The chamber felt suffocating. Its domed ceiling loomed just a few feet above the massive creature's head, leaving the air heavy with the scent of rot. The dragon's scales, once obsidian-black, were dulled and cracked, patches of necrotic flesh hanging in strips between the plates. The faint glow of putrid green light oozed from the seams in its body, like veins filled with liquid poison.
Kai's breath caught when it spoke, its deep voice resonating through the chamber like a tremor in the earth.
"You can talk?" he asked quietly, eyes narrowing as he scanned the beast. Up close, he could see where scales had flaked away entirely, revealing ribs slick with black ichor.
The dragon lowered its skeletal head, milky eyes boring into him. "My master provided me with the ability to communicate. His…"
It paused. Its massive skull tilted ever so slightly, as though something was scrambling in its decayed mind.
