Indi recognised the dragon almost immediately. It was the same one she had seen earlier. She wasn’t sure how it was that she knew, apart from the fact that it looked similar, but she did. At that moment when it burst forth from the top of the waterfall with a loud crash she knew she was seeing a once in a lifetime event and that she better remember it.

In trying to remember all she was seeing at that moment Indi felt like she was travelling in slow motion so it wasn’t surprising that she also noticed the two figures who trailed after the dragon. In mere milliseconds Indi took in the whole scene. The dragon had some kind of rope in it’s mouth. The rope ran it’s entire length and trailing out behind it two people, one holding onto the rope, and one not far behind but flailing in midair. She recognised them instantly as her friends, and she reacted just as fast.

Around both she made a shield. She didn’t stop to think what this might mean for the figure holding onto the rope but she knew if she didn’t catch them now they would fall the great distance into the churning water below. And then she might lose them for good.

Luckily, as Cat found herself back out in open air and felt herself about to fall she let go of the rope.

Even more luckily, at the moment the dragon hit the water it opened it’s mouth releasing the rope.

The thing about shields is they tend to surround a fixed object. When the object is not fixed however, the shield tends not to be either. Indi had never been quite sure if that was how things worked for objects other than herself but she was pleased to find that it was.

The other thing about shields is they have this tendency to adsorb great amounts of energy so if one ever finds themselves plummeting over one hundred feet into an underground river, having a shield around you is a very useful thing.

Kass saw the others as they were about to fall but she also saw the shimmer of Indi’s shield surrounding them, and knowing how difficult it was to hold something steady with her own powers she held off until they hit the water. She watched where they landed and as Indi’s shield disappeared, as she knew it would eventually, she lifted them up.

Lacking the finesse she really needed she also managed to lift up half the river as well as the remains of the rope, but water is difficult to hold and as it hit the edges of Kass’s field droplets fell away until only Amanda and Cat, and remained. She couldn’t go after the rope.

But Indi saw it, and as a piece snaked close to the edge she scrambled down, reached out one hand, and manged to grab it.

Kass wanted to yell a warning in case the dragon still had some or in case it was caught on something below and Indi got pulled in, but she was too focused on not losing Amanda and Cat.

She hadn’t lifted them too high, least she accidentally throw them skyward, or cave-roof-ward. Just enough that they skimmed the surface of the river, which was currently filled with waves from the dragons dive.

The beast had burst forth from the waterfall throwing rocks in many directions and then nosedived as gracefully as a dolphin straight down into the river below, disappearing and leaving nothing but large swells that soaked the rocky banks.

Once Kass had them steady in the air above the watery surface she gave a light mental tug, pulling them toward the edge of the river so that she and Indi could help them up and out.

They pulled Amanda up first, who winced as she inadvertently put some weight on her broken leg before resting on a large rock. Then Cat who emerged spluttering and swearing.

It was Amanda who seemed to get her bearings first. “Kass?” she asked.

“Are you okay?” Indi asked drawing Amanda’s attention to herself.

“Indi?” Amanda shook her head as if not quite able to believe it.

“Do we flaming look alright?” Cat swore from a rock or two over.

“What happened?” Amanda asked before giving another wince as she shifted position.

“I don’t know, you tell us,” Kass replied. “It looked like you were attached to a dragon.”

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“Right, right.” Amanda rubbed her face with her hands. “I think it grabbed the rope.”

“And you what? Got in a tug of war with a dragon?” Kass asked incredulously.

Amanda laughed which seemed to make the others relax a little too. “You know I saw Sirius do just that once. I thought I’d give it a go.” Sirius was a strongarm and the idea of him wrestling with a dragon was not unthinkable. None of the group was sure if Amanda was exaggerating or not.

As Kass and Indi laughed Amanda shook her head and explained. “I saw Cat get tugged under and, I dunno, I didn’t want to get left behind I guess. Or maybe I thought I could pull her back. I realised pretty quickly once I was under how stupid that was so I let go of the rope but by then I was in and well you know the rest. I’m not sure how far we travelled.”

Amanda looked up the beach toward Cat then, checking that the silence wasn’t an indication of something wrong. Cat sat there clutching a rock as if holding on for dear life and glaring down at the rest of them.

If Cat could be mad though then Amanda figured she was okay. She’d seen Cat scared and upset before, once or twice. Mad was often her first emotion in times of stress. Mad was manageable, mad was controllable. As long as she didn’t go past that then things were fine. Cat probably just needed moment to calm down. Amanda could help.

