Lan and the others were moving before they knew it, rushing through the door at the end of the lab. They had found the room because they had heard a voice coming from it, making it clear that the mage couldn’t be far, they just couldn’t, Lan thought as the hallways blurred past.

  Even as Sora retook the lead, they didn’t need him to scout; they only needed to follow the tripped traps as they raced down the halls. That was until they came to a split in the hall, with both of them cleared.

  ‘Split up. Lan, you’re with me.’ Drevin shouted before grabbing Lan and moving him behind him. His shield began to glow, and the light stretched to cover them as Vulk and Sora vanished down the other hallway.

  ‘This will only last three minutes, so run fast,’ the guardian said as the two plunged into the hallway.

  As they ran, a thought tried to push its way into Lan’s mind, and after running for a while without hitting any traps, the thought won out. The traps had been triggered, but there were no bodies. If this was how they had come through, shouldn’t there be more and not less? Almost like they weren’t heading out the same way they came.

  A few times as they passed a side hall, Lan saw Sora and Valk in the other hall, and then almost unceremoniously, Lan and Drevin turned the next corner and almost ran headfirst into just the group they were looking for. Three men in orange trousers and a man holding a box. It wasn’t the mage, but the clothes’ look and style were clearly from Leeto.

  ‘Who are you!’ the man demanded as he backed up as if ready to run down the other hall before Sora and Valk burst out.

  ‘We are going to need you to return that box.’ Drevin started forward. ‘That is property of Crownguard.’ Drevin took another step, his voice carrying the full authority of a Knight of Crownguard. The man backed up some more, seeing Sora and Valk before looking to the hallway from which they had just come. ‘Once you have returned it, we can.’ Drevin started but stopped as the man raised his hand and ordered.

  ‘Attack.’ The man shouted, and three orange trousered men charged at the four with desperate terror in their eyes. Faster than one would think, two charged at Drevin, and one of them threw himself on Drevin’s shield while another dived onto Sora and Valk, dragging them down with him. For a moment, Lan wondered if the others would strike these men down before he heard Drevin.

  ‘Lan, go after him, we will deal with these three.’

  Of course, it only took one look at the men as he ran past to tell Lan they were no threat, just desperate, broken men who had been given an impossible task and would follow it the only way they knew how, by sacrificing themselves.

  Lan pushed the thought out of his mind. Drevin and the others would deal with that, so he had to do his part and catch the running man. Luckily, it seemed like the man had known there weren’t any traps after the point they had passed, as he turned down hallways without a care. Even with the head start, Lan started to catch up with him.

  Just as Lan closed in, the man took a ring off his finger and threw it onto the ground. The ring hit the ground just as the man passed it and bounced higher than it should. Reaching eye level with Lan, turning white hot and exploding.

  ‘Damn!’ Lan cried as shards of light stabbed him in the eyes. Tripping, Lan wished Tyr were with him as he used the wall to hold himself up and pushed himself forward. Fortunately, Lan’s vision cleared enough for him to see the man turn down another side hall.

  Lan followed, blinking away the stars in his eyes as he used the hall to help him make the turn. Pushing off it, Lan heard Drevin and the others rush behind him.

  ‘Lan!’

  ‘I’m fine.’ Lan called, shaking his head and falling behind them as Sora grabbed his arm to guide him.

  Suddenly, there was another explosion, and Drevin dashed forward to shield them, the flames pouring around the shield, but not slowing them.

  When the flames cleared, Lan saw the man crawling into a gap that he had blasted in the wall. Reaching it, Lan and the others went through only to be met with thousands of golden bees lying dead in piles like mountains around a cavernous hall. The hall was similar to the one they had fallen into, only almost all of the pillars had been knocked down, and it looked like something had polished the walls to the point of rounding them in some parts. Looking above, Lan found a similar sight—a hole where the ceiling had caved in.

  ‘There!’ Valk called, pointing to the man who dove behind one of the piles. Splitting once again, Lan and Drevin moved to cut off the man as Sora and Valk followed him. In a moment, the man came into view.

