Day: 1230

Days Left: 4250

Lives Saved: 6

The headless knight charged past all of the other monsters on the mountain pile, the speed and power of the steed overcoming the difficult terrain and slopes, almost toppling to the side, but Dex steadied himself, pulling the reins by instinct even though he was the one controlling the horse's body. He raised his lance back, the dragon coming into striking distance.

Flashes of the imps came into his mind, how Annika knew they were children and yet ordered an attack, how they screamed and cried when they were captured. And then he remembered Kai, Ivette, and Oscar getting spirited away by the flock of ravens. Everything was peaceful until this bitch decided that they were a threat. And now Dex was risking his memories and getting hurt for a group of strangers who had thought him an enemy not so long ago.

The dragon rolled back its shoulders, twisting its neck as if to get accustomed to its new size. A set of dark green wings spread out from its back, the sheer force creating a gust of wind that pushed the knight back. Dex clung desperately to his severed head inside his helmet, forcing himself to keep his eyes open and not cower.

More of the dragon emerged from the mountain pile, too large to hide anymore as it grew, its footing slipping as it could no longer take its enormous weight. As Dex got closer, his mind finally caught up with his senseless bravery.

What was his plan rushing in?

The dragon turned its head, sighting the small ant on the hill running towards it.

The knight did not reach the dragon's elbows, even on a horse.

Inhaling a long breath, the dragon reeled its head back, revealing underneath its neck and jaw where the scales grew sparse, transitioning to paler green skin. At its throat, an emerald light glowed as if inside itself, then grew brighter and brighter, travelling up the dragon's neck and-

"Get to cover!" Lili shouted.

But Dex was already too close, with nowhere to hide.

The emerald light continued to rise, and the dragon's eyes shut for a moment, pausing, before jerking forwards, spewing green flames out of its open jaw.

With no time to stop, the headless knight charged onwards, bursting through the wall of flames; the knight in his silver armour was unscathed, but the noble steed ached in pain after braving the heat for a few seconds. Dex could hear the screams and cries behind him, muffled whilst his severed head was in the helmet. He could not look back and see how his friends fared; all he could do was look forward at his target.

Realising that the fire had not deterred the headless knight, the dragon turned its attention to this particular ant whilst the others recovered further down the mountain. It swiped its claws at the insect; however, the horse was too fast whilst the dragon's ever-growing body was becoming sluggish and heavy from its monstrous size. But even the weight of its misses, when its paws struck down onto the ground, caused destruction, creating quakes across the mountain pile, discarded objects cascading down in avalanches, slowing down the other insignificant insects to reach the summit.

As Dex circled the giant beast, he slashed and pierced at it with his lance, but the green scales proved too tough, the metal of his weapon clinking and clattering, barely causing scrapes and being unable to penetrate through. He turned his attention to the dragon's neck, where the scales were at their sparsity and were instead of green hide. They still looked tough, but with enough strength and force, he could actually deal some damage and, with hope, slay this monster. The only problem, however, was reaching it, as the dragon had become so large now, Dex was nowhere near it, and his lance was fused to his gauntlet, nor could he throw it.

The dragon's underbelly also might have fewer scales, Dex theorised, and thus weaker but it was currently covered, the dragon laying on the mountain pile, the numerous discarded objects hiding perhaps its weak point. Dex needed to force the dragon to reveal its vulnerable point or rely on the others to slay it. But in the meantime, he could still distract it and draw attention away from his friends.

*

Corinna winced as she eventually sat up. Her celestial body had finally recharged most of its energy, no longer dim and glowing brightly, though occasionally flickering out near her wound, where the significant split in her torso was.

The more energy I exert, the weaker my body becomes to attacks, Corinna theorised. So I have to be more strategic when using my powers.

Whilst she was recovering and laying motionless on the ground, the heat of her celestial body had melted the objects beneath, some of them having fused and stuck to her. As a result, Corinna struggled to stand, not only because of her lacking energy and her injury but also because of the melted metal stuck to her feet and the heavy sludge of a sofa on her back, causing her to lose balance and topple back over.

She looked up at the summit of the Land of the Lost, trembling as she noticed how large the dragon had grown and then the wall of fire that prevented anyone from reaching it. The green flames were spreading through the discarded items. How long before it would consume it all? But Corinna never received this answer as the dragon briefly turned away from the headless horseman running circles around it and to the green fire. Then, it wafted its long spiked tail over the fire, snuffing it out whilst knocking down the upcoming horde of monsters climbing up the mountain.

Why did the dragon put out the fire when the fire was preventing all the others from reaching it?

Corinna then remembered how Junior had told everyone not to let Annika reach the Land of the Lost, how the baby dragon had burrowed into the item piles and grown larger. The Land of the Lost was the source of its power; if it were destroyed, it would become that weak baby dragon again.

Destroying the Land of the Lost was out of the question, not to mention too dangerous for everyone still in it. The possibility of luring the dragon away from the Land of the Lost was also impossible; even in her monster form, Annika was likely not that stupid. What about disrupting the mountain? Did Annika need to be in contact with a large surface area of the Land of the Lost to maintain her power? Again, too dangerous of a plan, causing an avalanche would hurt everyone else.

