Rangavar and Zag have work to do, if Zag can stop eating long enough to get it done. Maybe it's his chance to burn all those extra calories! Or most of them. Or, well, at least a few...

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Under Ice
Chapter 7


Zag leaned back on the bed and sighed, resting his arms on his full, bloated belly. He hadn’t really been hungry. He knew it was the anxiety. Yet, he’d eaten anyway. Why, why, why had he done that?

Rangavar could obviously pick up his emotions. He looked toward the Darkal on the bed with a frown. “What’s wrong?”

Zag groaned. “Never let me eat ever again.”

Rangavar rolled his eyes. “Right.”

“Just, when I try to eat, pull the food out of my mouth.” Zag tried to laugh a bit, but felt too stuffed.

“But I like having fingers,” Rangavar protested.

Now Zag just scowled.

“Anyway, you’re probably only feeling bad because you’re full, so you’ll feel better in a little bit.” Rangavar changed the subject. “Tomorrow, how do you think we should go about finding the lost technology? I don’t think it’s really the sort of thing that we’ll be able to ask around.”

Zag shrugged. “Dunno.” Thinking about it was overwhelming.

With a sigh, Rangavar came to sit on the bed next to him. It didn’t creak beneath his weight the way that it creaked beneath Zag’s. The more slender dragon stared across the room, but his gaze seemed to stretch farther than that.

Zag stared at the ceiling. “Maybe we can pay that metalworker another visit. She seemed to know a lot.”

“She might know a lot, but that doesn’t mean she’ll tell us,” Rangavar pointed out. He was the only one who’d met her, but he seemed certain about that. Zag was forced to trust his judgement. He watched as the other dragon lay down on the bed next to them. They were still being forced to share for now, although if they were going to be stuck on this world indefinitely, Zag was sure Rangavar would eventually complain enough to somebody that they’d finally each get their own.

Zag didn’t mind. Right now, he was actually just happy to have a place to lie down and not think about how full he felt, rubbing and kneading his soft, doughy gut and the taut swell of food packed inside. When he lay on his back, his spare tired seemed to widen around him. He supposed that was the nature of gravity.

He suddenly realized that maybe he’d feel better if he could walk it off instead. It would at least have him feeling less bad about his binge. He ponderously pushed himself up, although the sprawl of his blubbery tum made bending forward to sit up a bit difficult, and threw off his balance. The ball of lard sat heavily on his lap when he was sitting. He continued to rub it with his paws for a second, but grabbed a sweatshirt off the side of the bed a moment later to begin pulling over his head.

“Where are you going?”

He looked over to see Rangavar watching him in amusement. “For a walk, I guess.” He didn’t really have a plan in mind. He just yanked down on the sweatshirt, although he was briefly distracted by how tight it felt. He wasn’t looking forward to squeezing on some pants, next.

“Alright. Don’t get lost.”

“I won’t get lost,” Zag huffed, although he hated to admit Rangavar’s words chipped at his confidence. He didn’t plan on going anywhere he hadn’t already been. Suddenly, he brightened as he had a fantastic idea. “Maybe I’ll go explore that crevice we found.”

“The one with the cave-in?” Rangavar’s eyes followed as Zag tore through one of the clothing piles to find a pair of pants he wanted. He’d sorted the clothes into a pile that fit, and a pile that didn’t, to make it easier for himself.

“I’m still not convinced it was a cave-in,” Zag grunted as he hauled on a pair. Fortunately, this one closed easily beneath his gut, way more comfortable that what he’d been wearing earlier. “Either way, right now I have the energy to check it out. I’m not tired enough to just lie around here right now.” A food coma actually sounded kind of nice, but he also felt antsy after a day of doing, well… nothing. He could at least feel less bad about eating all those calories if he did something with them. “I’m going to check it out.”

Rangavar sighed and pushed himself up on the bed. “I’m going too.”

Zag frowned. “Why?”

