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Dick crept through the enormous halls, feeling like an ant. The ornately carved thirty foot high and twenty-foot wide ceilings made it clear that these halls were meant for something far larger than him. The eerie silence and imposing paintings the covered the massive expanse of wall made him feel even smaller. The gold coins and jewels that occasionally littered the floor sealed away any doubt that they were in the right place.
A Dragon’s Nest.
Omega squad report Bruce’s harsh ‘work’ voice echoed through his mind. Dick glanced back at the line behind him. Behind Jason, Roy, and Kori, Barbara’s eyes were glowing a bright violet. She gave him a thumbs up.
We discovered another wing to the West of our search area. I’d say that the theory that this cavern is magically expanded can be confirmed. No contact yet and no signs of life have been found so far. Dick mentally replied. The party maintained complete silence as they moved, not making a single sound.
Keep searching. Let us know if you find anything. The dark knight ordered and then began checking in with other teams. Dick listened with half an ear as he continued down the hall, dual knives at the ready. The beauties were enchanted to channel lightning through them. They had saved his life several times already, and he knew that he could count on them.
The hallway led into the third huge cavern to be discovered so far. Like the other two, it was massive, and filled with gold. Larger than the Gotham football stadium, the beautifully carved, open expanse of stone, room could only exist with powerful magic supporting it. They crouched in the entryway and began carefully scanning the mountains of gold for their prey. One would think that a dragon bigger than most mansions would be easy to spot, but her shimmering gold skin would blend in spectacularly well in these rooms. He could hear Barbara reporting their discovery back to the other teams as he carefully scanned the silent chamber for movement.
A loud CLANG! Echoed out from the silent chamber, startling everyone in the group violently. The loud “Shit!” that followed surprised him even more. The Dark Knight was already sending backup to their location, but considering how far spread the Guild was throughout the seemingly endless halls of gold and finery, it might take a short while.
Dick’s eyes locked on to a shadow vanishing into one of the many tunnels and halls leading away from the room. Motioning the others to follow, he activated a charm that was tucked under his armor and felt the magic cloak him in camouflage.
He felt Jason press in close behind him as they slipped into the new hallway. It was just as large as the one they had come from, but this one was filled with gold. Another difference was that this hall sloped upwards. It might have been a stairwell, but it was so deeply buried under gold and jewels that Dick had no idea. The coins and jewels were at least two feet deep. An enchantment on his boots allowed him to walk over the top of the pile without stumbling or making noise. The odd thing about this hallway struck him a moment later.
The hallway was about twenty feet wide, with objects lining each wall. The walls were lined with suits of armor, porcelain dolls, statues, taxidermied beasts, and any form of art that replicated a living individual. Just past where the incline ended, was an even larger grouping of the assorted figures, and also, curiously enough, there was an out of place, beautiful hand-carved mahogany table. Behind the table sat two suits of armor and a mannequin. The marble mannequin was dressed in a gorgeous eighteenth-century ball gown and a long brown wig. The two suits of armor were some of the finest pieces of craftsmanship he had ever laid eyes upon, and Dick had worn the Dark Knight armor on occasion.
They both practically hummed with powerful ancient enchantments and were composed of what was possibly pure mithril. Dick had to shake his head to clear the greed and sent a sharp mental poke to Jason and Roy to make sure that they did the same.
A flash of movement at the top of the slope caught his eye. Dick tapped the side of his helmet and watched as it zoomed in on the movement. A small boy came into focus. He couldn’t be more than twelve years old. The boy was wearing pajama bottoms and had a finely woven cloak hanging over his shoulders like a cape. Dick gave Barbara a hand signal and felt a shift in his vision. He knew that other members of the guild were now watching through his eyes and hearing what he heard. The small boy waved his hand and a small gold scepter appeared in his hand. The movement made it seem like spacial magic and Dick sucked in a breath. He was far too young to have such skills in spacial magic.
The boy strutted up to the edge of the slope and held the scepter up to his mouth like a microphone.
“Up next we have competitor number two, Tiiiiiiim Drake!” The boy spoke in a dramatic voice, imitating a sports announcer.
“Drake is a young hopeful, rookie to the competitive field of gold-boarding, and ready to wow the crowds here tonight. What do you have to say for your fans in the audience, Tim?” The boy changed his pitch and straightened his shoulders.
“Thank you all for coming out to see me tonight, your support means so much to me. I dedicate this run to you all!”
“Thank you for your commentary, Mr. Drake.” The boy deepened his voice as he took on the announcer role again. With a wave of his hand, the scepter vanished back into whatever spacial container he had hidden on him. The kid then vanished from sight and reappeared with an ornate looking shield. Something in Dick’s stomach dropped as the kid balanced the shield precariously at the top of the slope. Then, to Dick, and all the onlooker’s horror, the kid hopped on the shield.
