“It’s time to go," I whispered, pushing on Saria.

  “Eh?” Her eyes snapped open, and she seemed a bit dazed.

  I nudged her again harder this time, causing her to roll over onto the ground. She let out a gasp and started crawling out from under the rock. It had been a few hours since we had made it under there. Although Saria had acted about as expected considering I had given her some of my aphrodisiac blood, Lucil had also been acting somewhat strange. I had mostly done my best to ignore it while one ground her butt against me while the other stroked my body. At one point, Lucil had even bit my shoulder and had remained biting it for some time.

  By the time they were done, I was pretty sure Saria had climaxed at least once. As for Lucil, she had settled for leaving a mark in my shoulder that might st for weeks. As the three of us squeezed out from the hiding spot under the rock, the others were moving as well. Using that tight squeeze had worked, and everyone was able to fit under there. Interestingly enough, of everyone present, Mother probably would have had the most difficulty dealing with hiding under their thanks to her shapely body. I might not have been able to use this method had she been with us.

  That said, the men had moved on ahead, dragging the wyvern along with them. This left us a clear path to return to the cave. I wondered how long it would take Duheart to realize we weren’t ahead of them. Would he double back? Would he even be able to get his men to be willing to make another pass?

  Of everyone present, it was perhaps Saria and Lucil who looked to be in the worst shape. Their eyes had a haggard appearance and they looked pretty disheveled after their time under the rock. I would dwell on whatever was going on with Lucil when the situation was better. At that moment, I had to focus on survival. There were the scattered remains of bodies all around us from where the wyvern had attacked.

  Without making a noise, I gestured to the group and we started our movements back toward the cave. There was still an occasional distant cry, but we remained low and moved as quietly as possible. I had already theorized that it was safer to move as a smaller group. It was much easier to be missed when you traveled that way. However, that also meant you were destroyed if you were caught. We were able to move rather peacefully for about ten minutes, and that’s when I turned the next quarter.

  I immediately jumped back. My hand went to Saria’s mouth to stop her from talking, although she hadn’t said anything. Since our time under the rock, become extremely focused on their survival. Well, the entire group was focused now, waiting for any sign. That sign came, as there was a wyvern feasting on something right in the middle of the canyon pathway. Its back was turned to us though and its noisy eating had kept it from hearing our approach.

  Thankfully, there was a sharp enough turn at this juncture that we were able to hide too. Everyone stopped moving forward, and I gave a gesture to Captain Moar to give me his bde. His bde was a lot fatter than either my bde or Ba’s sword. He looked reluctant to give it up, but he still eased it out of his scabbard, making sure it didn’t make any noise. Easing my back against the corner, I held out the sword. While Captain Moar could be zy in a lot of ways, he had shaped up since the beginning of this journey, and keeping his sword sharp and polished seemed like the least he could do.

  It was enough I was able to get a look at the wyvern around the corner without exposing myself. I could see its tail swinging back and forth. The others could hear the crunching sounds as it broke through bones and the tearing of flesh. I looked up. At this point, it was noon and the sun was directly overhead. This was the most blinding time of day for us because it was easy for a wyvern to get a drop on us. Unless they flew directly in front of the sun, it acted as a perfect blinder.

  Furthermore, this area was completely exposed. The wyvern in the canyon couldn’t see us, but any creature flying overhead would be able to. There were no rocks or shadows to hide in. If we were seen, we’d be dead. If another wyvern alerted the wyvern in front of us, we’d be even deader. Judging from the time we had hidden under the rock, it took the wyvern at least an hour to finish their meals. We couldn’t afford to be exposed for that long. Should we head back to the rocky under area for protection? It would add another hour at least before I could follow Mother. I had already been forced to wait half a day, I didn’t want to wait for anymore.

  I gnced around, trying to decide what to do. That’s when my eyes nded on a small boulder that was sitting at the top of the canyon. It looked to be held somewhat precariously over near the edge. As I examined it through the reflection, I could see that removing a few choice stones and a good push might send it falling into the canyon, where it would nd directly onto the wyvern, crushing it.

  If I killed the wyvern, it’d create noise, drawing wyverns back to this area. However, if they are coming to this area, then they won’t be coming to any areas past this area. As long as the group could get past the crushed wyvern, the other would likely take advantage of eating it, and it’d be a distraction that would allow us to get away. The wyverns would be too stupid to put two and two together, and we’d be home free. A single minute of risk, but it could easily buy us the time needed to reach the cave safely. It’d also create a barrier of a wyvern that would prevent Duhearts return for at least a day.