Rangavar grabbed a shirt to slip into. He probably felt colder down here than Zag did all the time. “Let you have all the fun for yourself? No way.” He half-grinned a bit. Zag could tell he wasn’t exactly excited, but was at least looking forward to whatever they found. He probably felt like he needed something to do, too.

Zag tried not to look too excited himself, although he felt it anyway. Rangavar going somewhere with him willingly? What elements of the universe had conspired to make that happen?

“Are you coming?”

Zag blinked, realizing that Rangavar was standing in front of the open door, now frowning at him as he held it open. Of course Zag’s excitement had to be short-lived. “Right. Let’s go.”

This time, they didn’t have to waste time and energy walking aimlessly through the tunnels, since they knew exactly where they were going. They brought a much better-lit torch, too, to hopefully make inspecting the curious space a bit easier.

“Maybe it was like, a children’s hideout,” Rangavar mused. “Adults blocked off the back so they wouldn’t go deeper and get lost.”

“It would be a pretty fun place for kids to hide,” Zag agreed. If he were a kid, the place would be the perfect size for a secret fort. Something didn’t feel quite right about that, though; the small, hollow space seemed awfully far from the main cavern to let children play.

“Then maybe it was a place for the teens,” Rangavar snorted.

“Are you reading my thoughts?” Zag interrupted, a bit annoyed.

Rangavar didn’t bother answering as they reached the end of the current tunnel. “I think we’re here.”

Zag breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t exactly ‘panting’, but mostly because they’d been walking slow. Even though Rangavar didn’t say anything, Zag was pretty sure it was on purpose. It was very considerate of him. “Want to bring the torch in first? It worked out well last time.”

Rangavar nodded and walked directly to the crevice. Once again, it took no effort for him to turn slightly and slip inside, holding out the torch to lead the way. Zag tugged down on his hoodie self-consciously as he watched. At least he wasn’t as full as earlier; he’d eaten hours before, and felt as if he’d burned off the rest with all the walking exercise.
Walking up to the crevice, though, he started to have doubts.

“What are you waiting for?” Rangavar turned and held the torch closer to the gap so he could light up the space between them. “Thinking about the other day?” he smirked. “At least we didn’t eat before coming.”

Zag gulped. Several days ago, he’d made a joke about skipping dinner. But that had been several whole days ago. Now… Well, the problem might be a bit ‘bigger’ than dinner. It obviously wasn’t beyond his notice that he’d put on a few pounds the past couple of days from practically gorging himself on the dense calories of the food down here. Sure, he genuinely had burned a lot of them through magic and exercise, just as his body was supposed to, but… well…

Rangavar rolled his eyes. “If it’s a tight squeeze, I’ll help like last time. Alright?”

Zag hesitated another moment, but eventually just nodded. It had been his idea to come here, after all, and at least he wasn’t here alone. He’d have help if anything happened. He quickly pulled off his sweatshirt like last time, just in case. When the cool air caressed his scales, he shivered.

Tuning to the side, Zag started to squeeze through the narrow space. It was true his gut wasn’t packed taut like last time, but still, he felt the narrow sides pinch his middle on one side with his back pressed up against the opposite side. His belly seemed a bit more doughy as it spilled past the edge of the solid rock protrusion. He took another step Rangavar’s way, but was finally ground to a halt as the collection of lard pressed tightly against the outside of the gap, preventing him from slipping inside as easily as the other dragon.

He looked back that way, inspecting the way his spare tire folded around the edge, although he was also partially just trying to hide his darkening cheeks. He knew the other Darkal would sense his embarrassment anyway.

“Here.”

Zag looked back over to see Rangavar extend a paw. He gratefully took it, although he knew he was still blushing. Oh well. “Thanks.”

Rangavar pulled. Zag leaned into the pull, sucking in as hard as possible. He may have squeezed another inch, but after another minute of squirming, he had to take a break to catch his breath. When he moved, the rest of his belly jiggled, but the middle remained stuck in place. “Vaugh dammit.”

“Can’t you just suck in?”

