"I'm not part of your crew! I'm not a sorcerer! I don't even wanna be here!"

Seiyul's pitiful cries fell on deaf ears. Kaldron was gone, and the looming presence of the drake was hard to ignore.

The color drained from her face as she watched the beast crawl from the earth, its square head tilting curiously at the presence of a new challenger.

"Oh crap."

She whimpered.

Changrel looked around at the other carts. At least he wasn't the worst one. Some people had lost their cart entirely. Now he was feeling rather nervous about being in the defensive zone. Still, he had a lot of faith in their fighters.

"You, move forward!"

A soldier ordered one of the carts towards the edge of the defensive zone, towards the sorcerers coming in for potions.

His eyes never left them as he leaned over to one of the other couriers.

"So, what's the current situation?"

He asked.

"It's rough, but we've already gotten one to leave the field. They're saying another's injured. So hey, nearly half way there."

"That's not so bad!"

Fights with greater drakes weren't that rare, but in most cases, they didn't fight to the death. Most of these creatures could be deterred with enough resistance, and few wanted to stay in a fight after they'd been injured. After all, there were much bigger fish to fry than humans, including defending their territories from rogues of their own kind.

"How're the fighters doing?"

"They're getting tired. We're going to find out soon enough which way this battle is turning."

Changrel leaned back, feeling more apprehensive than before. He listened to the sounds of war, but couldn't see much through the sands.

"Just listen! I'm not with them!"

Seiyul ducked out from under the huge paw. With a quick scramble she was on her feet and dashing across the sand. It seemed like no matter how fast she ran, the drake only had to lean its body in her direction to catch up.

Such was the down side of having a human form.

With a resounding crash she was flung from her feet, the beasts jaws colliding with the ground behind her.

Sand poured from the ridges of its nose and around its fiery eyes while the head smoothly glided after her. It took no effort to follow a human, but mistaken for a sorcerer, Seiyul was also mistaken for having stronger attacks to ward off her pursuer. In all the chaos, nobody seemed to realize that the impromptu-intern was running scared.

She'd never had to finish a fight with a drake. Maybe she couldn't. In this case, however, she might have to try.

She couldn't help but ponder. It seemed like there'd be no outrunning him. If she turned around, was she going to run right into her face?

She clutched the staff she'd been given. Maybe it'd be useful, but she didn't have time to evaluate it.

Her heel dug into the dirt. She whipped around.

"I don't wanna fight!"

She shouted, praying he could hear her over his own racket. Her hand thrust forward and she cast a barrier of white light, right in the center of his swinging forehead.

She flinched at the loud crack, more because she knew the barrier would break.

Yet, it seemed to have the desired effect.

The drake recoiled in confusion, his eyes looking out from beneath the dense ridges of scales. Then he lifted his head, and peered curiously at the barrier. This tiny, weak light.

- A dragon? -

He hissed, squaring off his stance.

"I'm... just passing through."

She bluffed, but he wouldn't know, hopefully.

"I didn't mean to get in the middle of this. I just... ended up here."

Silence.

The drake's eyes narrowed. He took a step forward.

- A dragon, in a crowd of sorcerers. That's no accident. -

He snarled.

- A dragon, throwing their lot in with the enemy. I'm going to enjoy putting a stop on this.  -

"No, no, I'm fine with my striders."

Changrel cheerfully announced, if not a bit defensively. He didn't want to look like he couldn't hack it at the back of the line.

"In fact, they may be the fastest of the bunch!"

He even sung their praises. They'd gotten him away from a drake, after all.

"Really? I heard they were problem animals."

The courier sneered.

"Well, maybe to someone less adaptable."

He beamed.

"Hey, look! One of them's stopped!"

The crowd seemed to be in an uproar over something. Confused, he turned around, raising his arm to shield his eyes.

Dust was drifting across the battlefield. Towering well above the bottom layer of debris stood the rock drake, staring down at something.

"What's it looking at?" Someone asked.

"Do you think they're hurt?" Asked another.

But as the wind carried the debris out of the way, he could faintly see something dark standing before the drake.

"Seiyul?"

He lowered his arm.

When he saw the drake start moving, and realized she wasn't running anymore, he gasped! He yanked a shield from the cart and dashed into the distance.

"Where are you going!?"

His colleagues called from behind.

"You don't understand! I've only just gotten here!"

Seiyul cried out, dumping power into the barrier, struggling to hold back the drake's claws.

"Then you could've left the same way!"

He drew back, pulling his arms up to his chest. With a mighty lurch the drake came crashing through the barrier. Seiyul hit the ground, following her instincts, but there was nowhere to go—

"Seiyul!"

Her breath caught in her throat. Changrel? Here?

"Hang on!"

He came sliding over to her, sand rising in his wake. With a shield over his arm, he braced it towards the sky and prayed.