The dungeon boss is way too difficult!

Now that Sisli, Knox, and Caspian are back, we should be able to defeat the dungeon boss. But where is he? We slowly enter the room. The hall is lighted with some fires positioned in vase-like vessels, and the hall is filled with the smell of smoke. In the middle of the room stretches a treasure hall filled with gold coins and golden objects like jewelry, vases, and much more.

In the center is a pedestal. The orb is placed upon it. Crystal clear and shimmering like fresh dew, it stands trapped in a holder. Overwhelmed by the shimmering wealth, Caspian, Sisli, and Knox look around. Lionel, who already has one hand on his sword, looks around tensely. Justifiably, because I'm also looking for the boss, who's probably just waiting for the right moment to reveal himself.

The faint crumbling of stones from the ceiling echoes through the room. The dark figure of a creature winds along the downward-hanging stones of the ceiling.

We look up, but then the creature, a black dragon with a red aura, flies from the ceiling and positions itself in front of the pedestal. Graceful and terrifying at the same time, it stands there. Smoke billows from his nostrils as the dragon stares at us with its golden yellow eyes. He starts to roar. It echoes through the whole hall and makes the ground shake.

Tension is in the air as anyone gets into fighting position.

"What's the plan?" Caspian asks.

"Caspian, search for a higher point to give me cover from afar! I will attack him from the front. Knox, stay back and wait for the best moment to attack the dragon from another angle! Sisli and Aria stay back at first!" Lionel says.

Before anyone could say something about the plan, Lionel already sprints in coverage of stones and treasures to the dragon. Knox runs immediately behind him. But before they can reach the dragon, he spits fire. The flames are so hot that they leave embers and burn marks on the stone floor.

Lionel and Knox are about to be hit by the flames. They split and dodge the attack. Lionel runs to the right and Knox to the left.

Sisli, who stayed by my side, constructs a barrier of vines, which blocks the heat of the flames from reaching us. Caspian is waiting for the right moment to shoot. Right now, because of the flames, his arrows would be burned down before they could reach the dragon. So he climbs up a ledge to get a better position.

Then Lionel attacks the dragon with his sword. But the dragon hits him with his left claw before he could hit the dragon. Lionel flies several meters, crashes against a wall, and falls on the ground.

"Lionel!" I shout. I squeeze past the vines and run armed with my dagger in Lionel's direction.

"Stop, stay there," he shouts.

Blood flows from a wound on this head. He straightens up and wipes the blood away with his hand.

Forget it! What healer am I if I can't heal you?" I shout.

I try to get closer to Lionel, but the dragon focuses on us. He hit his claw in the ground, and a crack opened. I jump to the side, but I fall into it.

"Ahh..." I shout and ram my dagger into the ground. Slowly I pull myself up.

Fortunately, Sisli and Knox distract the dragon before he can make a move to Lionel or me.

Sisli grows vines out of the crack and hits the dragon on his jaw. Meanwhile, Knox hits the dragon with his axe in the right claw. The dragon roars and lifts his claw to get rid of Knox. But Knox still holds the handle of his axe, which is stuck in the claw. As the dragon opens his maw, Knox pulls his axe out of the claw and rolls to the side. The razor-sharp teeth in his mouth only narrowly miss Knox.

Since the dragon is busy, I run in Lionel's direction. Ten meters away from him, I already use my healing powers, and his body starts to glow slightly gold. His wounds start to heal slightly, but as far as I can see, the scratches don't disappear completely. My powers can't work properly from a distance. Through skin contact they are stronger with less mana consumption. But it's enough for now.

The dragon roars and tries to attack Knox again. But before he can reach him, an arrow hits him in the shoulder. It's Caspian's arrow. Meanwhile, Lionel, who is able to fight again, sprints to attack from the side. The dragon notices him. He whips his tail in Lionel's direction. But Lionel slides through below, gets up, and slashes the dragon in the side.

At the same time, Sisli binds vines around the dragon claws. Caspian seizes the opportunity and shoots an arrow, which hits the dragon's left eye.

"Strike!" Caspian shouts euphorically.

The dragon's rage grew bigger and bigger as he roars in pain. In one swing he breaks free from the vines. Now the dragon straightens up and gets ready to spit fire again.

The smoke is already pouring out of his nostrils as he opens his maw. The intense hot flames flow out, and while moving his head, the dragon burns everything in front of him.

By hiding ourselves behind the next possible rocks, we are able to save ourselves more or less.

Not far from me is Lionel, who hides in a crevice from the flames.

Left from the crack in the ground are Sisli and Knox. Both are hiding behind a wall of vines, which is burning brightly after the attack of the dragon. But at least the flames couldn't reach them.

Well, almost not, as the ends of Knox's red hair are burning slightly.

"I will save you!" Sisli shouts while she is hitting his head with a plant to extinguish the flames.

A bit nervous, Knox walks around and also hits himself on the head with his hands. Fortunately, they can extinguish the flames fast.

But there is no time to breathe deeply, as the dragon launches another attack. But this time he is focused on Caspian, who is standing on a ledge without much cover, shooting arrows at the dragon.

"Caspian!" Lionel shouts while he leaves his cover and sprints to the dragon. But we all are too far away to reach him.

"Oh shit...!" Caspian shouts.

As the dragon shoots his fire in Caspian's direction, he jumps down the ledge to protect himself from the flames. With some abrasions from sliding down the ledge and some burn marks from the flames, he survived mostly unharmed.

Fortunately, Lionel is able to distract the dragon by hitting his sword in the throat of the dragon before he could spit more fire on Caspian. 

"Rooooar!"

The dragon screams in pain and flicks Lionel's sword away. Then he hits Lionel with his claw. He flies a few meters, rolls over, and lands on the ground.

"Lionel!" I shout.

Not again. I just healed him. I run to Lionel, who isn't moving, touch his severe bleeding injuries, and heal his wounds as fast as I can. The dragon is about to attack again, and the glowing of my healing power already flickers as I use too much healing power in one moment. Sweating from exhaustion, I look towards the dragon as he swings his claw towards me.