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.The beasts hissed in fury as they spotted Leia, who quickly fell back several steps and drew her sword, then one of the beasts charged forward, its scaly lips peeled back in a vicious snarl.Leia easily danced clear of the dragonspawn's swiping claws, then drove her sword deep into the side of the beast's neck with all of her might, where it emerged dripping on the other side.She yanked the slender blade free from its corpse, then fell back into the shadows to avoid a powerful blow from another dragonspawn, who had snuck up from behind in an attempt to catch her off guard.The other beasts fanned out in an attempt to surround her and prevent her from escaping, then they slowly began to close in on her, their eyes burning with anticipation.She avoided two more lightening quick strikes from one of the crazed beasts, then nimbly danced around the offending creature and lashed out, striking the beast across the back of its huge legs, severing its hamstrings, and dropping it to its knees.Before it could even let out a roar of pain, she spun back around to face the dragonspawn and drove the point of her sword deep into its eye socket with a meaty crunch.She tore the blade free, allowing the dragonspawn to fall twitching to the stone floor, then raised her sword once again as the remaining dragonspawn prepared to attack.She took a step forward, then stopped, her jaw suddenly dropping open in surprise as a dagger appeared whirling end over end from the shadows and buried itself deep in one of the dragonspawn's chests.It stopped in its tracks and stared down at the protruding blade with a bewildered expression on its face, then, with a long lingering sigh, it collapsed to the floor.Another dagger appeared whirling from the shadows and buried itself in one of the other dragonspawn's throats, causing the remaining two beasts to stop and look around in confusion for their attacker.Leia watched in astonishment as Sly suddenly appeared from the darkness and fell upon the beasts, his long sword whistling through the air as he quickly cut them down with a series of deadly blows."What are you doing here?" The young girl asked in disbelief as the charred and blistered little man hurried over to her side."You were taking too much time." He hissed, leading them both deeper into the shadows to avoid being seen."Then the ceiling began collapsing down onto the horde, and I started to worry.What's taking so long?""It has taken a little longer than I had planned to reach all of the pillars." Leia admitted with a frown."When I finally finished with them, I started to head back to you, and stumbled right into a group of dragonspawn who didn't seem to approve of my presence.They were attempting to express their displeasure when you appeared.""It's a good thing that I came after you then." The little man grunted in satisfaction."You wouldn't have stood a chance against that many dragonspawn.""That's not true!" Leia objected with a scowl."I could have handled them myself! I had already killed two of them!" She gestured to the two dragonspawn that she had killed."And just how did you manage to get passed all of the dragonspawn without them noticing you?""You're not the only one who can move quietly in the dark." Sly told her sourly.Another loud crack echoed through the immense cavern, and a huge section of the ceiling suddenly broke free, crushing thousands of the now panicked dragonspawn.A massive stalactite crashed down into the river of magma and sent huge wave surging out in every direction, instantly consuming the more scaly beasts as they attempted to flee."I think it's time we got ourselves out of here!" Sly exclaimed in alarm."This entire cavern is about to come down around our ears!""Go! Go! Go!" Leia told him as another section of the ceiling crashed down onto the horde.They abandoned all attempts to remain hidden and dashed off towards the staircase which had brought them down into the colossal cavern chamber.The horde was now in total chaos as more and more of the cavern ceiling began to crash down, sending the scaly beasts scrambling in every direction.Sly and Leia quickly found their way blocked by dozens of the fear crazed beasts who were rushing back and forth in a blind panic, desperately trying to escape the collapsing cavern.Leia didn't even hesitate as she drew in her magic and blasted the creatures aside, clearing a path through the terrified horde to the rough staircase which led up to the corridor.They dashed up the stairs and dove through the opening to the long corridor just as the rest of the cavern ceiling gave way, burying the remaining horde beneath thousands of tons of stone.Leia and Sly were both thrown from their feet as the entire mountain shook around them, and a great plume of dust and gravel rushed into the corridor, casting everything into complete darkness."Keep moving!" Sly choked as he scrambled back to his feet and began groping blindly through the dust.Leia stumbled after him, coughing and hacking as she struggled to draw in a clean breath of air.After what seemed like an eternity, they emerged into the smaller chamber and into clean air, where they collapsed to the floor gasping and hacking."Well, that was a complete disaster." Sly grumbled, spitting out a large chunk of stone."What in the world did you do back there?""I used my magic to dissolve the pillars supporting the ceiling." The young girl murmured, shaking the dust and debris from her hair."I guess the spell spread a little bit quicker than I had intended."Another rumble echoed in the distance, and the stone beneath their feet began to tremble once again."I think that's a sign that we need to get out of here." Sly groaned, pushing himself back up to his feet."These caverns were carved by goblins, and I'm not sure how much more of this shaking they can take before they start caving in on themselves."They quickly made their way back to the surface, then hurried over to where Xaxis still sat waiting for them to return."Is everything okay, little mother?" The huge serpent asked in concern, lowering himself down to examine her closely for any injuries."I was beginning to grow worried!""We followed those shadowspawn underground until they led us to an immense cavern chamber." Sly informed the huge dragon in a sour tone as he continued to spit out small pieces of gravel."It was filled with thousands upon thousands of dragonspawn, shadowspawn, and dreadspawn, all gathered together in one enormous horde.Leia got the bright idea of trying to bring down the cavern on top of them, and snuck into the chamber and used her magic to destroy the stone pillars supporting the cavern's ceiling.""That explains the earthquake
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