"I know I'm beautiful and drive everyone crazy with love, but this is overdoing it, dearies," Kalrina said.

  Meera rolled her eyes while the cultists got visibly irritated. It wouldn't be surprising if all three parties let loose at once and cooked them alive.

  "We would've let you go on your way, sorceress, but now, I'm going to skin you alive," said the cultist.

  "She's one of ours," Tavelia said. "We'll be the ones to skin her or whatever other punishment she deserves."

  "Since you both want to skin her, does it matter who does the deed?" Meera asked.

  Kalrina's jaw dropped. "And here I thought you were on my side."

  "I'm on anyone's side who can get me off this world."

  Kalrina made a show of looking around. "I doubt they would be too enthusiastic about helping you in that endeavor. So, you're stuck with me, dearie."

  Great wings flapped above them, making the trees rustle and leaves rain down on them. It was a massive dragon with dark brown scales that looked almost black at this time of night. There was no clearing for it to land in, so it made its own by falling to Meera's right and crushing the trees under its bulk.

  [Earthen Scale Dragon – Level ???]

  Of course, they don't send dragonlings after us anymore. Meera groaned inwardly. If it were the dragon by itself, she might have tried to take it on by blinding it like she did the last one, but with the sorceresses and the cult present, it would be next to impossible. The only move they had was to create a distraction and run. Unless we create a feud among them.

  She glanced at the witch, and an understanding passed between them, which meant that the witch was thinking the same thing.

  "Hey witch, who do you think is going to be the first one to take a bite out of us, so to speak?" Meera pondered.

  "I don't know…" Kalrina rubbed her chin. "They all seem pretty determined. But if I were to put my money on it, it would be the sorceresses. They've got three Aksha's with her, and Tavelia is as mean as they come."

  When Aksha's name was mentioned, the dragon's head snapped to the Daughters. Meera had to resist the urge to smile. They hated only one person more than Meera, or so she hoped. She decided to fan the embers that Kalrina had lit.

  "Yes, you're right," She agreed. "They could easily handle the dragon, and the cultists are nothing more than errand boys for the dragons."

  "Errand boys," the cultist seethed. "We're no one's errand boys."

  "But weren't you hunting me all this time for the dragons," Meera replied. "Wasn't that the whole point of you coming to this world? First, you framed me for killing all those dragonlings, which, by the way, I didn't do, and now you're hunting me to hand over to the dragons. Am I wrong, mister servant?"

  "I am no one's servant!" The cultist's hand glowed with an icy blue light.

  "You humans are all pathetic and beneath us," the dragon spoke in a heavy voice. If rocks could speak, they would sound like this. "The girl speaks true. You are serving at the whims of the dragons. We could've eaten your entire cult the moment you dared to show your face. Now, fulfill your leader's promise and take care of the sorceresses while I take the girl to Ignis."

  "Ouch." Meera winced. "Now, that's a verbal slap."

  "That it is, dearie," Kalrina agreed. "And the poor cultist can do nothing but obey."

  The cultist took heavy breaths, and his anger looked on the verge of spilling over. Before he did something foolish, his comrade stepped up and whispered something in his ear. As it turned out, he needed a push. Luckily, Meera didn't have to do anything. One of the Aksha's did it for them.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  While they talked, one of Aksha's daughters slunk around to the cultists' back. They had no torches lit, making it easier to move about in the woods unnoticed. The daughter shot a poison lance at one of the cultist's backs. He cried out and fell to his knees, writhing in pain, and then all hell broke loose.

  The other cultists returned fire in kind while the one Meera had angered came for her, but Tavelia got in his way. She punched the ground, and vines snaked underground and erupted at his feet to ensnare him in her trap.

  He yelled, and icy spikes exploded from his body, cutting the vines to pieces. The last two Daughters didn't sit idly by. They moved for the dragon, who had just taken a step towards Meera. She was getting ready to enter the fray, but, in the end, she didn't have to do anything.

  All around them was a melee of epic proportions as ice faced off against poison and vines while earthen skills from the dragon neutralized the poison from Aksha's daughters. Meera wished she had brought some popcorn, for the action around her put all action movies to shame.

