After telling Sylrin to go all out, I started looking for a way to shield myself.

But Sensei interjected with a different opinion.

«Telling him to burn them will only make it worse. They detest light but at the same time, the power within it is the very thing they crave. They only attacked you to obtain it in the best way they know.»

Why was he speaking in riddles? None of what he said made any sense.

What sort of power were they trying to obtain by eating me and Sylrin?

"How are we supposed to get out of here when the surge of creatures is endless?!" I shot back at him. I couldn't tell Sylrin to stop now without an alternative or we would never escape from here.

And so, on the slim chance that he heard my command, I rushed into the air, grabbing the flying monster waiting in ambush, along with several other dead creatures on the ground, before huddling under them in a protective coil.

The winged monster clawed at me with its talons, but I didn't have to restrain it for long.

A bright light swept out in the middle of the horde, as a pillar of purple flame blossomed into a searing hot wave. It washed over the alcove, alighting every creature in the vicinity, and there was an intense scramble as the creatures tried to flee.

Under my makeshift shield, I felt the intense heat, but it was bearable when the creatures around me bore the brunt of it. The winged creature eventually clawed its way out, but even it could not escape its fate of being burnt to crisp, so I doubted any of the fleeing creatures managed to get away.

The flame bombardment took a long time, and I was thankful for the time spent in Sylrin's cave that allowed me to withstand heat, even if it was through the use of some shields. Eventually the flames stopped, and I came out to a sea of charred remains.

Most of the creatures had been struck dead, and those that hadn't were severely burned and in near death.

There was a rotten stench in the air, unlike that of burnt flesh and I searched around for Sylrin and found him in the middle of the burning corpses.

He was the only one left standing in the midst of the terrible scene and I rushed to examine him, as he was teetering. He had several claw marks on his tough skin where he'd been repeatedly wounded, and although some had closed, those that remained were not regenerating.

Sylrin was breathing hard and somewhat delirious, and the moment he saw me, he collapsed into a pile. I was extremely worried but I couldn't allow him to pass out.

We had to get out of here before more creatures were attracted to the burning flames. I nudged him awake, feeding him several [Healing Potion] until I saw some of his wounds closing.

But in such a tense situation I felt it was taking too long.

The problem was one of Sylrin's wings.

Preventing him from flying seemed to have been the focus of the creatures, because both of his wings had been repeatedly attacked, and one of them had a long gash that wasn't closing quickly enough.

«Most of his magic was spent on that last attack.» Sensei informed me. «It will take a long time before he can gather enough to heal that wing.»

But we didn't have any time, and I was sure this wouldn't be the end of it.

The creature's abnormal focus on Sylrin made me uneasy, and somewhat paranoid at the thought of their return.

So when I heard a sudden noise, I struck out wildly at the first thing I saw moving.

It was a winged monster at the edge of the alcove and my poison blade sliced through it before it could make a move.

I rushed over to it, and noticed some of the burnt creatures further away had survived death and were still twitching even with the most severe burns.

Those that were still alive were sliced repeatedly until they couldn't move.

Their coordination and unusual constitution had put us at a disadvantage. If any escaped and returned with more, Sylrin and I would be too exhausted to deal with them.

After stopping several, I looked over more of the corpses near the edge for any movement, and also scanned below the chasm for any others that could be lurking.

I found nothing, but I had a naggy feeling of being observed and noticed a spot of unusually thick shadows several feet below. It was almost like the shadowy outline of a creature standing perfectly still, staring right back at me from the ominous darkness.

I was startled by the mere thought, however the shadow soon appeared to be normal like there was never anything there.

It was only for a moment, but it made me panic.

Was I mistaken? Was it just the stress and paranoia?

In this strange place within the dark mist, it was hard to tell, but one thing was for sure - we couldn't linger around anymore.

Sylrin would have to bear with his injuries and fly until we got out of the chasm.

His wings were still damaged but after ingesting several healing potions, they were functional enough to lift himself into the air and we cautiously made our way to find the exit.

It was difficult for Sylrin to fly, but we managed to get past the rubble where the elf had collapsed.

In the midst of this, I noticed the hunting party was gone, the area where they had fought was littered with minced corpses, but without any sign of the mortals.

I thought they were either dead or had escaped in the chaos.

I was concerned with their disappearance, as I would have preferred to know where they were to make sure they weren't a further threat.

And so, I checked my stats to see how much HP I had recovered, and what options I had.

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

Name: Aurelia [LV23 Small Cerastes]

Specie: Cerastes Vipera

HP: 330/536 Defence: 298

MP: 189/480 Intellect: 330

SP: 250/574 Magic: 438

Attack: 624 Agility: 466

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

On the alcove, it had been difficult to create more shadows and I wondered if this was because I had expended too much MP after creating so many dark blades in a row.

But aside from that, I was happy to see my health was recovering after the elf's attack.

It was impossible to fly to the top without any form of stealth, so I tested out my [Shadow Shroud] once more to see if I could cloak Sylrin.

And to my surprise, it formed properly, the shadows dense and plentiful unlike before.

We were almost at the top of the chasm, and I thought it was very odd. I had even less magic than before, so what was different?

We were nearing the area where the domed building had collapsed, and I glanced back at Sylrin through the dark mist to see how he was faring.

His flight was not very smooth, and he kept dipping up and down as if it took all of his focus just to stay in the air.

I kept pace with him so he wouldn't fall too far behind and made a mental note to give him another [Healing Potion] as soon as we got out of here.

We flew past a corner lined with jagged rocks when I felt an unusual draught sweep past me from below. I stopped in the air and looked back at Sylrin who was catching up, only to see the shadow of a large wingspan gliding in the air below him.

It was larger than me and similar size to Sylrin, but it was shaped like a snake, its slender body rippling through the air below the sharp claws of its leathery wings.

I saw a line of spikes along its back, growing from the two points along its streamlined head that was shaped like a dragon.

It didn't seem like it had noticed us, and I fervently hoped Sylrin will remain silent until it passed.

But suddenly something fast rushed by, followed by Sylrin's roar as he was tackled out of the air.

Another creature had appeared from behind the jagged rocks, undetectable and devoid of heat in the darkness. I only caught a glimpse of a serpentine winged form, before I lost track of Sylrin's figure in the mist.

Then the winged shadow below began to sink into the darkness until all trace of it vanished.

There were two of them?!

One had acted as the distraction and while we were focused on it, the other had taken Sylrin.

I heard the creature's roar, the sound like the rattling of dry bones, followed by a pained roar from Sylrin.

Soon, I felt another draught and noticed something large sweeping towards me.

However, I did not give the second creature any chance to attack me and dove into the mist after Sylrin.