The air in the chasm felt thin and a terrible heat arose where purple flames dotted the chasm wall, their flickering light perfectly illuminating the rubble below where the hunting party fell.

When I looked up, I saw Sylrin had made it through the wave of arrows and was heading for a wider alcove high up in the rock, where it would be easier to set down his captive. The elf in his grasp was no longer struggling, seemingly resigned to her fate after watching the group fall.

The pathway had exploded under my attack, leading them to fall to the layer beneath their original position, and there was no telling if they were alive or dead.

A shrill shriek echoed as one of the winged creatures rushed at me, its membranous wings alight from where the sticky flame had hit. Even in its terrible state, it still attacked me, broken mandibles flailing uselessly against my scales before I mercifully cut it down.

It didn't pay to be so exposed with them still around, so I generated more shadows to conceal myself, retreating from the flames into the darkness. And in an atmosphere that was now heavy with smoke, I waited for the dust to settle to see the damage I had done.

Most of the creatures died right after Sylrin's flame blast, but some had survived and were still rushing around, their ghoulish appearances in full view and in various stages of disrepair. I could see them clearly now, and it seemed they were no longer blind.

In the light of fire, they converged on the burning pathway below which I saw many shields and swords sticking out of the rubble. Most of the hunting party was buried and I barely made out any individuals with all the creatures flying around, and the thought that they had all died made me regret my impulsive attack.

Until a gloved hand pushed its way out from under the stones to stab one of the lingering creatures, killing it instantly, before the once pristine looking male elf got up.

His garments were completely dusty, he kept digging through the rubble until he uncovered more people. I saw the archer had survived, along with the four soldiers, and while I hadn't aimed directly at them, it was disappointing to see the archer was completely unscathed.

They looked up at the layer above them where the creatures continued to swarm around the purple flames, taking care not to alert them as all of the group's members stepped out of the rubble.

And I observed their dishevelled states, a satisfied smirk on my face, right before I took off to find Sylrin.

I suppose there was always next time.

However, I wasn't in the air long before I sensed more creatures heading their way.

There were movements below the chasm, from more creatures that gave off no heat, and from their screeching calls, they seemed to be more of the same creatures from the dome.

Cloaked in my shroud again, I felt safe to fly across the chasm knowing I would not be detected. They were likely drawn upwards by the flames, and I was confident the hunting party would properly take care of them, so none headed my way.

Without waiting to see the end result, I flew above to the alcove to see Sylrin, only to stumble across a rather puzzling scene.

As I approached, I witnessed Sylrin trip the elf with his winged arm before pressing her face down just as he bullied me in his cave. And so, as I landed beside the triumphant lizard, I made sure to smack him over the head.

Why was he not knocking her out? Did he think she was a toy?

And what was he doing playing around with all his injuries?

While he had pulled out the arrows he could reach, there were still those stuck in his shoulder and back.

However, the elf wasn't going to remain down either.

She was startled by the presence of a new creature and although she couldn't see me, I glimpsed the fear in her eyes the moment she realised her chances of escaping alive diminished drastically.

But when I looked down at her fingers – there was no ring there.

I looked all over her dark robes and there was no trace of a ring anywhere.

Perhaps it was hidden under her clothes?

I was wondering how to search her body without accidentally killing her, when Sylrin suddenly yelped.

He raised his winged arm, letting go of the elf who instantly bolted towards the alcove's edge, and I turned to Sylrin and saw the tendon of his claw was sliced through and heavily bleeding.

There was even an intricate hilt embedded there!

What kind of elf carried a concealed weapon?

I stopped to pull out the blade, leaving Sylrin to heal himself before I chased after the rude elf.

But there was really no need to chase her, because she had nowhere to run to.

Her sprinting figure reached the edge of the alcove, where she stopped.

With more than a thirty foot gap between the ridge of rock that was the alcove and the next layer below, there was only a deadly drop awaiting her. And right before that was jagged rock that could skewer her to bits, before she even met solid ground if she jumped too wide.

With the ground already being so unsteady, unless she wanted to jump off into the chasm below, she was better off staying put.

The elf girl teetered worriedly on the edge, contemplating her next move as she looked down.

Further down below, her group was locked in a desperate battle against numerous winged creatures who sought to tear them limb from limb, and with her back turned to me, I wondered what calculations were running through her head.

It didn't matter anyway, because I could see she wasn't going to jump, and so I surged ahead to drag her back.

But suddenly, the elf girl turned around, her lips moving with what could only be a chant, and suddenly an insanely bright golden light shone out from behind her dusty figure.

Shit.

There was no way to avoid it and I was struck directly.

I quickly stopped moving to prevent myself from falling off as I reached the alcove's edge, as my vision was temporarily blinded.

I was surprised, but it seemed to be a harmless light spell designed to stun, no more than a firework explosion on a particularly dark night, but to me who was caught unawares, it was like a fire forged from gold.

The light was so intense it felt like my irises had been rubbed with sandpaper, and for several seconds I was completely stunned by its effect. But aside from the burning sensation, there was no pain in my body much to my relief.

I wondered if Sylrin had been stunned too.

By the time my vision adjusted enough to see, the elf girl was already running across the wall below the alcove. And aside from a minor limp in her step, she was mostly unharmed and was getting away from me with each second.

It seemed her risk had paid off and she safely made the jump.

But why hadn't the light faded yet?

It had grown slightly smaller by condensing into a golden orb, but even at its current intensity, it was much brighter than Sylrin's flames.

I travelled along the alcove, trying to keep pace with her running figure while I fired shots of poison blades to stop her movements. But when the first winged creature rushed up from below to attack me, I knew the light was part of her attack.

It wasn't fading away and it seemed to be getting brighter the more time passed.

Soon the flying creatures from below that had been fighting against the hunting party were now drawn towards the alcove above, and worse, there were several different creatures from before clawing their way up from below the chasm.

I heard chilling screams in the distance, and another winged creature swooped down to attack me, while the golden orb glowed even brighter.

I stopped targeting the elf and focused on killing it before more followed, but the main problem was the light. I extended my shadows to try and smother it, but the intensity it gave off, diffused my shadows faster than I could generate them.

The elf was steadily getting away and I didn't know how to defuse the bomb she had left behind.

I fired several more shots after her escaping figure, but they only collided with the rocky wall as she kept moving, and my aim was off for some reason.

Although there was no pain in my body, I noticed my body began to feel strangely sluggish like there was a strain on my magic.

What the heck was that spell, was it really just light?

But when I checked my stats, I was stunned.

--------------

Name: Aurelia [LV23 Small Cerastes]

Specie: Cerastes Vipera

HP: 275/536 Defence: 298

MP: 237/480 Intellect: 330

SP: 320/574 Magic: 438

Attack: 624 Agility: 466

--------------

Why was my HP so low?