"I think that's the last one that'll be leaving tonight.", I sighed as I stared at the disappearing silhouette of the fourteenth dragon to fly off in the distance. Back in the city, there were two dragons still flying about. Their thunderous roars disrupted the peaceful silence of the night.
The third dragon though, was still unaccounted for. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time to wait. I faced the knight and princess duo.
"You ready?"
Before she responded, the determined look on the princess' sweaty face gave me all the answers I needed. Her emerald eyes shimmered beautifully under the moon's pale light.
I wiped my sweat away with my forearm then faced the fallen arc. Corin stood closely to me, remaining silent. The princess stretched her hands forward and muttered some words in an indecipherable language. In response, the arc proceeded to glow blue, till a thin sheet of blue light cut the space confined in the arc.
"Alright. Let us go.", She said with an anxious smile.
Finally, the portal, to the castle was active.
The princess required some time to recuperate her mana. Fortunately, she needed no more than half a day's worth of rest to recharge.
I was the first to go because Corin still didn't trust me to be alone with the princess and I could possibly be leading them into a trap.
'Yeah, right. Like that makes any sense, asshat.'
Reluctantly, and with a heart threatening to jump out of my chest, I stepped through the portal with closed eyes. I immediately felt the temperature get hotter after taking a full step through the portal. When I opened my eyes, I immediately fought the urge to shut them close and run back.
There wasn't much to describe about the environment. Moonlight poured in through a massive hole in the ceiling, slightly illuminating the room. The ground, littered with debris from the open ceiling was charred black from smoke and fire. Melted rock and metal, fallen debris, burned flags was spread all about in a haphazard manner, as one would expect. To the left, there was another large hole, allowing for a decent view of the city below – a burning hellscape.
However, even that was of little concern to me at the moment. My moist hair fluttered up from the force of its snore. I immediately had to cover up my nose and hold back the urge to gag because of the pungent smell of rotten eggs.
Its white scales radiated a pale-bluish hue, reflecting the moonlight. The dragon's massive head, with two pairs of forward pointing horns, was easily four times my size and its body took up a majority of the room, leaving me to question how it even managed to enter the room in the first place. And…
'Why is this thing here?!'
Behind me, Corin stepped through, as did Alea, who both froze at the sight of the beast.
I looked at both of them, hoping to communicate that we step back and come up with a different plan, especially given there was no exit. However, one look at Alea's confident mug sent shivers down my spine.
Corin pointed to the giant hole in the side of the building. I shook my head, immediately protesting, but before I could retreat, the portal closed. It was do-or-die, and both the princess and her knight were resolved to die for this.
'D-Damn it.'
Alea was already at the hole, her bangs swaying in the wind. Corin was closely behind her. The man moved impossibly quietly, somehow making absolutely no sound in his armour. And I nervously and quietly tip-toed over to the edge only to have my face assaulted by hot wind.
In the distance, there were a pair of dragons, flying around and continuously torching the already vanquished city. It was as if they wanted the fire to be on fire. After another minute of surveying the scene, I frowned.
'How are we supposed to leave from here?'
The white dragon's body was obscuring the original exit, so the obvious pivot was the giant hole in the wall. But there were no close adjacent towers or pathways. Just smooth, melted rock with no way to grip or hold onto it.
The closest tower would require an inhuman ability to cross and below, the roof was far too low to jump without breaking both legs.
'Shit, my plan was completely stupid. We need a different one.'
I should have considered the possibility of a dragon being stationed at the only safe way back in. In the first place, I already had enough reason to believe someone or something was orchestrating this incident. I underestimated their intelligence
"Right before we escaped, a dragon's head smashed through the wall.", Corin's voice was unusually hushed.
I looked at the hole once more, then at the dragon resting. I could see its head fitting through the hole, but its body was far too massive for the hole and the one in the ceiling.
'How did it get in here? Can dragons also teleport?', I wondered.
"I will scale down the wall with both of you.", Corin whispered, as he effortlessly picked up the princess and placed her on his back. My frown deepened, but I shook my head and cleared up all thoughts of disbelief.
'It's a magical world with dragons and a princess who can teleport and heal injuries. Why can't this man be strong enough to carry us both down? Besides, I weight less than 50 kilograms. I shouldn't be too heavy for him.'
Steeling my resolve, I tried to jump onto his back as well, but was stopped by his steely gauntlet. He shook his head, then pointed at the princess, the wall, drew an arc all the way down to the roof, then back up and finally to me.
My eyes widened, as I understood what he meant.
Before I could object, he jumped onto the wall, the sharp claws of his gauntlet easily piercing the marble-like wall. They quickly descended the tower, but not fast enough for my comfort.
I paced along the edge of the hole, while fidgeting with the sapphire in my pocket. Before we left, the princess gave me one so, in case of an emergency, I could be teleported out of danger if she could do so. This was supposed to be my lifeline, but, now that I was alone in an unprecedented situation, I couldn't help but think of something even better.
My gaze shifted onto the resting dragon, then back over the edge to check Corin's progress. There was still going to be some time before he returned.
'W-Well, this will save us time later.'
I took in a deep breath, then silently approached the fierce beast. I went past its head and silver mane, and closer towards its chest, while scanning its scales for a place to fit the sapphire. Fortunately, its scales has just enough space for me to firmly fix in a sapphire.
I stole a quick glance at the dragon, just to be sure it was still asleep.
It wasn't.