  There was only one problem. We’d need to get up there and knock that bolder down by hand. For the duration of time, we would be standing on the pteau which was considered certain death to anyone who stepped on it. I worked this all out in my head in only a few moments, and then I made my decision.

  I pulled the sword back and then handed it over to Captain Moar who eagerly took his weapon back, possibly feeling naked without it. I turned around and touched the wall, looking for an area that appeared to have enough hand holes that one could climb up.

  “What are you doing?” Lucil finally hissed, the first words she had said since we had been under that rock.

  “Climbing.” I decred.

  I found a good area that felt like it would hold me, and then I started to pull up I lifted myself about five feet, and then I heard a bit of scuffling next to me. I turned to see Lucil had begun to climb too. I shook my head, but she shot me a gre.

  “You’re going to need my help.” She decred defiantly.

  “Ba can…”

  “And then who will protect your wife and servant?” She asked.

  Captain Moar frowned, but I understood what she meant. He was just a normal soldier. He wasn’t a will user or a magician. Of course, there was always Baba too… but she still looked mildly uncertain. For the usually cocksure magician who could handle anything, this was a rather arming look on her. Perhaps my mother escaping had made a hit to her confidence more than I had originally hoped. I’d need to talk to her at some point, but once again, this wasn’t the time.

  I gave a single nod to her and then looked back down at Saria and the others who looked worried. “When you get the sign, run. Keep running until you reach the cage, no matter what happens.”

  “David…” Saria looked at me worriedly.

  “No matter what. That’s an order.”

  Of course, whether they followed my order or not depended on my girls. I couldn’t make them do anything. All I could do was encourage them and hope. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time to fix their discipline now. I turned away and looked up before I began climbing the cliff. I had worried Lucil would struggle to keep up, but perhaps there was something in her animal girl DNA that made her a decent climber because she was able to pace with me without difficulty. In fact, by the time we reached the top, I was breathing harder than her.

  The canyon was only 100 meters high, but that was difficult enough considering the situation we were in. As we reached the ledge to the pteau, more and more of the sky became visible, and I became more and more mindful of flying things overhead. I could see down the rge crack in the pteau, and there were wyvern feeding in various sections upwind of us. This was a dangerous pce to be, and all it would take is one wyvern looking out direction before it was all over.

  The ground of the pteaus was ft and rocky without even the barest vegetation. Everything was brown and tan, baking under the sun. It wasn’t a desert in the same way as the area down on the ground was the desert. For example, there was no sand. It was extremely hot though, and the ground was cracking under that unrelenting heat.

  As soon as I made the edge, I wasted no time scrambling over to the rock. We’d only have one chance at this, and if we messed up, we’d be wyrm food. I carefully began to move the rocks away one at a time. This positioning seemed extremely deliberate, making me wonder if this hadn’t been prepared as a trap at some point, perhaps before this was the territory of dragons. However, it came to be, I intended to use it.

  I couldn’t push it perfectly down. We needed to shift the rock over a few feet, so I rearranged the rocks being used as wedges, and then the pair of us pushed. I had overestimated the ease of being able to roll this rock. Lucil helped push on it, the pair of us using all of our might. I had hoped to push it and down the ledge in a second, but it was rolling extremely slowly.

  We managed to get it to the side. I looked down, making sure we were directly over the wyrm. I wanted it over their main body, rather than their head. It’d be unfortunate if they lifted their head and they were out of position and it fell harmlessly. That would be the worst scenario. Once I was sure it was lined up, I gave Lucil a look. I made a gesture of three and mouthed the words, “On three.” We’d have to do it all in a single push, or it’d risk the wyvern hearing the cracking as the boulder crested the edge.

  At that exact moment, I heard earth-shattering scree from behind us. I forwent the timing and began to push the boulder desperately. Lucil did as well, and as the ball fell over, I could see the wyvern looking up to answer the cry. The rge boulder came rolling over and then falling straight on him. He was like a chicken with his head cut off, unable to make a move until the boulder crushed him. There was a rge spt, but I couldn’t pay attention to how successfully we had managed to kill the creature. Instead, I was spinning around to see a wyvern swooping down.

  “Begone!” Lucil lifted her hand, and a lightning bolt burst out.