So what could she do?

The dragon appeared to be immune to fire and heat, and in her mask form, Corinna could not use tools or pick up weapons. And then, she could not teleport or fly up too high in her injured state either.

What could she do?

After concentrating her energy to other areas of her celestial body, Corinna managed to get rid of the hindering objects stuck to her, now able to move finally. She darted up the mountain, using her powers sparingly as the split in her torso pained with each use.

One of the ravens flew down to her, flying by her side. It seemed that Talon had finished carrying everyone to the top of the mountain, leaving all of their bird selves on standby to catch anyone who fell off due to falling debris and mini landslides caused by the dragon.

Corinna paused and stopped climbing up the mountain.

Talon cocked their head to the side in confusion, landing on a nearby lamp as they watched the celestial pace around in thought to prevent her burning feet from setting the pile ablaze.

"Everything okay?" Talon's voice squawked through the raven's beak, shrill and distorted.

So Talon can speak in this form? Corinna thought, a smile forming on her lips.

After a moment, Corinna wrote on a nearby pillow, burning the words into it: 'Powers?' and motioned to all the monsters at the top of the mountain.

Corinna may not be able to do anything herself in her current state, but she didn't need to; she had a connected network of ravens and an army of monsters to lead.

*

Lili hid behind a pile of discarded items alongside Calanthe as the dragon spewed a jet of green fire, barring the way with a wall of flame.

The mighty tall and muscular minotaur clutched desperately at her labrys, mumbling fearful mutters of prayers and pleads. "Shouldn't have gone down here," Calanthe whimpered. "Should have stayed up here."

"Hey," Lili hushed. "You've got this," she said, her voice coming out with little confidence in her own words.

Calanthe shook her head. "I haven't got anything, Lili." She shut her eyes, then gazed up at the opening portals near the ceiling of the underground cavern. "I don't want to be here; I don't want..."

"Get down!" Lili pushed the minotaur to the side, only just able to move the giant creature as the dragon swiped its tail across the battlefield, knocking aside two nearby monsters off the mountain. They screamed as they fell before being caught by the unkindness of ravens that circled the cavern and put them safely back on the mountain.

Lili frowned, seeing that the dragon had extinguished the firewall. Was that on purpose? She turned back to Calanthe, who was still trembling. "You can go back up if that is what you truly want."

The minotaur looked at the tiger, then quickly glanced back down.

"You're in danger down here if you can't fight through that fear." Lili peered behind the item pile that acted as her cover. "Or you can stay and fight. Whatever you choose, do so now before it is too late."

With those words, the large tiger bounded behind her cover, using the opportunity whilst the dragon was distracted by the headless horseman. She didn't know her plan; if a knight's lance wasn't piercing through the dragon's tough scales, how would a tiger's claws? So perhaps it was best if they all retreated and surrendered the Land of the Lost. But Lili could not in good conscience leave when so many people still fought so desperately. She saw the fire and determination burning in their eyes, the anger they held against Annika, who was once their leader, and how she had been tricking them all this time.

Just give them a chance to fight, Lili thought. Find some weaknesses before retreating.

The tiger continued climbing up the mountain alongside other monsters as the way up was clear; the ground where the wall of flame used to be was charred, and wafts of smoke lingered.

"What's her weakness!" Lili shouted to a nearby monster called Bruno, his mask having transformed him into a humanoid made of twisted plants and vines, flowers weaved through his long hair.

"We don't know!" the earth elemental shouted back. "We rarely see her in her mask form! And if we do, it's when she was that tiny baby dragon!"

Lili winced, glancing back and wondering if they should retreat and save themselves.

The unkindness of ravens that had previously circled safely away from the dragon, watching over anyone struggling, all flew with purpose, breaking formation. Some of them dived down and rummaged through the items in the mountain whilst the rest split up, and all shadowed a group of monsters, one flying directly to Lili.

"Battle plan!" the raven squawked. "Battle plan!"

*

The headless horseman reeled back as it narrowly avoided an attack from the dragon, its claws grazing his armour, leaving a sizable cut into his chest plate. Dex countered, stabbing the dragon's palm where no scales protected it. The dragon flinched, roaring and hissing in pain.

Good, Dex thought. If his weapon could pierce through the tough skin, he could cut through the soft underbelly. If only he could get to it, the dragon still covering it with the piles of discarded items of the Land of the Lost, the dragon's treasure horde.

A raven swooped down, darting to the side as the dragon attempted to bite it before crash-landing on the back of Dex's horse.

"Battle plan!" the raven croaked, their feathers flustered from the close encounter. "Battle plan!"

"Battle plan?" Dex pulled the reins and steered to the side, evading another sluggish attack from the dragon.

"Corinna! Corinna!" the raven replied.

Dex's severed head smiled underneath the helmet. "Of course, it's from Corinna! What's our grand strategist's suggestion?"

"Keep doing what you are doing!"

"What!" Dex grunted, wincing as his steed's hooves almost toppled over the mountainside. "That's it?"

"Everyone else is taking position! Keep on distracting!"

