Arad sighed, “Fine,” He tapped his finger beside Merlin’s drawing, “We fly straight to the stairs, ignoring every fight.”

“You’re right,” She nodded.

“We have one chance,” Amber looked down, “Can the door open while the guardian is alive?”

“It should open,” Merlin replied, “This is a common tactic used to skin annoying layers in larger labyrinths.”

Arad stood, “Get on my back. We’re moving immediately,” He said with a stern face.

“It’s hot here,” Amber stood, fanning her face, “Let’s get out as fast as possible,”

“If it’s hot, you can strip down,” Merlin giggled.

“And then get sunburned into golden brown like a chicken breast on a pan? No thanks,” Amber stared back at her, “You go and get burned if you want,”

Merlin looked at her arms and thighs, “I’m not going out of here without some browning, am I?”

“Arad is having it worse. He’s topless,” Amber pointed at him, “How about you give him his shirt back and strip?”

“No need for that,” Arad replied, “I can heal it later,” None of the injuries he could sustain here matters. As long as he gets out alive, his blood regeneration will kick in and heal him. Sunburns are nothing.

Arad bent down, “Sit on my back,”

Amber looked at him for a second, “It really feels wrong to ride you like a horse,”

“It doesn’t matter now, does it?” Arad looked at her. “And since when there was a problem with that?”

Arad is always on all four when carrying people in his draconic form. To him this was just like trying to fly without wings and while being far smaller in size.

“Me first!” Merlin jumped on his back with a smile.

“You really are…” Amber sighed, scratching her head, “Annoying at best,” She slowly sat on Arad’s back, “At least show some respect,” Thud! She smacked Merlin’s head.

Merlin stared at her, “But this is the plan. Isn’t best if we get out of here as fast as possible?”

“That doesn’t mean to jump on his back like you did,” Amber smacked her once again.

“You two, stop fighting on my back and get ready,” Arad sighed.

Merlin looked back at Amber, “I want you to fire two fireballs. The first one attracts the worm’s attention away from us, and the second is after Arad takes off to mask it,”

Amber nodded, “Understood,”

Merlin reached with her hand to the doorknob.

“KYAAAAAAAAA!” She cried, immediately snatching her hand away, “It’s hot!” She started blowing on her palm.

Amber reached with her hand, “You crybaby,”

“PIKYAAAAAAAAAAA!” She howled, falling off Arad’s back and rolling on the ground, blowing on her hand, “It burns!”

Arad looked at them with a worried face, “You two…at least have some tolerance,”

“You can’t blame me, can you?” Merlin cried, “I have soft hands, but she’s a fire sorcerer, blame her,”

“You witch-like wizard,” Amber growled.

“It doesn’t matter,” Arad sighed, “Just let me open it,” He extended his hand and opened the door. It slightly burned his hand, but it wasn’t something that could stop him from fighting.

Amber slowly stood and sat on his back, holding her staff with one hand and supporting the weight with the second one. “Don’t drop it,” Merlin looked at her.

“It won’t,” Amber replied. “One hand is enough,”

Arad turned his head toward them, glaring at Amber, “Drop it, and I will slap you,” Cracking his wrist, “We need you to fire magic, so don’t fail.”

Amber giggled, “Of course, I won’t drop it. Nothing will stop me from casting the spells,” She stared at him with sweat dripping across her face. She couldn’t know if it was from fear or the heat.

“You’re joking about the slap, right?”

“Of course, I’m joking,” Arad replied, and Amber sighed in relief.

“A slap to the butt is called spanking, after all.” He added, “Don’t fail,”

“Of course,” Amber replied, almost shaking in place.

Arad slowly crawled outside, his eyes panning across the sand, wary not to step out of the sizzling hot cobblestone.

Amber pointed her staff at the distance, Fire Ball Fire Ball

She fired two consecutive shots with a five-second delay between them.

Arad waited for the first fireball to explode in a crimson burst.

Tens of massive brown worms emerged at the explosion’s base, wiggling like writhing earthworms. Merlin was right. There is no way they can fight and win against such massive monsters in their current state.

VOOOM! Arad ignited flame beneath his feet and hands, taking to the sky in the blink of an eye.

The worms sensed his taking off and turned around, but soon the second fireball exploded, drawing their attention again.

PEW! Arad flew across the air with the two on his back, going as fast as he could to reach the stairs to the second layer. As long as they get out fast enough. They won’t face the boss.

“I can see the stairs,” Merlin pointed, “Land there and will get out of here before the worms come back.”

“I know,” Arad replied, shifting his direction toward the stairs they just saw.

But at that moment, the stairs disappeared, and instead, a titanic maw appeared in their place.

Arad gasped, ^A trap? Illusion?^ His eyes panned around, seeing the actual stairs being just a short distance away.

The boss opened its titanic maw, lunging toward Arad like a crock lunging at its prey. 𝘳.𝑐ℴ

^I can’t dodge at this speed,^ Arad grunted, turning around and snatching Amber and Merlin off his back, “GO!” He shouted, throwing them toward the stairs.

“ARAD!” Merlin cried.

CLAP! The boss clamped his jaw on Arad, swallowing him in the blink of an eye.

At the last moment, Amber grabbed Merlin and dropped her at the stairs before landing at her side.

“ARAD! ARAD! CAN YOU HEAR ME!” Merlin shouted, “Go for the heart if you can find it! Try to escape,”

“It’s no use,” Amber growled, “He can’t hear you from here,” She took a step forward, her grey eyes shifting orange. The nails on her left hand fell off, replaced by a burning blaze.

𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