Inside the cave, the girls had just reached the edge of the pit and had started running over the bridge.

"Don't look down!" Velvet yelled back at her friend, whose face turned even paler. Just as they were halfway across it, araging dragon appeared in front and blocked their path to freedom.

"Wow! So awesome!" Velvet shouted as she saw it. "It's a dragon!"

"WHAT?!!" Arianna shrieked, stopping momentarily, barely avoiding toppling over the edge again. "This is no time to be joking! We might die!"

"I'm not joking!" Velvet turned and pointed at the beast. "Quickly, we need to turn back!"

She quickly realized she spoke too soon, though, as there was nowhere for them to turn back to. The wyverns had almost caught up with them already, the closest one descending rapidly towards them. Arianna's eyes darted back and forth between the dragon and the wyvern a couple of times, before settling on her friend. "Velvet, do you trust me?"

"With my life!" the girl answered without hesitation, grinning widely.

"Good," Arianna said, grabbing Velvet's hand and jumping off the bridge. They disappeared into the dark abyss while the dragon and the wyverns clashed together above them. As they were falling, the air mage wrapped her arm around her friend, pointing her staff at what she hoped was the ground. "Air Burst!"

The push of air slowed down their fall, making them descend gently into the darkness.

"Illuminus!" Velvet's hand lit up, returning the girls' vision to them. Descending even further than they thought was possible, they soon spotted some mushrooms, which somehow seemed to emit a faint light that illuminated the bottom of the pit.

"Klangwan Mushrooms!" Velvet exclaimed, stopping her spell. "They create a substance that glows in the dark! People use this substance to make fancy lights. Our academy also uses them in the dining hall and the hallways. They never go out!"

"Thanks for the free botanic lecture!" Arianna replied, trying to focus on her spell. She exhaled in relief when they finally touched down safely. "That was so scary! I can't believe I actually did that!"

"I told you," Velvet smiled, patting her on the back. "You're amazing!"

Growling and roaring from high above reminded them that the dragon and the wyverns were still very much alive. "Don't think we are safe yet." Arianna reminded, remaining cautious.

"Didn't you say the teleportation tablet fell down here?" Velvet suddenly remembered.

"Right! If we find it..." Arianna's face lit up.

"...we can get out of here!" Velvet smiled triumphantly. "Let's do this!"

"What if it broke on impact, though? Then we will never find it."

"It didn't." Velvet shook her head. "Look at the ground. It's covered in grass and moss."

Arianna looked down, realizing her friend was right. The soft growth at the bottom of the pit could have softened the impact and kept the teleportation tablet intact. It was their best bet to get out of there in one piece. However, finding it would not be made easy for them. They weren't even searching for a whole five minutes when a loud roar made them turn their heads upwards. To their great dismay, the dragon was descending into the pit, aiming right for them.

"Oh no!" Arianna exclaimed. "It's coming for us! What do we do now?!"

"There's only one thing really left for us to do!" Velvet yelled, clenching her fist. "We fight!"

"Fight?" Arianna cocked her eyebrow. "It's a dragon! We stand no chance against it!"

"We do with this!" Velvet reached down to her belt and lifted up a faintly shining bottle of liquid. She pushed it into Arianna's hands. "Take a sip!"

"But I'm not exhausted." Arianna looked at her with a surprised expression.

"Just do it! It's going to boost your magic!" Velvet encouraged.

"Boost my magic?" Arianna asked. "How?"

"No time to explain! Just take a sip already!"

Reluctantly, the girl pulled the cork out of the bottle, lifting it up to her mouth.

"Drink! Fast!" Velvet demanded, seeing the dragon coming closer and closer to them.

Finally, Arianna tilted her head back and closed her eyes, gulping down a sip. Just as she wanted to put the bottle down, Velvet pushed it back, forcing Arianna to drink even more.

"Are you insane?!" Arianna yelled, jumping back after almost choking. "My mother told us to take one sip when we're completely exhausted! You're force-feeding me this while I am not even tired! Do you want to kill me?!"

"Thank me later!" Velvet shouted, pointing at the dragon that was looking for them in the dim light.

