“What’s in there?”

Reese was peering deep into the hole as Sayori was strapping her armor on. Leaning over to pull the leathers tighter around her legs, she gave him an annoyed look. “I don’t know.”

“Yet here you are, lacing up leathers,” he scoffed. “How do we know whatever it is, is dangerous?”

“I can tell.”

He folded his arms and said, “you can tell? How? Is this some earth magic nonsense?”

She didn’t say anything as she continued armoring herself. He looked to Evonne for an answer. She looked bewildered as Kaden’s eyes followed toward her.

“I… I don’t know. I have never been down into the caves. They weren’t really used before. The dragon riders would just fly in and out. It doesn’t make sense. I don’t know what’s happening here.”

Her voice was getting higher pitched and quicker. Kaden placed his hand on her shoulder, not saying a word. He felt her relax underneath his palm. She took a deep breath in. “I don’t know what’s down there.”

After pushing through the last leather into its buckle around her forearms, Sayori said, “Well, we have to go in there and I’m not getting caught off guard again.”

They all reluctantly agreed and followed suit. Reese didn’t have to do much as he prepared on the train before they even left. Kaden thought it was a silly choice but now he was reconsidering making fun of his cohorts. He was hoping they were just some oversized, harmless worms or something of that nature that naturally lived underground.

Taking a deep breath, he straightened his back and was the first to take the step toward it. He felt Zuma close behind him. They would not give him much space. He knew they could feel his emotions just as he could feel theirs. It would have known he was tense and not excited about walking into the caves beneath the bustling city above.

The others followed behind him. The cave was wide. It didn’t look natural in creation. He was positive that earth mages had to have helped them create such a tunnel. His eyes squinted as he went into the darkness. If only it had illuminated algae to light his way.

With a flick of the hand, Evonne threw out sparks that skittered into the air, touching the top of the large cave. Light after light ignited above them, raining down magical embers. He watched in awe as the lights shimmered deep into the earth, leading them into a dark abyss.

It reminded him of the lake he had once fallen into so many moons before. He had been falling into the dark abyss, surrounded by darkness, when the light of the dragons began to illuminate it. It broke through the murk and that’s when Zuma saved him. He got the same feeling from the fiery lights blinking away above them as they descend into the earth.

Sayori and Taldor moved into the front of the group. The look on her face when she passed Kaden was one of concern. He didn’t like Sayori being concerned. That didn’t bode well for him. Of the group, her intuition had been spot on every time. Her actions saved him more than once so far and he knew that during their journey, it wouldn’t be the last time.

There was a low hum that vibrated his ears as they walked further inside. It was almost musical in tone. The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, and his nerves ate at him. An echoing of steps bounced off the hollowed cave as they descended.

Eventually, the incline stopped, and they came to flat ground that extended off into the distance. He let out a sigh before continuing into the darkness. Kaden had thought they might see some other dragons down there, but there hadn’t been a sign of them yet.

There was a low rumble, and they all stopped. Instinct took over and his hand was on his waist, gripping the short sword. Even though they were all armed with magic, his body always went for a physical weapon.

“Yes,” Sayori said with a hard swallow. “That’s what I felt above.”

“Can you tell what it is?” Asked Evonne.

“Something with four legs that’s not a dragon.”

Letting out a deep sigh, she said, “I can feel its energy within the earth. I don’t understand it. I normally can’t feel something like this, this strong.”

Kaden raised an eyebrow and said, “You can feel it? Do you normally feel things then? Do you feel us?”

“If you’re connected to the earth and nearby, yes.” She stopped to talk with them. “Every living creature gives of a light pulse of their energy, their internal magic.”

“So you can track people!” Said Evonne with excitement.

She hummed and said, “not quite. It isn’t usually very strong. I have to be very close to feel it. This thing, though, I felt it from the surface. Whatever it is, it’s got a lot of unnatural energy pulsing off it.”

Reese leaned on his dragon Beelin and said, “Do you think maybe the second blessing has helped increase your powers?”

They all looked to her, waiting for her answer. Kaden knew his own magic felt stronger. He knew of the magic pulse she was talking about. When he focused on their blood, their bodies, he could feel it humming underneath. He hadn’t said anything to anyone about it yet, but now he knew he wasn’t odd to be feeling such a thing.

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He felt Zuma rumble behind him, a warning growl toward whatever was down the tunnel. That didn’t make him feel any better. All four of the dragons were tensing. He wondered if they could sense the creature as well. They were magical creatures themselves.

“Let’s keep moving,” Sayori said as she led them further into the tunnel. “Be on your guards.”

They walked in silence for several minutes, never finding what was making such noises before. The tunnel looked farm more natural now that they were down into it. It may have been a natural formation, and the earth mages only helped create the exits. He hoped they at least made sure to know where it went so they could escape what could be their underground tomb.

A faint flicker caught his eye over near the wall. Skipping over to inspect it, his eyes widened when he realized what he had found. He yelled at his companions to come see, and they all rushed over.

An organic glowstone was barely sticking out of the ground. Sayori quickly pushed the dirt over the top of it and looked back to the dragons to see if they noticed it. Kaden remembered how feral Zuma had gone once over a glowstone they filled form a rune. They were entranced before they consumed it.

