''We made it.'' Isabel whispered. ''Now comes the hard part.''

Kneeling beside her was her mother, staring down a pair of binoculars that she brought along with her so that she could see what Isabel could see. Following the trail of smoke that drifted into the sky, they spotted a large camp with tents scattered around the area. Dozens of armed people, wearing the same armor that Angelique's small group wore, guarded the place.

''It's an army.'' Helen said.

Next to her, the restrained Angelique chuckled. ''What did you expect? We work for a Drake. We can't afford to let some Vipers overrun us. We've got all the best equipment so that we can find new workers and loot for our bosses.''

Helen sneered at their prisoner. ''I'm surprised you didn't package workers and loot together since you care so little…''

''As long as I do what I'm told, I get to keep my head. That's good enough for me.''

The mother and daughter duo had spent the last half an hour simply watching the camp, surveying the area and making sure they knew what they were dealing with. Thanks to Isabel's heightened senses, they didn't have to worry about getting too close and alerting the lookouts that were positioned at the edge of the enemy camp. That's when a sudden realization came to Isabel, and for the first time since the rain had stopped, she smiled.

''The Drake isn't here.'' She said, catching Helen and Angelique's attention. ''I can hear and see what's going on. If he was, he'd have spotted us by now. This might not be so bad after all.''

Helen sighed. ''We can't afford to get complacent. We still don't know if Thane is alive.''

''We'd have kept him alive,'' Angelique said. ''He might be missing an extra finger or toe by now, but we won't kill him yet.''

''Then let's make the trade.'' Isabel said, grabbing the rope holding Angelique and yanking it firmly, making the woman stand up. ''Don't try anything funny.''

''Cross my heart, I'll be a good girl.'' Angelique mumbled sarcastically.

She let the gunwoman take the lead, holding the rope and letting her get a short distance away before she turned to her mother and forced a smile to try and ease her concerns. ''It'll be fine.''

Helen nodded nervously. ''I'll keep watch from here. If I see anything suspicious, I can give a signal that you'll hear. Don't take any chances. I know we're here for Thane, but my number one concern will always be you.''

Giving her a genuine smile, Isabel hugged her mother tightly. ''I'll be fine. You're the one who needs to be careful. Just stay back. Hopefully this'll be quick.''

The two pulled apart and shared a longing look with each other. Their eyes glanced down at their lips again, but their bodies wouldn't move, even if their inner voices were screaming for them to get closer. It wasn't until Isabel felt the slight tug on the rope from where it had reached its limit with Angelique. Isabel turned away from Helen and marched on with her prisoner. Despite feeling confident that she could get out of any trouble she might find herself in, Isabel still sighed with worry. She tried not to look back at her mother. She feared doing so would make the camp catch on that she wasn't alone. She felt cold not being able to see her mother, but if all went well, this would only take a few minutes.

Isabel felt her heart racing as she and Angelique got closer to the camp. Within minutes, the lookouts had alerted everyone. Isabel could see them scurry around like a pack trying to get in formation. She heard them loading their weapons. She tried to ease her worries by reminding herself that she was bulletproof. But, when she stared down the barrels of the guns, she wondered if she could hold her own against them after all. Their weapons were superior, larger, and there was more of them. She pulled Angelique closer to her, thinking they wouldn't dare shoot as long as she had one of their own beside her. They got closer to the camp and not a single shot had been fired, so it seemed that she was in the clear for now.

The gunman separated to allow one man to step forward. He was an older figure with thinning dark hair, a scruffy beard and his jaw had three scars going down his neck before disappearing underneath his ragged top. He carried what Isabel guessed was an assault rifle.

''Angelique, my darling,'' he called out almost sarcastically as he watched them approach the camp. ''I was beginning to worry you'd become a corpse in the sand.''

Angelique rolled her eyes at him. ''Nice of you to have so much confidence in me, Tobias.''

''Well, I think my lack of confidence was justified considering what I'm looking at,'' he tilted his head and now stared directly at Isabel. ''And who might you be?''

Isabel breathed heavily. ''I'm just looking to make a trade.''

''A trade? Hmm, interesting.''

Isabel didn't like how nonchalant the man was about this situation. Nevertheless, she persisted with her mission. ''You have someone that I know.''

''Ah, yes, Thane? I think that was his name. He talked about a colony. Are you telling me that you alone made the journey to come and get him?''

