The climb was steep, and many times we’d thought about turning back. But we finally made it to the top of the volcano.
Although it was dormant, the fearful inhabitants of the nearby village claimed they saw the occasional wisp of smoke still arising from it... the caldera was said to be the demesne of a truculent dragon. Pfft. Dragons! Who believes those things are still alive these days? But there might still be some of the hoard up there, especially when the local populace is so lily livered.
The climb was steep, and many times we’d thought about turning back. But we finally made it to the top of the volcano.
The crater was huge, rocky, and (of course) devoid of large, scaly reptilian monsters. Unfortunately it was also depressingly treasure free. There wasn’t even a cave to build our hopes up. Just... lots of bones... scattered around... everywhere...
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The word choice for this week's Monday Mixer was obvious once I'd read them, the story finished itself in no time flat.
I like the ambiguity about the bones: the dragon could be real and the bones are left from his earlier attacks or the bones are from previously trapped explorers, who died in their attempts to find non-existent treasure (and in their attempt to get out), thus perpetuating the dragon myth among the natives.
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