She laughed and said, “just right there in the open! I bet you this tunnel exists to get to these puppies.”

“Do you think whatever is down here is also looking for them?” Asked Evonne.

Reese nodded and placed his hand on her shoulder. “That’s probably correct. I knew having you around was the right idea.”

He gave her a wink, and she blushed. All Kaden could do was roll his eyes at Reese’s behavior. He was always flirting with every girl they came across.

Sayori was touching the dirt and ground around it. He could only assume she was trying to sense more of the glowstones. Despite being aware of their power, he never really questioned what they were all about. He knew they were used for boosting magic, but that was about it. He remembered watching Eloise suck up the rune’s magic into an empty one. It was one area of study he needed to work on.

“Glowstones tend to form in clusters. If there’s one here, that means there’s a lot more we’re not seeing. No wonder the dragons are okay with using these tunnels. They probably stop and get a snack when they come through here.”

“But it also has attracted whatever that other creature is,” added Kaden.

“Exactly.”

“If it’s munching on glowstones too, the thing is probably very dangerous.”

They heard a roar extremely close to them, causing all of them to jump. The four dragons all rumbled in unison at the threat. He didn’t know how a magic battle would work down there with them and the dragons, using all their powers.

“We can’t use our powers here. It could cause a cave in,” he said through gasps as they ran back toward their dragons. “Try your best to limit your use.”

Reese groaned. “How are we supposed to stop a dangerous animal if we can’t use our magic?!”

“You can use it, just carefully!”

“It might try to eat me and you want me to be careful?” He kicked the ground.

Dirt fell from the roof atop them as another roar echoed in the tunnel. Whatever was coming was not happy they were in its tunnel. It was even more grumpy that they were near its glowstones. He heard the thunder of his feet on the dirt in the distance.

It was coming for them. He saw his companions brace themselves into fighting stances as the echoing continued. He could hear claws scraping against the hardened dirt and stone. His heart was beating out of his chest.

He squinted to see if he could make out what it was in the darkness. A gigantic mass could be seen getting bigger as it got closer. Zuma stepped forward, putting themselves between the creature and Kaden. This wasn’t a person, this was a creature, and Zuma was feeling protective of their people.

A rash of fur and scales hit quicker than he thought would happen. The roar of the other dragons filled the tunnel and Kaden had to cover his ears. He jumped away from the creatures rolling in the darkness. He couldn’t make out what the creature was other than fur and claws. It finally broke away from Zuma and he saw what it was.

It was massive and shaped a lot like a bear. Across its face wasn’t a snout, but a beak instead. It still had teeth lined within, but the beak was sharp and shining in the firelight.

Its paws were full of sharp claws that were larger than the humans that were ready to battle it. One swipe of them and they would be knocked into the wall, crushing their bones. Kaden knew it was best if they let the dragons handle the creature’s assault.

Beelin lunged over the top of Zuma, wings scratching the top of the ceiling. There was hardly any space for them to fight. Beelin and the creature fell over, claws and teeth biting and scratching. It was having a hard time piercing through the harder scales of the dragons.

They stood there, mouths agape as the creature and their dragons battled. If they tried to do anything, it was likely to hit one of the dragons. They moved to the edge of the tunnel, trying their best to keep away from the creature.

It jumped backward, putting space between it and their team. Opening its mouth, a spark illuminated and he felt Evonne’s arms wrap around him as Sayori did her best to push up a stone barrier. Flames wrapped around them, filling the tunnel. He heard the dragons howl in anger and pain.

Another crash was heard, and the fire stopped. He peeked around to see Jerri wrestling with the creature. He should have known that fire couldn’t stop a fire dragon. Reese pulled him back behind the stone just as another round of fire hit.

“We can’t stay here! We need to run!”

The dragons were doing a good job of keeping the creature from doing much damage, but the fire would easily consume the four mages. It was too oppressive, too hot, and they were far too small and squishy.

“Can they handle it alone?” Kaden asked, with worry in his heart.

Sayori was pushing the stone with her hands, keeping it from budging as another round of fire hit. “They’ll be okay. We need to get out of their way. I don’t think this creature can do too much to a dragon. If they could, they wouldn’t use these tunnels.”

“Which way do we go?” Kaden said, through panicked breaths.

“North,” Evonne said. “Past the creature.”

Reese sighed heavily. “We need to go around them to get out? That’s going to be fun.”

Another crash and the creature and Jerri rolled near them.

Reese leaned around the stone, spotted Beelin and yelled, “make us a path, Bee!”

The dragon heard him and with a flap of its wings, pushed wind toward the creature, slamming it into the wall and keeping it there. The tunnel wasn’t allowing the air to escape well as the noise popped Kaden’s ears, hollowing in the dark.

They didn’t hesitate as they escaped around the creatures. Running with all their might to get past it, they ran at an increased magical speed. Kaden could feel the magic coursing through his muscles.

They were putting quite the distance between them when he heard it. Another growl. Another creature was ahead of them and they didn’t have a dragon to stop it this time. They were far behind them, battling the first one.

Its beaked mouth opened and all Kaden could see was the spark of fire growing in its throat. Growing and growing, the flame was about to engulf them all.