Dex took in a deep breath. "Got it!" With added courage that there was now a plan, the headless horseman picked up the pace, weaving in and out of the dragon's sweeping claws and tail.

*

Corinna watched the summit of the Land of the Lost, wincing as she noticed that the dragon was still growing, becoming dangerously closer to the ceiling of the underground cavern. What was its limit? How long before it would no longer be able to fit?

The raven beside her, which she nicknamed her Chief Messenger in her head, finally reported that the plan had been relayed to everyone.

With her new knowledge of everyone's masks' abilities and Dex's sound theory on the underbelly being the weak point, Corinna regained her courage and composure, no longer breathing so heavily as she studied the battlefield with a calm and steady mind.

Once everyone was in position, the celestial nodded to Talon, signalling to initiate the plan.

The unkindness of ravens sent to scavenge the Land of the Lost returned to the skies, carrying cans of paints, coils of rope, and numerous blankets and clothes. They ascended, rising above the dragon who attempted to snap at them, but they were too far away.

With a disgruntled snort, the dragon reeled its head back; eyes still focused on the ravens as a green light illuminated inside of its belly, slowly rising to its throat and-

And then its eyes shot down as it heard the dark droning rumbled beneath. Right near its chest was a spherical dark void, Betty. The dragon scoffed, knowing Betty's limitations; it was too large to be consumed and sucked into the black hole, then froze as it realised that was not what Betty was planning.

The black hole swallowed all the nearby items at the dragon's chest, uncovering and revealing more of the dragon's belly.

The green light in the dragon's belly faded, no longer charging up another fire breath attack. Instead, it raised its large paw but went straight through the black hole as if it were air, only feeling slightly tingling.

Forgetting entirely about the ravens, the unkindness released the paint cans, dropping it all on the dragon's eyes, blinding them in bubblegum pink and turquoise colours. The blankets fell next, sticking to the gooping paint for good measure, blinding the dragon further. Reeling back in anger, the dragon's roar resounded across the underground cavern, shaking the mountain as items collapsed and cascaded down. It raised its paws again, aiming to cover up its weak spot, when it found it could not move them, an incredible force pinning them down.

The other monsters had finally reached the summit, using their combined strength and the ropes gathered by the ravens to restrain the dragon.

"Now!" Lili shouted as the black hole had reached its limit and swallowed enough items to expose a part of the dragon's underbelly.

The headless knight raised his lance with a loud battle cry, charging forwards with such speed that when his weapon pierced through the soft underbelly, it cut through deep to the point where the knight's arm was stuck inside. Dex slashed upwards as he retreated, his armoured right arm covered in blood and clumps of red.

With a pained cry, the dragon thrashed to the side, its overwhelming strength and size easily knocking away the monsters that had pinned it down, most of them tumbling down the mountain to be caught by the unkindness of ravens.

Still blinded by the paint and blankets, the dragon swiped its now free paws and tail wildly blood spurting and oozing out its wound, though it was not enough to slay it. Too slow to respond, the headless knight was struck by the dragon's tail, one of the spikes impaling the knight's chest plate, propelling Dex off the mountainside.

*

Calanthe watched from a distance as the dragon continued to knock more monsters off the side, a few too injured to move and get back up.

"Coward," she told herself, shaking. "Coward, no..." The mighty minotaur stumbled down the mountain, her legs moving quickly yet trembling as she could hear the screams behind her. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she blubbered. "Please be over! Be over! I hate this place! I hate it! I want to go home! I want to leave!"

The mountain shook, and Calanthe tripped, almost toppling over the side, her eyes forced to stare down at the sheer drop. All the ravens were over by the dragon, working incredibly hard to catch the other falling monsters. They would all be too far away if anything happened to her. What would happen if she fell from this height? Would her body be crippled and crushed by the force and impaled by something down there? Would she have any of her memories left?

She glanced back at the summit, seeing a few monsters running down screaming. A small semblance of her guilt diminished as she realised she wasn't the only person fleeing in fear. And then she froze as she saw how large the dragon had become since she last looked. The dragon's head had reached the ceiling of the underground cavern, reaching higher than any of the portals.

And then there was a loud crack as it hit the ceiling, the split in the earth spreading across, a brief rain of dirt falling.

But the dragon did not stop; it continued to grow, its body hunched underneath the ceiling as it remained at the top of the summit, the mountain pushed down so it would fit and-

And the break in the ceiling grew bigger.

"Take cover!" Lili's voice of desperation echoed across the cavern. "Take cover-"

Everything shook; the mountain pile of the Land of the Lost almost collapsed as more items fell and cascaded down, sending the monsters along with it as they lost their footing. The unkindness of ravens swooped down, catching as many as they could.

The dragon remained at the very top, raising its head high and hitting the ceiling with its claws and tail.

And then the dim and darkness of the underground cavern burst into light. 

Once again, apologies for the late update. Chapters should be posted on time now that the busy holiday period is over.

Happy New Year, everyone!

Does anyone have a New Years' Resolution or goals they want to achieve?

I am planning on starting social media for my writing, as well as posting some book reviews.

Thank you all for reading!