Seoyeon didn’t remember much of walking across the plain to the Guardian’s hill.  She was still tired and in pain (Captain Park had cut a stick for her, which did help), and whether it was because he was injured or knew that he really couldn’t push her, Captain Park kept at a slow pace alongside her.  For most of the walk, Seoyeon reckoned she was actually in a semi stupor, putting one foot in front of the other over and over and over again until it became automatic.  She was so out of it that it wasn’t until they began to ascend and she had to stop to rest her ankle that she realised the sky around the hill they were now just at the base of was no longer flashing.  It had seemed important to remember at the time, and now she couldn’t recall why.

To her great relief, they didn’t have to go very far up the hill.  Once they were about three metres up, rocks cropped up all around them like turrets, forming narrow passages here and there, and Captain Park paused briefly to pick up a stick to set on fire and use as a torch.  Shortly after, he found a gap between two rocks that was slightly larger than most and that gave way to a tunnel beyond.  Seoyeon followed him in, leaning heavily on her stick.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever.  It curved subtly, but Seoyeon was convinced that the distance they’d walked underground was much greater than the length of the hill itself.  If it hadn’t been for the rough stone walls gradually giving way to smooth ones and then to ones with relief carvings on them detailing creatures of the Neuma, nothing would have prevented Seoyeon from thinking that they were just walking on the spot while some strange magic revolved the world around them and kept them trapped.

Eventually, the tunnel widened into an antechamber with a carved frieze that glowed softly in the firelight.  Ahead of them were two huge brass doors, almost twice Captain Park’s height.  They had been cast with symmetrical patterns all over them, and the gigantic door knobs were probably about the size of Seoyeon’s head.

Captain Park checked that Seoyeon was just behind him before pushing the doors open and stepping inside.  Seoyeon heard his breath catch, and she cautiously peeked out from behind him.

She immediately wished she hadn’t.  They were in a vast hallway, a slight breeze indicating that the dark roof was probably actually the open air, and directly in front of them, crouched on a truly colossal heap of gold and shiny trinkets, was a dragon of truly monstrous size.

Seoyeon’s fingers latched onto the material of Captain Park’s cloak.  She was too terrified to look away from the beast.  It had huge, curved spikes all along its back, and the talons on its claws were so vast it was difficult to believe they were real.  The blazing yellow eyes looked to be about the size of a small puppy each.  They were staring right at her, and Seoyeon wanted to shrivel up on the spot.

“Borderlander.”  The word was a bass growl that reverberated around the stone hall, sending vibrations through the ground.

Captain Park bowed.

“Esteemed Guardian of the Neuma plane,” he acknowledged.  He sounded a little tense.  Seoyeon could understand why — the dragon was huge — but she was confused: Captain Park had said there were dragons chasing them, yet the plane Guardian appeared to be a dragon.  Did that mean that the dragons weren’t a threat, or had they sealed their fate by walking straight into one’s lair?

The gigantic yellow eyes narrowed.

“It has been two centuries since a Borderlander last set foot in my halls.”  The words bounced off the stone, and Seoyeon found herself wondering how the dragon was actually speaking.  The sound was undeniable, yet it didn’t seem to be moving its mouth at all — beyond baring its teeth at them.  “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“We seek to return to the human realm,” Captain Park said.  “And we must beg your help, since we are too deep in the Neuma to return by ourselves.”

There was a rumble like an avalanche that sent Seoyeon’s pulse racing, and it was only after several long seconds that she realised the dragon was laughing.  She didn’t know whether it was a good thing or not.

“There is a price.”

Seoyeon wondered what on earth they possibly had to give.  Both of them were injured and had entered the Neuma completely unprepared.  The only things of any worth were probably Captain Park’s sword and Seoyeon’s silk dress and cloak, but the silk had been almost completely ruined by the travel and the fights and the dirt, and she didn’t see Captain Park handing his weapons over freely.

“Name it.”  Captain Park was definitely tense now.

For an absolutely insane split-second, Seoyeon was convinced the dragon actually leered.

“The girl is yet a maid.  She will stay here as payment for your safe return.”

Seoyeon’s wrist was suddenly in an absolutely punishing grip, and she briefly panicked that he was going to fling her forward to the dragon and desert her.

“No.”

The single word from Captain Park contained more fury than she thought possible for the human voice.

The dragon surged forward, its head shooting out on its long neck as it slid down the gold pile until it was face to face with Captain Park, so close that Seoyeon could feel the dragon breathing.  Captain Park looked absolutely tiny in comparison.  She stood, absolutely petrified.  If it wanted to, the dragon could simply open its mouth and snap its jaws around them.

“My kind have craved the sacrifice of a young maiden for centuries,” it snarled.  “She is the price.”

To Seoyeon’s horror (and awe), Captain Park drew his sword with his free hand.

“I stay and the girl returns.”

Seoyeon gripped his cloak harder, horrified at the prospect.  She was pretty sure that angering a dragon — and the guardian of the Neuma plane no less — was an absolutely terrible idea, but so was humouring its requests.  She also wasn’t sure whether it was happy to negotiate.

It wasn’t.

“The girl stays or you both die,” it thundered, rearing back.  The scales around its teeth pulled back as it opened its huge jaws, and there was suddenly fire everywhere, blasting around them like a furnace caught in a ferocious gale.  Seoyeon shrieked with pain as the scalding heat broke over her.  Captain Park’s hand vanished from her wrist — the inferno was so strong s