Meera lurched backward as Kalrina picked up the speed. Verna cried out and clutched onto the witch's leg. If it were any other situation, Meera would've thought she would be better off clutching a crocodile for safety.

As it were, they had bigger things to deal with. Meera tried one more time to Identify the dragonling's level but still couldn't. It was picking up speed, and her main worry was that it would call the others. If that happened, then they were as good as dead.

The dragon stayed low enough that it was only a few meters above the roofs of the ruined buildings. It opened its mouth and began to roar, which was undoubtedly a signal to its brethren. Meera extended a hand, shot a Petrifying Surge, and covered its mouth with Bloodstone.

The dragon did not find that amusing. It crushed the Bloodstone by clamping his mouth shut and replying with a column of flames.

"To the left!" Meera barked.

Kalrina obliged, and they swerved to the left. Meera was nearly thrown off, but the sorceress made a clamp of mirrors around Meera's feet, locking her in place.

The clamp's sharp spikes broke through her armor but not through her tough skin, thanks to her Iron Skin skill. So, Meera let that be and focused on creating a layer of two shields around them. Since they were made of mirrors, Meera had no problem seeing through them.

The dragon was gearing up for an attack, something she hadn't seen before. It was either that or it was rising higher to run away, and Meera was sure she hadn't scared it with one attack.

Surprisingly, the one thing on her mind was whether or not she had stolen a skill from the dragon, considering she had hit it with Petrifying Surge, but she couldn't remember if she had heard a notification bell. She was too scared to check now.

The dragon rose another fifty feet, spun around in a circle several times, and blasted off towards them.

Meera's eyes widened. "You better pick up the pace or make a sharp turn."

"Huh?" Kalrina half-turned, and that was all the motivation she needed. She propelled their flying disc even faster. "Tell me when to make the turn."

“Okay…wait for it…” The dragon was like a spear hurled from the heavens as if an angry god had launched it from Mirithia itself. The dragonling changed trajectory and extended its claws. "Now!"

Meera held onto her shields for support and, thankfully, wasn't thrown off when Kalrina took a sharp right turn. The dragon crashed to the ground, ruining the street and raising a dust cloud that enveloped the entire street.

Verna cried out, clutching Kalrina's leg tighter. She patted the girl's head lightly. "It's okay, little one. Just stay calm. You're doing fantastic. We'll be safe soon."

"How far is it?" Meera shouted.

"We're almost there!"

"How did she even make this far out without being detected in the first place?" Meera asked but realized she didn't care much for the answer when the dragon snapped its head in their direction.

"I-I used the sewers," Verna stammered.

"Verna, you know you're not supposed to go out into the sewers alone," Kalrina said, surprisingly calm.

Meera began casting an Inferno Storm but stopped right away. Fire would not hurt something that can already breathe fire.

"Why aren't we using the sewers?" Meera asked desperately.

The dragon had taken to the air again. His throat began to glow red, the glow arcing up his throat and reaching its mouth until it let loose a massive column of fire.

Kalrina didn't need to be told as she ducked low and took refuge behind a building. The flames roared past them. The heat was enough for Meera to feel like she was standing inside a furnace. It took several moments, but the flames finally dissipated. Meera was thankful for her armor, or she would have spontaneously combusted.

The dragon's footsteps shook the world as he ran, flapping its mighty wings.

"I think now would be the time to duck into the sewers," Meera cried.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I would rather end up in that dragon's belly than risk the sewers," Kalrina retorted.

"Are you kidding me? Even now?"

"Yes. Even now."

The dragonling took flight. Meera shot it with a full-power Mirror Shard Barrage, but it got swallowed up in a humongous fire breath that even dwarfed some buildings.

There was no fighting that.

Kalrina, who had gone delirious in her last moments, laughed in the face of annihilation. "You better run, dragon."

Meera was ashamed that even with her three-sixty-degree vision, the witch had noticed it first. She was so focused on the deathly flames coming at them that she didn't see the warrior meld out of the road.

He wore a typical knight's armor. It was quite decorative and had some designs that Meera didn't know about, but they must've been creatures he had hunted. The one thing that stood out the most about him was his weapon. He wielded a spear-type weapon, maybe a polearm. The weapon had a long stone shaft with a slender curved blade on the end.

[Stone Spear – Level ???]

The man quietly thrust his spear into the ground, and the road before them literally lifted to block the dragon's massive fire breath. The flames crashed against the massive road. What Meera thought was impossible was made possible as if it were nothing.