  The second he saw them, the man raised his fist and fired lightning from another ring at Lan, making Drevin stop to throw his shield in front of him as the man climbed between the two piles.

  Reaching the end of the piles, the man jumped down and was faced with the greatest mountain of bees. After a moment, the man started right, only to stop as Sora’s dagger buried itself before him. The man jumped, turned and turned white as a bolt of lightning cracked over the stone from Valk.

  ‘Nowhere left to run,’ Drevin stepped forward, only this time he would not be caught out, none of them would, Lan thought as he and the rest moved to block the man.

  ‘How dare you chase me like some animal!’ the man cried as he took a step back. ‘Do you know who I am, who my family is? No, no, you wouldn’t, would you? You crownrats are all the same, as high and mighty as you are clueless. Why else would you be standing in the way of me saving the world?’

  ‘Man, this guy can talk.’ Valk sighed.

  ‘As I said before, what you found belongs to Crownguard, taking it when you know as much will cause conflict between our two kingdoms.’

  ‘You are talking about kingdoms!’ the man laughed, taking another step towards the pile. ‘With this power, I could change the world and send armies against the scourge if I wanted.’ He laughed as if already planning what to do when he got past the four of them.

  ‘He has got to be buying time.’ Lan whispered to the others as it clicked for him. The mage… They had to fit into all of this somewhere.

  ‘Give the word and I will knock him out.’ Sora said under his breath, but the man started to move at that moment, reaching for something as monstrous jaws closed around him.

  ‘Ah, the salamander!’ Valk shouted and pointed. Lan looked up and kept looking up to see what was before him fully.

  Like a dragon atop its hoard, the salamander looked down on them from the largest pile of bees with almond-shaped eyes larger than Drevin, with a head like a half-moon. Although scaled, the salamander looked almost soft, with stubby arms and legs and short, dull claws like round stones. It was almost cute if you didn’t look right at it.

  ‘What do we do?’ Lan asked as he reached for Spell Thief.

  ‘Vulk?’ Drevin asked. ‘Any chance of saving them?’

  ‘Nah.’ Vulk barked. At least he didn’t even know it was happening.’

  ‘And what are the chances of us ending up like him?’ Sora added his daggers, appearing in his hands.

  ‘I wouldn’t worry too much about it. It only ate that guy because he got too close, and looking around, I would say the dumb lizard is still in a playful mood after letting out its rage on these bees.’

  ‘You sure about this one?’ Lan asked, noticing for the first time that the bees looked like they had been stacked.

  ‘Yeah.’ Valk sighed, ‘Young salamanders are like giant puppies. That’s why we need to keep them out of the strongholds as they quickly become a problem when they think we are all playing with them.’

  ‘Okay…’ Sora picked up, ‘and how do you know this one is a young one?’ Sora finished as the salamander lowered its head until its massive eye was level with them before tilting its head like a bewildered dog.

  ‘More than sure, there hasn’t been an elder salamander since before my grandfather. They need a place with a lot of mana, metal and food to mature.’

  The moment Valk finished speaking. The salamander’s moon-like pupil snapped to the size of a hand as it twisted into a sharp diamond before crimson red bled into its golden yellow iris.

  With a ground-shaking roar, the salamander rose as its large, round head began to stretch and pull into a more draconic visage, but with long fins on the back of its skull like monoliths. With another roar, the salamander’s limbs grew as jets of magma burst from under its skin, setting fire to the piles of bees even as it coated and turned the salamander’s skin an obsidian black.

  As the last roar died in the beast’s throat. It started to pull air into its lungs with enough force to make it hard for Lan to breathe and make its chest begin to burn like a furnace.

  ‘Get behind me!’ Drevin roared as he slammed his shield into the stone floor.

  Moving on the command and not thought or instinct, Lan and the others threw themselves behind the party’s guardian as a blast that Lan could only describe as vaporised lava slammed into the golden wall of magic that rose from Drevin’s shield to meet it.

  Feeling pain shoot through him, Lan clamped his hand over his mouth and nose as the air became hot enough to burn in his lungs, watching the piles of bees turn to coal before even that was burned away to nothing.

