A smile lit up Kaen’s face as he saw Patrick and Frederick carrying twelve of them on a specially made litter while Hagrid had three, two on his back and one in his arms.

“It’s not fair,” the dwarf said between breaths. “I got short arms and legs, plus I’m older… these two… they run me ragged.”

Both boys grinned slightly before grabbing their carrying tool and took off jogging back into the cave.

“It’s ok, I feel your pain. Just know, only one trip left.”

The dwarf snorted and took off after the two boys.

“He runs funny,” Audrey said after the dwarf was out of earshot. “Like there is a stick or something up his arse.”

“Maybe a short stick,” he replied, ignoring the other two's laughter before returning to watch the moving black wall of liquid.

How are things outside?

Amaranth is keeping watch, but so far, she has seen nothing. I’m assuming they made it to you already.

Yup. They are headed back to you. Soon, this part will be over, and we can return home to our mates.

A groan came through their bond, and Kaen allowed himself to smile.

He was going to tell Ava what Pammon called her for certain.

“Now listen, we are going inside. Once there, we need to get these stacked along the wall so that it brings down a massive section of rock.”

Kaen pointed at the small drawing he had made on a piece of paper and pointed to a few different spots on the image.

“These points will need five casks each. There will be four over here. The remaining spots need three each. Do you have any questions?”

Hagrid raised his hand, and Kaen motioned to him.

“If a fight breaks out?”

Knowing the question would come, Kaen stood up and put his pencil up.

“If it happens, I will do what I can to defend while Audrey, Gretel, and Rorick provide support. You, Phillip, and Frederick need to get those casks in place. Start with the entrance first. We will go outward afterward. I would prefer to at least close the portal as we run for our lives.”

The dwarf grunted and nodded.

“Anyone else?”

With no more questions, Kaen pointed at the portal. “I’ll go through first. Count to ten, then someone comes after. Once we are all through, we will start having you retrieve the casks.”

Each of the six had stumbled after their first time through. A few whispers and muttered words came from their lips as they stared across the open cavern and the massive amount of tents, stone buildings, and movement of bodies in the area.

The smell hit them as they realized the air was dank and filled with smoke and death.

“Hurry!”

Moving to the side where a small rock partially blocked the right side from vision, Kaen motioned for the three support people to accompany him. “Stay here. This is your safest spot. Herb has told you what to do. You know the plan: protect first. Kill second.”

The minutes passed as the first set of barrels were in place. The second set was more challenging, which required them to move thirty yards in each direction. Kaen would keep an eye out, scanning across the multitude of creatures, nodding when he deemed it safe for the group of three to move, always holding an arrow ready to fire.

With the second section in place, Kaen motioned to the side he was on. “You three, grab a barrel. We will go the farthest out and then the next. Got it?”

They nodded, running back into the portal.

As they moved around the wall of the massive cavern, each of them waited and paused, watching as Kaen motioned for them to move forward and when to stop.

Sweat dripped down the three cask carriers as they approached the final ten yards where they needed to deposit the casks.

“Stop!” Kaen hissed, lowering himself and watching as the three froze and fell to the ground as low as possible.

A group of ten orcs was moving closer to them than the usual packs, carrying a massive stone on their shoulders. None looked at them, but Kaen knew it might get one of the orcs' attention if they moved.

The minute seemed to stretch until the group passed them, and Kaen felt safe enough to move.

Five yards from their final spot, the cavern erupted.

The sound of a bell suddenly ringing out and a green spell of some kind going toward the ceiling told Kaen what he feared.

Turning his head back toward the other group, which was almost one hundred yards from them, Kaen saw a pack of at least thirty orcs and goblins rushing their group by the entrance.

One look told him everything he needed to know.

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“We’re screwed, give me the cask.”

Hagrid hadn’t moved even though he was the closest to Kaen, so Kaen went to him, grabbing the cask from his hands.

Taking three steps, he threw the cask as far as he could across the cavern, not waiting to see it as he moved to where Phillip and Frederick were, both holding out theirs for him.

“Holy elf tits,” Hagrid cursed as he watched the cask fly over a hundred yards into the cavern.

Halfway between Kaen’s second throw, an explosion rocked the cavern.

The force of it knocked the other three to the ground while Kaen stumbled a step and finished his toss, not getting near the distance he wanted on it.

“Run!” he shouted over the noise, grabbing the dwarf and Phillip and lifting them both to their feet.

Their ears rang from the sound as another explosion echoed a second later, knocking the two off their feet. Kaen winced, the pain of what he felt ringing in his ears and the force of the impact from the casks going off near the entrance and sides.

Rocks began to fall. Some had landed near them.

Kaen was the only one still on his feet as dirt and dust filled the air.

Grabbing the dwarf and Phillip again, he pulled them to their feet.

Looking at Frederick, he froze for half a second.

Blood was running down the boy's head where a rock had struck him. His eyes were rolled back into his head.

On the ground, a rock the size of Hess’s fist lay near them, blood on one side of it.

