“And you’re sure this is the correct way?” Demetrius was slogging through waist deep water. His smock had wicked it up to his shoulders, and it clung to his skin like a slimy second skin. The ground beneath his feet, beneath the water, sucked at his feet. Things that he hoped were submerged branches kept rubbing against his legs in the murky, putrid smelling water.

Cyndy was still wearing all black, when Demetrius had asked her about it, she said something about a ‘tactical turtleneck.’ He had not inquired further, saving all of his breath to ask her repeatedly how much further they needed to go through the swamp to get to the Queen General. Cyndy had assured him that if they kept traveling north they would come across her in no time at all.

“It’s not that I think you’re deliberately misleading me,” Demetrius tried again, trying carefully to avoid offending her sudden sensitivities, “it’s just that I am wondering if maybe you have the wrong date or something?”

“I told you!” She spun around to face him, the rectangle in her hand emitting a tiny blue light in the darkness, “She’s just north of here! We just have to keep going!” She flew ahead a little faster as if to prove the point.

Demetrius sighed and pushed on through the water. Leaving the University had been easier than he expected. The entrances were all barred with magic, but the underground sewage system had not been sealed, for obvious reasons. Beneath a hatch, Demetrius had been able to creep along a maintenance ledge that he had discovered while exploring in his youth. He had never followed it all the way out of the University, but he knew that the narrow ledge must follow the stream of human waste and water out of the campus grounds. It let out on the south side of the campus, into the sea. A grate had barred the way, but when Demetrius had tried to open it, it broke and fell off its rusted hinges.

Cyndy said that they had to skirt Two Lanes and the campus completely, so it had taken several hours of trudging through rough terrain just to get to the northern side of the campus. Once they were there, Cyndy had said it was north by north east, and had led the way. Demetrius was almost grateful for the darkness as they made their way through the swamp, he was certain that there was danger lurking around every corner.

The sun was breaking through the hanging branches on Demetrius’ right, and the shape of the murky swamp was coming into sharp focus. The water no longer felt cold on his body, just heavy. He pushed forward, one step at a time, his eyes focused on the surface of the water just in front of him, desperately trying to stay motivated. He heard Cyndy let out a shriek, and found a renewed burst of speed. He looked up, trying to find her tiny floating form, not much bigger than the dragonflies that were dancing along the surface of the water, their wings buzzing loudly in the stillness of the early morning.

Above the surface of the swamp he saw a monster. Green, batlike leathery wings beat against the air, throwing down ripples on the water. She can’t be hurt, she just can’t, why’s she screaming? Demetrius forced himself to move forward, to look at the beast barreling down on him. Closer he could see it was not anywhere as big as he had first thought. Its wings were spindly things, emerald green and iridescent in the weak morning light. Stranger still, it seemed to be pulling a child in its wake, or maybe it was a halfling soldier. Cyndy was above him now, she had stopped moving and was floating directly in front of him.

“Demetrius, that’s her! Emile and the dragon Gypsum! The Ill Wind!” She squealed, her voice even higher than normal.

“But she’s so small! Is she a halfling?” The childlike figure being pulled by the ‘dragon’ appeared to be standing on air. Her head was covered in a strange metal hood, and her clothes were caked with mud. She was slumped over resting her chin on her chest, and there was no logic to the manner by which the pair were propelled through the air, the dragon was simply too small to hold the weight of both of them with its wings. Her boots skimmed along the surface of the water. Demetrius stood slack jawed and watched her slide through the air towards him like a specter.

“No, she’s not a halfling! She’s just young.” Cyndy was flying around Demetrius’ head, turning somersaults in the air.

The girl and the dragon were almost upon him now, and he could see that she was very young. The dragon looked young too, not much larger than a medium sized dog, with smooth shiny green skin. The dragon locked it’s jade eyes with Demetrius’ and the girl’s head snapped up immediately. She stared at Demetrius and called out very clearly in a silky voice, “You don’t want to hurt us!”

“Er, no,” Demetrius was taken aback by the tone of command in the girl’s voice, but felt mostly sympathy for her. Her skin was sunburned deep red, and there was mud and blood splattered on her face. Her hair might have been red at one point, but what little of it he could see sticking out of the metal hood seemed to be caked with mud and moss. Sticks stuck out this way and that as if birds were building nests. Her clothes were ripped in places, and there were cuts on her forearms and face. “No, I came to get you.”

Suspicion crept across the girls face. Both girl and dragon rose slowly higher into the air, above the water, although the dragon’s wings were still and pressed defensively against it’s back. From her rising vantage she called down, “Who are you? Where did you come from?” She looked exhausted and dangerous, like a cornered animal.

Demetrius said simply, “Oh, I work at the University.”

The doubt evaporated from her face, “Well it’s about time!”