The first time you visited the town, the residents made sure to lead you up to the peak of the mountain they resided on. They made sure that you saw the fearsome dragon held captive there, understood what they had been through before his capture and just how difficult he had been to apprehend. His furious snarls and glares stood testament to how badly the dragon did not [i]want[/i] to be chained there, the creature's sheer size evidence enough of its strength and the even greater strength of the thick chains that held it; even so, to be led up so high and told all about the hunt and the ambush that had humbled it rang more in your ear as boasting than as crucial information. So long as the beast remained in captivity there, he was no concern of yours!

The second time, you turned down the offer to climb the peak and see the massive hulk of red scale again. He was still chained to the mountain's peak, wasn't he? The same way he had been those many weeks prior? What then was the point of scaling the mountain just to see his condition unchanged?

The third time, the whole mountain was aflame. The village was gone, swallowed by the flows of lava oozing down the mountain's rocky shoulders, and those who had escaped ran to you, begging, pleading, for you to climb up to that high peak and cast down the dragon whose ire had obliterated their homes. Seeing the degree of destruction, you felt that you had no choice, that if the dragon was not stopped here he wreak untold havoc on the lands nearby! So up to the peak you went, much of the path washed out by the lava, the rocks baking in the heat, slowing you, exhausting you as you scaled higher, higher.

At last you arrive... and nothing could have prepared you for what you find there. The rim of the peak is awash in flame, only a narrow path leading to the rocky summit left above the burning pools, leading from you to the great dragon himself. The heavy harness that had bound his body and wings is virtually gone, only one stout cuff of the four that had restrained his paws remains, and the great heavy collar around his neck has split open, the chain that had leashed him in place torn asunder. And the muzzle that had held his flame in check is in ruins, so that when the great head swings around to see you the dragon roars in his full terrible voice, the whole mountain shaking, flame licking out the sides of his jaws.

"Burn! Death to all the vermin who dared imprison me! Flee, or you will suffer the same fate!"

The giant dragon roars again, and you face a terrible choice. To leave the survivors to the dragon's wrath, or to fight against the thick scale, sharp claws, and withering flame of a dragon who so clearly does not intend to be recaptured...

Fear the dragon! I'd had my eyes on Croft's Level Up commissions for a while, and at last managed to snag one; this fire field is the result! Hueroc has clearly had more than enough of the sorts of things he's typically subjected to, and as dragons do, he's attacking his problems with fire. Lots and lots of fire. I love how it came out! The broken restraints were the artist's idea, and they're a very nice touch I think :D

Go favorite it in Croft's gallery here!