“I was sucking in,” said Zag indignantly. The way his gut filled the gap said otherwise, but he was trying his best.

When he felt ready again, Rangavar braced one foot on the wall and suddenly hauled on Zag’s thick arm with all his might. Zag was about to growl as the rocky edge of the hole scraped his scales, but he did feel himself budge a little more, until he finally felt himself sliding free. The stuck side of his belly wobbled against the edge, stretching as the lard held him back, but finally squeezed through.

Zag was flung forward, crashing into Rangavar. Last time, the same thing had happened, but this time, neither of them could stop his momentum.

“Ach!” There was a dull thud as they hit the ground. Rangavar groaned. He’d taken the brunt of the hit. Mostly because Zag was on top of him. “Get off. You’re heavy,” he wheezed, the breath knocked out of him.

Zag quickly scrambled back, drowning in embarrassment. This had to stop happening. “Sorry!”

“Maybe I’ll start blocking food from your mouth after all,” Rangavar grumbled as he sat up and brushed himself off.

Zag’s ears flattened. “You know it’s not on purpose.” He slowly pushed himself to his feet, the scales on his belly feeling sore. He rubbed it a bit, his pudgy fingers sinking into the soft rolls. Without the constricting sweatshirt, he was more just embarrassed by his increasingly impressive overhang. It wasn’t really a wonder why he’d had trouble passing through, even without having eaten recently.

Rangavar sighed. He started to push himself to his feet, but Zag offered a paw and hauled him the rest of the way up. “Thanks.”

It was really the least he could do for falling on him. He self-consciously adjusted his pants a bit, making sure they hadn’t slipped down toward his chubby thighs. “If you’re ready, let’s go inspect the back.”

They wandered through the cave again, this time able to see slightly more in the better torchlight. Rangavar was leading the way, Zag following slightly behind, hyper-aware of how thick his body had gotten. Well, ‘thick’ wasn’t really the word. He didn’t want to think about it.

“Here it is,” Rangavar breathed when they came up on the back of the cave. The slope of stones was exactly as they had left it. Obviously nobody came down here anymore.

“If we stand back, maybe I can try to move some of the rocks with magic,” Zag suggested. It might give them a little glimpse to the wall behind it.

Rangavar frowned. “If it turns out being the result of a cave-in after all, then these rocks might be the only thing holding up the ceiling.”

Zag still wasn’t so convinced that they were. “I’ll be careful.”

Rangavar crossed his arms. “Well, I’m not sure I’m ready to die here.”

“Then leave.”

Rangavar opened his mouth to reply, but faltered. It probably wasn’t the response he was expecting. But Zag just shrugged. “I’m going to move these rocks, but you don’t have to be here.”

The other dragon let out a long sigh. He appeared to genuinely think about it for a moment, but eventually made up his mind. “I guess I’ll try to help if something happens. If you die, I’m stuck here. I don’t know how to drive.”

“Just admit you’re curious,” Zag grinned. He ignored the glare that came his way and turned his full attention on the stone blockage before him. His sense of aura actually wasn’t as strong as Rangavar’s, but he only needed to sense the ground around them. It wasn’t bright and powerful like a living thing, but more of a dull, solid… essence. He carefully released magic into the exact places he wanted. He wanted to manipulate the rocks with as little disturbance to the rest of the cave as possible. Not that he thought Rangavar was right, but there was no point in being reckless, either.

“Well?”

“Hush.” Zag gritted his teeth, trying to focus. He felt the same swell of energy as he had the other day, and realized that all those extra calories really were helping once again. He began shifting the pile of rocks to create a sort of space through them that would allow them to see what was on the other side. Enough of the rocks were large enough that he could make it almost like another sort of tunnel, with no danger of collapsing.

“Damn,” Rangavar said when Zag was done. All traces of annoyance or impatience had vanished from his expression. “I wish I could do that.”

“Practice,” Zag gasped, his energy spent. He leaned over to put his chubby paws on his knees. He needed a few moments to recover. And maybe also a snack. Then he shook his head to himself: No, he did not. He felt frustrated the thought had even passed through his head.