  ‘Brake!’ Dreven shouted the moment the roar ended and Lan and the others moved, leaping in different directions as the salamander crashed into the spot they had just been in.

  ‘What happened to no mature salamanders!’ Sora shouted as he threw a dagger, only for it to bounce off the beast’s hide.

  ‘I don’t know what this is!’ Vulk shouted back as he rolled to his feet. ‘This must be what happens if a salamander matures without enough to eat.’

  ‘Whatever it is, what are the chances of it calming down before reaching the stronghold or the city?’ Lan asked as he instinctively reached for the fire silk before thinking better of it.

  ‘Let’s not find out.’ Drevin declared, as red mist rose from him before he slammed his sword on the face of his shield. ‘Over here!’ he called, his voice amplified by magic. As if the rest had vanished the moment Drevin’s voice reached the monster, it roared and shot a stream of lava-infused breath at the guardian.

  Lan and the others moved almost at the same time. Sora was the first to reach the salamander and slashed its foreleg with both daggers, gaining nothing but a shower of sparks. Recovering, Sora’s daggers began to glow purple before he made a quick cross cut and flipped back as the salamander’s tail whipped around on its own.

  ‘Vulk!’ Sora said.

  ‘On it.’ Vulk barked as he jumped and rolled over the returning tail before throwing his body into the swing, aiming at the mark Sora had drawn. The moment the hammer met the marked spot, the glowing marks exploded, sending chips of black obsidian scales flying.

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  ‘Damn that’s all a crit mark did?’ Sora breathed, but although there was little damage, it was still enough to get the salamander’s attention. Stopping the breath that had begun to heat Drevin’s shield, it turned and swiped at Vulk and Sora.

  Being on the other side of the beast, Lan didn’t see what happened after that, so he shot forward, the ice falling from Spell Thief as he aimed its point between two scales of its back right leg. Spell Thief stuck only because of the ice that grew from the sword’s point and Lan realised there wasn’t even a gap in its armour to aim for before the salamander kicked its back leg and threw Lan into the air as Spell Thief broke free from the ice.

  ‘Lan!’

  Lan heard his name from a few different voices, but the one that stood out as the room spun away from him was The Voice. Followed by an impression from Tyr as she shot out of the wall Lan was just about to crash into. Wisp Walking, Lan watched the world race away even more wildly before he appeared beholden to no laws but his own.

  Twisting and rolling in the air, Lan landed on the ceiling.

  ‘Tyr?’ Lan thought. ‘Nice timing.’

  {Well, you did wish she were with you, did you not} the voice laughed. Looking at his Tome, Lan found that almost all of the domain had been mapped out, but it was incomplete, with the third, between them and the mapped part still blank

  Sitting low on the ceiling, Lan now had a good view of the fight. Somehow, the salamander looked larger from up there; happily, no one had been hurt.

  Drevin had gotten the salamander’s attention again, and it looked like Sora was aiming to mark that beast again with the glowing blades. But Drevin’s shield had to be becoming uncomfortable under the heat.

  Tyr sent an impression, and Lan found himself smiling at the thought; his little light wanted to join in already.

  {I will keep an eye on the tail,} the voice said excitedly.

  He couldn’t argue with that. Lan thought as he rolled his neck, stood up, and dug his heels in before shooting towards the fight.

  As he closed in with the salamander’s head, he twisted, throwing himself into a wheel, avoiding the superheated breath and putting himself parallel to the beast before striking it on the head, spinning away as it flinched.

  ‘Lan!’ Drevin called, breathing hard as steam rose from his armour.

  ‘Catch your breath!’ Lan called back. ‘I’ll keep it busy!’ he added before kicking off the air, shooting towards the salamander as it twisted its body to bring its open jaws to meet him.

  With a short leap foreword the salamander’s jaws snapped shut as Lan appeared from His Wisp Walk behind it and spun into the back of it’s head with a clash of steel and stone that made Lan’s ears ring and his arms ache from the impact even as he let the spin carry him to the ground.