With a shift in weight, the kid began sliding down the slope, picking up speed rapidly. It was at that moment that Dick realized several metal panels were sticking out of the gold slope. The kid slid into the first one and was suddenly airborne. Dick stopped breathing as the kid attempted to do a fancy flip and lost his grip on his shield. The two went flying in opposite directions and just as Dick was about to break cover to prevent the kid from breaking his neck, the kid shifted.
Wings erupted from his back, and his clothes melted away and the kid seamlessly transitioned into the tiniest dragon Dick had ever seen. He was about the size of a large dog, but had the exact same shimmery gold coloring as the deadly monster they were hunting. Dick immediately realized that he was observing the dragon’s spawn but, couldn’t seem to connect this disaster with a monster that had destroyed nations. The kid was still airborne, but his back was facing the ground. This led to the tiny dragon letting out a squawk-shriek noise, and flailed in a panic. The kid barely managed to right himself and flair his wings before he crashed headfirst into the gold. His wings had slowed his descent just enough so that the little dragon didn’t break his neck. The creature fully vanished into the pile of gold, indicating that it was even deeper than what he had originally thought.
The kid popped out of the pile a moment later, once again human. Shooting his hands up in the air, the kid had an excited grin on his face. The kid dug himself out and waved the scepter into existence.
“And he flops! What an upset!” He used his announcement voice and waved his hand toward the three figures at the table. The figures' arms moved unnaturally, above their heads. Then pieces of paper materialized in each of the figure's hands. The papers read: 2, 2.5, and 1. Dick just stared in disbelief. The kid made an exaggerated cringe and continued announcing. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Dick wondered how a Dragonling even knew what a sports announcer was, much less was a big enough sports fan to imitate one.
“Aaaaand he gets a 5.5! What an upset! This might just be a career-ending defeat for the young lad.” The kid shifted back into his dragon form, far more seamless than he had ever seen any dragon shift. Most dragons couldn’t manage shapeshifting magic until they were old . The ease in which this kid was throwing around powerful magics, was mind-blowing.
He flew back to the top of the slope and began dragging another shield to the top of the slope. Dick stared.
“And up next we have our third athlete of the night! Tim Drake! This seasoned competitor is sure to steal the competition!”
Holy Shit Jason’s voice echoed through his mind. Dick had to agree. He had never seen such a small dragon before, and with good reason.
Dragon were violently protective parents. They never let their young leave their sight and tended to vanish away from the mayhem making for several centuries until their little ones were ready to leave the nest. None of the guilds had expected to find a dragonling in this nest. The Golden Fury had been seen regularly raiding mansions, and dig sites around the world for priceless artifacts regularly for the past three decades. Her last recorded mating had been witnessed more than fifty years ago. She hadn’t been seen for several years after that and many had been hoping she had laid an egg and would hide away to raise it for the next few centuries. Only she had re-appeared less than a decade later with a permanent mate in tow. She was causing a previously docile brown drake from the north, to join her in wreaking havoc to obtain ancient treasures. They had been seen so frequently, there was no way they had a child. Leaving a dragonling alone for that long was simply unheard of.
All these thoughts went through his head as the unmonitored dragonling launched himself down the slope one again. This time, when he hit the ramp (and that’s what it definitely was) the kid successfully completed the midair flip and stuck the landing. He flew down the rest of the slope and crashed into a pile of gold at the bottom. He popped back up a moment later, whooping excitedly. He waved the scepter back into existence and began narrating his entire flight in his announcer's voice.
“-And he stuck the landing! The crowd goes wild! Aaaaaaaaah!” As the kid danced in an excited circle, he waved his hands, and every single statue, doll, and figurine moved in unison. They all stood and raised their hands in silent excitement. The three judges held up cards with 10 written on them..
“Tim Drake wins the Open with a perfect 30! This is unprecedented folks. We just witnessed history in the making! Tim Drake wins the GOLD!” The kid produced what appeared to be an antique Olympic gold medallion and held it up for his audience. Then he put it around his neck and switched to his competitor's voice. The kid began thanking all his loyal fans and giving a humble acceptance speech. Thanking everyone who supported him down this long and trying journey.
How do we handle this Knight? Kal-El’s voice rang through his mind, torn between horror, nervousness, and grudging amusement at the kids' antics.
Teams Alpha and Beta have reached the vicinity. Omega will continue to observe the dragonling and wait for the parents to reveal themselves. Alpha and Beta will assist in searching the vicinity for the parents and all other teams will continue searching their assigned areas. The Dark Knight gave out orders to the Guild as Dick continued to watch the kid.
The kid was mid acceptance speech when he trailed off suddenly. He was staring directly at them, he squinted suspiciously. There was no way . The charms on their camouflage were some of the most powerful in the world. It would take a freaking seer to see through them. There was no way he saw them. Just as Dick was about to panic, the kid seemed to shrug casually and wander across the hall to accept a bouquet of pure gold roses from a frog statue.
