Velvet was searching frantically while fending off the wyverns to the best of her ability. She used an illumination spell to see better in the dimly lit cavern. This unfortunately only attracted more unwanted attention to her. One of the flying reptiles nearly got to her, but she hid under a fallen rock at the last second before it could sink its sharp teeth into her.
"Damn it! I can't search like this!" she grunted. And then she saw it. It was lying on a mushroom only a few meters away from her hiding place. The teleportation tablet! It was still whole, just as they'd hoped it would be! But the wyvern was blocking her way out, tirelessly trying to shove its long snout into the narrow gap between the rock and the ground. Finally, it gave up. Or so Velvet thought. Peeking out she saw that it was inhaling deeply and ready to breathe flames to force her out... or kill her.
I need to get away from here! she immediately realized and started running. The beast turned its head towards the girl and exhaled, the flames reaching after her.
"Light Barrier!" she yelled out, turning around and placing a protective spell behind her that stopped them momentarily. But it didn't stop the raging wyvern that came crawling after her.
"Blinding Light!" Velvet shouted, throwing her hand back while she ran. The animal screeched when the bright light burned its eyes, forcing it to close them. Unlike dragons, wyverns rely less on smell and more on their vision, which was excellent even in the darkness. Therefore, one of the best ways to get rid of them was to blind them.
Thankfully, the diligent girl read all about them in various books and could now use all this knowledge to her advantage. Reaching the mushroom and snatching the teleportation tablet off it, Velvet turned to call her friend, who was right now being chased by the dragon. It didn't take long to find her.
"Any second now!" an eagle screeched while it flew past her high up above. The beast was right behind it, biting at thin air just out of reach. "I can't...keep it off me for much longer!!"
Fatigue was beginning to kick in and Velvet knew she had to act fast lest the girl becomes dragon food. She waved the tablet and yelled, "I've got it!! I found the tablet!! Come here!!"
This was the best thing Arianna could hear at that moment. All she needed to do now was shake the dragon and get to her friend. A task much easier said than done. The beast was relentless in its pursuit and wasn't giving her any room to breathe. Even while furiously flapping her wings and changing direction, she still only barely managed to keep away from it.
"I can't shake it!!" Arianna shouted to Velvet, nearly crying in desperation.
"Don't worry, I'll help you!" Velvet reassured her. But the wyverns had other plans. The one she blinded has recovered already and it looked like its friends joined it as well.
"Or not..." Velvet spoke quietly. They had the tablet now. The hardest part of finding it was done. They just needed an opening to use it! An opening that wasn't coming their way any time soon it seemed.
"Get away from me! Blinding Light!" Velvet yelled, repelling the winged vermin that chased her relentlessly. Bright flashes of light seemed to be the most effective at deterring them. But they didn't keep them at bay for long. Her frustration reaching its brim, Velvet reached down to her belt, pulled out the bottle of Angel's Tears, popped off the cork, and took a large sip.
Surprisingly, the effect it had on her was not like the one it had on Arianna. Only a mild fever hit her and her body felt heavier for a few moments before everything went back to normal. The feeling of being able to conquer the world was the same, though. By casting a few spells at her pursuers, Velvet confirmed that they were indeed much stronger.
"This is amazing!" she shouted while casting, wearing a big smile on her face.
"HELP ME!!" the other girl exclaimed, making Velvet's head turn up.
Arianna had flown up to where a part of the pit was covered by a ceiling of some sort. Her plan was to change direction at the last second and make the dragon ram its head into the wall. At first, she was successful. What she didn't account for, however, was the hail of rocks that would come raining down once that happened. A rock fell down on top of her and she lost her transformation, plummeting toward the ground at great speed. Velvet aimed her hand at Arianna as she was falling and fired a Piercing Ray in that direction. It hit the rock perfectly and shattered it, freeing Arianna from under its weight. She cast a wind spell at the last second before hitting the ground to soften her fall, but it wasn't as effective.
Arianna bounced off the thin undergrowth, landing on her back. She still carried the backpack with the egg and it was a miracle that it didn't shatter on impact. But something else did.
"AAAHHHH!!" she screamed in pain, holding her shin where a bone was nastily sticking out, protruding through her pale white skin. "My leg!! I broke my leg!!"
Velvet wanted to run to her, but the wyverns were blocking her way. Furiously, she started casting spells at them, still under the effects of the potion she just drank. "MOVE!!"
The dragon had recovered swiftly, determined to finish the job it had started. Its prey was now immobilized and vulnerable. It descended, landing right in front of the petrified girl, roaring into her face and covering her with saliva.
"VELVEEEEEETTT!!" Arianna yelled, still holding her leg with one hand and casting spells that had no effect on the giant beast with the other. "HEEEEEELP!!"
"GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" Velvet screamed at the wyverns that were still circling her. They just wouldn't let up and she could only watch as her friend would become dragon food.
"Windshield!!" the other girl shouted in panic when she saw that nothing was working and no help was coming. A dome formed around her out of strong winds, denying access to anything that may want to come inside it. Not a moment later, the beast's powerful jaws bit into it, wanting to swallow the girl whole. This spell was now the only thing between her and certain death.
After a few strong bites, Arianna's protection spell dissipated and the next one would be fatal. She released a burst of air that pushed her back in the nick of time and the dragon bit into nothing as she was propelled backwards, landing about a dozen meters away — a distance the beast would close in only a few steps. The pain of her broken leg was unbearable and the girl felt her head spinning. Through her watery vision, she saw her staff lying a few meters away, deciding to crawl over to it.
