Rising from where I had been sitting, I moved quietly to where they were digging.
“… unless Don Bruce wants to … Hey! Where are you goin’? Get back here!”
I ignored Nunzio’s shouting and listened again. On target. I estimated about four feet down. With a mental smirk, I began jumping up and down, landing as heavily as I could.
“What are you doin’? Stop that! Hey, Gleep!”
The noise Nunzio was making was trivial compared to what was being said four feet down. When I mentioned earlier that I was too heavy for Nunzio to move unassisted, I was not meaning to imply that he was weak. The simple poundage of a dragon is a factor to be reckoned with even if it’s dead, and if it’s alive and thinking, you have real problems. I felt the floor giving way and hopped clear, relishing the sounds of muffled screams below.
“Jeez. Now look what you’ve done! You broke the floor!”
Again I had expected no thanks and received none. This did not concern me, as at the moment I was more interested in assessing the damage, or lack of damage, I had inflicted on this latest round of potential thieves.
The floor, or a portion of it, now sagged about a foot lower, leading me to conclude that either the tunnel below had not been very high, or that it had only partially collapsed. Either way, there were no more sounds emanating from that direction, which meant the thieves were either dead or had retreated emptyhanded. Having accomplished my objective of removing yet another threat to the shipment, I set my mind once again on more important things. Turning a deaf ear to Nunzio’s ravings, I flopped down and pretended to sleep while I indulged in a bit of leisurely analysis.