Dolo adjusted the grip on his spear.

He leaned slightly forward and patted the neck of the lizard currently underneath him.

"Sshhhh, easy girl."

The lizard remained still, clutching the side of the cliffside.

Dolo was currently atop a lizard with a leather saddle strapped to its back.

The lizard itself was gripping the angled cliffside, using its sharp claws to dig in between the cracks of the rock, holding itself steady.

Another half a dozen lizard riders were next to Dolo, their lizards gripping the cliffside.

There was a second group of lizard riders located to the right of Dolo.

Between these two groups, was a cave entrance, descending deep into the mountain's depths.

They were positioned such, that with a single leap, the lizards could jump to the entrance of the cave, falling on any enemies.

Up above them on the ledge of the small cliff, were an array of boulders and stones prepared and aimed to be pushed onto the cave entrance.

Around the entrance stood two rows of fighters.

One row was equipped with extra-long reinforced bronze spears, while the second row was equipped with large wooden shields.

These shields could cover an entire body.

A few moments ago, a series of bangs were heard from the top of the mountains, followed by a much fainter rumble emanating from the cave.

The fighters assembled here were under the leadership of the outer advisor, who was currently at the back of the spear line, gazing at the cave entrance with narrowed eyes.

Faintly, Dolo could hear roars come from the cave.

His hands felt cold and his knuckles were white from gripping his spear so tightly.

His other hand was used to hold the reins of the lizard.

His heartbeat was thumping powerfully in his chest and his hands felt cold.

Sweat made his grip slippery, making him hold on even tighter.

He felt the reassuring weight of the spear in his hand and of his secondary spear on his back.

He looked to his left and right.

The lizard riders were all skilled fighters, handpicked by the royal siblings.

The riders wore grim expressions, while some even revealed unmasked fear.

Those that did were there during the second attempt.

Dolo had been there as well on that day.

He had followed Inpar in defending this same very cave entrance.

But today was different.

Today they had almost triple the numbers as last time, as well as hopefully, both Princess Feidi and Princess Stella.

Anf, if they were lucky, they wouldn't need to fight the drake at all.

Dolo had to tell himself that, to reassure himself.

The roars coming from the cave were slowly getting louder.

Dolo could even faintly hear the scratching of claws on stone.

Below the cliff, one of the shieldbearers turned and vomited on the ground.

The outer adviser immediately shouted at him to get back in formation.

Dolo ignored the sounds coming from below and closed his eyes. He couldn't die.

Not today.

There was still much to be done, so he couldn't die today.

He still needed to accomplish his mission, the reason why he was sent here.

Dolo slowly exhaled and opened his eyes.

The roars were close now and he could even feel faint vibrations, each time he heard the drake scrape its claws across the stone.

The formation was ready and everyone was still.

By now, even the slowest dimwit knew that the original plan had failed and that it would come to a fight.

Dolo steeled his gaze and a determined expression was all that remained.

He would not die today.

No matter what.

"Spears, lower!"

Under the command of the outer advisor, the spear ring lowered their spears and pointed them at the entrance.

Suddenly, two women appeared at the cave entrance, wounded and in a sorry state.

Princess Stella had light burns all over her body, while Princess Feidi seemed overall fine, but was already pale from exhaustion.

Both had bruises and cuts from the blind escape out of the tunnel.

"Attack it now!"

Shouting so, Princess Stella lifted both herself and Feidi and flew over the spear line.

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Dolo didn't watch to see what happened afterward, as from the entrance, the drake emerged.

It was clear that the Princesses had done some damage to it, as all over its body shallow scrapes and cuts could be seen, though it seemed that until now, they had only managed to make it angrier.

"Drop the boulders!" So came the shout of the outer adviser, as soon as the drake was visible.

The people stationed at the top of the cliff pushed, dropping boulders from a great height.

The drake seemed to notice something was wrong, as it dashed forward, dodging most of the boulders.

Unfortunately for it, a boulder still managed to land on its tail, partially crushing it.

It let out a howl of pain and anger.

The boulders, while being very dangerous, also had a second function.

They cut off the only escape path that the drake had.

This of course also meant that the humans couldn't count on a draw, with both parties leaving relatively unharmed.

It was all or nothing, the drake had to die.

"Spear and shields, advance!"

The spear ring slowly advanced while the shield bearers covered those holding the spears.

The drake narrowed its eyes and looked around at the wall of spears.

It swiped with its claws, batting aside a portion of the spears, and was about to launch itself at the shield wall, when suddenly a boulder came flying at its face.

At the last moment, it halted its movements and dashed to the side, dodging the incoming boulder.

It turned its head to see where the attack had come from and found the two accursed humans waving their arms in the air, another bolder slowly rising out of the ground.

It seemed like only one was doing most of the work, as the other one seemed to be already exhausted.

It narrowed its eyes, and Dolo, who was still at the cliffside could swear he saw hatred in those eyes.

An orange glow started to gather within the drake's chest.

"It's going to breathe fire! Riders, now!"

Hearing the advisor roars, Dolo gritted his teeth and dug his heels into his lizard's flanks.

The lizard let out a mad screech and flung itself from the wall towards the drake.

A dozen lizard riders followed Dolo, leaping off the wall and flinging themselves at the drake.

The drake whipped its head around, and Dolo could swear he saw surprise in the drake's eyes, as he flew ever closer to it.

The drake swung its claws and managed to swipe two riders out of the sky, sending them crashing to the ground.

Dolo was luckily not among them and grunted as his lizard landed on the back of the drake.

