Genre: Fantasy

Marinda stared at the beast as it reared up and roared before dropping down to all fours and charging. Her feet wanted to move, but they could not. The only reaction she could muster was to watch silently as Kort and Tsala bore down upon where she stood in a panicked sprint for their own lives. That was when she saw the dragon slam to a dead stop and cocked its head back. Still standing frozen, the mage was absolutely certain what was coming next.

"It's getting ready to breathe fire!" Marinda yelled at the top of her lungs, snapping out of her trance.

The two barbarians were both waving frantically for her to start running, but Marinda knew that there would be nowhere to run. The flames from the dragon's mouth would engulf the cave and everything in it. They would reach the exit in time.

With that realization, the mage threw out her hands in front of her and to the sides. She heard the gurgle of the viscous fluid in the dragon's gullet that would be ignited to form the fireball to burn them all alive. Clenching her hands as though grabbing at the very stone of the walls themselves, Marinda closed her eyes and found every last one of the strands of earth magic this place possessed and latched on to them.

She felt them resist her as the first sparks of flame were growing in the dragon's maw. Marinda strained and pulled harder, feeling the stones give away as if they were attached to invisible ropes. A first boulder fell from the ceiling, hitting the beast upon its shoulder and throwing it off kilter. Then another fell, striking its wing. That one pulled the beast down and pinned it to the ground. The dragon tried to unleash its final attack, but was thwarted just as the entire cave collapsed and gave way, burying it in a tomb of stones and tossing Marinda to the ground.

Coughing, she laid in the thick dust that her actions had caused to fill the cave. The dirt and the thunderous boom blinded her senses. She could not see, nor could she hear anything but the results of what she had done. The dust gagged her and forced her to dry heave painfully. Thankfully, the bulk of it settled quickly, and it was the sound of Halen, also coughing, that made her realize the roar of the cave-in was finally fading.

"Damn!" the thief spat out between breathes as he crawled over to where she was. "I didn't know you could do that!" he exclaimed excitedly.

Marinda coughed up dust filled mucus before answering him. "We needed a plan C. It was all I could think of."

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MathiasCavanaugh is the author of several books/stories including:

Daughters of Fate Book 1

Daughters of Fate Book 2

Tales of the Inglorious Brotherhood (Vol 1 Ep 1)