Then the Stone Spear dashed forward, smacked the raised street with the flat end of his polearm, and sent it towards the dragon like a wave of stone and dirt.

The beast tried flying higher into the air but was too slow. The wave of stone and dirt engulfed the dragon, constricting around its neck, and smashed it into the ground. The dragon thrashed and roared, trying to escape, only for the stone road to engulf him entirely like a carpet, leaving only its head uncovered.

Whoever this warrior was, Meera was sure glad he was on their side. The warrior rode a smaller wave of stones and stopped before the dragonling. The dragonling stopped thrashing at the warrior's arrival and became very still.

"I do not wish to spill any more blood in this pointless feud of ours, but I will spill yours if you do not give up this pursuit," he said. His voice was loud and firm, yet it had a soft quality.

The dragonling huffed, blowing dark smoke from its nostrils. "One of them killed my brother. Their life is forfeit." Meera's eyes were the size of walnuts, which made Kalrina snicker. "They can talk?"

Kalrina snorted. "Any dragon above level 500 can. Seems that's when they stop being beasts."

She wanted to ask this dragonling's level, but the warrior had begun talking.

"If we are to follow your reasoning, then so is yours. I'm sure you must've killed many of my people in your reckoning when you laid waste to my city. Is your life not equally forfeit?"

The dragonling didn't speak and showed no visible signs of fear. It simply stared at the warrior with its yellow, almost glowing eyes.

The dragonling huffed one more time. "Fine. I will give up this pursuit...for now. But my mother will not be pleased with this result."

"Yes, but she will understand," Stone Spear replied. The stones fell off the dragonling, freeing it from their grip.

The dragonling stood and shook off the dirt and loose stone before it flapped its wings and took off. The dragon's flight made Meera's hair dance in the wind. It circled once in the air. She suspected it was wondering if it should take one last pot shot, but it didn't. The dragonling flew off into the distance towards the hill from whence it had come.

The warrior rode his wave back to Meera's group. His spear was attached to his back.

Kalrina put them down on the ground and held up her hands. "Now, before you threaten to throw me out. It wasn't me?"

His eyes turned to Meera. "I don't believe we've ever met."

"I am Meera, and I killed the dragonling to save Verna's life. It had her cornered in some building—"

"Library," Verna provided.

"Thank you, Verna," Meera said. "I saw her about to be burnt alive, so I intervened. My first instinct was to take her and run, but then when I saw the dragon's level…" She shrugged.

His jaw tightened. "That was not the right thing to do."

"What save the poor girl's life?"

"You know what I mean. There had been no violence against the dragons in days. We were about to come to an accord, and now, you've reignited their passions. Now, only the gods know how many more people will die."

"Leonel, oh mighty protector of Drurith," Kalrina said in a sultry voice. "We should get to the underground city before that beast you let go returns with its mama. Even you will have a hard time killing her."

Leonel squinted at her, and that one look told Meera all she needed to know about what the Stone Spear felt about the witch.

He looked back to Meera. "I should not allow you to enter the underground city, but that decision does not lie solely with me. I'll let the Council of Elders decide your fate."

"Hey, I'm not looking to stay. Point me the way out of this city, and you don't even have to take me to your underground city."

"There is no safe way out of this city anymore," Leonel said.

He bent down and placed a hand on the ground. A crack in the form of a circle formed around them. Then, to no one else's surprise but Meera's, the earthen disc descended into the ground. Meera looked about at the others until they were covered in darkness as Leonel shut the hole overhead.

Meera's claustrophobia and memories of being imprisoned in the box returned. Her breath quickened, and she did her best to make sure not to make any noise, but the damned witch noticed.

"Just breathe, dearie, we'll be there soon."

"Piss off." Meera's anger for her abated the incoming panic attack.

She focused on other things, like the constant vibration under her feet, which told her that Leonel was literally sifting the earth as they descended. The musty smell of wet earth was unmistakable. It was one of the familiar scents from her childhood as she did gardening with her mother.

Her whole family was gone, but she would be damned before she let anything happen to Neel.

The vibration came to an abrupt stop, and light filtered through the crack as they descended. Meera was left with such a sight that her eyeballs nearly popped out of her head.

A literal city was cut into the bedrock, with buildings and even a river running through the center. These lamps reflected each other's light, which Meera realized were mirrors once she zoomed in on them.

"Well, you gave this place the right name," Meera said.

"Welcome to the Underground City, love."