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Meanwhile, Velvet managed to temporarily shake the wyverns off by blinding them yet again and was sprinting towards her friend. Arianna just managed to reach her staff and grabbed it when the dragon's shadow fell over her. She rolled around and met its big, glowing eyes, shining at her like pearls—beautiful harbingers of death. The sight of them from so close made her freeze completely, unable to even scream or cast a spell. Time, her pain, and everything else that was happening around her had lost all meaning as she saw the reflection of her tear-stained face in them. This was the end. Her end.
A ball of light hit the dragon's left cheek and exploded in a bright flash, waking her up from her trance and making it turn away from her for a second.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!!" Velvet yelled at the top of her lungs, throwing another spell at it. Instead of going after the girl that was attacking it, however, the beast simply ignored her efforts and turned back to Arianna.
"Ignoring me?!" Velvet shouted furiously. "I'll show you! Light Whip!" A long, thin stream of light spilled out from her hand and she gripped it tightly, swinging it at a particularly large rock sticking out from a nearby wall. The whip wrapped itself around the rock and Velvet swung forward, letting go at just the right moment and propelling herself at the beast.
She landed right on its head and immediately went into action. Placing her hand on its forehead, she cast her Web of Light spell to wrap its jaws into countless streams of light, making it impossible for the dragon to open its mouth—or so she thought. Then she reached down and punched its left eye, casting an illumination spell at point-blank range directly into its pupil. A deafening roar echoed throughout the cavern as she did this.
"Finally paying attention to me, huh?!" Velvet taunted but immediately regretted it as the dragon started shaking its head left and right, wanting to throw her off.
Arianna couldn't even comprehend what was happening. The pain, the fear, the absurdity of the whole situation...she didn't even know what to do!
"RUUUN!!" her friend yelled, gripping on for dear life and kicking the dragon's one remaining eye with vision. "GET AWAY FROM HERE!! NOW!!"
Arianna snapped back to reality and crawled back as fast as she could. It didn't take long for the web of light that was wrapped around the dragon's jaw to break, Velvet flying off with it. Once again, the beast's focus shifted back to the trembling girl before it.
"I'm not done with you yet!" Velvet shouted, already back on her feet and running back for round two without as much as a glint of fear in her eyes. Saving her friend was all she cared about at that moment. Her concerns, her safety, her life...everything was second to that. One spell after the other she hurled at the dragon, but it simply ignored them all and kept going after Arianna, who was leaving behind a trail of blood as she dragged herself across the ground. Her greatest fears came true — the task turned into a nightmare.
The entire cavern was flashing, being lit up continuously by Velvet's never-ending barrage of spells. If they wouldn't be in a life-or-death situation she would have been amazed at herself. This was the performance of her lifetime she was giving now.
"Light Veil!" she exclaimed when she came close and disappeared momentarily. Her plan was to run up to her friend without the dragon noticing her and breaking the teleportation tablet, hopefully getting them both to safety. When she came close, however, the beast looked right at her, swinging its tail and slapping her away. She hit a wall with a loud thud and bounced off.
"SHIT!" Velvet cursed, spitting out blood. I completely forgot dragons can sense magic! That's why it "saw" me!
"Windshield!!" Arianna yelled out again before the dragon could chew her up. The spell was stronger now that it was cast with her staff, but it wouldn't hold for long either way. Once again the jaws bit into the protective bubble of winds, squeezing it tightly, while the girl cried tears of fear and regret inside. It was only a matter of time now until she died. The wyverns also wanted to have a go at her, but a loud roar from the far superior creature made them think twice about approaching.
"Use the tablet!!" Velvet exclaimed, struggling to pick herself up.
It was then that Arianna saw it, lying next to her broken leg. Her friend must have tossed it her way before the dragon slapped her away! But if she uses it alone...
"I can't!!" she shouted, gritting her teeth as the dragon hammered away at her protection spell. It started using a different tactic and was now ramming its hard head into it instead of biting. With each hit, the wind dome was getting weaker.
"You have to!" Velvet yelled at her. "If you don't use it, you'll die!"
"If I use it, you'll die!" Arianna shouted.
"I'll be fine!" Velvet tried reassuring her, though they both knew that was a complete lie.
"NO!! I can't do this to you!!" Arianna cried, clenching her staff tightly with both hands and trying to maintain her faltering spell.
"USE THE DAMN TABLET!!" Velvet screamed at the top of her lungs. "USE IT!!"
Under the pressure of Velvet's screams and the dragon's hammering, the crying girl hesitantly reached down for the tablet with a trembling hand. She gripped it tightly and closed her eyes, remembering their time at the academy and everything they'd been through together. Velvet was her dearest friend and she loved her so, so much. Only second to her mother. But she also didn't want to die here.
"DO IT!!!" Velvet yelled. "DO IT NOW!!"
Arianna lifted her hand up and squeezed the tablet, before slamming it down against the ground with full force. "I'M SORRY!! I'M SORRY!! I'M SORRY!!"
The dragon rammed its head into the ground as both the spell and the girl hiding behind it were no more. Confused at Arianna's sudden disappearance, it then let out a deafening roar, as if it was grieving intensely at her getting away.
Velvet grinned. "Congratulations, Arianna. You've just graduated."
She struggled to push herself up and glanced at the beast, whose focus now switched over to her. The wyverns also started flying towards her, their yellow eyes gleaming through the dim of the cavern.
"Well then...I guess it's just you and me now. But I'm not going down easily." Saying this, the girl took the bottle of Angel's Tears from her belt and lifted it high in the air.
"I love you, Dad," Velvet said before tilting her head back and drinking the entire thing.
Thank you for reading the final part of chapter five! Stay tuned for chapter six!
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