  As the ice melted from its face, the salamander roared and tried to chase him, wriggling around its own body as it snapped at him. It was fast for its size, too fast.

  Hitting the ground, Lan rolled and shifted his weight so each step would carry him further before picturing a steep hill that grew ever steeper. Lan back-flipped when he was almost parallel with the wall, leaving the salamander to stretch its neck to get to him.

  Upside down, Lan watched the lizard rise on to it’s back claws, it’s jaws primed to entomb Lan, whow readied to Wisp Walk away before he spotted Sora’s marks on it’s front right leg and Drevin, his steps eating the ground as he charged, this wasn’t the guardian leap even though his shield was glowing and he was picking up speed quickly. Lan had a moment to wonder why, if any moment called for an attack that would crush walls, this was it.

  Drevin hit the salamander’s leg with the sharp sound of shattering stone, followed by a roar of deep pain as the lizard stumbled and crashed into the wall.

  Lan and the others’ victory was short-lived as even as the salamander rose to its feet, its chest began to glow, the air starting to heat to burning again.

  ‘Get behind me!’ Drevin called, and Lan Wisp Walked to him, just as Sora and Vulk slid behind cover too.

  ‘Nice flying.’ Sora grinned as he thumped Lan on the shoulder.

  ‘Nice… Marks… Lan tried, although he didn’t know how, it was clear those marks were the only reason they had damaged the salamander.

  ‘Critical Marks.’ Sora laughed. ‘It takes any impact delivered to it and focuses it all into the mark.’ Sora explained with the slight edge to his voice like a man waiting for a punch they knew was coming.

  And yet the blast of superheated air never came.

  After a moment, Lan and the others looked over the shield only to see the corrupted elder lizard sitting on its haunches, the fire in its chest having spread throughout its body as if it were bleeding lava.

  ‘This… is new.’ Lan breathed, knowing they should use this chance to strike but not knowing if they had the time for it.

  The moment the lava reached the tips of the beast’s nose and tail, the salamander roared before leaping high into the air, and diving into the stone like it was water, even making a drop impact as cracks of lava spidered over the rocks as the salamander swam towards them.

  When the cracks were almost halfway to them, the salamander erupted from the stone like a shark, the grand cooling as the salamander took all the heat with it. Roaring, it aimed to end them in one snap of its jaws.

  No order was needed as Lan and the others took off in different directions. The beast again crashed into the spot where they had been standing, turning the stone into a molten wave that lifted the top layer of the stone.

  Emerging again, the salamander turned in the air as it went for Sora but the rogue was too fast, managing to run up a still standing pillar before kicking off into a back flip leaving the salamander to crash into the pillar, sending large chunks of stone raining down and opening a small hole in the roof.

  Rolling to its feet, the salamander sank back into the stones, the solid rock bubbling as it disappeared before it started to chase Vulk, breaking the surface as it took on speed to catch him. Suddenly, Vulk turned, leapt and rolled to his feet on the salamander’s back.

  ‘Shit, this is hot!’ he barked, running along it’s back before jumping off. with it’s target gone, the salamander turned and dived, it’s long tail whipping molten rock into the air.

  ‘Does anyone have an idea on how to hurt it?’ Vulk groaned.

  ‘No.’ Sora sighed, his eye scanning for the salamander. ‘This would be a lot easier if Cassandra were here.’

  As if things couldn’t get any worse, the ground shook harder until Lan felt the stone under his feet split in two as the small amount of crust began to churn like the ocean.

  ‘Oh come on!’ Vulk cried as he jumped on a pillar, only to have it begin to sink as the others looked for solid ground.

  Lan looked at Drevin, of all of them, he didn’t think the full suit of armour would agree with the current environment.

  Tyr sent an alert, and Lan Wisp Walked just as the salamander’s jaws snapped closed where he had just been, then sank and shot towards Drevin with blinding speed as Vulk and Sora skipped on the ever-dwindling ground.

  Despite his stocky build, Lan couldn’t help but notice how well Vulk moved, running, jumping and rolling almost as well as Sora.

