The Minister whipped around and plunged his staff in the ground, creating a small tremor as he yelled, "Indespectus clypeus!"

His dragon comrades dropped to their knees as the circular shield glided over their heads and glazed their vicinity like icing on a donut. The rogue dragons squawked in confusion and flew in ovals, trying to spot the group again.

"We're going to have to split up," The Minister muttered, glaring up at the troublesome creatures, "Trevor, Alessandro, and Sergio, you will fly up and try to hold them off. Leon, Max, you will guard me while I enter the cave and try to dig up the book."

"What the fuck happened?" Sergio yelled over the screeching of the dragons, "I thought we made a deal with them."

The Minister sighed as he noticed a figure on top of one of the dragons, "I was expecting this, men. They were probably bribed with a better deal. Rogue dragons aren't exactly logical creatures."

Leon cursed under his breath and turned to three of his fellow warriors, "Go. Hold them off."

At the command of their leader, the warriors nodded and shifted, their brilliant wings emerging from their backs covered in vibrant colored scales as the rest of their bodies morphed into long, muscled reptiles.

They took off and soared toward the rogue dragons, their dark blue scales a stark contrast against the fiery red plates of the rogues, and when they collided, it seemed to be a battle against night and day.

"Follow me," The Minister urged, plucking his staff from the ground and dissolving the invisibility shield. The three of them rushed around the umpteenth bend in the mountain and found themselves sliding down a gravel pathway into a deep chasm.

Although the abyss was deep, it was not very long so the area they needed scout for the entrance was small. Leon and Max began shoving boulders aside with all their strength as the Minister studied the map of the cave to figure out the exact location of where the book was buried.

It appeared to rest at the center of a semi-circle of stalagmites, and he knew that if the cave had been harmed over the years, finding a stalagmite formation of that sort would be difficult.

"Minister!"

He raised his head and found the two dragon warriors waving excitedly near the end of the chasm. They were pointing at a narrow burrow that the Minister could not possibly fit into.

"One of you will have to enter," he ordered, "Take the map and look for any stalagmites that fit the formation on the map. Hurry."

"I'm on it," Max said, grabbing the map and crawling into the burrow as rocks and dust followed in his wake.

The Minister glanced at the opening of the chasm, listening to the roars and grunts of the dragons as they fought, "Leon, keep an eye out at the end. If the rogues have outnumbered us, it won't be long before they show up."

The dragon warrior nodded his head and rushed back to the end as the Minister leaned closer to the burrow, "Max, have you found anything?"

"I'm digging! That old wizard buried the book six feet deep with him."

The Minister chuckled despite the knots of tension forming in his temples, "Just keep digging, boy. We haven't got much time."

"Minister!" Leon's frantic voice added to the pressure, "Alessandro's dead, and rogues have flown in from all directions. There are more than we thought"

The Minister shook his head, his heart heavy with despair. There was no way they could escape with the Book of Demonic Magic and make it out unharmed. They would have to figure out a way to destroy it right then and there.

"I found it," Max's voice echoed through the cave, "Goddamn, this thing is heavy."

The Minister pinched the area between his eyebrows with pursed lips, "Max, try setting it on fire."

There was a moment of silence as Max shifted and exhaled loudly, the impact of his flames sending little quakes through the mountain.

The Minister knew the book hadn't burned when a frustrated bellow reached his ears. He had had the suspicion that the spells placed on the book would make it nearly impossible to get rid of it.

"Bring it up here, Max. Let me try," he called.

There was a growl near the entrance of the chasm, and he realized that the rogues were here and ready to feast on their blood.

His heart started thumping against his chest as he hurried up the gravel pathway back to the bend where Leon was already taking on two of them.

"Iauculare!"

With a powerful swing of his staff, he tossed the rogues back hundreds of yards away, enough to buy them some time as they recovered from the blow.

"I have it!"

The Minister whipped around and snatched the Book of Demonic Magic away from Max. He fingered through the pages of ancient spells that even he did not know. The dark ink had not faded at all in the years that had passed, and the yellow pages were not as grimy and spoiled as he thought they would be after remaining underground for so long.

He threw the book in the dirt and placed the head of his staff on the cover, "Perluo."

Water shot out of the sphere and showered the book until the pages were soaked and the rusty color of the cover had darkened two shades. The Minister pulled his staff away and frowned as the water dripped off the pages as if they were made of plastic; the paper had not turned soggy nor did the ink smudge.

"Minister, what are we going to do?" Leon asked, his eyes wide with panic as more rogues appeared from the distance along with the ones that had been thrown back.

With adrenaline pumping through his veins, the Minister tossed the book to the ground again and heaved his staff above his head and brought it down with all of his strength.

The staff pierced the spine of the book and pages flew up into the air from the force of the Minister's magic that had finally overpowered the spells placed on the book.

The Minister's eyes widened as the pages continued to rip from the spine and over the edge of the cliff and quickly moved his staff to hold down the last pages that were about to soar off.

Leon and Max were scrambling to salvage the pages they could reach, but it was too late. The rogues had spotted the falling sheets and were rushing to capture them as they fell.

The Minster picked up the remains of the book and pursed his lips as he yelled over the battle of the rogues and the other two warriors, "Leon, Max get your asses over here!"

"Minister," Leon panted, his face the perfect definition of frazzled.

He shoved the last pages into Leon's hands, "Give these to Jaslynn. Go."

"WHAT?"

"Leave, Leon. All of you get the hell out of here!"

"Minster, we're not leaving without you!"

The Minister became furious, "Are you disobeying my command? I am commanding you to leave and accomplish the task I have given you."

Leon froze, his eyes revealing his ongoing internal battle. He was torn between the orders of Master Daxton and the orders of the Minister.

The Minister swallowed hard and glared at the two warriors, "I asked you to give those pages to Jaslynn. None of us will make it out alive if we stay here any longer."

"Minister, you can't expect us–"

He was cut off as the Minister lifted his staff with a roar.

The staff crackled with pulsating waves of electricity, and a tide of blinding light surged out of the head and split into four beams, each one targeting a dragon warrior.

And with a final growl, the Minister brandished his staff and flung Leon and Max off the cliff and froze Sergio and Trevor's wings, causing them to plummet into the mass of trees with the other two.

There was a furious screech behind him.

Then, all he could see was the blistering flames.