The other dragon, having done nothing at all, easily walked over to the small passage Zag had made. “Hey… come look at this.”

Still feeling spent, Zag stifled a groan. Not that he had the breath for one. “What is it?”

“Come look.”

Now he actually groaned. Pushing himself up, he tiredly wandered over to the hole he had made. “What?” He paused outside as he realized what Rangavar meant. The hole didn’t have a back. Like, at all; it just stretched away into another tunnel. The rocky slope hadn’t been pushed up against a wall at all, but instead blocking a whole other tunnel.

Zag wasn’t sure what to say.

“This one doesn’t look natural.” Rangavar pointed out the texture of the walls. He seemed both highly interested in their find, but also… confused. “Makes it all the weirder that they abandoned this whole area, though.”

“If I recall correctly, they weren’t the ones that dug it.”

Rangavar turned to stare at Zag for a moment. Zag frowned. “That’s what the metalworker said, right? The Iylarians didn’t make any of these.”

Rangavar stared back with wide eyes. That part had clearly slipped his mind. “If this area wasn’t made by the Iylarians, then that means…”

“The dragons who lived here before them dug it out.” Zag didn’t have to be in Rangavar’s head to finish the thought. They were obviously thinking the same thing. “I wonder why the Iylarians didn’t want to use it, though, like the rest of the place.”

Rangavar crossed his arms. Zag wasn’t sure if he was feeling dismissive, or cold. There was a slightly cooler draft wafting in from the buried tunnel. It didn’t really tell them anything, though; the air smelled stale and dusty, the latter probably because they’d disturbed it after an untold amount of time. “Maybe they didn’t use it because if the Iylarians didn’t have the technology to make these tunnels in the first place, they sure as hell didn’t have the technology to widen that crack.”

It was a good point. Zag thought they’d probably been down here long enough to widen it even without technology, though.

Rangavar picked up his train of thought, but just shrugged a shoulder. “Unless we ask Garren or something, we’ll never really know.”

“We can’t let Garren know we found this,” Zag said quickly.

Rangavar snorted. “Of course not. We’re running out of things to keep secret from them, anyway. Add this to the list.”

“The only ‘secrets’ we’re keeping are our names.”

“And where we’re from,” Rangavar pointed out. “If they knew we were from Edaca, we’d be in real trouble.”

Zag held up his claws and ticked off the information. “So we’re hiding our names, our origin, and now this tunnel. That doesn’t seem so bad.” They just had to be increasingly careful about everything they said, and everything would be fine. Right?

Rangavar shrugged again. “We should probably limit our conversations around them anyway, just in case. I haven’t sensed telepathy from anyone in particular, but that doesn’t mean they still aren’t hiding some telepathic truth-tellers somewhere.”

He knew Rangavar was right. He thought about his extensive conversation with Rift, and felt a bit guilty about his suggestion to continue their conversation later. The dragon seemed around Garren’s age, and also seemed to take on the role of his personal assistant or something. It probably hadn’t been a coincidence that he’d been probing Zag earlier. He firmly reminded himself that no one here was their friend.

“Do you want to go deeper?”

Rangavar’s voice snapped Zag out of his thoughts again. “I mean, I guess,” he stammered, taken off guard. But it was true; they’d come all this way, and hadn’t wasted time or energy exploring anywhere else. He could handle a bit more walking. He held out his paw. “Can I hold the torch this time?”

The air inside was immediately colder than the more familiar tunnels. The shift was abrupt enough that Zag shivered. It would sure be nice to have a sweatshirt or jacket or something. He thought ruefully about the one he’d left lying outside. He should have asked Rangavar to go back and grab it or something.

“This tunnel has been separated for quite a while,” Rangavar commented, also struck by the chilly air. The thick fur on his wings was standing up from the cold. “I wonder why the Iylarians separated it.”

“If it was dug by the other dragons, do you think they were the ones that separated it?” Zag suggested. “Maybe they were hiding something important.”