  It struck the wyvern in the chest, as his chest immediately exploded into charged guts. He continued his fall, smming into the ground and skidding forward, lifting a wave of dust. However, it didn’t matter because Lucil had just cast a spell. That magic was like an arm, and every wyvern within the area immediately heard the dinner bell ring.

  “We need to run!” I grabbed Lucil’s hand as more and more wyvern began to roar.

  The pair of us began to race down the crack. Trying to climb back down now was suicide. I could hear the swooping and screeches of more and more wyvern. In front of us, a half dozen rose out from the canyon, flying up into the air. It was clear they were coming straight for us.

  “The cave!” I shouted. “We need to make it to the cave!”

  Our only hope now was to leap down into the canyon. It’d be a dangerous jump. We might be able to kick off the walls to slow our descent, but I wouldn’t be surprised if something was broken in the fall. Then, we’d need to get into the cave and barricade it. I had already assumed we’d lose that pathway out once we went looking for my Mother, so I had been prepared for this.

  “It’s there!” I pointed to a bend in the canyon. “We need to jump down there!”

  “Are you sure?” She cried back, struggling to keep up with my run.

  She was better at climbing than she was at running. I didn’t bother to affirm her. The crack was right in front of us and the wyvern was right behind us. We had no choice either way. I kept running and did a running jump into the pit. I was expecting to hit the wall in short order, but as soon as I was over the canyon gap, Lucil’s hand I was grabbing ranked up. I was pulled up with her.

  I looked up to see that a wyvern had caught her in its talons in mid-jump. As my body rebounded, bouncing up and then down, I lost my grip. However, I had ended up clearing the canyon, smming into the ground and a roll. I immediately recovering myself and shot a look in Lucil’s direction. My added weight had caused the wyvern to lose its grip, and with Lucil struggling, she was able to free herself, falling a good twenty feet. I watched as she fell from the wyvern’s cws. Of course, now, she wasn’t anywhere near the crack. She was nearly thirty feet out. She also looked hurt, because she didn’t immediately stand up.

  Three more wyverns seemed to bypass me and go for her. I let out a roar, drawing my sword and racing toward them. This was getting worse with each passing second. I couldn’t let them hurt Lucil. I shouldn’t have let her climb up with me. It was too dangerous. I should have recognized that.

  “Stay away from her!” I bellowed, trying to draw their interest.

  Two of the wyvern tried to reach for her, but when their cws touched, they started to fight each other, knocking the third aside. This gave me enough time to reach them. I lifted my bde, preparing to fight and kill every wyvern. Will power ran through me. I’d do whatever it took. As I let out a final cry, the wyvern suddenly parted and then leaped into the air. As I finally reached Lucil, the wyverns were flying away. I couldn’t understand why they suddenly changed their intention. One moment they were trying to eat Lucil, and the next minute, they were flying away at full pace.

  Boom! A sound that shook the earth struck right behind me. I wasn’t able to maintain my footing, and I colpsed to the ground right next to Lucil. I instinctively grabbed hold of her, which at that moment she didn’t reject at all. As I finally could see through the wave of dust that followed the sound, I could see a massive winged creature with a long tail. The wyvern practically looked like bugs compared to this creature. It was of a size that it couldn’t make it into the canyon cracks even if it wanted to. Maybe it could swipe with a hand.

  It was none other than a drake. The wyvern was scattering in all directions as the drake appeared. The creature was standing between us and the canyon. It was so rge, that part of its body shadowed the canyon. It took one look at the pair of us, and then raced forward. I couldn’t even bring my bde up as it snatched us up, and then with a single fp of its wings were airborne. I held tightly to Lucil as the drake held tightly to us. Compared to the horse-sized wyvern that struggled to pick up a man and could easily lose its grip, the drake had its cws completely around us. It wasn’t squeezing us, but it wasn’t loose either. I could immediately tell that there was no way of escape.

  Our airborn trip only took about fifteen minutes before we reached a lone mountain on the pteau. The drake headed for a massive cavern that had seemingly been carved into the side of the mountain. Once flying inside, the temperature dropped considerably. The drake finally nded and then began walking back into the dungeon. However, it kept the cw holding us up, making sure as not to damage its prey.

  Before I could wonder where we were being taken, we were let go. I found us falling through a hole in the wall. I used my body to take the impact, and we hit something hard. It was immediately followed by the sound of coins jingling. When I finally could open my eyes, I could see we were in a pit, and that pit was filled to the brim with gold, gems, and other treasure. It seemed like the drake had taken us as a prize!

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