Aly slipped down off Ranna’s back, her eyes glazed over with tiredness and her movements stiff and jerky. She stumbled forward and looked with amazement at what lay before them.

A large sandstone slab rose up from the ground, Aly leaned down, shading her eyes to read the inscription carved into its surface.

Ye who have braved the desert and come to seek council have but one more Challenge left.

You must step into this labyrinth and know that the moment you do the only way out will be the door to the Dragons Cavern.

Be warned traveler, the labyrinth is something beyond your knowledge, its magic flows by itself and is not swayed by strength or outwardly beauty, be sure of your heart for the magic of the labyrinth will lay all things bare

Do you dare enter knowing that you may never leave?

Aly shivered at the ominous message, she was sure of herself, her intentions were true, but yet the words brought chills to her spine. Shaking them off she looked up, staring past the Labyrinth.

Not far away was a large hill, its sides rocky and bare of even the sparse vegetation that other parts of the desert had sported. Around the mountain was a crisscross of canyons, the labyrinth seen from above presumably. It looked easy enough to just jump over the canyons to reach the moutain like they had done previously, but Aly knew enough about the Dragons to know that it was never that easy.

The Labyrinth was their only choice.

Stepping forward tentatively she stared into the maze, the entrance was shadowed by a tall rock arch, its surfaced riddled with old runes and curious symbols. Aly shivered, it gave off a strange feeling, a dark aura, the Elemental Book would have called it.

The maze itself was not much better, the shadows thrown by the walls were sharp and made jagged shapes on the ground despite the walls being smooth and flat and Aly could see that not far down the passage it branched off into many different corridors.

Glancing back she addressed each one of her companions, “Are you ready? Will you do this with me?”

Star snorted and tossed her head, “Of course we will, do you think we would come all this way, over canyons and through sand storms just to duck out on you as soon as we come to a little maze!” Aly felt her tired face shaping itself into a grin.

“She’s right, of course,” said Watcher who had ventured out of the bag for the event, “And you won’t make it through the maze without us, let alone face the Dragons!”

Aly rolled her eyes, “thanks for the self-esteem boost, but just so you know, once we’re in there is no turning back, its find the Dragons cave or die”

“Nice prospects,” Wolf drawled sarcastically, “now let’s go before someone loses her nerve”

They came forward to stand by Aly’s side, “Right, into the maze, here we go” she said nervously, biting her lip.

Together they stepped forward and passed under the stone arch, Al shivered as the magic engulfed her. They road before them sloped downwards into looming shadows, Aly glanced back, only to see a solid stone wall behind them.

“No turning back now” Aly said with a falsely cheery smile.

And so they entered the Dragons Labyrinth.

Aly slumped against a rock wall and slid to the ground. For two days they had been stuck in this labyrinth and all the fatigue from the past few days was bearing down heavily on Aly’s shoulders.

The magical pulse in the labyrinth was strong. Aly was reminded of times in her life where she had picked up an object and felt something of the same feeling as she had now, in the Elementals cave the feeling had been there, but muted. Now, Aly realised that what she was feeling was magic, with the Elementals, so many blocking spells had been weaved into their magic that it was muted, but here it was strong and uncontained to a point where it affected Aly adversely.

Bags were ever present below her eyes and her movements were lethargic, the magic wasn’t even touching the others and seemed to treat Aly as a hostile threat, walking forward sometimes felt like moving through treacle.

But Aly’s sudden sensitivity to magic was useful in the fact that she could tell where the stronger magic was, so following her theory that the magic was stronger the closer they got to the Dragons all Aly had to do was concentrate and she could find the right path.

Aly closed her eyes tight, the pressure of the magic aura felt like the worse headache that she had ever had, she could only hope it would cease when they got to their destination.

Taking one deep breath she pushed herself of the rock wall and with a nod to her companions continued down the canyon. Wolf loped forward to walk beside her and Aly gratefully rested some of her weight on the large wolf, Star trotted wearily after, Watcher perched one her back, Star had carried Aly most of the way and had only stopped when Aly realised that the horse was tiring and insisted on walking.

Around a bend, a fork in the maze appeared. Aly stood between the two roads, swaying slightly before taking a step into the left hand road. A slight gasp issued from her lips and she blinked her bloodshot eyes twice before closing them and continuing on blindly, led by Wolf.

This was it, she knew it, the sudden descent of magic had caused her to gasp, but the thought that it would soon be over was reassuring and helped her deal with the pain.

For an hour they slowly advanced along that hall way and the closeness to their goal became visible. This road was perfectly straight, unlike the other twisting, labyrinthine ways, and the floor and walls were perfectly smooth, while the others had had dips and jagged spikes, seemingly designed to make you trip.

In this corridor the companions finally began to feel some of the effects that Aly was, a headache descended and it grew harder and harder to move forward.

