The dragon licked over its lips. "I'm not entirely unreasonable." It pointed with a finger at the phone the human was holding. "I'll take that, and we'll forget today happened, hmm? Provided I never see your strangely-naked skin again."

Wave bobbed her head quickly. "That sounds like a great deal to me." Not that it was her phone or anything.

Eric handed it over, nodding, valuing his life quite a bit more than a phone with no internet or cell towers in range. “Here you go. Just to forewarn you it has a limited amount of power before it will stop functioning, and in about an hour and a half it’s going to start making noise, unless you want me to cancel that for you first. Don’t know how well your claws will work on the touch-screen, but the password is…” Eric spoke quickly, not wanting to try the dragon’s patience, but driven to give what he felt the dragon would surely consider pertinent information.

A hoof slipped over his flapping lips. "I think our honored host is clever enough to figure it out. Isn't that right, sir dragon?"

The dragon accepted the phone with a toothy smile. "Too right, little… what are the lot of you anyway? No matter. Intruders, that's what you are. Why is that one asleep?" He grunted, smoke escaping from his snout as he scowled at the lot of them. "I don't want to see any of you when I get back, or it's fire time." He turned to depart them, shuffling down the hallway.

Eric grinned, star struck, as he watched the dragon’s departing form, eyes drinking in the sight for what he kind of hoped was the last time ever. As much as he thought dragons were inherently cool, he did not really want to give this one or any other any additional opportunities or excuses to kill him, or mug him. Once the dragon was gone, though, he awkwardly worked his way to his feet, carrying Wave Swimmer, and started nudging Tom to wake him.

With a groan, Tom’s eyes started to open once the nudging got insistent enough. “Uugh… has it already been an hour?” he asked, looking up to Eric and Wave both, letting out a small yawn as he braced a hand against the wall, standing up a bit shakily at first to his feet. “Haven’t felt this sore since the time I got drug to a three hour gym trip… Time to go then, I take it?” he asked Wave and Eric both.

“It’s been a near-death experience, which will have to be long enough,” Eric answered, still grinning. “Surprisingly, being mugged by a dragon has not yet diminished my affection for them. Nevertheless, I no longer have a timekeeping device, and we have an unspecified amount of time to leave with our lives, so I’m cutting your nap short. Agreed?”

Wave frowned a little bit. "To tell the truth, I think he counts as a thief. All dragons covet treasures. I bet his 'lair' is covered in trinkets from the temple." She licked over her snout slightly. "Don't suppose you want to investigate that instead?"

Tom first nodded to Eric before looking over to Wave, slowly nodding again. “Mugged… by a dragon. If it’s the one I saw, then there’s a lot of treasure in his lair, Wave. And it’s right near the chute that brought me to you. So, it might be part of the temple, then?” Tom reasoned, stretching slowly as more than a few joints loudly popped in protest. “Also, I’m kinda curious… just how have you lived this long?”

“While I agree with the likelihood that the dragon has stolen more than a few things from the temple, I’m not all that keen on our chances of confronting it on that matter. Are you? I’m pretty sure that would swiftly escalate to a fight to the death. And I’m not sure what favors Q might be able or willing to offer to swing that in our favor,” Eric said. He looked thoughtful, as a remote possibility teased at his mind, but he certainly didn’t look confident.

The mer-pony crossed her forelegs with a little petulant huff. "If I see the stolen treasures, then I am entitled to certain… measures. I am a servant of my gods, even if I do leave this place. All I ask is to see it, and I will make him pay, terribly, for being a thief."

Tom shook his head at Eric. “We basically are going to have to walk right past the entrance to its lair, Eric, if this path leads where I think it does… close enough to see everything, I was close enough while it was waking up to make out all of its details.” Tom removed his gun from its holster, the strap somehow still in place as he pulled out the magazine. “And this might be useless, but Wave… what can you do, if we need to protect ourselves and he just so happens to have stolen from the temple?” Tom asked, peering intently at her.

“So our plan then is walk past the entrance, sneak a peek to target the divine nuke, and then head on out? I’ll carry Wave, since you’re still pretty wiped out,” Eric offered.

Wave shook her head. "I don't understand all your words, but yes, that sounds right. If I can see the thievery, or hear claim to it, then I can act with their blessing." She clopped her hooves together. "Even a dragon should know better than to challenge gods, after all. Doesn't everypony know that?"

Tom mussed her mane for a moment, smiling slightly. “Where we’re from, gods don’t physically exist, at least nothing that we can prove. So, they don’t really carry the same weight, you know? Folks’ll still do crazy things in their name though…” Holstering the gun once more, he turned towards the direction he believed to be the exit, the saddlebags over one shoulder and lantern in hand. “I appreciate you offering to carry Wave, Eric. Let’s go on ahead and get out of here, I guess.”

Eric nodded, and started walking forward, still relatively fresh. He adjusted Wave a bit to keep his muscles from protesting too much at the load, but kept a steady pace down the hall. “You will warn me of the trap triggers before I step on them, yes?”

They walked together towards a faint light that came from around a corner, where the exit turned out to be. The boulder they had triggered rolled right ahead into the dragon's lair, explaining why he had been disturbed. He glared at them from atop his scattered piles of treasure. "Go on! I'll lose my patience in a moment."

