Jacquelyn peeked out from behind the large boulder, her eyes glued to the magnificent creature. It was hard to miss its black scales in an area of green. In normal circumstances, she would be thrilled to see a dragon. But this was the forbidden forest, filled with Caine's shadow creatures. There was no doubt it was one of them.

She hid behind the boulder, turning back to the other guardians that were hiding there with her.

"We have to get to that table" Henry stated

"But how? The table is in the cave behind the waterfall, the dragon is blocking our way" Ryia said

"So we have to get past that dragon somehow"

"How?" Jacquelyn asked

They all stayed silent as they thought of ideas. Philip was the first to speak.

"We can get into the pool, swim under the waterfall and go into the cave," he said

Ryia then took her turn to peeking past the boulder. She observed the waterfall and could tell where the entry of the cave was. She returned to the large rock.

"That won't work, the cave entrance is at least twenty feet above the pool" she explained

"We can use the rope" Henry suggested

"How?" Ryia asked

He sighed, he hadn't thought that far ahead.

"We can do the same thing we did at the cliff" Jacqulyn suggested "Philip can climb up using his daggers and I can shot the rope up to him"

"That might not work" Ryia answered "With all that moisture, things might get a little slippery"

"Plus, behind the waterfall could be mostly stone, my dagger can't pierce through that" Philip added

There was silence again as they continued to think of ideas. This time, Alianor was the one to speak.

"We can use the book," she said holding up the black book Morgaine gave her

"How? We don't even know what it is" Henrey said

Alianor took a deep breath, it was time for her to tell them what it was.

"This is the book of Shadow Magic" she opened the book and showed them the title on the first page "I've been reading it since we came into the forest. It's filled with mostly spells to conjure up dark magic. There was one spell I saw in there that can help us"

She flipped through the book, going to the page she saw the spell on. Once she found it, she turned the book back to them.

"What is it?" her best friend asked

"It's a reverse spell" she answered "it can reverse any dark magic spell"

"How would that help us? We don't even have magic" Henry said

"I know, but I have a plan" she answered

They huddled closer together as Alianor shared her plan. The others nodded, liking the idea. They all added their own bits, turning it into a more solid plan...as solid as it could get anyway.

Soon they were ready to execute. They dropped their satchels, all except Alianor, and took their positions.

Jacquelyn stood behind another boulder, eager as can be. The success of the first phase of the plan was all on her. Her job?

Wake up and distract the dragon.

Getting a nod from Henry, who was hiding behind a boulder not far from hers, she stepped out from behind her hiding spot and slowly made her way towards the dragon. She stopped before she was too close to get easily hurt.

"Hey dragon!" she yelled

The dragon's nose twitched, but the rest of its body stayed still.

"Wake up!" she yelled again, getting the same result

Frustrated, she bent over and picked up a small stone and hurled it at the sleeping creature. It landed right between his eyes.

Jacquelyn grinned at her aim before yelling at it once more "Wake up you stupid dragon!"

This time, dark smoke was snorted from its nostrils and its eyelids open, revealing it's red eyes.

"I see you don't like being called stupid" Jacquelyn said

At the sound of her voice, the dragon's eyes shot towards her in an intense gaze. It shook it's head as if waking itself up and slowly began to get up off the ground. Soon, the dragon was standing at almost thirty feet tall.

"Now that you're awake, let me introduce myself. My name is Jacquelyn Archer, but you can call me Jacky if you like" she began with a smile "I am the new wind guardian. My fellow guardians and I are here to take...you...down!"

The dragon tilted it's head to the side as if asking "Oh really?"

"Yes, we are. We're going to capture you, tie you up, get rid of those horrible looking things on your body called scales. Then we're going to drop your body into a big boiling pot of water and..."

The blonde was cut off by the loud roar of the dragon.

"Ok, ok, you get the picture"

The dragon seemed to stand at attention and then bring its head back. The upper part of its underbelly began to glow a bright orange.

"Why is it glowing?" Jacquelyn called out to the others

"It's about to roast you!" Ryia quickly answered, "Run!"

Jacquelyn's eyes widened at the answer and she quickly turned and ran away. She ran to the closest boulder and threw herself behind it just in time. She felt the heat of the flames as she lay on the ground.

The dragon roared and began to walk in the direction it saw the young blonde run.

"It's coming" Henry yelled

It was now time for the second phase, lure the dragon away from the waterfall. Henry and Philip emerged from their hiding spot.

"Hey!" "Over here!" they said waving their swords at it

It's head snapped in their direction, and it started going towards them. The two starting running towards the cluster of trees, the dragon closing in on them.

"Alianor, go now!" Henry yelled, hoping she could hear him

She did and emerged from behind one of the boulders that was closer to the waterfall. She had made her way there while her best friend was conversing with the creature.

It was time for the third phase. Get the power from the table.

She made her way towards the right side of the waterfall, where the dragon had been lying not to long ago. She looked up at the falls, shielding her eyes from the mist. She could see where the entrance to the cave was, but she wasn't sure how she was going to get there.

She then spotted a ledge that led behind the waterfall, to the cave. She followed it and saw that it was connected to what looked like stairs carved into the stone. She smiled, that must have been how their grandparents got to it.

She made her way to where the makeshift stairs began and started climbing. She did so as fast as she could, the top of the stairs getting closer and closer. But before she could get there, she slipped. A squeal escaped her mouth as she landed on her hands. He left leg hung over the side of the stairs, dangling over the hard ground a few feet below.

She mentally cursed herself, she should have known things were going to be a bit slippery. She pulled her leg back up and settled herself. She looked at the dragon who was running after her fellow guardians. Maybe it didn't hear her or was too occupied chasing them to care where the squeal came from.

She took a deep breath then continued up the stairs. This time she stayed on her hands and knees, feeling she would be better balanced that way. She breathed with relief when she made it to the top, but the relief was soon gone when she looked at the narrow ledge she had to walk on to get to the cave. Going on her hands and knees wouldn't work this time.

She stood upright and pushed her back against the stone wall, and slowly started walking sideways along the ledge. She was tempted to close her eyes, but she had to see where she was going. She wondered how their grandparents did this all the time, then she thought that maybe the conditions were much better back then.

"You can do this" she chanted to herself, her face getting wet from the mist

Before she knew it, there was nothing to lean her back against. She had reached the entrance of the cave and was directly behind the falling water.

She quickly turned around and entered the dark cave. The deeper she went, the harder it was to see. She wished right then that she had a candle or torch with her. Suddenly, she didn't need one anymore, a glowing blue light seemed to be coming from around the corner. Her eyes widened at the sight, it had to be the table.

She slowly made her way towards it, but her steps quickened when she heard the roar of the dragon outside.

She needed to get to that table right away.