Arianna turned around and saw it scanning the cave to find them. "Shit! We have to—"

Before she managed to finish the sentence, she grabbed her chest with both hands, dropping her staff and bending over as an excruciating pain shot through her. It felt like her heart had stopped momentarily. Like she was going to die. It was so intense that she felt like screaming her lungs out, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out. "A...a...a..."

"Arianna!" her friend grabbed her just as Arianna's legs gave way.

"Just breathe," Velvet instructed her. "Focus on your breathing. You're going to be fine..."

Arianna could hardly hear her through the pain. Her entire body felt like it was on fire. Her heart pounded like it was about to burst out of her chest and her vision was blurry. Still, she listened to her friend's voice, sucking in a deep breath through her open mouth. As she took more breaths, her vision returned to normal, and her heart rate steadied. The pain slowly lessened until finally, it disappeared completely. Instead, it was replaced by a strange feeling.

"What is this?" Arianna asked, staring down at her open palms like she was seeing them for the first time. "I feel like...I could do anything."

"It works! It works!" Velvet jumped up and down excitedly, causing the winged beast to notice them. And it was not alone either. A flock of wyverns followed it, flying out of the darkness one after the other. There were at least a dozen of them, a quarter of the dragon's size. They attacked the large reptile, trying to bite into its hard scales, but to no avail. It simply shook them off and started making its way to the girls, as if they are the only thing that even remotely interested this creature of divine power.

Arianna crouched down and picked up her staff, holding it in both hands. As she did, the diamond crystals on each end got switched out for dragonstone, then for onyx.

"Show me what you can do now!" Velvet cheered her on. "Don't be scared. You got this!"

The dragon came within striking distance and opened its mouth, an orange glow coming deep from its throat. A moment later, a searing stream of flames burst forth, threatening to engulf them both. The air mage clenched her staff tightly, taking a wide stance.

"Air Blast!" Arianna exclaimed. A powerful gust of wind blew from the tip of her staff, so strong that it pushed the girl back in recoil. Velvet leaned on her back with both hands, trying to stop her, but they were both slowly sliding backwards while the strong wind kept blowing. It collided with the dragon's breath, keeping it from burning them both to a crisp.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"Hold it!" Velvet yelled, seeing Arianna grit her teeth in struggle. "I know you can do it!"

"Ghhhh!" Arianna made guttural sounds while trying to maintain her focus.

"Yes! That's it!" Velvet shouted. "You're doing it! Show them why you're the best!!"

The air mage screamed as she squeezed out every last bit of her strength. The wind gained in strength still and started pushing back the dragon's flame. Finally, the beast ran out of breath and was hit with the full brunt of Arianna's spell, which forced it to its hind legs before it toppled over on its back with a loud, earth-shaking crash.

"Yeah!! That's what happens when you mess with us!" Velvet yelled. "Get wrecked you oversized lizard! And you're next, wyverns! We're going to kick all of your asses!"

The air mage fell to her knees and panted. The grandmaster tier spell she just cast had drained every bit of energy out of her. She leaned on her staff, resting for a few precious seconds.

"Will you be alright?" Velvet asked, concerned.

"I...I've still got more left in me...I think," Arianna said between heavy breaths, forcing herself to stand once more. This took Velvet by surprise. Did this potion not only boost her magic but also her confidence?

"Are you sure you can keep going? You just cast a grandmaster tier spell..."

"I'm fine!" Arianna cut her off, raising her staff above her head.

While the dragon was temporarily down for the count, the wyverns took this opportunity to have a go at the girls themselves. Velvet repelled one with an expertly cast Light Nova, but there were many more soaring towards them. Just then, the air mage began twirling her staff.

"Gale Wind!" she yelled out. The air around the spinning staff began to rotate, blowing around them, locking them inside a vortex of winds. Though the wyverns were hit, they were hardly fazed. They landed around the girls and surrounded them from all sides before slowly beginning to crawl closer to their prey. But Arianna wasn't done just yet.

Letting the winds pick up a bit, she exclaimed, "Gale Storm!" The air spun faster around the girls, making the wyverns hesitate for one brief moment before their claws dug into the ground as they kept crawling forward. "Gale Whirlwind!" Arianna shouted a few seconds later, increasing the velocity of the winds even more. The wyverns could hardly keep moving forward now, using most of their strength to avoid being blown away.

Velvet realized at this point what her friend was doing. She's slowly building up momentum so the more advanced spells are easier to cast! This is pure genius!

