Calista lifted the Emberblade off the dead body of the medusa and slung it onto her belt. Replacing the short sword in her inventory, she then pulled the Emberblade free just as Lefty came into view.

“The dragon is in serious trouble,” he said.

“And why do we care if Vevic lives or dies?” she asked.

“Not that dragon,” Lefty said as he pointed, “that dragon.”

That dragon? Oh no, that dragon!

It was the juvenile. The same little creature she had seen talking with Smith and Smithey. High above the fray, a small gold dragon with silver along its belly was trying to fight the fallen angels and it was not going well. Two arrows stuck out of her side and a gash had been opened along her belly. Meanwhile, the dragon was spouting green flame this way and that as she fired breath weapon after breath weapon at her assailants. The fallen angels, however, were far too clever for that. They were making the small dragon chase them, for as one angel shot an arrow, the dragon would chase. Then the other angel would shoot, causing the dragon to turn around and chase that angel. Then the first angel would shoot. It was a losing battle. The little dragon had not hit either of her foes.

“We need to help her,” Lefty said.

“I don’t know that we can.” Calista replied.

However, just as Calista said that, she found herself loading her crossbow. Lefty immediately ignored her comment and, holding her shoulder, recited a spell. A second later, they were flying through the air. Up they flew, Calista with her crossbow and Lefty with his hands crackling with energy.

“I got left,” she said.

Lefty nodded, “I guess that means I got right.”

The angels never knew what hit them. Lefty’s lightning bolt struck his angel right in the head while Calista’s crossbow bolt impaled hers right through the heart.

For the dragon, however, it was too late. As Calista turned, she saw the shining gold scales falling through the air, a trail of smoke behind her as she fell. Calista and Lefty both threw themselves into a dive. They had to save the dragon if they could. She could see it, flapping and fighting against the air as it fell, but an arrow had pierced its wing.

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It landed with a sickening thud against the stone and bounced once before it rolled to a stop. The dragon then laid there, motionless, as she and Lefty landed beside it. Calista immediately stopped to check if the dragon was still breathing. She was. Opening her inventory, Calista flipped to where she kept her healing potions. One left. She didn’t even think. Taking the healing potion out, she held open the dragon’s mouth and poured the red liquid down.

Golden flecks of ember floated off the dragon as the healing potion took effect. Healing a dragon, apparently, wasn’t the same as healing someone else. Something strange had happened. Something special.

The dragon sat up and lifted her head. “What happened? Who are you?”

Calista put her hand on the dragon’s wing and said, “We’re here to help you.”

“Help me? How?” asked the dragon.

“We’re healing you and getting you out of here,” Lefty replied.

“What?” The dragon shook her head. “But I …”

Lefty cut the dragon off, “Don’t. I don’t think you’re high enough level for this fight. You need to get out of here. Right now.”

The dragon fixed them both with an angry look. “I’m not leaving until Severin is dead. He attacked my mother!”

Of course the dragon is related to Neera. She gave Lefty a knowing look as the mage sat down next to the dragon and said, “Look, we’re here to kill Severin. You’ve done all you could. You were very brave and now you need to flee because otherwise Severin will just kill you.”

The dragon’s eyes traveled from Lefty to Calista as she stood. “But what about my mother? Where is she?”

Lefty shook his head. “I wouldn’t worry about her. We’ll help her if we can.”

Calista held her tongue. Whatever lie it took to get the little dragon out of here was okay with her. She could see the look in Lefty’s eyes and knew he had it.

The dragon’s look was suspicious. “I’m not sure I can trust the two of you.”

Lefty’s expression was soft, “What’s your name?”

The dragon swished her tail, “Xhen. My name is Xhen.”

“Xhen, what I need you to do is to fly up to that cave up there.” He pointed to the cave where the two of them had entered. “And see if you can find a monster named Robert. He should be able to help keep you safe.”

“Robert?” Xhen looked up at the cave. “Robert is up there?”

“Do you know Robert?” Calista asked.

“Yes, of course I know Robert,” Xhen replied. “Last time we talked, he promised to show me his insect collection, but then he disappeared and I haven’t seen him since.”

Lefty broke out into a big grin. “Well I’ll tell you that he is dying to show that collection to someone and I’m sure that if you beat us to it, he will be more than happy.”

Finally, Xhen looked ready to take off. “Okay, but only if you promise not to hurt my mother and you promise to kill Severin.”

“We promise,” Lefty said.

And with that, the dragon took off.