Waking up after a full eight hours of sleep is normally quite refreshing. Most times, when he had a chance, Hyernan loved to lay in bed and simply enjoy the feeling of relaxation. However, when a dragon wakes up and is hungry she doesn’t wait for her companion to take their time getting out of bed. Instead what he work up to was the feeling of a hot, wet, raspy tongue licking his face. Along with that pleasant feeling was the strong impression of hunger emanating from Steria.

Grumbling under his breath about undeserving dragons and their appetites Hyernan stood up out of bed. It had been a nice change to sleep in a comfortable bed for once on this expedition. With his hand, he drew a circle in the air and then closed and opened his fist. Instead of having to utter spells and focus his magical core through his stave to do simple tasks in his tent he had instead engraved runes throughout the separate parts of the tent that responded to specific hand movements. This particular one increased the flame in the fireplaces, lit the lamps, and turned the skylights from opaque to a semi-transparent, letting in outside light.

Rubbing sleep from his eyes he stumbled down the stairs from the loft and toward the kitchen. One corner of the kitchen area contained a metal contraption he had acquired down in the southern mountains from the Illanota tribes. In the distant past, the Illanota used to travel about with their herds of Rotan beasts and Omyyn birds, they had since then settled down into towns that had grown into cities. The mountains were rich with ores and gemstones and as a result, the Illanota had turned from being herdsmen to craftmanship.

His metal box was divided into two compartments, the top was enchanted to keep foods cold and preserve them almost indefinitely. By contrast, the lower section could warm food up, and based on the runes selected with a sliding metal piece the heat contained within would increase or decrease.

Steria flew over the top of the dividers and with a bank of her wings landed on her corner of the table in the center of the kitchen. She cocked her head and eyed Hyernan as he opened the top section of the food preserver and pulled out a rotan and omyyn pie. The omyyn eggs had been scrambled and mixed with various vegetables and mushrooms with smoked strips of rotan meat cut up and mixed in as well. He liked the dish warm, while Steria didn’t care either way. So he cut her a slice and placed it on a wooden platter and then opened the bottom of the food preserver and slid the rest of the dish inside. He selected a mid-high heat and closed the door.

He placed the wooden platter in front of the hungry dragon and without any further hesitation, she started to satiate her hunger. He smiled as she carefully took bites out of the breakfast pie. His own breakfast would take a bit longer so he put the kettle back on to the countertop fireplace and pulled out his favorite Grenda spice tea.

While his breakfast was heating he walked back to the study area and grabbed the book by Greror, "An Impossible Tomb: My Story of the Search for Mevobak", and slipped it into his satchel. The kettle started to whistle and the food heater chimed a soft note. He poured hot water over his spiced tea and pulled the breakfast pie out and dug in. The food preserver was truly a remarkable bit of enchantment. This particular breakfast pie he had bought in the province of Aa'neq over nine months before and it looked the same as the day he had placed it into the preserver.

By the time he was done Steria was flying laps in the tent, ready to continue their journey outside. The taste of open spaces the day before had only whet her appetite for more exploration. He too was also ready to continue their journey deeper into this subterranean jungle. Stopping by the work area he replenished his satchel and then lifted the flap at the exit of the tent, stepping out into the eternal light outside.

While he and Steria had spent a night recovering within the tent, outside it appeared as if nothing had changed. Light continued to beat down from the center of the cavern at the same intensity and he could hear the sounds of wildlife in the jungle. "Gera," he muttered and the tent collapsed in on itself, folding up and wrapping its cords around itself. That was one of the more useful spells he thought. It simply meant do, or perform. Based on the intent of the castor an action could be performed with a small push of magic. Many items even had runes engraved in them so that anyone could perform a selection of scripted actions on an item. One of the most famous was the city gates of Joonva. Instead of having to several animals around to help close the massive gates the officer in charge could use gera and the gates were closed within minutes. A selection of runes the officer had access to could then lock and secure the gate, preventing it from being opened again.

He picked up the bundled tent and placed it back into his satchel. Steria took off into the air, flying above him as he walked off the patch of rock the tent had been on into the jungle. The air was filled with the sounds of wildlife. Bird cries could be heard in the trees and other animal life was present as well from the rustling of the vegetation around him.

As he pushed his way through the vegetation he stumbled upon a game path that wound its way between the trees and bushes. Thankful to have something he could walk on Hyernan started to hike down the path. Steria flittered amongst the trees as she continued to enjoy the freedom of so much open space. Here in the jungle, the magical light that filled the cavern wasn't as strong. It was still far warmer then he expected and it was humid. He was impressed at how much it felt like an actual jungle and not a subsurface cavern.

Hyernan and Steria continued their journey for several hours. Here and there he would get a glimpse of some of the animals inhabiting the area. Monkeys lept between trees and colorful birds would fly past. He even saw a termite mound and a colony of nomad ants trudging past in a long line. Those he carefully avoided. The nomad ants wandered from place to place and were known for a very vicious and quite painful bite if disturbed.

When several hours had passed Hyernan was considering a spot to set up for a lunch break when he saw a gap in the trees ahead of him. Steria was riding on his shoulder at the moment and as she sensed his curiosity about the clearing that was coming up took off and flew toward it. He continued to walk down the path with the thought of setting up a midday camp when a jolt of surprise and joy came from the miniature dragon who had flown ahead.

