Poor Mazurek is in trouble again. He had spoken with his friends about the possibility of going out for some treasure to add to the dragon's already massive hoard. He had read about something that was very valuable that would give them the opportunity to do whatever they had wanted for quite some time, covering living expenses and whatnot.

A week after going out, Griz had received an encrypted note that went largely unnoticed due to the fact that it had been set like a bookmark inside a book...that just happened to be one of Griz's favorites. The dragon was immersed in the book for a couple of days, reading and reading and reading. After finishing it for the fifth time he finally paid attention to the strange bookmark. Decoding the message took a couple of hours and the need to consult Rekhit's various books on cryptograms to acquire the correct cypher. Needless to say he is quite alarmed by the contents of the message.

It was a warning to the two, written by the Iguana and mailed. He was being followed by the locals and was going to send his discoveries to them in the encrypted message. He had feared that he was going to be captured and imprisoned by the local authorities. It was common for interlopers and treasure seekers to spend a week stewing in a dungeon cell before being escorted to the top of a pyramid to be sacrificed to their gods after spending a full day shackled in the brutal desert sunlight.

That week had almost expired, which included the time it took for the mail to arrive and the time he spent reading that book, leaving the two precious little time to prepare if they were going to rescue their comrade. The next day they flew out to their destination using a specific magical incantation they used if they did not have much time to reach somewhere.

It was already late afternoon when they arrived, and their arrival caused quite a stir. The city's troops were stationed at the base of the pyramid the sacrifice was taking place on, leaving no questions to where they needed to be. The fighting was long and brutal, for they were facing very skilled opponents. They had to fight their way up the entire way, and part way up the two split up and ascended from opposite sides of the pyramid. When they finally reached the top the sun was setting and the ritual almost complete. The High Priest, a winged draconic raptor, had raised the sacrificial dagger in the air and was shouting the final phrases of the ritual. The captive is sweating profusely, having been out in the blazing heat of the desert sun the entire day as well as unsuccessfully struggling to break free of the restraints multiple times that day!

The two have only the priest and one lone, remaining guard to deal with. Will the plot be foiled, or will their Iguana companion be sacrificed?

----

This is one of the exceptionally rare occurrences where we will ever see Mazurek wearing anything. Aztec tradition has the sacrifice wearing nothing more than a loincloth while being physically restrained by very strong warriors to keep them from getting away. Here, though, he is bound by shackles coming right out of the side of the altar and even equipped with a blindfold and gag to keep him from seeing a thing and calling out for help.

Price: $115, split three ways.
Artist's upload: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/20909964/
Time Taken: 2.5 Years.

Characters copyrighted to their respective owners, the first two being owned by  KevinDragon the artist:

Grakkon, the Dragon-Raptor
Kra'Thelos, the Desert-themed Komodo Dragon
Griz Sylverwing
Rekhit
Mazurek