Yanking a potion from his pouch, Kaen ripped out the stopper and poured it down his young companion's mouth.

The boy’s eyes rolled back to the front of his face, and his mouth hung open as the sound of a bone popping back into place came from the side of his head.

Four seconds later, Frederick held his hand against his head.

“Move!” Kaen repeated, motioning with his hand toward the direction away from the entrance.

Shoving Frederick ahead, he grabbed the last barrel and ran behind them.

Plan B!

Confusion came from Pammon as his friend tried to understand what Kaen had just said.

Plan B? We don’t have a plan B!

His night vision helped guide him along the wall, and he got Frederick up next to Phillip, who was trying not to cough from the dust.

“Keep ahold of each other. Watch your feet!”

Hagrid stopped and waited until the three of them caught up, and after Phillip grabbed his shoulder, Kaen motioned for them to keep moving.

“We need to reach the other side!”

Taking the last cask, Kaen tossed it toward the middle of the cavern.

As it exploded, he ran ahead with his bow out, letting Hagrid hold onto his shirt for dear life.

Plan B is we make it out the other side of the mountain.

Pammon was roaring outside, and Kaen could feel his dragon’s frustration like a raging torrent of water in a river.

I swear if you don’t make it, I will kill you.

Seeing a pack of goblins notice them, Kaen put his bow away.

Get in line my friend.

The pack wasn’t prepared for what happened. Even as a group of twenty Kaen had entered their midst and struck each of them down before they could cry out enough to draw attention to their plight. Heads were sliced off, and a pile of red blood stained the rock they stood on.

Racing back to where the three of his crew waited, Kaen motioned for them to keep going.

“I only have seventeen arrows left! We need to fight close if it comes to that. You three keep moving along the wall. I will defend you!”

Hagrid almost said something until Phillip pushed him from behind, keeping up the pace as Kaen watched where they ran. A cloud of dust was rising in the air, and breathing was getting worse. The red and orange light from the fires and flames turned the whole cavern into a soft, glowing light.

Another green magical bolt flew into the air, exploding into a green glow that covered the cavern.

Figures became visible through the cloud of dust, and a few roars near them told Kaen they had been spotted.

“Shields and weapons ready!”

Everyone equipped their weapons and followed Kaen as they raced around the cavern wall.

Meanwhile, an army of figures raced toward them through the cloud of dust.

Kaen lost count as he cut down the number of creatures that continued to assault the four of them.

He was a figure of death, everything the legends had mentioned about a dragon rider being.

The only problem was trying to protect three other people from the same horde that outnumbered them on every side but one.

Spells rained down on them from casters hiding behind the mountain of muscles. To get to them, Kaen had to leave the three he needed to protect. Not leaving them meant they suffered from fireballs and more.

Phillip and Frederick were holding their own, neither flinching at the sight before them that would cause many battle-hardened men to buckle within the first seconds. Their time on the wall had made them numb to the horde shouting and making noises.

Each creature cackled as it desired to feast upon the flesh of those who had invaded their lair.

“Sheild wall!”

Hagrid held up his shield and watched as both boys stood on either side of him, using the stone behind them to protect them as thirty orcs and goblins rushed at them.

Swords, axes, and clubs attacked them, but the three held fast, absorbing the attacks and using their swords to inflict damage when a chance came.

The number of enemies made it harder for the orcs and goblins to move quickly or defend as they pressed against each other, each one trying to be the one to land a killing strike.

Kaen didn’t risk looking back, focused on the two Magus who had pushed a pack of over three hundred minions toward them. They were tossing spells at him, but his shield deflected each one, the flames that washed over it barely causing him any pain.

Every swing of Kaen’s sword cut down a path of goblins and orcs like wheat stalks against a thresher's blade.

When his shield wasn’t blocking a spell coming at him, it pulverized every creature he ran through, leaving a trail of carnage.

Cries and groans came from those dying as he ran at his targets.

“Get the human!” one of the Magus cried out as a fireball came from its hand, not aimed at Kaen but at a group of orcs near him.

A pack of four orcs was almost upon him when Kaen realized what kind they were. The harness on their chest told him what would happen as the fireball raced toward the screaming creatures.

Changing directions, he ran backward, holding his shield out before himself, and a second later, the blast that erupted from the four orcs who had gladly given their life turned into a massive explosion, creating a thirty-yard wide section of space without a single living thing.

Except for Kaen, who had knelt down behind his shield.

Smoke and some flames licked from the exposed parts of his leg and feet, but Kaen couldn’t help but smile as he stood up, seeing the look on both Magus’s ugly faces.

Like an arrow, he sprinted at them, covering the now clear space, and was upon them in less than a few seconds.

They tried to shield themselves, casting barriers and other spells, hoping to buy them time to do some damage to the man who had withstood everything they had thrown at him.

None of that mattered as he shattered their spells and unleashed attacks with his sword, dropping them to the ground, each of them now missing an entire leg.

As they toppled over, he moved quickly between the two, taking their heads off and sprinting back toward the build-up creatures surrounding his friends.