  Kicking off the air, Lan raced toward Dreven, only for the charging guardian to wave for him to fly up.

  Lan did, digging his heels into the air before Drevin’s shield began to glow, and he shot into the air.

  Lan had just enough time to wonder why he had used the guardian leap this time when the voice spoke.

  {He needs to have a life force to lock onto.} The Voice said just then, Drevin stopped next to Lan as the salamander closed its jaws around the air Drevin had been in, not wasting a second as he turned to Vulk.

  ‘Damn, it seems to be getting faster.’ Drevin said as Lan Wisp Walked to reset his timer before grabbing the larger man’s arm, his mind racing with what the voice had told him.

  ‘Lan, there.’ Drevin said, pointing to an island of rubble to which Sora and Valk were already making their way. Drevin began to drop, and Lan aimed for the island.

  As they crashed onto it. Sora and Vulk jumped atop it.

  ‘I am getting sick of this.’ Vulk sighed.

  ‘With it melting the stone, we can’t really land any real hits.’ Drevin noted.

  ‘And I can’t call down any Lightning down here.’ Vulk offered even as Lan’s eyes started to dart around, a shadow of a plan forming.

  ‘What if you could reach one of those holes up there?’ Lan pointed to the two openings in the roof.

  ‘I could bring down heaven. That is if I could reach it.’ the dwarf frowned, but Lan barely noticed as he nodded and turned to Sora.

  ‘Your marks, can you stack them… and how many can you do?’

  ‘Three more, and yeah, but that would just spread out the impacts.’ Sora frowned too.

  ‘Just what we need.’ Lan said as a plan started to form.

  ‘What have you got, Lan?’ Drevin said like he could see the wheels turning in Lan’s head, but even without having said anything yet, having asked the questions had the others thinking about how it fit in.

  ‘I think…’ That was all Lan managed before the island rose and exploded as the salamander burst through it, scattering them.

  Luckily, having pulled so far from the stones, it was cold enough for the others to land and take off.

  Lan Wisp Walked, flying back as he watched the others, and for the salamander as it sank again.

  ‘Lan!’ Drevin called.

  ‘Sit tight, I think I can ground the big gecko!’ Lan shouted back before dropping until he just touched the ground and took off. The Hunter’s Song filled his mind as the flow of something hotter than lava filled his blood. Running towards the salamander’s last attack spot, Lan entered the molten lake and in moments, felt the rumble of the salamander.

  Tyr sent an alert, and Lan dove, the great lizard leaping out of the lava, snapping its jaws as it came up to its back legs before letting gravity drag it back down.

  As the massive bulk slammed into the lake, a tidal wave of lava grew around and behind Lan. Tyr sent an alert, but Lan just gritted his teeth. Even though he wanted to just Wisp Walk away, especially when the heat seemed to double, he couldn’t. Lan needed the salamander to follow him, and he was afraid flying away would only make it change targets, so he dug his heels in and pushed forward.

  With the salamander on his heels, the ground began to bubble again, bits of debris bobbing out in front of him as the waves threw smaller pieces at him. Lan dodged all of them even as he started to take damage from the heat, and just before the waves collapsed in on themselves. Lan put on a burst of speed, diving out and rolling before shooting up just as the salamander broke through the lava under them.

  As if pulling the beast behind him, Lan flew just out of reach. When it was fully out of the lava and the stone had cooled again, Lan reached into the chest for what was left of his ice potions and threw them into the lizard’s mouth, only then allowing Tyr to guide him away.

  Appearing and rolling to his feet near Sora, Lan, and the others, watched as the salamander started to fall, slowly rolling in the air to aim down again. Lan felt his heart sink, but just before it reached the stone. The lava in the salamander’s body waxed and waned before it slammed headfirst into the stone, shaking the hall and blasting the stone to dust.

  ‘Great work, Lan!’ Lan heard as Drevin shot past him and slammed his shield into the leg of the salamander, interrupting it before it could build up its heat again.

