Ruby always gets what she wants,

Over the valley of bones deep and dark even in the brightest day a shadow inexorably streaked in the iridescent indigo of the maelstrom,

Into the night to the sea and across the blackness, she sped,..

The wind blown rain sheeted off her leather-like wings and Ruby sighed at the energy it took to move through the night in such tumultuous weather; If she had her way she would be cloistered in a warm bed with he who she craved, of course she knew better than to even think his name, his connection to the ether such that any direct focus would be sensed, even a positive one, and this journey was one he could not know about.

As much as she adored his face she comforted herself with the thoughts of his hands, strong and scarred from the tasks of the adept, the way they drew sensual fire along their path over her form such that it made her quiver with the longing for the reality of it.

Turning her focus back to the task at hand she forged onward toward the craggy edifice that slowly manifested from the miserable night, the occasional discharge of angry lightning drawing an imposing outline of the rough and deadly stone outcroppings that made access treacherous even to a skilled raider such as she.
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While better weather would make getting into the labyrinth of caverns that permeated the peak, the misery of the night meant that Sagora, the ancient dragon who made this her lair, would not be patrolling the skies guarding her hoard.

No, most likely she would be where Ruby herself longed to be, coiled about a treasure in the confines of a warm dry nest, she silently chuckled at the the thought that no doubt her notion of treasure would be more of a meal to the crusty old reptile,.of course Ruby would be no less in Sagora’s eyes, even though Ruby was sure she was well the match for the old beast, but should there be a clutch in residence she could have up to half a dozen young dragons to contend with and that was more work than the stealth of this way.

As she landed upon one of the open outcroppings above the main entrance she felt the jangle of energy that is generated when someone/thing steps into the ether to teleport to another place; focusing on it she discovered that her suspicions were right, there were four young dragons cavorting about, testing their powers by shifting from one room to another, somewhat clumsily certainly, as they missed their mark and the natural recourse would bump them around,… but the noise they were creating would hopefully cover her as she sought her prize.

All creatures impart a pattern where their personal energy meshes with the background noise of the planet; magical entities more so,.. she suspected that which she sought would make a little stir as she cast about with the shard that for the moment hung between her breasts on a silver chain. It would home in on it’s source, the ‘grimoire of VasNumen’,

The legend tells of the repository of what many suppose to have been one of the most powerful human magi, written in an arcane form that could contain the knowledge of the universe , it also served as an inner sanctum from which the mage could look out upon all the reams that existed and none could follow, a fortress involute and unbreachable; When Sagora usurped this place, the grimoire and mage were never heard from again, Lucifer who came in possession of the shard, postulates that from inspecting it that somehow the vessel that is the grimoire was rended in the battle for the crag, leaving the mage either trapped within or dismembered by the dragon, either way defeated.

Ruby, working on the chance hat the shard would resonate with it’s kin and lead her to the rest of this potentially powerful resource; She instinctively felt that the wizard could unravel the way to restore the grimoire and use it in his own quest , which while not her place, she would hand this man anything that could help him,..sometimes she wondered about that, but trusted her instincts in everything and this was no different, even though Lucifer would snort in disgust every time the subject saw light .

Making herself very small, she cast about seeking the treasure caches that the great magpie that was all dragons would have,… Three rooms deep in the maze of caverns seemed most likely as the things there radiated ancient energy,

Stealthily .wending toward the furthest room she passed through a large chamber that must have once been a ceremonial hall, the debris and destruction belied that it ever had any glamor,… halfway toward the opening leading to her destination, the shard warmed against her flesh, and the great roar of a roused elder dragon rang in the night,.

Pulling in and shielding all she could Ruby huddled in the darkness and awaited the impending chaos,… she felt Sagora mentaly cast about, …the bush against her shield was but in passing and she felt the great beast seeming shrug off the incident of the shard speaking as just more noise from her offspring,.. with a grumble she withdrew and resumed whatever dreams she was perusing,..

Keeping a damper on the shard she looked about the room, this bode well, for eons ago if the battle took place here and the remnants of the grimoire still remained in this place, then reason would say that it wasn’t a valued treasure, simpler to get away with something that was poorly guarded.

Ruby finally located what she sought, luck would have that it was just the single piece, and though there was a kindred fire between the ugly gray orb and the heavily damped shard, if one passed this in a gutter they would probably pay it no notice,;With a shiver she picked up the palm sized trophy, stashed it in a pouch on her belt and turned to make her way back to the outside, then, home,..

As she turned a corner in the last leg toward the exit she sought , the wall to the right before her appeared to bulge and spit out a young dragon, the results of a clumsy teleport, two things cannot occupy the same physical space and if you tried you either got bumped back into the ether or shifted to a nearby clear space,..

The unexpected appearance caused both parties to spark and that set off a general alarm; as Ruby eluded the lunge from the small dragon, the mental roar of Sagora mingled with the squawks of the other young created a wave of turbulence that Ruby took advantage of and teleported to the outside, where she quickly set a fireball of energy off toward the opposite direction she was headed, diving into the darkness and spawning her wings she dropped most of the way toward the sea then glided a long winding way to negate any signature she might leave for the dragons to follow, she was sure Sagora was checking her treasure for missing items, leaving pursuit to the young ,… the trash she took would never be missed,..

when she appeared at the wizards place the sun was well on it’s upward arc,… letting herself in she walked back to his workshop where she knew he would be. Looking up from something that looked far too volatile, he greeted her, then when she held out the orb he looked puzzled and asked “what is that?,. “VasNumens grimoire” . She replied with a smirk, “you can reward me now, for my adrenaline is still very high,”..she accented the statement by banishing both their garb,“Ruby!, I’m working!” he said, and he stood and noticed he didn’t hide his response to a naked demon very well,.., Ruby responded by waving her hand and as his workbench vanished she stood with her breath hot on his mouth and said, “kiss me”

He saw no sense in doing anything but, and they tumbled to the couch that was against the wall,

As the fires fed and were subdued he said, “This is all very nice, but the grimoire is a legend, and the work you sent off was very dangerous, ..Where is it?” putting her finger tips to his lips and sliding them into his mouth, she spoke as she nibbled on him, I sent the experiment to someone who could deal with it, and the grimoire is a fact, you just have to make it whole”,… then as she climbed up on him to take advantage of his renewed attention, the room burst into a cloud of sulfur smoke.

Standing in a somewhat disheveled tatter, Lucifer bellowed while trying to look imposing “Wizard!!,.”. then noticing the duo he continued, “Ruby,!.. I should have known,! “ making a frustrated gesture, he disappeared with a flash of green brimstone fire,..

Looking into the Wizards eyes Ruby said. He’ll get over it, and proceeded to continue her advances,..