Old Synan and Jia were cooking vegetables that Orsino and Lachlan had gathered earlier that day. They were busy chatting away, adding herbs to their dishes and reminiscing about old times in the wood when Leif joined them.

He sat by his elders and stayed respectfully silent until one of them addressed him.

Old Synan turned and smiled at him. "Training over for the day, Leif?"

He put his staff by his side and grinned. "I'm not letting them rest that easy! No sir, my warriors are having to work a lot harder than I ever did during my training."

"Needs must," said Jia. "So who's with them now?"

"Mariko Kint would you believe," he replied with a laugh. "She's teaching them close combat, which will be good for them - they'll get to see how a Lamya fights. They still have a way to go though. Mariko beats them all hands down, the only one who shows any real promise is Lachlan and yet..." He sighed.

"Lachlan is hot headed," said Old Synan. "He fights passionately."

"All he needs is some self-control and then he'd be the most powerful warrior I've seen for a long time."

He saw Jia and Synan exchange glances. Leif was the most powerful warrior they'd ever seen, but he would never admit to such himself. Jia handed him a spoon.

"Taste," she said. "I've made it as close to your mother's recipe as I can remember."

Leif smiled and sipped at the warm broth, it was earthy and good. "Jia you... Listen!" He sat up, one finger to his lips to silence his friends, the spoon halfway to the bowl. "Synan, sir, feel the ground. Tell me what you think."

Old Synan did. He looked at Leif and spoke one word. "Hooves."

Leif nodded and hurried to his feet. "Horses mean Lamya. Quickly, you two, back to the cave."

Jia stood up and shook her head. "No, Leif, we can help."

He gritted his teeth and gripped his staff tight. "No," he said, voice firm. "Get back to the cave now. That's an order! Now!"

Synan and Jia abandoned the fire and hurried away. Leif ran as fast as he could to join his friends in the middle of the gorge. When he arrived, he was surprised to see that Mariko had the trainees spread out in a line, all with their weapons held ready.

"You feel it too?" he asked the Lamya.

Mariko tested the edge of her dagger calmly as she replied. "Whole ground's shaking, bit flaming 'ard not to!"

"The Lamya are coming," Lachlan said, eyeing Mariko suspiciously. "And I wonder who told them we're here."

"Shut up, Lachlan," Leif snapped. "Mariko's been here and hasn't left our sight." He put out his hand to Kirin who held a makeshift spear at the ready. "You okay, little man?"

Kirin nodded, his eyes fixed straight ahead. He gasped as the pounding of hooves increased and then the horses appeared over the horizon.

"Get ready!" Leif yelled, widening his stance. "Here they come!"

#

Saoirse had a whole party of slavers on her tail as she careered through Silence Gorge – the horse's hooves clattering, pounding, sending jolts through her body. She chanced a look over her shoulder and saw the Lamya breathing down her neck. She held tight to the horse's mane and desperately urged it onwards.

Ahead of her, she thought she could make out shapes. It looked like a line of people blocking her path. She gulped. The Lamya had somehow managed to cut her off!

She braced herself and prepared for the worst but as she neared the line of people, she realised with a twist of horror in her gut that these were Elani. She'd led the Lamya right to them!

#

Leif narrowed his eyes as the leading horse drew ever closer. "Correct me if I'm wrong," he muttered to Lachlan, "But that's an Elani."

He braced himself and yelled out a command to his friends. "Let the first horse through the line, then close up tight! We must get the Lamya off the horses!"

He'd no sooner finished speaking than the first black horse galloped past the row of Elani and wind rushed past his face. The trainees hurried to close the gap as suddenly the horses hit them. The first animals to reach them reared and whinnied in distress, almost throwing their riders.

Leif spun his staff, knocking two Lamya to the ground where they were swiftly despatched by Mariko. The next two horses managed to break the line and it was not long before horses surrounded them.

"Back to back!" Leif cried. "Weapons front, feet firm! Give them no ground!"

"I'm not having this," Mariko muttered. "I won't be trapped by my own kind."

The Lamya slavers seemed unsure of what to do without a leader to guide them. They circled the Elani but didn't move forwards.

One of the slavers broke free and galloped away, back through Silence Gorge. The other Lamya smiled amongst themselves but said nothing.

"Has he gone for reinforcements?" Leif asked Mariko quietly.

She nodded and twirled her dagger anxiously in her hand. "You realise if more come you'll all end up dead or in slavery?" She glanced sideways at him. "I'll protect myself, Leif. I might be able to talk my way out of it, but you lot... you're goners!"

A sudden high-pitched excitable call and clatter of hooves announced the return of the Elani they had let through the line. The escaped slave pushed through the Lamya horses whirling a length of knotted rope that she had found somewhere over her head.

Taking advantage of the situation, Leif joined in the attack urging his companions to do the same.

Surprised at the ferocity of the attack, the slavers were slow to react and the Elani managed to knock many of them off their horses, while two others jumped before they had a chance to be pulled from their saddles.

"Remember what you've been taught now," Leif cried, blocking a Lamya sword with his staff. "And do me proud!"

Leif, his trainees, the new Elani and the Lamya Mariko Kint fought for their lives, side by side and back to back against superior numbers and trained fighters. When the reinforcements arrived all would be surely lost.

Maemi struggled to ward off two Lamya with her adjusted flint–studded staff, and one of them struck her across the arm and sent her crashing to the floor. She just had time to shield her face before Lachlan and Mariko came to her rescue, both with the angry light of bloodlust in their eyes.

The two one–time enemies looked at each other and nodded an understanding, before they turned away to face more of the slavers.

"Up you get, Maemi," Leif said, pulling her to her feet. "Swing hard left now!"

Maemi took his advice and seemed pleased with the result it had on a rather burly-looking Lamya. She squared up to face another opponent when all fighting stopped.

Leif's heart thudded. Then…

"Leif, look up!"

He did as Lachlan bade and could hardly believe his eyes as a huge dragon hurtled towards them with its wings folded tight in a dive.

"Gaeshi?" he whispered, unsure of the dragon's intentions. He acted fast – as the dragon opened its wings to slow its descent he yelled a warning to his friends. "Elani, down!"

Obedient to him, all the Elani dropped to the ground. With a quick low sweep of his staff, Lachlan tripped Mariko. The other Lamya, slow to react, just gawked at the dragon and the two figures on its back.

There was a rumble, deep and slow like thunder, then a whoosh of flames as the dragon sent a wave of fire over the tops of the Lamya heads. The heat alone was enough to singe hair and burn faces. The dragon landed but already those of the slavers still standing were making for their panicked horses and retreating as fast as they could. Those whose horses had left them turned tail and ran.

Leif, with his hands covering his head, chanced a look at the dragon. The magical beast was swishing its tail eagerly but held back from attacking anyone else. Its jet black eyes blinked once and he swore the beast was smiling.

He took a deep breath, gathered his courage and stood up.