To do that she ignored Cat completely. “How are you guys here?” she asked turning to Indi and Kass.

While they thought how best to answer Amanda gave the cavern a good once over. Seeing the waterfall and no other obvious way in she frowned.

Kass catching the direction of her gaze replied. “Yeah, I kinda came in the hard way as well.”

“You mean you fell off the waterfall?” Cat asked.

Amanda smiled as she recognised the characteristic sarcasm in Cat’s voice. Yeah, her friend was fine.

“It was slippery,” Kass replied.

Cat laughed. “How much was our bet Amanda?”

“A reasonable amount I believe, but Kass did find Indi and she’s been trying to figure out how to get her out right?” Amanda asked Kass, with a tone of smugness.

Kass didn’t look quite so happy. “You made a bet on what happened to us?”

“It was just to pass the time,” Amanda explained, taking on a more serious tone and trying to figure out how to explain to Kass that lightening the mood sometimes helped in these sorts of situations, without also making it clear to Cat that the light humor had been for her benefit, because she knew Cat wouldn’t like knowing that anything had been done for her benefit.

Kass shrugged.

Indi shivered and Amanda noticing asked, “Are you cold?”

“Not really, it’s not too bad in here, I dunno.” Indi frowned. She sat perched on a rock while Kass stood, the latter seemingly more reluctant to pause for a moment. Indi pulled her knees up a little closer. “How’s the leg?” she asked.

“It’s fine.” Amanda nodded and gave a smile to acknowledge Indi’s concern. She held up a hand intending to start a fire so Indi and the others could warm themselves when she noticed the blue mushrooms nearby. She dropped her hand. Her face fell. She recognised that type of mushroom. There would be no fire in here. Not if they hoped to get out alive.

She heard signs of movement behind her and when she turned to look she saw Cat had gotten to her feet and walked down to join them. “So how do we get out?” Cat asked.

“I don’t know about you guys but I could almost use a nap,” Indi complained as she leaned back against another rock and gave a yawn. “I feel like I’ve been awake for days.”

“We probably have been,” Amanda replied. “Are you hurt at all?”

Indi shook her head.

“How’d you get down here?” Cat asked.

“My shield,” Indi explained holding out her hands. “Otherwise, same as you guys. Completely unintentionally.”

“That’s one hell of a waterfall,” Amanda commented.

“We could rest a bit,” Kass replied, not looking like she wanted to rest. Amanda was sure she was just saying it because she could see how tired her and Indi were.

Amanda nodded but she knew the longer they stayed here the weaker they would get given they didn’t have much food between them. “Did you manage to reach anyone when you were dreamwalking?” she asked Cat.

Cat gave a quick shake of her head and a shrug.

Amanda turned to Kass. “Is there a way out of this cavern?”

Kass gave the same response that Cat had.

“There might be a way up in the corner, over there.” Indi pointed. “It looked like a tricky climb, but we have rope now, maybe that will help.” she pointed to the remains of the rope that she’d pulled out of the river. Her arm shook and it was obvious that she was running low on energy. Whether it had just been too long since she’d eaten or using her powers had drained the bulk of it none of them knew. They just knew they had to get out.

Amanda nodded. “Let’s see.” Looking at the rope on the ground she could tell there wasn’t much left but hopefully it would be enough.

“You don’t want to rest a bit first?” Kass asked.

Amanda shook her head. “Once we’re over there.”

“We don’t know if it is a way out,” Indi explained.

Cat moved over to where Amanda sat and lifted Amanda’s arms over her shoulder’s. She then slung her arm around Amanda’s back and under her other arm and around her waist so she could help support most of Amanda’s weight. “Where?” she asked Kass with a determined look on her face.

Kass led the way. Cat followed, helping Amanda, and Indi brought up the rear carrying the remains of the rope.

They all sat in silence and studied the wall for a the first few minutes. No one seemed to have the energy to talk.

“At least the ground is less rocky here,” Cat commented. “Maybe you could throw a fireball up there so we can see what’s at the top,” she told Amanda.

“I wouldn’t mind a fire myself,” Indi chipped in.

Amanda gave her a sympathetic look and was about to reply but Kass interrupted. “Maybe give Amanda a break for a minute huh?”

Amanda wanted to explain about the mushrooms but she was so tired and the sandy ground that covered this area of the cavern was so soft. All she could think about was sleep.