gate, as if someone had thrown a stone into calm water. After a moment, an ornate relief depicting raging flames emerged from the spot where Erth had struck, with a small round indentation in the centre.
-Please place the key, your ring, in the lock.- Erth pointed to the indentation while stepping back a little.
Draco reached for his neck with a slightly trembling hand and carefully removed the chain with the signet ring from under his shirt. He looked once more at the ring, which brought him conflicting and somewhat incomprehensible feelings. The dragon took a deep breath, approached the gate and, with one movement, placed the eye with the coat of arms against the lock. He was about to say that nothing had happened when suddenly there was a quiet click, followed by a series of metallic sounds. Finally, after a long moment filled with the clattering and ringing of invisible machinery, something clicked louder and the massive vault door sprang open with a long sucking sound. Draco, driven by curiosity, immediately looked at the entrance and noticed that on the right side of the gate, which had previously been hidden in the wall, there was a recess with a convenient lever. Guessing what he should do, he confidently grabbed the metal handle and prepared to move, roughly estimating several tonnes of enchanted metal. The dragon braced himself and took a deep breath, then pulled with all his might and... Draco staggered a few steps back, feeling almost no resistance from the massive entrance, which opened as easily as if it were a glass ball on a sloping surface. The gates swung wide open and stopped as gently as they had opened. The dragon stared at the massive piece of steel for a moment, then looked into the vault. The interior was shrouded in complete darkness, with only a small piece of solid stone floor visible in the outside light.
-Aether Ignum.- Draco didn't even notice Erth approaching him. The man pointed his staff somewhere into the darkness. Suddenly, the darkness parted, driven away by the light of
