In the fourteen prison or dungeon runs, Tobain liked to think he had seen it all. From Death Shadows to Zangler Fishers, he’d seen them all. At least the corpses of just about everything. Thankfully, he had only dealt with a handful of creatures physically. The group was good at keeping him safe. The next room was the same.

Tobian stood at the end of the hallway leading to the room, so he couldn’t see all the cells, but it was a familiar pattern. The room was oval, with a dozen little cells along the edges. In the center, a metal cage. The Professor hung out near the entrance of the room, setting up twenty feet from Tobian. The Professor’s setup was the same; he quickly drew a circle on the ground in salt, then threw a large metal circle down that landed in the salt.

Tristan and Darius split up, one heading left, the other going right. They never communicated the direction, but Tobian had never seen them mistakenly go the same way either. Sirah had long since disappeared, and Tobian wasn’t sure where she had gone, except he knew she would appear when the opportunity presented itself.

“Dusk Shadows, this will be easy,” Darius called out.

The Professor quickly drew four circles in the air before him in a diamond pattern, his fingers leaving a sparkly residue in the air as he drew. With a dash of something, each of the four circles started glowing and filled in. A moment later, four glowing balls of light hovered in the air. With a wave of his hand, they flew out, two to each side.

“Something is invisible,” Sirah’s voice called out from the center of the room, next to the large metal cage.

“It’s bi…” Darius said, but a loud thwap interrupted him. The warrior appeared from one side, flying across the room with a loud clanging of his armor.

Tristan came to the center of the room, dragging Darius in one hand and a massive shield in the other. Darius got to his feet and pulled out the only shield he had, a small buckler that barely covered his massive forearm. With their backs to the metal cage in the center, they stood with weapons in front of them.

Darius swung at the air, his axe cutting through the air and making no contact. Tristan punched out with her shield and swung her mace, not making contact with anything.

Thump! Something hit the circle around the Professor. The dirt and excess salt on the ground shook and scattered as something massive tried to attack the wizard, but his protective spell stopped them.

“Got you!” the professor said as he swung a hand in the air, making another circle. This time, copper wire hovered in the air. Using his other hand, he drew a seven-pointed star in the center before slamming his palm in the middle. The rune glowed, and the copper wire turned into a loop of lightning. Sparks jumped from the loop and to the ground. Once they made contact with the stone floor, they shot outward in front of the Professor.

Something roared in pain, and briefly, sparks and little electrified lines appeared in the air. Darius rushed toward the space but was swatted to the side.

Tobian tried shifting his gaze into the magical spectrum. He could see the massive wall of power surrounding the Professor; he could see the magical glow of where Darius’s equipment had been a second before. Also, he could see a pale line reaching out from Tristan in Darius’s direction. He couldn’t see the invisible creature, not any indication of where it was. But…

The salt that the Professor had enchanted in order to create his circle of protection, the excess had been scattered when the creature had slammed into the wall. The excess wasn’t needed for the spell but still held a trace amount of magical energy from the spells creation and ongoing maintence. Tobian could see a few specs, clumped together behind the cage, moving toward Tristan.

“Tristan! Behind you, 10 feet!” Tobain yelled.

Tristan spun around and lept in the direction, shield first. The cleric slammed into an invisible wall with a groan. A faint snarl emitted from the air when they collided.

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Sirah appeared out of nowhere above Tristan, slamming down with her dagger into nothing. She landed on top of something, the blade of her dagger disappearing as it slid into the flesh of whatever they were fighting. She started rising into the air, straight toward the twelve-foot ceiling. With an inhuman grace, she disengaged her dagger and herself from the creature, tumbling through the air and landing next to Tristan.

Tobian tried to think of something he could use to help them detect the invisible creature, but he couldn’t think of any potions. He had an idea and reached for a bag, calling for flour. As soon as he felt the sack appear in his hand, he started running toward the Professor.