“Maybe.”

Zag waved the torch around as they walked, but everything seemed very uniform in nature, the tunnel dug straight forward with the barest downward slope. “If the others are to be believed, then supposedly, they have a treasure-trove of advanced technology they’re just sitting on.”

“If it’s technology from all the way back then, I wouldn’t call it ‘advanced,” Rangavar pointed out. “But if it can melt metal, that’s good enough for me.”

They’d been walking for a while when Zag began to feel tired. And a bit bored. He glanced around, but there wasn’t really anything remarkable. Just a long, long path downward. “How long do you think we’ve been walking?”

“Feels like at least an hour,” said Rangavar absently. Zag sensed he was a bit bored, too. “I’m not sure if it really has been or not.”

“Think we should… go back?” Zag scratched behind the base of his straight black horns.

Rangavar turned to look at him. “So all the time we’ve spent will be a waste?”

“You didn’t use a bunch of magic like I did,” Zag retorted. “I’m tired.”

He sensed that Rangavar understood. The more slender dragon sighed. “If you’re really sure you want to quit now, we’ll go back.”

“Maybe you can keep going, and I’ll head back by myself,” Zag suggested. He was nervous about that gap between the walls, but it would be a fair compromise. If he got stuck, Rangavar would find him when he came back anyway.

“Right, you take the left half of the torch, I’ll take the right half.”

Zag’s ears flattened. He’d forgotten about that part.

“If you really, really, really want to go back, I’ll come,” Rangavar sighed.

Zag tried to figure out if his guilt was more powerful than his exhaustion. Although, curiosity was still playing a role. The two things together helped him make up his mind. “What if we keep going for another half hour or something—just a little farther,” he suggested, “and then we’ll head back.” At Rangavar’s dubious stare, he pointed out, “An hour and a half to get here, is going to be an hour and a half back. That’s a lot of walking for someone who just had to rearrange a wall. Never mind the walk all the way down to said wall.”

“Alright. Yeah,” Rangavar conceded. “… thanks.”

“I want to find out where it goes too,” Zag assured him. They’d already put it off last time due to his lack of energy. If they left now, they’d have wasted all of this just to put it off yet again. As they resumed walking, Zag couldn’t help but feel frustrated with himself. Darkals were supposed to be naturally lithe and athletic, yet he somehow managed to have rolls of pudge spilling over the waistband of his pants. Although he sometimes caught glimpses of Rangavar’s thoughts, he was sure there had to be a buried one or two about Zag being a complete disgrace.

“Are you sure you want to keep going?”

Zag realized that Rangavar was sensing his sour emotions. “I’m alright.” It came out as a lie. Dammit. “I mean, I’m serious about wanting to see where this goes.” That part was true. Much better.

Apparently satisfied, Rangavar was silent again, the space around the two dragons only interrupted by the sounds of their breathing. One dragon’s breathing was a little louder than the other’s, but they both pressed on determinedly.

Eventually, Zag realized that they could see a bright spot up ahead. He frowned. The air down here was cold, but not like… outside cold. And they’d been traveling slightly downward, too, not at all toward the surface. “What do you think that is?”

Rangavar seemed just as curious. “I guess we’ll find out soon.”

As they got closer, the light almost seemed to waver a bit, making Zag’s fur stand on edge. He couldn’t sense any aura up ahead, though. “Bioluminescence?”

“Do you think anything like that lives on this world?”

Zag shrugged. “If other plant life developed here, would it really be a stretch?”

Soon, they were close enough to see that the light was flickering, and seemed to move whenever they moved. It took another few moments for the two of them to collectively realize that it was the reflection of their own torch.

Zag chuckled nervously. “Am I the only one glad?”

Rangavar let out his breath. Zag could sense his emotions, too, and already knew he was equally relieved. It would be a loooooong run back up the tunnel if they encountered something dangerous. Reaching a dead end was probably for the best.

