Me: Gala, would you do the honors?
Gala: Sure! Lou doesn't own the Dragon Slippers Series, even if she really, really wanted to.
Me: And I really, really want to...

A Ray of Hope, Literally

"This is the same rock as the entrance," Raven rumbled, bumping her nose against the edge.

"Limestone?" I jumped, but I couldn't reach the edge of the hole. I squeaked in shock as I felt myself suddenly being lifted to the hole, and my fingers brushed the crumbly rock. I suddenly remembered the arrowhead I found once and sewed it into one of my scarves. Was this scarf the one?

I squeaked again, this time in delight, as I found it and ripped the sharp object off of my scarf. Pity, it was a good conversation peice, but right now we're just talking survival. By the angle of the sunlight, it was almost sundown, and I hadn't eaten anything since early yesterday morning. I had drank from the waterfall, but that was it.

I dug deep gouges into the hole, and Raven would carve out the peices. Soon it was wide enough for me to be able to chimney-walk up the sides, but I wasn't about to let Raven stay down there. I just kept digging out peices.

It got so that the bottom was wide enough for Raven, and it went up into a conical shape. For awhile, I stood on Raven's head and hammered the top of the hole wider. Eventually, I hit soft dirt.

"Dirt!" I yelled. Raven, startled, reared like a frightened horse, and lifted me clear out of the hole. Her head hit the weakened rock and soft dirt, and then next thing I know, I'm tangled up in a tree while the ground exploded.

A black blur zoomed out of the hole, screeching, a sound that lifted the hairs of my head and made me wince as the sound scraped at my eardrums. Said black blur landed with a heavy thump twenty feet away from me, scaring both me and the poor farmer whose lot we had basically just destroyed.

"A little help? Someone? Anyone?" I said, hanging upside down from the tree, tangled in vines and branches. The farmer went the long way around Raven, who had apparently knocked herself out, landing that heavily from the-gods-know how high.

He pulled a knife, and I said, "Whoa, whoa. I just wanted help out of here, I didn't want help being killed. I've already done that who-knows-how-many times in the past two days. You try and kill me, I set my dragon on you. Got it?"

The guy said something I didn't understand. I sighed. "You," I pointed to him, "kill," I drew a finger across my throat, "me," I pointed to myself, "dragon," I pointed to Raven, who was watching the guy closely, "kill," I drew my finger across my throat again, "you." I pointed to him. I raised my hands as much as I could. "Got it?"

The man, as far as I could tell, grumbled, but said something to the effect of, "Fine." Real friendly, ain't he? Maybe he was thinking about having black-haired girl for dinner tonight.

I was cut free by the man, who then made a quick exit before I could even thank him. Raven crawled over to me. She bowed her head. "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine, Raven." I winced as I rolled my shoulders. "A few bruises, but I'm fine."

Her snout was almost touching the ground. I sat down next to her. "Raven, if you had wanted to hurt me, you would've killed me. I startled you. And we're out! We're out of that labyrinth of a maze! There's nothing to worry about."

Raven's beautiful green eyes fluttered shut. "Hey," I said. "Look at me. We'll be fine. There's not much that can scare me after falling down a cave and getting tangled up into a skeleton, and then being catapulted into a tree." I snorted. I found the last one hilarious.

Raven looked at me, deadly serious. "Even if I told you I've forgotten how to fly, and we're nowhere near the Rath Forest?"