“Darius, by the Professor’s right side. CATCH!” Tobian said as he went to the side of the Professor where the protective circle didn’t entirely block the entrance to the room. There was about a foot-wide gap. Tossing the sack of flour into the room, he threw a prayer the fighter would be able to catch it.

Darius appeared from the side of the room, his buckler was missing half and a bit of blood was splattered on his studded leather jacket. He took a second to take in what Tobian was doing, but still reached a hand out to catch whatever it was regardless. His face went from pained confusion to a smile as he understood Tobians plan.

Tobian scanned the room, using his new position closer to the entrance to finally be able to see almost everywhere in it. To the left and right a couple of twisted leathery forms were lying on the ground with glowing orbs hovering above the corpses. He couldn’t see any trace of the invisible creature.

Thump! Something slammed into the protective circle and the wall as if the creature was trying to squeeze through the foot-wide gap. Tobian jumped back, tripping on his own foot and landing on his ass.

Darius threw the bag of flour in the direction where the beast had hit the wall and magical barrier. When the bag connected with the invisible creature, an explosion of white powder occurred. Suddenly, a large silhouette of a dragon covered in flour appeared before them.

The creature quickly rolled to the side before running off to the other side of the room.

“Dragon, we have no quarrel with you as you’re not a demon. Do you wish to parlay for freedom instead of fight?” Tristan said as she stepped between the flour dragon and the group.

The dragon dropped its invisibility and said something in a harsh language that Tobain couldn’t understand. Its cyan-colored scales were mottled with dried blood, wounds, and flour.

It was the first dragon Tobian had seen, in his mind he always pictured them bigger and more fearsome. This lizard was about fifteen feet long and maybe a twenty-foot wingspan if it stretched hard enough. A hole in its left shoulder seeped blood, and there were several cracked scales on both of its shoulders where it looked like it had run into a wall. Its legs and arms were darker colored and near what would function as it’s hands and feet, there appeared to be lines where the scales had been worn off or removed and replaced with iron bands. Tobian could also count the ribs on the creature.

“No, if you wish to live and get out of here, you must agree to terms and swear by them,” Tristan said.

The dragon shook its head and spoke again. It crouched back and dug its claws into the stone floor.

“You are correct about agreements made under duress,” Tristan said. She motioned to the Professor and Tobian to move out of the hallway.

With a flourish, the Professor scooped up the metal ring on the floor. Then, with a wave of his hand, a tiny breeze swept away the salt. Both the wizard and Tobian moved into the room and away from the hallway entrance.

The dragon looked at Tristan and then at the open hallway. The creature darted toward the hallway before stopping and looking back at Tristan. It spat out more hard words in a language Tobian couldn’t understand.

“Here are our terms. You will not harm us until the next moon rises unless one of us strikes or harms you. After a week, you will hunt away from towns or cities within a hundred leagues of here. You may also eat the fresh bear corpse near the entrance.” Tristan closed her eyes and pressed both of her hands together. A white light centered around her flooded the room, washing over everything and everyone in it.

Tobian suddenly felt like he had just woken from a nap. His muscles felt great; the tiny cut on his finger from a sharp stone edge disappeared. A peace filled him as he looked over his friends. Everyone was standing straighter, and wounds and bruises disappeared. Even the dragon looked much better, though some injuries were too much for the healing wave. The parts of it’s limbs where the collars had rubbed through the scales, still looked sickly and injured.

“Can we remove the collars or the cuffs first?” Tobian said, pointing at the creature’s feet.

“If it will allow us to, but first, I need it to agree to our terms, or we will have to destroy this beautiful creature,” Tristan said.

The dragon shook its head and opened its mouth a little, pulling back its lips to show its teeth. It again said something, then closed its eyes and bowed its head a little.

Tristan seemed to accept this with a smile. “Sirah, can you see if you can unlock those for this noble creature? May it never know captivity again?”

The dragon lifted one of its front paws up and touched it’s chest. This time, it said something everyone understood. “Gelida Luna,” and it tapped its chest.

“Glad to make your acquaintance, Gelida Luna,” Tristan said before introducing the group to the dragon.