As they climbed upward, the hill became more rocky and heavy shade became less absolute. The climb became steeper and more rocky instead of going around it. Barinon finally stopped and Hailey gasped for breath behind him.

“Why are we going straight up this hill?”

“Because we need something from the top. Then we will come back down and make our way to the well.”

Her stomach rumbled at the thought. She missed that breakfast now more than ever. Her legs were beginning to shake when she walked. “Is it much further?” She asked him. She couldn’t help the whine in her voice. She was going to be unable to move tomorrow. The lack of food and small amounts of water were starting to make her dizzy.

“It should be a much easier walk after we make it to the top. Going back down is always easier when you’re young,” he grumbled.

She tried not to feel happy about the fact that even he was beginning to feel tired. It was infuriating trying to keep up with his long strides. She didn’t even want to think about what was happening to her pinky toe. It would be one big blister by now.

She was feeling tired and grouchy but he looked at her with kind eyes and said, “I know you’re tired. I am too, but this is an important part of becoming a mage. The good news is that we won’t have to walk all the way back. I should be able to create a doorway of sorts to get us right back to the manor.”

“Are you serious?” She had never heard of such a thing.

He nodded. “By the end of the day, you will be able to create one of your own. Before we go on, I want to be completely honest with you so you know what you are trading. Hedge witches can be very powerful, but they will only ever have one or two spells available to them. They are also not as accurate. Once you bind yourself to the well, there will be infinite possibilities, infinite spells that you could learn, but it does come at a price and there are always responsibilities attached to becoming a mage, responsibilities that the well herself will show you, but you should know that you will be required to put the kingdom’s lives above your own, which means that you will have to be prepared to face any threats that come to the kingdom.”

Hailey gulped. He had said this all before. The fact that he was telling her again made it all seem very important that she understand what she was getting herself into, but he probably didn’t realize that she couldn’t possibly say no. She needed to protect her people. It was what she had set out to do ages ago. She would do it again.

“Above all, you must protect the heir. If he dies, the entire kingdom except for its mages die alongside him.” Berinon groaned and stood. “Are you ready to continue?”

She shook her head. “You said that all of people die but not the mages. What happens to them?”

“The forest will overtake the kingdom if the heir dies without someone to pass that magic to. Mages will not be harmed by that, but they may go mad trying to protect everyone in their kingdom or they may flee to another one. It has happened before. You saw the spires of the black castle? That is an entire kingdom that fell. No one could live there now except a mage.”

He left it at that, and they continued up the side of the hill. When he stopped again, she looked up and fear gripped her instantly. Before them stretched the maw of a cave, massive and dark. Trees had been knocked down around the mouth of cave. Trunks were snapped in half, some of them larger around than she was. She looked at Barinon with terror. Something huge lived in that cave, something she did not want to come face to face with.

Hailey swallowed. “Why are we here?” Something large had obviously come this way before.

Barinon handed her his waterskin. The water felt amazing on her parched throat, but she could not enjoy it. She looked at him until he responded. “The rite you will perform today, the one that will give you access to abilities you cannot even imagine requires a magical sacrifice.”

“You’re going to kill me?”

Barinon looked at her aghast. “Of course not. I don’t know if the lady at the well would accept you as a sacrifice anyway.” He took a deep breath. “The lady of the well requires a magical sacrifice, something made of magic or something that is innately magic. In this cave is something she will accept, something she has accepted before.”

Hailey shuddered. “What’s in there?”

“A dragon, Barinon said.” Hailey looked at him like he was the craziest person she had ever met.

“The dragon? The one that keeps breathing fire on the castle?”

He nodded. “That’s the one. It lives here in this cave. I don’t think that if we kill it first, the scale will still count as an offering to The Lady. Remember to use your invisibility if you have to, but don’t until she knows you are there. It might be easier for her to sense you if you are using magic, since she is a creature of magic herself.”

“You mean I have to go in there alone?” Her voice was a shrill whisper.

He nodded and then explained to her exactly what she was looking for. A dragon scale.

Hailey couldn’t remember feeling this terrified before. She snuck up slowly on the mouth of the cave, coming to it at an angle. Her heart felt like it was beating a million times a minute in an erratic pattern. She was certain that if the dragon didn’t sense her sneaking up on it, it would hear her breathing or the beating of her heart.

What was she doing here? A long and deep breath came from the mouth of the cave. She wanted to scream and run away, but she had come all this way. Could she really turn back now? Part of her screamed yes. Turn back, don’t let it eat you for some fool quest that the crazy mage wants to send you on. Run back to the castle and be safe. He would probably take her home if she asked him to, right?

She straightened her shoulders and crept closer, flattening herself agains the wall of the cave. She could do this. Other mages, no she reminded herself, other hedge witches had done this quest and had somehow survived. Maybe dragons were deep sleepers. As if to answer her thoughts, another deep breath pushed out through the cave. She wrinkled her nose. It smelled like rotting meat. Now that she was close enough she could hear the flies buzzing inside the cave. This was not only going to be the scariest thing that had ever happened to her, it was going to be disgusting as well. She was suddenly glad of her empty stomach.

She glanced back at Barinon who nodded to her and then turned the corner and stepped into the shadow of the cave. The dragon that stretched out before her was beautiful, all purple and silver scaling. It had stripes down it’s back, each a darker shade of the purple that covered it’s body. The stripe down the back of its spine was darkest. The stripes came to a point at the tip of its tail. Its massive head was spiny and its eyes were closed. It had a long snout and spikes behind its skull. It lay on it’s side, with its tail curled around itself like a cat. One massive wing lay part way open. The other was folded tightly against its body.

For a moment she forgot herself and just looked in wonder at the amazing beast. Then it snorted, sending hot breath at her and she remembered why she was here. She glanced around the floor of the cave. Her best bet was to find a scale that had fallen from the creature’s body. She did not want to think about what she would have to do if she didn’t find one. A small shudder ran through her and she moved, stepping as quietly as she could and keeping as clear of the creature, as she could manage, she moved along the wall.

She looked about everywhere. There had to be at least one scale that had fallen, she told herself. It would be like looking for a hair that had fallen off of her head, only bigger, right? The thought calmed her. Of course there would be a scale somewhere in this cave. The cave was surprisingly empty. From the smell, she had expected to see carcasses of wild animals strewn across the floor. She inched farther into the cave, hoping that she would find something. Even in the darkness, the dragon’s scales shimmered. Her heart sunk as she realized that she would have to pry one off the dragon. There was one hanging part way off, as if it were preparing to fall. It was just above its massive back leg. That one was too high for her to reach. Another that seemed that it might fall sometime soon was in the dragon’s tail. Hopefully the dragon would not feel things in its tail as much as it did in the rest of its body. She could do this.

She took a deep breath and walked closer to the dragon, grabbed the scale and pulled. The scale came loose in her hands. The dragon roared and Hailey went invisible. It thrashed its tail and Hailey was thrown deeper back into the cave. She thought it would turn and eat her then, but the dragon screeched and flew into the sky.