"Gale Tornado!" was the next spell the air mage cast, twirling her staff faster and faster all the while. The winged reptiles were starting to lose grip, some of them getting pulled away by the sheer power of the winds that began tearing up the ground and undergrowth as well.

She's at grandmaster tier now, her knowledgeable friend thought. Surely she isn't gonna...

"GALE HURRICANE!!" Arianna shouted at the top of her lungs. Monstrous winds tore apart the ranks of the wyverns. Every single wyvern was now being tossed around like leaves in the autumn breeze, helpless and unable to escape. Velvet's jaw dropped as she saw the chaos unfolding. The flying creatures were getting slammed into rocks and walls, falling down to the ground unconscious.

Finally, Arianna had to stop casting and collapsed to the ground, the toll on her body becoming too great to bear. She panted heavily as the crystals on her staff downgraded from onyx to dragonstone. The boost the potion gave her was slowly waning.

"Hah... that's... hah... the best I can do..." Arianna managed to get out. Meanwhile, the hurricane she unleashed still raged on for a bit before the winds slowly died down. Some of the wyverns came out of it relatively unscathed, but dizzy and disoriented nonetheless. They stumbled drunkenly and fell back down, trying desperately to pick themselves up and stand.

"You just cast a mythic-level spell!" Velvet couldn't contain herself. "That's unbelievable!"

It was too early to celebrate, however, because while the wyverns were recovering, someone or rather something already did. And that something was their old adversary, the dragon.

"My turn!" Velvet announced happily, while her friend was on her last leg. She took the bottle of glowing liquid from her belt again and raised it into the air. There were about three-quarters of the contents left. Just as she wanted to drink, Arianna stopped her.

"Don't. We're not...going to get...anywhere like this," she panted.

"What are you saying? We can beat this thing!"

"We can't," Arianna shook her head. "Look...it doesn't even...have a scratch."

She was right. The dragon toppled over from her spell, but it didn't really sustain any injuries. And if not even a grandmaster spell could make a dent in its defenses, then what hope did they even have? Dragon scales are resistant to magic after all.

"What do you suggest we do then?!" Velvet yelled as the beast's eyes turned towards them.

"I'll distract it..." Arianna said, pushing herself back to her feet once more. "You find the teleportation tablet. It's our one chance of getting out of here alive! Let's hope your original idea works out!"

"That's a big gamble!" Velvet didn't like this one bit. Especially not the part where her friend serves as dragon bait. "Let's just fight it together! I know we can win!"

"Don't be naive, Vel. It's an adult dragon! Find the tablet...and let's get out of here!"

Saying this, Arianna ran forward and cast an Air Nova at the monstrous creature. "I'm over here!"

"Who's being an idiot now?!" Velvet shouted after her. "At least take another sip!"

"My body can't take any more of that!" Arianna yelled back at her friend as the dragon began to follow her. "Now go! Find that tablet! And watch the wyverns!" she added, seeing the winged beasts begin to get up again.

"Alright," Velvet inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times. Even for someone as eager and fearless as her, this was getting a bit too much. Getting herself in trouble was never something she was really concerned about — she was confident she could take care of herself. But right now, it was her best friend that was in this mess along with her.

***

At the bottom of a steep incline, Ralph pushed the debris off himself, healing his wounds with his water magic. Thankfully, he didn't get too badly injured from tumbling down the mountainside. He spat out to the side and dusted off his clothes.

"Damn vermin! It was actually smart enough to go for the platform instead of me!"

As soon as he was healed, he immediately started climbing back towards the cave.

The old man's going to kill me if something happens to those two, he thought. Not to mention he'll lose his position on the Council! Why did a damn dragon need to come here all of a sudden?! What does it want?!

Pondering these questions, he ascended higher and higher, praying that he wouldn't be too late.

Thank you for reading this part of the story!

Thank you for reading this part of the story! [https://img.wattpad.com/9cde102cf5a76799f9dd24216ae49f27583f7bbc/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f584b414432785455704f6a7048413d3d2d313237353338333430322e313731626438326430353831343065383735383930343030343231362e6a7067?s=fit&w=1280&h=1280]

Can Velvet find the tablet before Arianna gets gobbled up by the dragon?