A low rumble punctuates the hushed murmurs of the onlookers. The grinding of stone against ancient volcanic rock mingles with the strained grunts of the hunters, who struggle to roll the massive, jagged boulder forward.
My lips curl into a smile at the sheer enormity of my gift. Yes, she cannot fail to be impressed! Elation and confidence swell my heart as the diamond sparkles brilliantly, drawing awe from the crowd.
“Ah... Dracoth,” Princesa mutters, not with joy but with confusion. “Please tell me that’s not supposed to be my ring,” she protests, pointing toward the approaching monolith.
“This diamond is the largest ever extracted, buried for eons deep within the bowels of Scarn,” I proclaim, confidence swelling in my voice. “There is no bigger diamond, no bigger commitment.”
Her beaming expression collapses into a disapproving frown, evaporating my elation like steam on lava. Even the greatest diamond in the universe is not enough to please her?
Infuriating female! She seeks the impossible!
“I asked for adiamondring, Dracoth!” she snaps, hopping down from my arm, her displeasure cutting deep. “Not my own personalplanet! How am I supposed to—”
I stop listening, my rage bubbling like molten rock, not helped by the hunters continuing to grunt and strain, their feeble muscles bulging uselessly as they try to push the colossal diamond onto the raised stone dais.
Pathetic weaklings!
Snarling, I storm forward, shoving the hunters aside and heaving the massive gem with ease onto the molten rock platform. They collapse, panting and gasping in the steamy air like spent flames.
Rolling the gift toward Princesa, I feel my Rush leaking from my eyes, crimson mist swirling in the lava-lit chamber. Yet her expression only darkens. She crosses her arms beneath her ample breasts, tapping her foot as though I’ve presented her with a sack of vipertails.
“I don’t know why you’re dragging that thing near me,” she sneers, her tone like a lash across my honor. “It’s useless to me. What am I supposed to do,roll it around,like I’m some giant dung beetle?” She tuts, turning her head away, twisting the claw deeper into my heart.
The crimson mist thickens around me as my anger boils, the lava geyser beside us mirroring the volcanic fury in my chest.
How dare she reject my gift!
“If it’s a ring you desire,” I growl, my voice low and dangerous. My hands clench into fists, shaking with outrage and the rage burning within. “It’s a ring you shall have.”
With that, I smash my molten fist into the jagged diamond boulder. Pain lances through my mind, sharp and electrifying, but I do not stop. I am harder than rock, harder than diamond, harder than all.
Gasps ripple through the blackened caverns, followed by murmurs of panic. The entire chamber shakes with each titanic blow, the sound of my strikes reverberating like an immense earthquake.
“Dracoth, stop!” Princesa cries, rushing forward to clasp my arm, her touch steadying the diamond as though to save it from my wrath.
I ignore her plea, enjoying the sharp pain of my blows piercing through my right arm. The sight of my green blood smearing the iridescent beauty is a delight to behold.
Finally, the diamond shatters under my power, my resolve. It was inevitable; I am unbreakable. My last blow sends shards flying through the air like sparkling stars in a night’s sky.
Silence falls, broken only by the hiss of lava nearby and a stunned whisper from the crowd. “By Arawnoth...”
Amusing. That something so trivial—a mere display of strength—should leave them awestruck.
From the glittering remnants, scattered like celestial fragments across the rocky ground, I stoop to snatch a flat shard. It glimmers in my hand, and I judge it sufficient. Pressing my clawed thumb into the heart of the shard, I apply the immense pressure and heat of Arawnoth only I can summon, shaping the rock. Sparks fly, and steam hisses as I forge the fragment into a ring.
When it is done, I hold the band aloft, scrutinizing it with a critical eye. A few rough edges to be smoothed out, but still, it’s an impressive thick ring of solid, gleaming diamond. Its outer surface is jagged and unpolished. Good—a fitting reminder of the harsh land it came from and the strength and blood required to forge it.
“Your ring,” I say, thrusting the diamond band toward Princesa.
She stands motionless, her silver eyes wide with something between shock and awe. Then, as if awakening from a trance, a smile spreads across her delicate features, transforming her face into a vision of delight.
“If you’d be so kind,” she purrs, extending the second finger on her left hand toward me.
“And you’re supposed to kneel.”
Chapter 48
Dracoth
