Questions and water
plug the hole, back then melt the chunk back in to seal it. flooding is bad,
This turns out to be difficult. You attempt to push a handful of stone into the hole, but what you removed did not come out in one piece and was generally scattered by the force of water gushing through. Rending extra rock from the sides of your cave helps a bit, but you seem unable to contain the flow.
You remove your hands and attempt to simply melt the hole closed with flame, but all this accomplishes is to convert the gushing water into a cloud of superheated steam around your head. This is moderately unpleasant, but the nictitating membranes in your eyes reflexively slide into place to protect you from any lasting damage.
we should recall how long dragons can go without wakeing up
You have no way to know. You've always woken up when you felt so inclined. Or, occasionally, when a particularly foolish human invited himself to your lair for dinner.
or dying.
A dragon,
dying? Preposterous. What could possibily kill a dragon?
Oh, perhaps a few things. Burning up all the air in a sealed cave can kill a dragon. As can a fall from a very great height. A few of the humans you've eaten boasted of having defeated dragons, and those who made such claims always seemed to carry long metal spears and aimed for your eyes. You suppose it's possible not all of them were lying.
The most dangerous thing to a dragon, of course, is other dragons. As a hatchling in the nest, you and your brother ate your third clutch-mate, for instance. And over your lifetime you've had a few battles that might have ended differently had you not been the superior dragon. Dragon claw can penetrate scale, and no substance on earth can endure the heat of sustained dragonfire. You recall one battle in which you defeated your opponent by latching onto his wings and melting the neck plates together so that he couldn't turn his head. You suppose that given enough time you could have burned a hole completely through him.
You've found it much easier, though, to simply avoid other dragons. Nothing else has ever been a threat to you.
do dragons swim??
Yes, though admittedly not very well. Your wings are powerful, but not well suited for the water. You can propel yourself in short, quick bursts, but it's slow to bring your wings forward again between glides. In the air, your speed and endurance are without equal, but hunting in the water is impractical.
remember how long we can hold our breath
It's never occurred to you to measure, but it would depend greatly on the level of exertion during your breath-holding. You once rested at the bottom of a lake long enough for an army on horseback to pass through so that you could lay waste to their homeland unopposed. And when you did come up, you didn't feel particularly pressed for air. But you doubt you could have stayed under as long had you been fighting or digging for all that time.
Was there another entrance?
No, only this one. You suppose you could tunnel a second exit through the stone, but the water rushing in seems a more pressing issue.
What kind of dragon are we?
You are a
dragon dragon. What other kind of dragon is there?
I think we should quench our thirst at the pond before doing anything else
This, unfortunately, presents a difficulty. The tunnel is only about half again wider than you are. There is insufficient room to turn around. You could lift your tail and walk backwards, but with water filling the tunnel, going back for water from your pond seems relatively unimportant. Dragons ordinarily require water only a few times per season. The blood of your prey is otherwise sufficient. Speaking of which, now that you're awake and moving around, you do feel a bit peckish. It would probably be best to eat sometime within the next few days. Perhaps a cow or two. Humans are fun to eat, and you've always enjoyed the way their bones crunch between your teeth, but they're not very filling.
You lean your head down to the pool of water at your feet and take a few gulps. It's still mostly fresh despite the torrent of saltwater pouring into it.
What do you do?