  Sora was moving too, and when the salamander dropped its head to bite Drevin, he slashed its right eye, leaving the glowing marks on it.

  Landing and rolling away from the lizard claws, Sora looked at Lan as if to ask if that was what he had wanted.

  Lan nodded, and Sora’s image blurred with a nod back.

  Lan turned his attention back to Drevin and the salamander, only to find the Guardian and Vulk working as one to keep the salamander off balance. With Drevin driving it back and Vulk attacking its leg, one of the sounds of steel on stone rang deeper, and the salamander roared.

  Even before he saw the chips fly off, Lan moved, picking up speed before Wisp Walking and driving Spell Thief into the gap. The salamander roared even deeper before throwing Lan and ramming its head into Drevin.

  As Lan used the Silver Wind to cushion himself, it put him in the right spot to watch Sora running along the wall, climbing higher as the salamander flailed madly until its wild struggling left it facing Sora. The moment it did, Sora turned to face it and leapt off the wall.

  Closing the gap between them, Sora drew his daggers on the same mark as before, only for the salamander’s tail to lash into him.

  Time slowed as Lan saw Sora’s health drop to less than half. Despite hurdling towards a wall when Lan locked eyes with Sora, they seemed to share the same thought. Vulk couldn’t keep the salamander pinned on his own, and if it was able to dive again, there most likely wouldn’t be another chance.

  The world raced past as Lan Wisp Walked behind his friend and turned, crossing his arms and activating his shield arm.

  ‘Sora!’ Lan shouted, a new voice joining the Hunter’s Song as Sora twisted in the air without looking, almost as if he knew Lan would be there, landing and kicking off Lan’s shield before blitzing the salamander, scoring the last two marks.

  ‘Vulk!’ Lan called and pointed to one of the holes in the roof.

  Vulk’s eyes drew a line to where Lan was pointing, then grew wide before he took off away from the salamander, just as the lava began to build again.

  Wisp Walking to recharge the Silver Wind, Lan flew towards the salamander, dodging the tail, changing direction when he was close and flying up towards its head.

  The salamander staggered back, folding its body in on itself in an attempt to eat Lan.

  Lan rolled to the left, and as the jaws shut, he put on a burst to speed. To his joy, the salamander followed him, first with its massive eye, then its head rolled. Flying up, Lan spun, pulled up until he was above the beast and let the Silver Wind drag him down as if he had jumped into a pool of water.

  For a moment, the salamander lost sight of Lan, its head pausing for a heartbeat as Lan fell behind it.

  Falling Lan looked across the hall to where Drevin had climbed to his feet. Lan wondered if, from the guardian’s point of view, he and Sora’s marks would have lined up in the way he pictured it, and if they did, if Drevin would risk it.

  Lan didn’t need to worry; the Song had taken all of them, and just as the salamander’s head blocked his view, he saw Drevin bring his shield forward, and then it started to glow.

  The sound of a siege weapon’s shot filled the air before Drevin’s shield connected with the salamander’s marked eye with the force of a ballistic missile.

  Stunned, the salamander let out a deep trilling sound, its head snapping back enough for Lan to see the chasms parting its eye. It was hurt but wouldn’t be out of the fight for long, Lan thought, just as he saw Vulk.

  With small sparks arching his body, Lan watched Vulk charge up the pillar the salamander had knocked down. When he reached the top, he jumped, his powerful legs lifting him high into the air. Small bolts of lightning arced around him as he reached halfway to the opening before he started to fall.

  The world fell away, and Lan grabbed Vulk’s hand before digging his heels in, spinning and throwing him. Maybe it was because Lan needed him to reach the opening, but as Lan let go of Vulk’s hand, the Silver Wind wrapped around him, leaving Lan with just enough to float to the ground, and Vulk gained speed.

  Once he realised what was happening, Vulk began to laugh, a deep thundering sound that followed the sky’s darkening. As he passed the opening, a large bolt of golden lightning struck him, his laughter seeming to fill the sky, the lightning arcing from him, reaching and lighting the walls before he shot towards the salamander and brought his hammer down.