The Sprite Witch

CHAPTER 3: The protagonist likes maps

Laila peered out of the cage of dragon claws at the snatches of forest hidden by the clouds. The Dragon Lord's wings barely moved as he soared towards the northern mountains with the protagonist within his grasp.

Cohort Three of the sprites looked nervously over a cloud bank, and Laila waved excitedly at the few she recognised. Soon it was just her and a dragon in the misty maze of clouds as the Northern Mountain Range came into view. Within seconds, she was tumbling onto the hard rock at the tip of a mountain, a small outcrop at the edge.

Ieiunium glared down at the vampire, tossing down some yellowing papers.

"Look carefully at these maps. If you are to have any chance of defeating me, you'll have to know exactly where you're going. You have ten minutes, to study the maps or begin, while I do an aerial scour of the surrounds. When I return, I will begin myself. Good luck."

Laila watched the golden dragon launch into the air, flying eastwards. She was feeling slightly nervous about the whole encounter, as her dragon mentor , Hyacinthum, had only given her her dragon form under the strict rule that she was never to show her face in dragon society. Having a race against the leader of said dragon society probably went against that rule.

Sighing and examining the maps, Laila plotted out her path, cross-referencing the inside and outside of the mountains to find the beginnings and ends of streams, the depth of tunnels, anything she could use to her advantage without being discovered as anything but a regular vampire.

When the dragon lord soared overhead ten minutes later, Laila stuffed the maps into her inter-dimensional witch necklace and struck out West; towards the far-off finish line she had to reach before a fast-flying dragon.

---

Laila heaved herself out of the fast-flowing stream, checking the maps. Surprisingly, she had only gotten lost once thus far in the intricate maze of tunnels. Hoofing it down the tunnel, she reached the outer wall of the mountain, blocked with fallen boulders. Luckily, they were still somewhat loose. Hoping that the dragon lord was out of eyesight, she leapt at the wall, transforming into dragon form; too big for the musky tunnels, but perfect for crashing through walls. Almost as good at it as high-powered pancakes are at smashing out windows.

She sped out along the northern edge of the mountains, building up speed, keeping low to the sparse treeline should she have to drop out of dragon form with little notice. Even in this darkness, she was horribly exposed, a giant shadow dashing across the landscape. Her wings were already tiring, and it seemed like she still had half the mountain range to go.

---

At the horizon, fiery streaks of sunlight started breaking through the cloudbank, the sun too low and weak to make the sky blue. The air danced with dust and mist, the darkness gripping to the end of its daily reign. The westernmost point of the Northern Mountain Range protruded over the forests; a reddish outcrop, jutting out from three-quarters up the cliff face. Up against the cliff face, a bouder stood, carved by years of water damage into the shape of a throne. The outcrop itself was unimpressive, the centre a bowl of dust streaked with talon marks. Minerals clung to its rocky edges, rendered dim and unimportant by the dusty wind.

A small bat flapped desperately up to the edge of the outcrop, winds batting it away from the landing. A single claw reached out, missed, and it was forced below the rock level again.

The outcrop shook, pebbles raining off the edges. The bat squeaked, and when it raised itself to the level of the outcrop again, it was faced with a giant golden dragon, black scales curled up like its victorious grin.

"Well, Illequicelat," he said, the words barely a growl in the enormous throat, "Looks like you've put up as much of a challenge as every other vampire from your precious stronghold."

The small, leathery bat squeaked apprehensively, clinging to the rocks for dear life while trying to get as far from this beast as possible.

The dragon lord sighed. "Any last words?"

"Yes!" yelled a voice from behind him.

The beast spun around, the blade on his tail digging a trench clean through the rock. Standing up in the shade beside the throne-like boulder was a fanged blonde teenager.

"Strawberry doughnuts are delicious! Have you ever tried them? Oh, also, that vampire you're traumatising? That's actually just a regular bat, sorry."