Derrick handed Aaron the dragon sword as he passed. “Your turn. Do better than I did.” And then he hurried to the front of the group. He stumbled but one of the men caught him. He was losing blood and he continued to lean on the soldier who had caught him. Hailey wanted to tell him to be in the protected middle, calling orders to his men as they went. Taking a chance with getting lost in here was foolish.

As the men passed, she could see the terror in her eyes. She was certain that it was reflected in her own. She was at the back of the group again, the dragon closing in fast. Aaron remained by her side, dragon sword at the ready.

Hailey glanced over her shoulder as she ran. The ground was uneven and she tripped, falling forward and catching herself on her palms. They bled, but she didn’t have time to think about that now. She pulled herself up and saw the dragon slash one clawed hand out at Aaron. Hailey shielded him just in time, but the swipe was powerful enough to knock the shield into Hailey. They sprawled on the ground, and Hailey covered them both. The dragon ignored them and continued after the soldiers. Aaron speared it in the backside, but the dragon continued on, dripping blood from several wounds.

It swiped again and Hailey wasn't’ close enough to see. She just heard the scream of the man who the dragon had killed.

“Where’s the mage?” Someone shouted.

“Here!” She shouted back. “Coming!” But she couldn’t get past the dragon until the cave opened back out into a large room again. She passed another body. She conjured and threw her mage sword at the dragon, but it didn’t even slow it down. She ground her teeth. It was so frustrating not being able to see.

Finally, the cave widened and she hurried passed the dragon, pausing to shield the man the beast was swiping at. She wondered idly why it hadn’t breathed fire on them and hoped that it didn’t.

She could do this. She had to protect these men, but feelings of doubt filled her. Derrick had treated her like the inexperienced mage she was. ‘Couldn’t even protect your mentor,’ rang through her mind. No! She thought. I may not be as good as Barinon but I’m all we have. I can’t give up now.

All through the large room, she shielded soldier after soldier. The dragon seemed determine to kill them all and deal with Hailey later. She threw lightning, fireballs, anything she could remember at the dragon, trying to get its attention off the soldiers. Nothing was working. She was beginning to tire. She swayed on her feet and almost stumbled. Aaron grabbed her, dropping the dragon sword in the process.

“You have to stop. You can’t keep casting! If you pass out, we all die.” Hailey nodded, but was she supposed to just let the dragon kill everyone?

Then he shouted at the other soldiers. “Protect the mage! She is running low on magic. If we don’t protect her, not one of us will make it out of here alive and the entire kingdom will fall!”

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They were down to just ten out of the twenty men who had come. He picked up the blade and made sure she was encircled by the other soldiers. He was at her side, casting worried looks her way. Then what she had been fearing happened. The dragon engulfed them in flames. Feeling the heat, she slammed her shield into place but it wasn’t enough to protect everyone. Those at the front of the group who were in front of her were protected when the blast hit, but the men behind her were charred husks when she turned to look back. They collapsed to the ground. At least they hadn’t survived. The pain from that fire would have been too much to bear. The rest of them had no time to pause to mourn the fallen. They continued in a hurrying pack, struggling to make it out before the dragon could breathe fire again.

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Hailey ran out of the cave, disappointed that the sun had set. She craved sunlight and she was exhausted, but she kept running. They were moving by moonlight now. The dragon would still be able to pick them off one at a time if it wanted to. She raced with the men down the hill that had taken them so long to climb, trying to feel for the dragon. She sensed nothing. She grabbed Aaron’s arm and turned to look back. Aaron looked at her but didn’t say anything.

Behind them was nothing. The moonlight cast a silverly light over the ground and trees. The dragon wasn’t following then? She couldn’t understand why not. It had been picking them off one at a time. She realized her mind had been slowing when she realized it could have taken flight. No one had thought to try to stab its wings, not that they could reach them for the most part. The dragon always kept its wings tucked on its back.

She had been so foolish to bring these men here to die. They should have left the dragon alone, should have found a better way to attack it before engaging it again. The words that Derrick had thrown at her came back to her then, reminding her that she was a foolish untrained girl trying to do a wise old man’s job.

Ahead of her, the men turned to look back. The terror on their faces snapped her out of her self doubt. She was all they had. She may not be a match for the dragon, but she had to try to keep these few alive. So many had died today. “Get to the well,” she screamed at them. “We have to get away!”

Derrick didn’t argue and she worried that they had lost a capable leader. He was still staggering ahead of her. She didn’t have the time or the energy to heal him, though. She had just enough magic left to open a portal.

Aaron handed her a strip of dried meat. “Chew on this. We need you to be able to get us out of here.”

It was in his pocket and probably was covered in lint and sweat, but she didn’t argue. She had used enough magic to make her light headed. She was lucky he had come with them. They might have all met their doom if not for him. He kept a close eye on her and she was beginning to appreciate the fact that she couldn’t see everything or do everything by herself.

The strip of meat wasn’t good. It was gamey and hard to chew, but she ate it anyway, trying not to cough when she swallowed.

At the well, she created her portal. It seemed to shine out of the darkness, pinpointing their location for the dragon as if it couldn’t find her anyway.

The men were exhausted. They looked like they would collapse at any moment. “Go,” she screamed at them even though they were hurrying through the portal already. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the dragon, coming straight for them. She concentrated on keeping the portal open and didn’t let the dragon distract her. “Go, go go!”

Finally the others were through. The dragon was closing in fast. She glanced back before stepping through her portal and was smashed through her own portal by the dragon.