The cavern was silent, save for the crackle of settling stone and the faint hiss of cooling fire. Dust hung thick in the air, clinging to every breath, every tear.
The dragon lay buried beneath tons of fallen rock, its once-thunderous roars silenced forever. What had been its lair was now a broken tomb.
Sari knelt on the cold ground, clutching Tessa in her arms. Her hands shook as she patted the priestess's cheek, her voice trembling.
"Tessa—hey—wake up. Come on, don't you dare quit on me now..."
Tessa's lashes fluttered. A pained groan slipped past her lips, her body stiff with bruises and blood. Her eyes opened, unfocused, then widened at the agony that shot through her ribs.
"Sari..." she whispered, voice ragged. "I—I can't—"
"Don't talk," Sari urged, choking back a sob. "Just breathe. Just breathe, damn it."
But Tessa shook her head, tears streaming down her dirt-stained face. Her hand pressed shakily to her own chest, and a faint glow began to bloom beneath her fingers.
Healing light spread across her wounds, knitting broken flesh, soothing cracked bone. She hissed in pain with each breath, but still, she worked—restoring herself enough to sit upright.
Sari exhaled in relief, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve. But the relief was short-lived.
Tessa turned to her sharply, panic tightening her features. "The Dragon!?"
Sari froze.
When Tessa had steadied herself enough to stand, she asked again, more firmly despite her weak voice. "Sari. What happened? Where is the dragon? Where is Arlo?"
Sari's lips trembled. She looked at the jagged heap of rock and collapsed ceiling. Dust still trickled from above, tiny pebbles rolling down the massive pile.
Her hand shook as she pointed toward the rubble.
"He... he's under there," she whispered, voice breaking. "Arlo's under there. He—he brought the whole ceiling down... with the dragon."
Her knees buckled, and she fell into the dirt, sobbing. "I told him to run. I told him. And he just—he just smiled like an idiot and stayed behind!"
Tessa's breath caught. She stumbled forward, her healing light sputtering but refusing to fade. "No... no, no, no. He can't be. He—he can't—"
Both women threw themselves at the rubble, clawing desperately with bloodied fingers. Rock by rock, they tried to dig, dust cutting into their throats, nails cracking, skin splitting.
Sari's voice was raw with grief. "Arlo! Arlo, answer me! Please—please don't be dead, you stupid reckless bastard!"
The cavern groaned ominously, but neither of them stopped.
Tessa's tears fell freely, her voice breaking as she pressed her palms against the stone, her light flickering uselessly over the debris. "If you're alive down there... hold on. Just hold on. We'll find you."
The dragon was dead. The mountain was collapsing.
But all they cared about was him.
And in that moment—two broken women clawing at the dark—they prayed for a miracle.