Author's Note: For more than two years, I have been keeping this project among my files, hoping that one day I might turn it into a 100k-word novel. But since that day doesn't seem to be coming any time soon, I see no good in keeping this short piece unpublished :)

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From behind the red bushes, Omar knelt on the dry grass, contemplating the majestic fortress looming side by side with the Dragon Mountains, black towers touching the grey clouds, trebuchets sprawled over the wide bulwark of the great stone wall. Two squads of cavalry patrolled the perimeter of the fortress, and not less than a hundred archers guarded its walls, he estimated. To summarize the situation, breaking into this stronghold was impossible, especially with the pathetic army he had brought all the way from home.

"Let me see." Malanda was so close to him when she pushed his shoulder to take his spot that her silk, black hair touched his cheek. Her sharp brown eyes made her the most deadly human archer Omar had ever seen, and almost as skillful as elves. Her place was home, atop one of the keep towers, to defend the walls of Lanox, the last human city. But she was the one who had volunteered to join him in this suicide mission, to be one-third of his army.

Omar turned on his haunches, facing Andy, the apprentice mage, and the second third of his force. "I'll be happy to listen to any brilliant suggestions." Omar shrugged.

"Don't look at me." Andy rubbed his brown hair, a shy smile on his round face. "I was...err...kicked out of the Mages' Guild for a reason."

"And you came with me and Malanda for a reason, right?"

"I only wanted to help."

Omar glared at him.

"I know I'm neither a good swordsman like you," Andy continued, "or a skillful bowman...err...a bowgirl like her. But one more sword might help anyway."

Well, the mage's swordplay wasn't too bad, Omar had to admit. At least, he knew how to swing his blade and how to stab. But Omar had hoped he would see the mage doing anything related to sorcery.

"Alright." Malanda turned, pushing her hair back away from her neck. "I can't spot any blind spots in their guard. The archers are covering all the angles around the wall."

"You mean the hundred archers atop the bulwark?" Omar grinned, bragging about his spotting skills. See? You're not the only one who can do this, peacock!

"No." She arched one fine eyebrow. "I mean the hundred and seven archers, Mongrel."

Wow! The girl's really unbeatable. Shame those fools at Lanox hadn't accepted her among the Eagle Guard only because of her gender. The same fools who had expelled him from the Panther Guard after they had realized he was not a pure human.

"Music to my ears when you say it, darling." Omar hated that word. The Mongrel; that was how they used to remind him that he was...different. Was it his fault that his father had fallen for his elven mother?

"Listen, darling." She gave him a crooked smile. "If you think I've joined you for your blonde hair or green eyes, then you're wrong. I'm here because our people need the damnable dragon blood to defeat the cursed elves."

"They're emerald; not green," Omar corrected.

Her look was more freezing than ice. He knew behind her coldness she felt something for him, but she would never admit it, at least for the next hundred years. Her pride was the most thing he hated and loved about her. One day, darling.

"So." Malanda averted her eyes. "Do we have a plan? Or will we simply go back home? I didn't travel hundreds of miles to die here. Not after I've reached this far."

"We traveled, and we've reached this far," Omar teased her. Cold silence was her reply.

"Please, can you both stop for a moment?" Andy waved his hands. "We need to find a way to turn around this castle."

"You wouldn't say so if you saw for yourself," Malanda dryly said, pointing backward with her thumb.

Although Andy had been slightly better than useless, Omar pitied the novice mage who had been harshly treated through their entire journey. "What sweet Malanda wants to tell you is that the castle is buried in the mountains. We can never reach the Dragon Cave unless we're inside the fortress," Omar clarified.

"We wait until midnight," Malanda suggested. "At least one of those archers will lose focus at a certain point."

"And at this certain point, we should be ready to climb the wall without being noticed. Seriously, is this even a plan?" Omar disapproved.

"If you have something better, then share it." She gestured to him with an open arm. "Unless you want to knock on their gate and ask for their permission to pass through."

"You know what? This makes more sense. Why would they say no? We're not in a war with them."

"You can never predict a mood of a shapeshifter." Malanda shook her head. "If one of them decides to transform into a lion, he will feast on your flesh without even thinking about it. So, don't count on reasoning with them."

"My uncle told me once that the shapeshifting thing was a lie," said Omar. "It's nothing but a myth to deter intruders."

"Very well. We'll wait for you here while you persuade them." Malanda smirked. "Or I tell you what? Take the great mage with you."

"Stop it!"

Along the whole journey, Andy never dared to raise his voice while addressing any of his two sweet companions. Now he snapped at both of them. Omar wasn't the only one surprised here; he could tell from Malanda's raised eyebrows.

"I need to focus." The mage held his head in his hands. "I need to remember the words."

"What words?" Omar asked in anticipation. It seemed that the great mage was going to show them one of his tricks at last.

But Andy didn't reply. Instead, he muttered incomprehensible words, his eyes closed, his palms and knees to the ground. Omar was about to burst into laughter, but the serious look on Malanda's face made him change his mind. Because she had never taken that mage seriously. A moment to remember in the history of Andy, the great mage of Lanox.

"Is he speaking the Dragon Tongue?" Her eyes were never wider.

Well, that sounds interesting. "Do you know the Dragon Tongue?" Omar asked.

She slowly turned her stunned eyes toward Omar, staring at him for a moment. "I heard it once from someone who does."

Andy was done with the exorcism show, his eyes not steady, though. He pulled a handful of red grass from the ground and gave it a studying look before he took out an almost empty small glass flacon from his pocket.

"Is this what I think it is?" Omar asked, the bright purple liquid at the bottom of the flacon piquing his curiosity.

"Dragon blood." Andy's stupid eyes were fixed on the purple liquid. He had better look at Malanda's face. The bowgirl looked like a tigress ready to pounce on her prey.

"You bastard!" She lunged at the mage, but Omar, who had been observing the transition of her facial expressions from astonishment to fury, was there at the right time and place. He locked her slender waist in his arms to prevent her from ruining Andy's face with her nails.

"Malanda, wait! There must be an explanation for this." Omar hoped so, or he would unleash her to prey on that fool.

"Let me go, you lowborn Mongrel!" She kicked Omar between his legs. The Mongrel growled, releasing her at once.

"Touch me one more time, and it will be my arrow, not my foot." She wagged a warning a finger at Omar.

Seriously? Are you mad at me now? What about saving some kicks for that thick head, who had in his pocket from the beginning what we almost died for in this cursed journey? "An arrow between my legs? Aw! That would be a terrible sight!" Despite the pain, Omar found himself laughing. It looks better when the arrow is the other way.

Cursing, Malanda turned to Andy, her next prey. "And you!" she snarled.

"Me what?" The mage looked really astonished. "What is your problem, Malanda?"

"My problem?" She grimaced. "Our people are in bad need for every drop of this thing."

"Such an ignorant." Surprisingly, Andy dared to challenge her. "You think these few drops can do anything to our people? We need barrels of dragon blood to defend the city."

"And where do you hide those barrels, you thief?"

"I'm not a thief. This dragon blood is mine," insisted Andy.

"Liar!" she spat. "Everybody knows that no one is allowed to possess it except the High Mages."

"Alright, alright." Omar rose to his feet and stood between the two arguing fellows. "We'll discuss how he got the dragon blood later. But let me ask our great mage: can you make use of these few drops?"

"I was trying to," Andy replied, shooting Malanda a blaming look. "Before she interrupted me."

Muttering curses, Malanda waved him away as she turned, giving them her back. Omar didn't believe in Andy more than she did, but the mage thief might be their only hope.