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The scaly head rises quickly, its red eyes fixed squarely upon him. Frozen with fear, he watches as it draws ever closer. Suddenly, its mouth opens revealing two rows of razor sharp teeth. Giving out a roar, the head strikes at James where he’s standing exposed upon the wall.

“Jiron!” he screams and then throws the orb. Dodging to the side, he closes his eyes as he sends a burst of magic causing the orb to explode in a blinding flash.

The scaly head strikes the wall where he had been but a second before. James is struck by the side of the monster’s head and gets knocked from the wall. “Jiron!” he yells again as he plummets toward the water below.

“James!” he hears Jiron shout from above. “What’s happening?”

He reaches out and grabs hold of the neck of the monster to slow his fall. Even with that he hits the water hard, his breath knocked out of him. Kicking his feet, he moves out of the way just as the head hits the water.

The impact of the head causes him to be propelled by the surge of water toward the side of the underground lake. Kicking and swimming furiously, he makes the edge and pulls himself up onto the ground. Turning onto his back, he sees the creature’s head silhouetted by the light coming through the window from above, rearing up for another strike. Rolling to the right, he barely avoids being caught by the razor sharp teeth.

Getting to his feet, he quickly creates another orb and finds that the shore of the small lake extends further around the water. Running, he flees the monstrous creature and lets out with magic…

Crumph! Crumph!

…and the ground explodes upward in front of the creature.

Rearing backward and letting out with another bone rattling roar, the creature halts for a brief moment allowing James to flee further along the shore.

“Jiron!” he cries out as he races along the water’s edge. The ground trembles as the creature leaves the water to pursue him. A massive body with four strong legs and a long tail trailing behind, it looks just like a dinosaur.

Crumph!

Letting out with another explosion, he slows the creature down. Looking ahead desperately for a way out, he finds the water continues until it reaches the edge of a building. As the building becomes more illuminated by the orb’s light he discovers the shoreline, and thus his avenue of escape, ends at the side of the building.

Glancing back, he sees the creature again pressing forward to attack. Desperate for a way out, he edges closer to the water. Scanning the area once again for any sign of a way out, he notices the water lapping at the edge of the building and that the ground beneath the wall has been eroded away by the water.

With no time to determine if the eroded area extends very far, he runs and dives into the water. Swimming quickly, he reaches the building’s edge. Just then, the water swells when the creature enters after him. Praying he’s right, he takes a breath and dives again under the water.

Using his hand for a guide, he swims under the stone of the building. The stone above him extends for what seems like a long distance before his hand comes to the end of the stone. Kicking to the surface, his head breaks through to open air and he takes a ragged breath.

Heart pumping, he creates another orb and finds that he’s in the corner of a large room. Over time, the water had eroded the ground out beneath the foundation causing the floor to fall away and drop below the surface. Reaching out a hand, he takes hold of the edge of the floor and quickly leaves the water.

Once out, he moves away from the edge and watches to see if the creature will follow. The opening isn’t very large so he hopes it will decide against it. When all remains quiet for several minutes, he sighs with relief that the creature isn’t going to follow.

Then it hits him. He’s all alone. How will Jiron follow and catch up with him while that creature is out there? Even Jiron’s prowess with the knives will be of little use against