The aborted attack against the Dragon Slayer convinced the dragons that they should adopt a siege style tactic against this powerful adversary. Their plan was simple, first isolate them so they can't escape and then wear them down with repeated attacks until the Dragon Slayer was toothless (that is, until Caleya was out of arrows). They were communicating without speaking and one of the dragons said, "then we will destroy the Dragon Slayer and this child courier who found one of our hated cousins. And for that unfortunate hatchling, we will carry it back and torture it until it reveals where the other eggs are hidden." They all liked this plan and immediately flew off in different directions to begin the encirclement. NarieFah was clutching Caleya's arm so tightly that it begin to hurt, but Caleya didn't say anything as they both stared in disbelief. At last Caleya realized what was happening and said, "By all my ancestors, a circle of fire! Why must I witness this again!" NarieFah said, "Caleya, this is so awful! Do they intend to set the whole of the forest on fire?" Caleya replied, "I've only seen this once before, when some fireworms caught up with an archer raiding party that was returning home. They trapped them in a circle of fire just like this." Caleya paused and lowered her head, then said softly, "no one inside the circle survived." NarieFah started saying, "But when the promised help gets here...?" but she stopped not knowing how to finish her thought. Caleya continued, "I was part of that raid, some of us were ahead of the main group and we found ourselves on the outside of the circle. We tried to help but it was impossible to get through the flames. I'm sorry NarieFah, but that is what will happen to the promised help, they will get stopped at the wall of flames." Then Caleya grabbed NarieFah by the shoulders and said, "NarieFah listen to me, you must leave this place! You are fast and there is still time to get away if you leave now! Go, find the promised help and if they are strong enough come back to save the egg. I'll delay the fireworms as long as possible." NarieFah was horrified at the thought of leaving Caleya and said, "Caleya, but what of you? You would be alone." Caleya said, "As a Dragon Archer my place is to remain and protect the egg. NarieFah, since I started the vendetta I have been alone in my battles with the fireworms, and in this path that I follow my fate has always been clear to me. But I don't want this for you, go now quickly, before the circle of fire is complete!" NarieFah pleaded, "Caleya, please don't send me away, I would be afraid and I'm not faster than a dragon!" Caleya said, "No, you are not faster than a dragon. But I can protect you until you get near the circle and if you can get beyond that there is a real chance you can get away. My dear child please don't waste this opportunity, go now while there is still a chance to escape. There is no hope if you remain here!" ------ Hope, that was the one gift among all the evils in pandoras box. Caleya has lost hope for herself. We will see if it remains alive with NarieFah or if she decides to escape the circle of fire and leave Caleya.

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Scene setup and rendered in Octane Render 2.17. Figure setup in DS4.7, Postwork in Photoshop CC. For this scene the flames are rendered using Flink's water splash objects and a fire material. The smoke and sparks were added in photoshop. Thank you very much for viewing and for previous kind words, comments and favs - I very much enjoy reading them!!! (Zoom for larger image) Previous Chapter - Dragon Slayer