Instead of the steady pace he had been using, Hyernan broke into a jog that quickly brought him to the jungle clearing. Within the open area, he saw the remains of a camp. A battered traveler's tent was still standing and around it were scattered bits and pieces of logs, wooden crates, part of a bench, and he noted with sadness the remains of a skeleton, still covered in rusted armor.

He could see why Steria had been surprised but wasn't sure why he had felt the brief spike of joy from her until he looked up. Above him, Steria was flying with another miniature dragon. The other dragon was similar looking to Steria but was covered in dark purple scales. The two dragons were flying happily around each other in a complicated pattern and with great enthusiasm. While rare, miniature dragons were not uncommon in the outside world, and if there was an opportunity Steria was always ready to socialize with another of her kind. This was the first time though that he had seen one that wasn't accompanied by a companion. As far as he knew almost every miniature dragon bonded with a companion at birth.

The dragons had a long lifespan and would travel with their bonded companion for the rest of both of their lives. In the event, the dragon's companion died they would sometimes bond with another person. Other times they would become lethargic and depressed and after a few weeks, the dragon would pass on.

Steria swooped down to Hyernan and landed on his padded shoulder. Her new friend also flew down and perched on the top of the tent. The purple dragon cocked her head and watched him. Both of the dragons could communicate mentally. While he could only receive images and emotions from Steria he knew that she could communicate on a much deeper level with the other dragon. As he stood there he felt a mental nudge from Steria and images flooded into his mind.

The unknown adventurer that lay next to the tent appeared in his mind whole, and healthy. He had been a large blonde haired man with a matching beard that was quite long. The beard had been neatly divided and braided. He wore steel scaled armor and carried an enchanted steel sword. Hyernan saw the memory of the man as he cared for the purple scaled dragon as they journeyed together. Flashes of emotion accompanied the imagery, joy, happiness, and then ultimately a profound sadness followed by a keen loneliness. He realized that the emotions were from the small purple dragon who perched on a tree branch and watched him.

With a sense of sadness still hanging over him, Hyernan ducked into the still-standing traveling tent. While the inside was larger than it appeared to be from the outside it was only a quarter of the size of Hyernan's own personal tent. Which was not surprising considering he had a tent that was quite expensive. Inside this tent was a single large room with a bed in one corner, a work and study area opposite the sleeping corner. The other wall contained a compact cooking area, a screened off refreshment area and a stand for armor and weapons. It was a typical setup among many travelers and was large enough for a single person or up to a small family of maybe four depending on the configuration.

He walked over to the corner where a work bench had been wedged next to a desk, a small bookshelf, and a table. The table had several parchment pieces scattered over it and a leather-bound book sitting on top. Hyernan recognized the book for what it was, a journal. Opening it up to the first page he saw the name engraved in the leather, Byeron Tranlein. Wanting to know more about who this Byeron was and what happened to him Hyernan flipped through the journal looking for details about the present location.

He found out that the purple dragon outside the tent was named Saria and that she and Byeron had found an old map leading to this tomb. A sketch of the map in the journal had notes below it the dangers found inside. This was indeed most interesting and he flipped a few more pages as the journal detailed the group that had entered the cavern. Byeron had recruited three others, a Joonvan Pyro Mage, a skilled mercenary, and a Thadora Scholar to accompany him on his attempt to traverse the tomb's puzzles to the final cavern.

At first glance, the journey seemed similar to what Hyernan and Steria had experience. The first puzzle was the same, the granite block that had to be lowered instead of lifted. After that, the journal's entries showed a completely different set of caverns. Byeron and his group had traveled through a cavern full of ice with many different branches leading off that all seemed to go in circles. The scholar, who was versed in many ancient puzzles, runes, and traps was the one to find the solution. What that solution was Byeron did not note down, but the group continued deeper.

Following the ice cavern maze was another cavern where magic was modified to do unexpected things. The cavern was huge and with no visible means to cross from one side to the other. Attempts to levitate a loaf of bread across caused it first to fall, then fly upward to the ceiling before it fell it again and then burst into flames. The second attempt with another loaf saw the bread spin in circles in the middle of the cavern before it disappeared from one location and reappeared into another location. After randomly teleporting around the cavern the bread froze to such a low temperature that it shattered and the pieces drifted away.

Byeron was quite proud of the fact that while the others struggled to find a way around the bizarre magical interference he realized that there was a pattern to the teleportations that had tossed a loaf of bread around like crazy. With all four of them, they had plotted out how to cross the cavern without running into the various traps or to be slammed into the floor at terminal speed. It had been a wild and crazy ride, but they had all made it across. They had all been full of hope and encouragement as the group continued to find solutions and progress deeper into the tomb.

It was the cavern after the teleportation puzzle that ended up claiming the life of the Pyro Mage. The entry in the journal didn't delve too deeply into what had happened, and Hyernan could tell from the writing that it had a deep impact on Byeron. The entry for that day simply noted: "Detleen triggered a trap and died from a virulent poison that none of the potions could heal. She saved the rest of us and let us continue this journey. While I did not know her well, I have to ask myself, is this worth it?"