''That's right,'' Isabel answered and gently nudged Angelique in the back when she thought the woman was going to give away Helen's position. When her prisoner remained quiet, Isabel continued. ''If you give him back to me, you can have Angelique. That's all I'm asking.''

Tobias drummed his finger against his weapon and narrowed his eyes. ''Tell me, how does that seem fair? If I recall, it's not just Angelique who was sent out. What about the rest of my men?''

''They'll be released once we have Thane back. After that, my colony will move to a new home and you'll never hear from us again. It'll be like we never met.''

''There's one small problem with that,'' Tobias replied, slowly walking towards Isabel without a shred of fear in his eyes. ''I've already sent word to my boss that we found a colony somewhere underground. He expects our camp to have new workers very soon. He wouldn't like it if I told him that we let them go just because one little girl tried to play negotiator.''

Isabel stepped back one step with Angelique. She didn't know what to do. If she wanted, she could go right through Tobias and find Thane herself, but she still didn't know where to look and didn't even know if he was alive. The silence around the camp worried her, and she feared that it was showing judging by how confidence Tobias was.

''Look,'' Isabel said quietly. ''I don't want things to escalate…''

''I'm afraid it's too late for that. You're lucky that I didn't give the order for one of my snipers to gun you down because I was curious what you had to say.'' He eyed Isabel up and down and almost laughed. ''Do you even have a weapon?''

''Don't need one.''

''Oh, you're adorable.''

Angelique licked her lips. ''Hate to say it, but she's not bluffing. Some Vipers we met along the way learnt that the hard way?''

Finally, Tobias's smile faded and he looked at Isabel with renewed interest. ''You take on a group of Vipers by yourself? You cross the wastelands by yourself? Did you catch Angelique and her group by yourself?''

''Yes.'' Isabel.

''Well, well, aren't you the interesting one. You know…I think Lord Lacron would like to meet you. Have you ever met a Drake before?''

Isabel couldn't stop her body from shaking. This talk wasn't going the way she wanted, and she was beginning to lose patience. ''Where is Thane? Can you at least show me that he's alive?''

Tobias was silent for a long while before he raised his hand and clicked his fingers. A man and a woman marched into one of the tents. Isabel watched on and heard them shuffle around inside before they finally emerged, carrying someone in their arms with a hood over their head. They pulled back the hood and Isabel gasped when she saw Thane's bloody and bruised face. His eyes were closed and he was mumbled incoherently under his breath. He could barely keep himself conscious, let alone see what was happening. Tobias's guards brought him closer. Thane's sluggish feet dragged along the ground, creating a small cloud of dust.

When they were only a few feet away, they stopped and turned to Tobias, awaiting further orders. He smirked at Isabel and waved his hand. ''There you go. He may be a little worn and torn, but he's still in one piece.''

Isabel nodded. ''Okay, then let's make the trade…''

''Hold on, what about the rest of my men that haven't been returned?''

''I told you, we'll let them go when…''

''How do I know they're still alive?''

Isabel grit her teeth, but tried to keep her cool. She didn't want to let her anger get the best of her when she was so close to getting Thane back. Suddenly, she heard a branch snap in the distance. It was quick and she would have thought nothing more of it if not for the sound of something clicking coming from the other side.

''Isabel…'' she heard her mother's voice. It was faint, but Isabel could just about hear it from across the horizon. ''I can see more people with guns surrounding you. You need to get out of there now.''

Keeping a tight grip on Angelique, Isabel cleared her throat and looked at Tobias directly, not wanting to give away her hint of knowing about his snipers. ''I give you my word, the rest of your group is alive.''

''Your word isn't good enough.'' Tobias snapped.

''They were injured, so we're looking after them. I wouldn't kill them!''

''Really?'' Tobias took one more step closer and then reached for his rifle. ''Then that means you don't have what it takes to kill Angelique.''

Isabel's eyes widened. She saw Angelique turn her head towards her and give her a threatening grin. She then heard another click, coming from where she heard the snapping branch. She wondered if that was the snipers loading their guns on her. What if they spot her mom and decide to fire on her? Isabel turned to Thane and saw that the guards had a handgun pressed to his head.

''Unlike you,'' Tobias said. ''We're willing to cast aside excess baggage if we see fit. That's a saying from the old world, but let me put it in a way a dirt-walker like yourself will understand…''

As Tobias continued with his threats and taunts, he took another small step to the side so that he could lift his gun. Another cloud of dust was kicked up in his wake. At last, an idea struck Isabel like lightning. She took a deep breath, knowing that she would only get one chance to make this work, otherwise it could mean Thane's death. Before anyone had a chance to react, Isabel lifted her leg and then stomped her foot on the ground as hard as she could. Clouds of dust exploded into the air, surrounding everyone close to her, including Tobias and the guards holding Thane.