The lizard immediately started scratching at the scales with its sharp claws, but found little purchase on the drake's thick scales.

Dolo directed the lizard to a nearby scar, where the scales had been removed from previous combat, and stabbed his spear into the scar.

The spear dug deep, and Dolo applied his full weight to it, hoping to hit something vital within the back of the drake.

The drake screamed once more and flailed around.

There were two other riders on the drake's back, and they were all searching for weak points, through which they could inflict damage.

The drake initiated a roll, keen on sending those on its back flying.

The lizard beneath Dolo lost its grip and went tumbling to the side.

It crashed on the ground and trapped Dolo's leg beneath its weight.

Dolo also had to let go of the spear when he was flung to the side.

Faintly from the corner of his eye, he could see how his fellow riders surrounded the drake and drove the lizards beneath them to attack the drake.

The spear bearers kept advancing under the orders of the outer advisor and were close enough to support the lizard riders.

The weight of his lizard bore down on Dolo's leg, making him unable to move.

He struggled to get out from under his lizard, but couldn't get the heavy creature off him.

His lizard was wheezing and seemed to be winded.

After a brief moment, two shieldbearers ran up to him and helped him get out by lifting the lizard.

He used his arms to drag himself out from under the lizard and looked up at the drake again.

The initial attack seemed to have done quite a bit of damage but no fatal damage had been done yet.

Blood seeped from the many wounds that the drake carried, and the tip of its tail had been broken by the boulders previously, as it now hung limply behind it.

A few spears were also sticking from its back, but it seemed this wasn't nearly enough.

The drake swiped at another rider, who wasn't quick enough to dodge, cutting deep gashes across the chest of the rider and the flank of the lizard.

The lizard and rider duo were suddenly lifted slightly off the ground and moved out of the battlefield, where a small group of people went to tend to their wounds.

It seemed like the Pincesses were busy helping the wounded.

Dolo, having lost his first spear, took the secondary spear he had strapped to his back and once more mounted his lizard.

He charged the drake once more.

The drake noticed Dolo and swiped one of its claws at him.

Dolo urged his lizard to the side while pressing himself flat on top of it.

An animalistic roar escaped Dolo's mouth, as fear and adrenaline made his muscles shiver with energy.

The swipe narrowly missed Dolo and his mount and he suddenly found himself in front of the drake.

He could see parts of the underbelly and stabbed at it with his spear.

The spear tip at first glanced off the scales, but then found purchase and with the strength of the lizard beneath him, Dolo thrust the spear forward, piercing the skin of the drake.

The drake screamed and with the side of its paw swiped at Dolo, hitting him squarely.

Because he was so close, instead of getting dismembered by the claws, he only got hit by the paw, dismounting him from his lizard and sending him flying.

Dolo felt the air escape his chest and he struggled to suck in a mouthful of air.

He got launched and hit the ground quite hard.

He thought he heard something snap, but wasn't sure if he had broken something.

The world spun around him, as his brain reeled and struggled to process the world around him.

He suddenly felt weightless and felt the wind whistle in his ears.

He descended and landed on the ground outside the spear line, where healers were quick to swarm him.

Slowly his consciousness faded, and everything went dark.

Meanwhile, Stella looked at the drake rampaging at the cave entrance.

The situation was very dire, with over half of the lizard riders no longer able to continue fighting.

The drake was wounded, but she feared at this rate victory would only be achieved with heavy sacrifices.

Next to her stood Feidi, who was helping with evacuating some of the wounded, and the outer advisor, who was busy shouting instructions at the spear bearers.

Stella felt within herself and felt that she had used up most of her powers.

She could launch two to three boulders, or evacuate a few more people but after that, she would be fully spent.

The situation with Feidi was even worse, which is why she could only help with bringing the wounded to safety.

Stella gritted her teeth and spoke to the outer advisor.

"Tell the spear bearers to advance. We must put an end to this quickly."

The advisor widened his eyes while speaking in shock.

"Princess, this would mean taking many casualties."

Stella shook him off while growling.

"If we don't act now, the situation is only going to get worse. The casualties we are going to take then would be even more."

Feidi continued moving the wounded but glanced at her when she said that.

The outer advisor gritted his teeth and turned toward the fighters.

"On my command, advance!"

Suddenly the drake let out a desperate roar, launching a surprise breath attack.

A red flame covered the lizard riders still around it and part of the people creating the encirclement.

This flame wasn't actually powerful or hot, because the drake didn't take the time to charge it, but it did surprise and disorient the humans.

Some let their spears and shields fall, while others temporarily lost their vision.

The drake charged the line, using its broken tail to sweep around itself.

This was the first time it used its tail, showing how desperate it had become.

Dozens of people were flung to the side, their screams mingling together to create one great cacophony.

"It's going to escape! Stop it!"

Even though Stella shouted these words, none could heed her words, as no one had the power to stop the drake.

The spear and shield formation was in disarray, the lizard riders were all temporarily unable to fight and those left at the edge of the ledge had used all of their boulders.

The only ones who could have done something were the two royal siblings, but they didn't have the necessary energy left.

Out of nowhere, four bronze flashes descended from the sky, piercing the open wounds of the drake.

The drake roared in pain, however its screams were silenced once the bronze knives embedded into it detonated.

Three large holes were suddenly gouged out of the drake.

The drake faltered and collapsed to the ground, dead.

"It's good that I managed to arrive in time."

Saying so, Inpar, who had descended down from the cliff, collapsed near the cave entrance.