The sun grew brighter, high in the sky, and seemed to focus all of its energies on that small group, the ground beneath them grew hot, hot enough to feel even through Aly’s boots and if she had even bother to open her tired eyes they would have been of no use, the walls had somehow begun reflecting the suns rays, all that was now visible was a blinding white light.

Then suddenly, a voice boomed out.

“Welcome Alyana of Toren or Alyana of the Animals, Dark Star, Watcher and Wolf. Welcome to the Dragon’s Labyrinth, I trust you’ve had a good time.” The sardonic voice bounced around the walls, somehow icy and fiery hot at the same time, “you have braved the Challenges in the Wastes and found your way through the Labyrinth and by law you should be emitted to the Dragon’s Cavern, but first, a question.” It paused for a moment, stretching the silence, “Why do you think that you deserve a audience with the highest of beings, the Dragons? What makes you worthy?

Aly winced as the voice speared into her mind and ears, but then anger, annoyance and frustration flooded through her, she stood up straight and gathered all the regal pride she had left.

“Dragons!” She screamed, “I did not leap over canyons, walk through sand storms and navigate a magical maze to be asked questions about why I should be allowed to look upon the esteemed faces of the Dragons!

“So why, you ask, why should I be allowed to enter your Cavern? Because I gave up my life, first all the family that I knew, then all the family that I might have gained, just to travel across these god-forsaken Wastes and through this thrice-cursed maze, to bring you your most priced possession that contains all your secrets, and yet you have the audacity to ask, why!”

Her eyes flared and her breathing was harsh but she was a sight to behold, in the fading white light she looked unearthly beautiful and magical. But then the moment passed and the light receded, leaving them standing in the same hallway as before.

Aly’s face collapsed back into the tired mask it had been before and he Dragon spoke out again, its voice amused, sometimes giving a small chuckle. “Fierce, fiery little Aly, yes you are right you have given much to come here, but your reasons for that are yet unknown. Continue then, come forward, I will meet you at the entrance to the Dragons Cavern, do not be afraid when you see me little Elemental, I wont hurt you” Aly clenched her teeth at the patronizing tone, and stepped forward, her energy renewed at the challenge.

“See you soon, Dragon”

Their pace increased, Aly leaped onto Star’s back and they galloped forward, exhilarated by the nearness of their goal.

It wasn’t long before they could see a dark entrance to a cave up ahead, first they sped up, getting closer and closer, anticipation crackling in the air, but when they were in about two hundred meters distance of the cave they stopped.

Aly slipped off the panting Ranna’s back and made her way slowly forward to the gloom. When there was barely ten meters between her and the cave she stopped again and looked intently into the darkness.

A few seconds passed and Aly opened her mouth to call for the Dragon, but she was interrupted.

“So you are here, ready to witness the glories of the Dragon’s Cavern, and you say you are worthy”

The Dragon stepped out of the darkness and Aly gasped.

The Dragon stood at a height of ten meters and stretched back into the darkness further than Aly could see, his body rippled with green and black scales, starting black at his muzzle and getting lighter as they went down his back. Spines stretched along his neck, having been folded down when Aly first saw him, they rose up, like a dog’s hackles.

His head was shaped vaguely like a horse’s but with the eyes position forward rather than on the side and he sported one ivory coloured horn between his ears. He opened his mouth to show Aly the fearsome array of teeth at his disposal and his hot, sulfurous breath drifted into Aly’s face.

The last thing Aly looked at were his eyes. Golden cat-like orbs, set on the front of his face like the predator he undoubtedly was, they stared down at Aly, seemingly amused by this insignificant girl who claimed to be worthy of the Dragon’s presence.

Aly locked eyes with the Dragon and immediately knew it was a mistake. The magic she had felt in the maze had been lifted with the flare of white light back in the corridor, when the Dragon had appeared she could feel a strong magical aura, but that aura was hidden behind rock hard shields and had not affected her. But when she locked eyes it was as if a switch had been flicked and the walls had disappeared.

Aly opened her mouth to scream, but then she disconnected with her body, she was floating in the molten pool of the Dragon’s eyes, she could see herself, collapsed on the ground Wolf nuzzling her urgently. She could feel the Dragon’s disdain for her and its wish that she would leave them alone, she was diving deeper into its mind with every second, through layers of thought and emotion, when the Dragon blinked and she was thrust back into her body.

She blacked-out for a period of time and when she woke up the Dragon’s shields were intact and she had a throbbing headache. Wolf picked her up by her shirt and set her on her feet, she wrapped an arm around Star to stop herself falling and Watcher settled on her shoulders and began to purr.

“Come then Elemental Halfling, and you shall see the full might of the Dragons!” the Dragon roared, then turned and disappeared into the dark cave, Aly and her companions followed without hesitation...

...Into the Dragon’s Cavern.

na na, na na, nanananananana BOOM!

exciting! i reached my goal of over two thousand words in this chapter so yay for me!

review please!