Something is wrong. Omega team, subdue the dragonling with non-lethal force immediately. The Dark Knight mentally ordered. The kid shifted back into dragon form and they moved to intercept the kid. However, just as they passed the ‘judges table’ the two mithril suits of armor swung around with their swords, nearly cutting both Dick and Jason in half. They definitely knew his team was there. Kori leapt into action, lobbing fireballs at the armor. The Dragonling was flying away as fast as his wings could take him, but Roy had already launched a bola that tangled his wings and knocked him out of the air. Jason was retaliating against the armor just fine so Dick focused on where the dragon would crash and activated his most potent spell Blinkstep. The world blurred in a flash of color and he found himself stepping into the little dragon’s space just as he crashed with a shriek.
The kid, not yet realizing how close Dick had gotten, shifted into human form to slip the tangle of the bola. Dick reached into his expanded belt pouch and pulled out a length of delicate silver chain. In one swift movement, he tossed the length of chain around the kid’s neck and shouted the trigger word. In a flash of light, the chain connected and constricted into a small silver choker wrapped around the base of his neck. The kid gasped in shock and fear as he felt his connection to magic severed. He frantically grabbed at the chain and spun to face Dick. Dick felt a flash of guilt and remorse and the kid’s petrified expression. With a mental command, Dick dropped the camouflage so that the kid could get a good look at him.
“I’m not here to hurt you ki-” Dick’s words were cut off in a shriek as a porcelain doll attached itself to his face, clawing at the vulnerable eye sockets in his helmet. Several more small weights launched themselves onto his person, clawing at small weaknesses in his armor with vicious intent. In the moment that it took to yank the creepy freaking doll from his face, the fight had changed drastically. The kid, trapped in human form, was halfway up the slope. A teddy bear had gotten one of his daggers free and was sprinting away in the opposite direction. The mob of animated objects had swarmed over his team who were holding them back without difficulty, but unable to move forward. Another mob was closing in on him from all sides. Dick blinked, snatching his blade from the bear and punting it in revenge for the annoyance. Then he focussed on just past where the kid was fleeing up the slope, and used up another large chunk of his mana to blink a third time, cutting off the kid’s escape route. The boy skidded to a halt, looking absolutely petrified.
“I said we're not going to hurt you kid.” Dick bit out in frustration as he caught the flailing kid and pinned him to the ground. He pulled enchanted handcuffs out of his belt and snapped them around his wrists. The kid let out a groan as if Dick had just punched him in the gun, and the angry swarm of animated objects dropped like puppets with their strings cut. Apparently, the kid has so much magic the chain wasn’t enough to cut off his connection to magic entirely Dick thought at the group and took a moment to catch his breath.
“You better let me go! My mom will have heard the commotion and is going to eat you if you don’t leave right now!” The kid threatened with a frightened eep.
Scrying complete. Without the kid’s magic reinforcing the wards, I broke through the privacy ward and scanned the whole cave complex. It’s even bigger than we thought, but the kid’s signature is the only one in the entire place. Also, judging by the wards, he has been the only one powering them for at least two months. The Golden Fury has been long gone for a while. Zatara’s voice rang through their minds.
She’s not here? What kind of mother dragon leaves their young one alone? The few I’ve met would sooner die than their youngling unprotected, even for short supply runs. Kal-El’s horrified voice rang through.
“Your mom isn’t even here. Where’s your caretaker?” Dick asked as gently as he could manage. The kid stared up at him and something in the kid’s expression changed.
“I’m so screwed.” The kid breathed out, barely audible. Then he spoke a louder.
“You’re Dick Grayson aren’t you. Of the monster hunting guild.” The poor kid looked like he was about to start hyperventilating. There was were too many things wrong with that sentence to even begin to unload right now. The biggest questions being how did this child recognize him, and how did he know that he was part of the Hunters Guild?
“I am not going to hurt you. Now if you can tell me where your guardian is, I might be willing to let you up.” Dick spoke again, maintaining his calm. The kid stared up at him with wide, terrified eyes but didn’t speak again. Shaking his head rapidly. Dick sighed and scooped the weakly struggling kid up. The rest of his team had started to make their way up the incline, but Dick could sense the Dark Knight’s approach from the cavern. They might as well meet down there. The poor kid had started shaking like a leaf when he reconnected with his team and went entirely still, possibly not breathing when they turned the corner to the cavern and was met with the Dark Knight, Lord Kal-El, and Princess Diana. Dick set the frozen kid down in front of them and Diana gave him the saddest smile, and gently wrapped her lasso around his waist.
“Where is your mother?” The Dark Knight asked gruffly, Dick and Jason were the only ones who could hear how strained he was. Bruce adored children, this was probably killing him.