At his side, he could tell Rangavar felt also a bit disappointed. Then Rangavar pricked his ears. “Wait, it’s not reflecting off rock.”

“It’s not?” Zag was too tired for a second anxiety attack.

Rangavar walked right up to it, leaving Zag in shadow, but stopped directly in front of what turned out to be a gray, metallic wall. “It’s reflecting off this.”

“A giant steel door?” Zag cautiously approached. He looked it up and down. It filled the entire tunnel, like it was made for it. “I’m guessing the Iylarians didn’t build this, either.”

He could sense Rangavar begin to grow excited. “Do you think maybe… maybe this is where the other dragons hid their technology?”

“What if this is where the other dragons hid themselves.” Although Rangavar was focused entirely on the technology, Zag had the feeling they wouldn’t just hand it over. “I think you’re forgetting they could be alive and well down here.”
Of course, Rangavar knew he was right. That didn’t stop him from reaching out and tentatively putting his paw against it.

“Wait, what if it has sensors!” Zag hissed.

“Dragons with bajillion-year-old technology bothered putting censors on a dusty cave door? Damn, you’re probably right.”

Zag stared for a moment. He was pretty sure that was sarcasm. “Well, you never know.”

Rangavar suddenly gave the metal an experimental slap.

Zag startled. “What are you doing?”

At his tone, Rangavar smirked. “It’s harmless. See?” He slapped the metal again.

“Stop doing that!”

Rangavar suddenly gave the metal a series of knocks. “Ooh, scary.”

This time, Zag could tell he was teasing, but did not find it funny. “Let’s go back. We don’t have a way to go further anyway, at least not without my magic to take this down. And I just don’t have the energy right now.”

The other dragon gave a long sigh and moved away from the door. “Alright, We’ll—”

A clang interrupted them from the other side of the door, sudden enough to make them both jump. Already on edge, Zag yelped and stumbled back.

Rangavar finally looked nervous too. “What was that?” he whispered.

“The metal… settling?” It better be the metal settling. Did metal settle? Maybe it leaned farther into the rock or something.

“Heh.” Rangavar laughed nervously. Quietly, though. “Yeah. I guess it shifted from tapping on it. That was weird.”

Zag was inclined to agree. He shook out his wings again, all the short fur standing up. “Next time we come—”

A series of knocks from the other side interrupted them.

Both dragons jumped again. This time, they were both already skittish, and Zag panicked and started running back the way they’d come. The way was pitch black, but he decided it was better than meeting whatever was making noise on the other side of the door.

“Wait!” Rangavar yelped as he scurried after him, the torch flame trailing behind in the dark. Much fitter than Zag, he caught up easily, but the two of them didn’t stop running until Zag literally, physically, could not anymore.

The much chubbier dragon leaned into the cave wall, drawing in huge gasps of air, his legs shaky. Although that part might not just be from the exercise.

“What do you think that was?” Rangavar panted. He was regaining his breath much more quickly, although Zag knew he’d been terrified too.

“Not terrified.” Rangavar scowled and made finger-quotes, although all of it was negated by the fact that it came out a lie. He just shook his head. “I just don’t want to meet… whatever… caused that noise.”

Zag didn’t comment on Rangavar reading his thoughts. He looked at him tiredly. “Did you have to bang on the damn door?”

Rangavar bit his lip and looked away. He looked like he already knew he’d fucked up, so Zag didn’t press him any more. Rangavar ended up shrugging. “Let’s just head back.”

“Working on it,” Zag wheezed, although at least his heart wasn’t pounding as hard. When he’d gotten his breathing under control, he slowly pushed himself back upright, letting out a tired groan. They began walking in silence, the dwindling torchlight guiding them.

“I wonder what’s on the other side of that door,” Rangavar said after a while, to break up the deep silence.

“I don’t.”

Rangavar looked away awkwardly and was quiet a long moment. “Sorry.”

Zag didn’t bother replying. As far as he was concerned, the tunnel counted as a dead end, because he certainly wasn’t ever going back.