Salva was buzzing with activity when Gabriel and Rena arrived. They made their way through the town to Alen's house. They kept getting questioned on whether they knew about the dragon. Admitting that they didn't, they learned all about it on their way through town.

Arriving at Alen's house, they entered and went upstairs to speak with the mayor's son.

"Rena? Gabriel? How good to see you again." Alen smiled when he realised he had guests. "What are you doing here?"

Rena smiled back at her friend. "We're passing through, Alen, but we need some help. We have to get to Cross by nightfall. We can't do it on foot. Any way you can help get us there?"

Alen shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. With the dragon, no one is leaving Salva. I'm not willing to leave either. You'll have to walk or wait until someone takes care of the problem."

Gabriel frowned and nodded. "Where is this dragon?" He winced as Rena touched him.

"Gabriel, a dragon is not something to meddle with. You can't seriously be thinking about trying…" Rena pulled her hand away as she remembered the pendant. "Sorry."

Gabriel shook his head. "It's all right. Yes, I am thinking about going after the dragon. If we have to get rid of it to move forward, then it's something we have to do. You can come along or stay here."

Alen looked between the two of them and sighed. "The dragon is in the mines. You can get there through the main entrance. It's not far from here."

Gabriel nodded, turned, and left the room. Rena watched and ran after him. "So what's the plan?"

Rena was met with a raised brow. "Plan? I have none." Gabriel stopped walking once they reached the mine entrance. "Rena, I don't know what to expect in here, so I wish you would stay out here. Let me go in alone."

Rena shook her head. "No. I'm going with you even if I have to follow behind you."

Gabriel sighed and nodded. "Fine. Come on." The two walked into the mine entrance and started toward the hole in the rock.

"Wait! We're only letting fighters in." The guard looked at the two of them suspiciously.

"Get out of my way." Gabriel stared at the guard coldly. "If you choose to continue to block my path, you'll find out first hand what I intend on doing to that dragon, and I don't think you'd like it."

The guard gulped and sidestepped out of the way. "There's another fighter down there. Just don't get in his way."

Gabriel nodded once and headed forward. The path was riddled with monsters that were laughably easy to Gabriel. Rena had managed to get off one or two good spells or hits to help out, but Gabriel did most of the work.

The sound of a sword clanging sounded in the darkness. Gabriel and Rena hurried toward the sound. Once they got closer, they saw the glow from a light source ahead of them. They continued forward until they saw the source. Rena gasped and drew back. Gabriel half smiled.

The dragon was huge, but that wasn't what Gabriel first noticed. It had two heads. One breathing fire, the other ice. He also noticed the brown haired swordsman that had helped him out. Gabriel lifted his hands and began to speak.

"I call upon you, brightest of the bright, to shine down with the element of fire..."

The brown haired swordsman turned to look at the speaker. "Huh?" He lost his footing and fell forward. The dragon moved toward the swordsman and a flash of light broke all concentration.

"Damn!" Gabriel shouted as he fell backwards, the spell lost. The light died down and the dragon was gone.

The swordsman picked himself up and stood to face the intruders. "Why'd you go and do that?" He looked around. "Hey, whatever you did, it worked. Dragon's gone."

Gabriel and Rena stared speechless at the swordsman.

"What?" The swordsman looked around again. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Rena lifted a hand and pointed behind the swordsman. He turned to look. "I don't see anything." He turned just his head and came face to face with a red dragon head. "Yah!" He ran screaming around in a circle before tripping on a rock and landing on his stomach.

Gabriel watched silently and completely devoid of all emotion. Rena, however, had started to giggle until Gabriel gave her a sharp look.

The swordsman started wailing as he stood up. He approached the two of them. "This is your fault! You distracted me!"

Gabriel blinked and raised a brow. "I distracted you? I was about to help you. You distracted me!" He turned to leave, Rena at his heels. The swordsman followed, shouting accusations at the two of them.

They walked through the tunnels, Gabriel and Rena in silence, and the swordsman yelling the whole way. Upon reaching the exit, Gabriel turned to the swordsman. "Look, if you want to come with us, fine, but if you are going to scream and shout, then go your own way. I'll not have you giving me a splitting headache." He glared at the swordsman, who quieted down immediately. "Good."

Alen met them at the exit and nearly fainted at the sight of the swordsman. "Ashton? My god, what happened?"

The brown haired swordsman pointed accusingly at Gabriel. "He distracted me and… and… just look at what happened!" Ashton burst into tears. Gabriel shook his head and Rena rolled her eyes.

Alen tried to hide a smirk. "Rena, I have that transport for you now that the dragon has been… uhh… dealt with."

Gabriel and Rena perked upon hearing that news. "Wonderful. Maybe now we'll be able to get away from dragon boy here." Gabriel stuck his thumb over his shoulder to indicate Ashton.

"No you don't! I'm going with you. You got me into this and you're going to get me out of it!" Ashton followed close behind as Gabriel and Rena walked behind Alen to the carriage that would take them to Cross.

"Fine, just shut up!" Gabriel growled at Ashton, a hand raised in a clear indication of what would happen if he didn't quiet down.

Ashton gulped and climbed into the carriage silently, followed by an amused Rena and an agitated Gabriel. The carriage set off for Cross after the door was securely fastened.