"How many runes do we have?" Adaloun shouted to Ghwynmyr as another jet of flames came spurting from the fog. 

"A few left!" Orphella could see Ghwynmyr's face contort as he tried to fight off the fire with his runes.

Orphella grabbed some of Ghwynmyr's runes and did her best to utilize what she had. She tried activating a water rune and countered the hiding monster with a jet of water. Unfortunately, the water simply cut through the fog and hit nothing.

A strange glow suddenly appeared in the corner of her eye. She immediately turned towards it and saw the embers rising from the fog. The agile monster had outsmarted them. The being circled to the side and caught them by surprise.

Luckily, Urfaal was right there on time to move her out of the way before the scorching flames fired towards them. The beastman was able to drag her out of the way and got her inside a small rocky wall Ghwynmyr made.

The entire surrounding glowed as the flames scattered away from their small fortress. Even with the defensive wall in place, the heat almost cooked them in place. It was a dire situation that needed to be resolved as quickly as they could, or else they'll face a painful fiery demise.

She ducked in a shallow pit that her comrades made and waited for the right moment to strike. Even though Papillon was asleep, the weapon told her in their private conversation that she was still able to use her. But she's going to use a lot of effort to make the weapon work. She had to siphon her exousia and magic to let the bow work smoothly.

The flames felt like it went on for an eternity.

"Fuckin' wyrm!" Ghwynmyr gritted his teeth as he counted the remaining earth runes left. "We can't go on like this! Me runes are far too few!"

"Any ideas, Adaloun?" Urfaal asked as he tried to hide his long legs away from the flames.

Adaloun clicked his tongue. "We can't get through that fog. We won't be able to hurt that monster!" He looked at Orphella with an idea in mind.

"Do we have wind runes?!" He asked the dwarf.

"I got me three! Tis hard to render dat element!" Ghwynmyr answered.

"Give those to me!" Adaloun took the wind runes from Ghwynmyr's satchel and gave one to her. "We need to sweep the fog out! Can you help me?"

Orphella nodded and thought of an idea, "Once the flames died down, I need you to throw those two runes toward the fog. I will handle the rest!" She commanded.

The flames finally died down, Adaloun stood up and threw the runes into the thick fog. As the runes flew mid-air, Orphella charged her bow with her own magic and created wind arrows from her own exousia. Using her accurate aim, she sniped the runes and hit them simultaneously.

The runes exploded, releasing the sealed wind inside the stone. The blowing winds clashed and created a vortex sucking the fog and other debris out of the bridge. The strong pressure dragged the monster out from its hiding.

The vortex unveiled the monster's red armor-plated skin as it pulled out the air of mystery surrounding it. The monster was finally revealed to them. Aside from its distinct plate-like armor, the creature had almost the same features of a dragon, but had a head slightly bigger than its body, four legs with sharp burning claws, and a tail twice as long as its body. The beast's tail entwined around the bridge covering half of it and blocking their way into the pillar, while its body faced the other end.

The monstrous lizard coiled its tail into the stone bridge and anchored itself to the infrastructure. But as its attempts failed, the monster tried devouring the vortex as best as it could. This distraction gave them enough time to regroup and plan on what to do with the monster. 

"W-what is that?!" Urfaal's voice quivered at the sight of such a large beast.

"Gods' balls! A Shlmhndyr (Salamander!)" Ghwynmyr exclaimed. "Thought dat species died a long time ago!"

"Is it…a dragon?!" Adaloun asked.

"Barely." Ghwynmyr answered. "Tis a distant cuzin' of it and a wee bit angrier!"

Orphella's skin crawled at the sight of such terrifying beast. Legend has it, that the Saelamandra(elven) had a skin thicker than that of a dragon. She recalled reading one of the books she had as a child and cried at how this lizard leveled a mountain after burning an entire army of elven warriors in its rampage.

"What are we going to do?!" Urfaal anxiously inquired.

"Tis nay two ways bout it!" Ghwynmyr replied. "We hafta fight it so we could pass!"

"But even my arrows couldn't penetrate those plates!" She protested.

"Trust me," The dwarf said. "Cuzin or nay…tis a lizard! And a lizard we could kill!"

Orphella calmed herself down and trusted the dwarf's confidence. After all, they were renowned in the days of old as dragon eaters. A naturally born killer for a supernatural monster.

"See dat glowin' hole on dah base of its neck?" Ghwynmyr pointed the diamond-shaped hole on the Salamander's neck. "Cover dat and it dies!"

"Better said than done!" Adaloun sighed.

"I know…but tis the only way." The dwarf said. "Distract it, then…kill!"

The vortex slowly faded. The Salamander had successfully tamed the chaotic wind, eating it (or that's what it thought). The lizard let out a thunderous roar announcing its victory over the elemental rival. It was when they knew time was running out.

Without thinking, they instinctively jumped out from their hiding place and began to execute their plan, distracting the lizard.

Orphella charged her bow with a powerful dose of her wind magic and aimed, releasing a wind arrow hitting the Salamander right at its plated forehead. However, the lizard did not flinch. The monster instead focused its attention on her rushing comrades beneath it.

She saw the Salamander's hole glowing violently a shade of crimson. It was ready to spurt its flames once again and this time, it wouldn't miss her comrades—not one bit. Orphella took a deep breath and muster all the exousia she could gather and formed it into a dense magical bow. The bow became too heavy for her to raise, but with her sheer will, she hoisted the bow and the arrow at the monster for her one last attack.

Just as the Salamander was about to spit its flames, Orphella released her bow, the magical arrow seared into the air, crashed into the lizard's maw and crackled like a lightning strike. The impact tipped the monster off its balance and dented its plated jaw.

Orphella collapsed to the ground with a smile on her face. She made the lizard look up, exposing its neck for her comrades to attack and strike the final blow. As her vision started to fade, a sweet, familiar voice spoke to her.

"Well done." Oyue said.

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I dedicate this chapter to Jonah_Maxwell! I hope you enjoy reading this novel!

P.S. I love the Cat GIF!

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Announcement!

Due to my hectic schedule, I am sorry to inform you that the updates will be changed to Monday-Wednesday-Friday.  But to make up with you guys, I shall update 10 chapters every 1st of the month beginning September. 

I hope you understand. Thanks!

Ad Astra et Ultra!!!