The Deal with Dragons

Still Probably October 19th Part 2

            Leah rubbed the tops of her thighs, shaking her head at the way her muscles burned. The endless upward slope was far harder on her than the other two, who weren’t even breathing hard. They’d followed the hall back down the fork and had taken the left fork, despite Sam being unable to tell if it lead out or not. It hadn’t taken long for the hall to start turning upwards, like a never ending spiral hill.

            It was another five minutes before Kevin stopped them. Leah took the opportunity to sit, stretching her legs out and leaning back on her hands. Kevin laid a hand on her head while Sam draped his tail over the nearest hand. I believe we are close. We should have a plan before we continue any further.

            I thought the plan was obvious. I go in first and try to take the mage out. You two stay back and try not to use magic unless you have to. If it comes to it, you two fly off and I’ll hold them back as long as I-

            Absolutely not! Sam snapped, glaring at her. We all leave together. And we fight together too! So we can’t use magic, that’s fine. We can still fight.

            You still struggle with using your tail. You’re not used to the body and you’ll more likely hurt yourself than help. And Kevin’s only ever been trained to fight with magic. A battle-type could take both of you out in a minute, she replied evenly.

            Then let us handle the mage. Maybe we can’t fight well but two of us against someone of the same level should be easy enough.

            Leah sighed. Sam had the stubborn look in his eyes she’d known since fifth grade promised trouble. Fine. But I’m going in first, regardless. I’m the only trained fighter of the three of us.

            He hissed something that sounded uncomplimentary to her before nodding. Alright. Let’s get this over with.

            Then I believe I shall resume my natural form. I fear that we may need to leave with all due speed, Kevin said, hands already reaching for the bottom of his robe.

She turned away from him before shoving herself to her feet. When she heard the click of claws on stone, she turned back around, grabbing the robe and stuffing it into her bag. She sighed as they continued their climb. One way or the other, the whole dragon business was almost over. She wondered what Kevin and Sam would do once they were safe. She thought Sam might finish out the school year while Kevin…well she had no idea what Kevin would do. She hoped he’d stay. She liked having him around, even with his staring habit.

They slowed their pace gradually, all three of them straining their senses for a hint of guards. Already they could tell they were heading in the right direction, the air around them fresher, if only a tiny bit. Long exposure to the almost stale air of the deepest part of the mountain made the change all the more evident to them.

The ticking noise of Kevin and Sam’s claws, a thought that Leah struggled with a bit, sounded unnaturally loud to her in the silence of the mountain.  As the air around them became cleaner and cooler, they finally heard a sound that told them they were almost there. The whistle of the wind as it blew inside echoed down the hall, causing all three of them to stop.

Leah laid her hands on both of their shoulders. I’m going ahead. Wait here for a minute before following. I want to try to catch them by surprise and you two are loud when you walk. She didn’t give them time to protest, dropping her hands and jogging quietly ahead. She thought she could feel the glare that Sam was levelling at her back but ignored it, concentrating on being as silent as she could.

She followed the hall past the final two turns before she could see the exit, a wide archway that looked black against the steady glow of the nearby globes. She felt a surge of relief at the sight of the single guard there, a big, dark blue male, his head hanging in a way that made her think he was drowsing. She nodded to herself and took a deep breath, trying to settle herself. But out of Sam’s sight, the half walls she had up shivered. There was too much at stake for her to be able to remain calm.

Leah gave in and ran forward, hands already tightened into fists. His eyes didn’t open until she was almost on top of him, but by then it was too late. She was already airborne, one leg lashing out in a spin kick. He dropped and she followed up with a drop kick, to be sure of him. The sound of claws clicking behind her had Leah whirling about, only relaxing when she saw it was Sam and Kevin.

They stared at the unmoving form of the dragon before looking at her. She jerked her head towards the arch, waiting until they started walking again before she went outside. The air outside was cold and wet, the wind blowing the drizzle the afternoon’s clouds had promised into her face. Leah found herself standing on another flat bit of cliff, the far edge slanting down a bit and filled with grasses and a few stunted trees, while before her lay endless darkness. She couldn’t tell how far up they were but she guessed from the chill wind that they were high. Glancing over her shoulder she could see how very close the top of the mountain, making her estimate of where they were go up.

She nodded as the other two joined her, feeling her heart rise as she realized they’d done the impossible and actually gotten Sam out without being discovered. A sudden high pitched roar had her jerking around, eyes going wide at the sight of the thin, yellow dragon that was racing out of the grasses towards the door. She took two steps towards it before Kevin’s tail around her waist pulled her to a stop. There is no time, he told her. Get on to Sanat. We must flee.

Leah stared at him for a moment before whirling around and racing over to Sam. “Kneel down, I need to get on your back,” she said, seeing no point in speaking silently now that they’d been seen.

He obeyed and she clambered onto him, wedging herself awkwardly in front of his wings and wrapping her arms around the base of his neck while her legs already clung to his sides. She felt a bit of relief about riding him rather than Kevin. She thought she was less likely to fall off Sam. Kevin led the way to the edge of the cliff at a run, Sam on his tail, his wings unfurling to either side of Leah.

              As the two of them ran right off the cliff, she felt her heart stop for a moment as they fell a few feet before Sam’s hard wing beats brought them back up. Kevin’s whole body seemed to whip back and forth as he aimed back the way they’d come. Below them, Leah could hear other roars as the alarm was repeated and sent on. She squeezed her eyes shut and prayed they’d make it back safely.