  "As much as I would love to see them rip into each other," Kalrina said. "I think we should take our leave, dearie."

  "Right, you are, witch," Meera replied. "But where will we go that they won't follow?"

  Kalrina was quiet for a moment, but then a slow smile crept up her lips. "I have a place in mind, though the host can be a bit erratic."

  It took Meera a moment to realize who she was talking about. "Oh…That could work."

  "Will your horse take the both of us?" Kalrina asked.

  Meera raised an eyebrow. "What do you think?"

  The witch sighed. "Yes, well, a girl can hope. No reason to tarry here any longer. I'll let you do the honors."

  Meera called on Onyx, and he appeared with a slight flash, which stopped the fighting for a moment. The only person who didn't stop was Kalrina, who created a horse of her own. They jumped on their steeds before the others turned their attacks on them.

  "Oh my," Onyx gasped. "Is that a full-grown dragon?"

  "Not now, Onyx. Run!" Meera dug her heels in, and Onyx blasted off.

  The dragon unleashed his fiery breath and began turning his head towards Onyx. But her trusty steed kept one step ahead of the flames. With Kalrina leading the way, they sped off into the woods with their enemies behind them.

  The cultists rode waves of ice and swerved through the trees while the sorceresses jumped from one tree branch to the next as if they were monkeys. The dragon took to the air and was the fastest of them all.

  He rained fireballs down on them, lighting the trees like destructive candles that rained burning leaves on the forest floor. As they raced from the trees, small critters shrieked and scampered off to save their lives.

  If memory served, their destination wouldn't be far off. Last time, they had strolled on their mounts, and it had taken them a short while. Now, they were running full tilt, hoping they didn't fall and break their necks. Meera wouldn't have been too worried about a broken neck in any other situation. Still, a broken neck would surely mean being hauled off to die an agonizing death or returned to the dragon keep as a pretty prisoner.

  Kalrina slowed until her horse's speed was nary above a trot. Her head snapped from side to side as she took in her surroundings.

  "You better not tell me, you got turned around in the night," Meera snapped.

  "One moment, dearie," she replied through gritted teeth. "I'm aware of the death on our heels."

  The distance they had put between their enemies quickly shortened with each breath. It wasn't hard to see the cultists or even the sorceresses, who were the slowest of the bunch. The dragon roared overhead, and it was hard to see what it was doing through the foliage overhead, but Meera could take a wild guess.

  "It should be here," Kalrina practically shrieked.

  In any other situation, it would've been nice to see the witch's calm demeanor break.

  "Just pick a side," Meera shouted.

  "This way." Kalrina spurred her horse to the right, and Meera followed. They didn't have to go long before the dragon threw a column of red-hot flames, which decimated the area behind them.

  The resulting explosion launched Meera and the witch off their horses. Kalrina's horse blew into shards while Onyx was unharmed.

  "Meera!" he cried. "Watch out!"

  She had no time to do anything as she dove head-first into a tree. She crossed her arms in front of her on instinct. Her eyes shut, and she waited for the pain of impact. But nothing happened. Instead, she passed through the tree, rolled down on the ground, and stopped before a single white rose, which looked like it had been recently planted into the ground.

  The witch was lying not far from her. But unlike Meera, she had rolled into a thorny shrub that marked the beginning of the glade.

  "We made it, witch," Meera sat up. "We're safe."

  "Yay…" Kalrina groaned weakly and just lay there. She flinched and winced as she tried to get herself free. By the time she got out of the shrubs, the thorns had done a number on her.

  Meera almost felt bad for her. Almost. "You should've just formed some shears and cut yourself free."

  "Right and risk the wrath of our host. He didn't much care about you killing his daughter, but he would definitely care about this."

  Meera was about to agree with her when the cultists jumped in from the same tree. Their white clothes had been stained scarlet. The angry one turned and shot an ice beam at the tree, only for the beam to pass right through it. A moment later, two Daughters of Aksha jumped through with Tavelia behind them.

  "So much for being safe," grumbled Meera.

  Someone strode towards them, sniffing the air and rubbing sleep from his eyes.

  "Who dares disturb the sleep of my lovelies?" growled Eryx, the senile Cosmarian.