each breath it takes sends coins tumbling.

“We’re not here for your gold.” She says again.

“You’re lying,”it says, voice like molten steel poured through silk.“You came for the gold. You all do.”

“No,” Luna says, and her voice doesn’t rise. Doesn’t challenge. Itgrounds. “We’re looking for a pillar. A way out of this place. A portal. We don’t want your treasure.”