“I-I don’t know, somewhere in India I think.” The kid whispered, compelled to answer.
“Who is taking care of you?” He asked next.
“I-I’m old enough to take care of myself. So mom stopped paying people to check in on me.” The tiny kid was looking down at his feet, once again trembling.
“Who is teaching you magic?” Kal-El was giving the Knight a horrified look, but Dick could tell he was getting desperate to find someone who was watching out for the kid, rather than being a hard-ass.
“I taught myself. There’s a lot of books here and not much else to do…” The kid trailed off nervously, and Dick blinked, stunned. The kid had taught himself magic? Was that even possible?
“Who feeds you? You are too young to hunt for yourself.” The Knight tried again, the kid reddened and fought the compulsion to answer harder than before.
“I- I have an AMEX card and I fly to Gotham. I buy a couple weeks worth of take out and coffee and preserve it in my spacial ring.” The kid all but whispered. There was a long moment of silence afterward as everyone processed that. He had good reason not to answer, a spacial ring was worth a king’s ransom. A spacial ring that could preserve food was worth double that. Additionally, Gotham was well known to be the home of the Dark Knight, who was the notorious leader of the Hunter’s Guild. He had an incredibly harsh policy for letting magic and magical beings into his city. For the kid to be sneaking in and out every couple weeks was frankly ridiculous. That wasn't even considering how dangerous Gotham was, and how much a young unguarded dragon would be worth on the black market.
The Dark Knight stared for another long moment, then glared at Kal-El. The two were clearly having a mental argument. Judging by Diana’s put-upon expression, she was facilitating the private mind-link. Kal-El looked extremely offended by the end of it, and the Dark Knight looked only mildly irritated, so Dick assumed that he won.
“When do you think your mother or father will return?” He asked the kid, who was starting to shuffle nervously.
“I don’t know, maybe a couple more months at the earliest? They usually only stop by when they have a large enough haul to unload. Mom’s really picky though so it takes her a while to build up a big enough trove. Maybe six or seven months at the latest?” Dick stared at the little kid with a newfound horror. Diana retrieved her lasso soon after that, and the Dark Knight decided to carry the petrified child out of the cavern, trying to reassure the child that they were not going o hurt him. Dick was lost in his horror, up until he felt Babara slyly connecting him to a private conversation.
Jason, I need you to ask Koriand’r to make a scene when we leave this nest. Bruce’s much warmer voice requested through the personal channel. Dick made sure to keep his face as unchanged as possible as Jason replied.
Woah there B. Are you giving her permission to punch Queen in the face? Jason demanded immediately.
Cause it’s that or no deal. I’m talkin blanket permission to start a fight. Jason added on after a split second.
Just this once. Bruce allowed grudgingly after mulling it over. Holy shit. Dick struggled to keep a neutral expression.
What the hell B? Dick asked in surprise.
Kal-El wishes to foster the Dragonling. He is unsuited to take care of this child when he cannot even manage to be a positive role model for his own children. I have far more experience with children of this nature, and far more resources to provide a growing dragon what they need. Until we find a permanent solution for him, the Dragonling will be staying with us. B replied, as if he were stating something reasonable and not talking about stealing the baby dragon and running away from his own damn guild , while leaving his son’s best friend to start a fight with another member of his own damn guild . There was a moment’s silence where Dick pushed as much incredulity through the connection as possible before Jason replied.
Kori’s in. You’re lucky she’s been waiting for a chance to get away with punching Queen for years, otherwise, we would all owe her a huge favor. Jason sounded almost jealous of her.
Thank you, Jason. We will be leaving as soon as the distraction is enacted. Dick’s eye twitched as he realized his father was literally petty enough to make off with the child as soon as they re-sealed the hidden entrance to the nest. But then he remembered that B literally kidnapped Jason off the streets because Jason was a hungry orphan.
You need to stop kidnapping kids B Jason muttered through the mental link, echoing Dick’s thoughts.
And you all must stop enabling him Alfred’s much quieter, and peeved voice entered the conversation.
Aren’t you like, miles away Alfie? Dick asked.
Miss Barbara saw fit to inform me that we would be taking in a new ward, so that I might have time to prepare a room Alfred left a lot of annoyance at being blindsided by the previous two children unsaid.
They were out of the nest now, and Kori had already vanished. Everyone else had already exited the nest and were waiting for Zatara to re-seal the entrance. Before anyone could say something, Queen let out a high pitched scream from somewhere nearby. Roy’s eyes widened in honest surprise and he rushed off along with Kal-El and most of the others to go investigate. Diana turned and gave the group an extremely unimpressed look, before rolling her eyes. The dark Knight’s lips twitched ever so subtly and walked off toward their jet without another word. Dick would never understand their relationship.
The group was cloaked with powerful magic and flying away before Kal-El even realized what happened.