''What the hell's happening?''

''I can't see shit!''

''Don't fire! Don't fire!'' Tobias cried out, afraid he might be hit in the crossfire. ''Kill the prisoner! Shoot him!''

He heard more confused yelling, but no gunshots.

Covering his eyes, Tobias stumbled around to where he believed Thane was still being held by his guards. For a while, he couldn't even see past his own nose, and with the chaos going on around him, he couldn't rely on listening to what was happening. When the dust began to finally settle, he could see the shadowy figures of his men and women dashing around and cornering the guards with Thane. At last, they could see again and what they saw made Tobias's smile drop. The guards were rolling around on the floor in pain and Thane was nowhere to be seen.

''Shit!'' He yelled and turned back to see that Isabel had disappeared as well. ''Find them! They can't have gone far!''

The camp grabbed their weapons and stared to scout ahead, looking for any clues to Isabel and Thane's whereabouts. In the middle of it all, Tobias could hear groans coming nearby. He looked down to see the still restrained Angelique picking herself up off the floor. Tobias grabbed a knife from his pocket and grabbed her.

''Watch it!'' Angelique hissed.

''I've missed you too.'' Tobias replied without a care as he cut the ropes holding her. As soon as she was free, he held her chin and forced her to look at him. ''Do you know where they went?''

Angelique slapped his hand away and stretched her arms. ''Yeah, I've got a feeling I know their trail.''

''Good, then we'll track them down and…''

''That won't work,'' she said, stopping Tobias instantly. ''She'll hear us coming from a mile away. We'll need to follow from a further distance than what we usually do.''

''We can't afford to lose them!'' Tobias growled. ''She said that their colony will move to a new location once they return. If that happens before we catch them, we'll be returning to Lord Lacron empty handed. Do you want to be the one who tries to talk with a pissed off Drake?''

With an unimpressed expression plastered over her face, Angelique pushed past Tobias and pointed towards the horizon. ''I took her through Dark Canyon and Scar Rock. They've never been above ground before, so they'll go back the same way so that they don't get lost. We know where they're heading, and she didn't come alone. Her mother is with her, and she's not as inhuman. If we get to the mother, the girl will be at our mercy.''

Tobias gulped. ''Are you certain? What even is the girl? Did she really fight a pack of Vipers by herself? How?''

Angelique looked to the side. When a gunman dashed past her, she reached out and stole his handgun. She quickly checked it for bullets and turned back to Tobias with death in her eyes. ''I'll tell you everything I know if you promise me one thing.''

''What?''

''I want the girl to see me as I put a bullet between her mother's eyes.''

XXX

HELLO MY SWEET SUPERSTARS! IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER OF DRAGON SLAYER. DID YOU LIKE THIS ONE? DO YOU THINK ISABEL AND HELEN WILL MAKE IT BACK TO THE COLONY WITH THANE BEFORE TOBIAS AND ANGELIQUE CATCH THEM? ARE THEY GOING TO RUN INTO OTHER PROBLEMS AS WELL? I'M SO EXCITED THAT WE'RE GOING TO REACH SOME REALLY ACTION-PACKED CHAPTERS COMING UP SOON. I'M GOING TO TRY AND GET A GOOD BALANCE BETWEEN ACTION AND ROMANCE. ISABEL AND HELEN MIGHT NOT GET AS MUCH TIME TO THEMSELVES WHILE BEING CHASED, BUT WHO KNOWS WHAT COULD HAPPEN?

I'M REALLY HAPPY TO SEE SO MANY PEOPLE ENJOYING THIS STORY. IT'S ALWAYS NERVING WHEN YOU START SOMETHING NEW, ESPECIALLY SOMETHING ORIGINAL WITHOUT ANY PREEXISTING BRAND, BUT I'M PROUD OF IT SO FAR AND THERE'S MORE TO COME VERY SOON.

IN THE MEANTIME, STAY SAFE AND KEEP OTHERS IN YOUR THOUGHTS THROUGH THESE HARD TIMES. IF MY STORIES CAN HELP LIFT SPIRITS IN ANYWAY, I'M GOING TO DO MY BEST TO KEEP THE CHAPTERS COMING. TA-TA FOR NOW.