Wave smiled viciously, pointing to a pile. "Oh, sir Dragon, where did you get that? It looks awfully a lot like something I remember seeing the priests polishing daily. You know you shouldn't interfere with the poss--"

"Shut your horse mouth!" roared the dragon, raising to its full height and looking quite angry. "I think I'll just roast you now, on second consideration." He inhaled sharply, midsection swelling with breath.

“Oh fuck,” Tom muttered, his eyes bulging as he fumbled to grab his gun, having a bit of trouble with the strap holding it in as he tried pushing Eric into the tunnel that turned to the entrance, and out of the way of any potential fire.

Eric turned to run, trying to keep Wave shielded with his back as best he could. ‘Q, if you can hear my thought, it would be a really big favor to have Sin the Librarian’s powers right about now.’ Eric thought, not particularly hopeful for the wish to actually come true.

Flame erupted from the dragon, washing against a field of blue and green that seemed to be emanating from Wave Swimmer. "Oh, I was trying to give you a chance to apologize, to beg for mercy. The gods are sometimes lenient if you do." She brought her hooves together with a loud splash that built into the sound of two waves crashing together. The treasures around the dragon began to melt and flow, becoming like water as it pulled him down into it. "But I prefer it this way."

Tom paused in his frantic pushing to stare at the fate Wave was bestowing upon the dragon, watching in a morbid fascination as the dragon was being drowned in liquid gold… probably molten liquid gold. He couldn’t help but think of Smaug for a moment before he partially turned his head to look at Wave. “I… never want to piss you off. Anything you want, you got it,” he muttered, shaking his head. “And you had asked me to protect you? Sheesh…”

Eric stopped long enough to watch the tail end of the exchange, happy to be thoroughly unburned. “So.. not to be mercenary about it or anything, but anything in there not from the temple? Aside from my phone?”

Wave tilted her head. "Oh, a lot of it. It looks like he brought some of it with him." As the dragon sank beneath the waves of gold, she made soft gestures, and the piles started to return to their former state. "It wouldn't do to cause damage myself, now would it? Take your, uh, phone was it? Take that, and take something… Something… With significance? I don't understand, but something that tells ponies what this place was. There's a bit of a catch, but take it."

Tom turned to Wave and Eric after shaking his head at the undisturbed piles of treasure. “If you want to, I’ll hold Wave again for a bit, or I can go grab it. I read a journal on the temple, so I’ve got an idea of what might be needed,” he offered up, looking between the treasure and Eric for a few moments.

Eric looked at the piles for a moment, then shrugged. “I’ve got her. Just grab what we need, and my phone if you can spot it, and slip them in my backpack. I…” he got a bit of a sad look as his voice dropped a bit. “I told my wife I would carry all the heavy things…”

Wave tilted her head. "You have a wife?" Her voice sounded clearer, the distraction of her divine bond fading as she looked around. "Oh… We have to seal this place after we leave it. If there are no guardians, raiders will come, and nopony will stop them, so make sure you take something good, something that will remind ponies. Maybe they'll come back, and sing."

Tom nodded, giving Eric a small look of pity. “I’ll take a good look for something like that, Wave,” he replied over his shoulder, immediately spotting the phone amidst the piles of bright treasure. Eric’s phone in hand, Tom dropped to a knee, looking at what appeared to be a small pile of things from the temple. With care, he picked one up and examined it before setting it aside. When he stood back up a minute later, he had in his hand a tablet that appeared to have been carved yesterday, gilded gold and aquamarines accentuating a depiction of the temple, what appeared to be its gods, and Wave herself on the mural as well. Walking over to her, he nodded as the phone was put up into Eric’s backpack. “I hope that this will be good enough, Wave.”

Wave bobbed her head at it. "It's lovely. I just wish I was a priest, so I could explain its meaning to ponies when we find them, if we find them. Oh! Oh! We can't sell it, not for one tiny bit. If we sell it, then we stole it."

“Would that apply to the dragon’s other things? Just being pragmatic here, but I think we probably do need at least something we can sell or spend to buy supplies, if nothing else. Or simple coin might be even better. Not suggesting we fill my pack, but enough to get us through until we can figure out what we’re doing,” Eric inquired.

“Gotcha… no selling the temple artifact, Wave… and what Eric is asking makes sense. I’m going to need clothes, these are pretty worn out from this little… adventure we’ve had. That and food and other things, once we find civilization.” Tom gently set the intricate carving into Eric’s backpack, making certain to handle it carefully.

Wave's grip tightened. "He's dead and gone. I suppose, technically… his things are up for grabs, and technically, they belong to the temple now. Take what you want, swiftly, and let's begone before I think about it too hard."

“If you’re going to have to murder us over it later, I’ll find a way to do without. Is it too much to ask for you to commit to a firm yes or no?” Eric asked nervously, even as he looked around for some loose currency.

Wave pointed to a pile of gold coins. "Those are just bits, every day bits. They don't belong to anypony other than who's holding them, so take them, and we'll be off."

Tom smiled, gently pulling Wave out of Eric’s hands so that he could fill up his backpack. “Thank you, Wave… this’ll help all of us out. We’ll do our best to survive, we’re somehow good at that, us humans,” he remarked a bit playfully, hugging her and kissing her on the nose.

They quickly gathered what they could, and departed. Their adventure was over, and yet it was only the first step in a much larger tale. Next Chapter: 6 - A Breath of Fresh Air Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours