Kim hardly felt like the appearance of the dragon was worth worrying about. True they'd likely used up their magic support, so all they'd have left was to use their weapons against it.
If nothing else, she didn't think they had much to fear. All they really had to do was avoid any flames it might breathe at them in addition to it's tail and claws. It was possible it might try biting them, but Kim didn't think that would be as likely, since there were so many of them that the dragon would probably consider breathing fire at them would be more effective with dealing with them.
"Kim, we have to run," Lance gasped as he ran up to her, apparently having been a distance away when the dragon appeared.
"Why?" she asked, not seeing the problem.
"Not counting fire dragons, that is the second most dangerous dragon," Lance replied, as he tried catching his breath.
"Is that supposed to mean anything?" Jonas asked, sounding calm, but Kim was pretty sure she detected a hint of unease in his voice.
"Complete cities have been razed by just one of these dragons, and only one has ever been recorded as having been defeated."
Kim sighed. Why was it that one dangerous creature appeared that was more dangerous than the last, that just kept appearing? If this was the world she had been born in, maybe she might have felt the same as Lance, but at the moment she had a feeling these monsters themselves were being manipulated by whoever was running this stupid competition.
Which would quite possibly explain where that dragon had come from about a week ago when they heard its roar, but it had merely passed their camp by.
If the people running this competition was planting obstacles in their way, she wasn't sure avoiding this fight would be possible if they wanted to find the fire dragon.
Assuming, of course, that this dragon wanted to fight in the first place.
"Are you sure it's going to attack?" Kim asked, feeling like this might get old fast if these monsters kept appearing before them like she suspected they were going to.
"When have dragons not attacked?" Lance asked, sounding like he thought Kim might be crazy just for asking that question.
"Well, there was that time when we heard the dragon's roar about a week ago," Elin chimed in before Kim could mention it.
"How do we know the dragon knew we were there at that time?" Lance asked.
Kim sighed. It was clear this kid wasn't going to listen to reason, not that she really blamed him. Given he didn't know about the competition, so he likely wouldn't know about the possibility that they might be able to move these monsters around at their pleasure.
Which made Kim wonder just how powerful the people, or creatures, who were running this stupid competition were. It was clear that she wouldn't stand a chance against them if she tried to fight them, but she didn't think that they'd be all-powerful. Otherwise they wouldn't need to manipulate actual people for their entertainment. They'd just be able to create people of their own to entertain themselves.
Or at least that's what her reasoning said to her.
"If you want to run, tell me Lance," Kim said deciding to change her tactic in this discussion. "how far would we be able to get before that dragon reached us?"
Lance stared at Kim in shocked silence. While she hoped that he might be open for some more intelligent dialogue about this, it was clear her question had merely short circuited his brain.
"Look, I don't want to die today, and I'm sure you don't want to die," she said, trying to hold onto her patience as the urge to beat some sense into this moron started to rise. "If you can explain to me why running is the better option, then by all means. Tell me now. Otherwise, I'm going to have to assume that fighting that dragon is our best chance, since a small chance is better than no chance."
As the words left Kim's mouth, she had a feeling she could have chosen better words for her argument, but at the moment, she didn't care that much. Mostly she was venting her annoyance with Lance at him through this situation. Although, she was certain her school counselors from when she was in high school would have remarked that it didn't sound like a very healthy outlet for it.
Which also made her take a step back from the whole situation.
The fact that she even thought of those idiotic counselors made her wonder if she had gone too far this time. She didn't really care if she had, since Lance is a guy, so if he didn't deserve that from annoying her, she was confident that there were other things that he'd done to deserve it anyway.
Still, harping on this subject wasn't going to do anyone any good. Especially since Lance didn't seem to be having much luck with rebooting his brain.
"Elin, would you smack him upside his head for me?" Kim asked Elin.
"What do you mean?" Elin asked, looking rather confused, which only made Kim amused somehow.
"You know what's it looks like when you slap someone, right?"
Elin nodded slowly, looking like she wasn't sure she was going to like what Kim was bout to say.
"Well, do that, only hit him on the back of his head. My dad always said that doing that was a wake-up call."
Jonas chuckled nearby. "My dad said that same thing."
Kim merely rolled her eyes. She didn't care what Jonas' father said or how similar it was to what her father said. At the moment, she was only interested in getting lance to snap out of the daze he was currently in.
Not that she expected much to be different when he did regain his senses and awareness of his surroundings.
Which also made her wonder if Lance was the driving force, or at least one of them, behind assembling this 'army' for her. Which would explain why he was her 'second in command' when he clearly didn't have any knowledge about leading others. Or consequences of his decisions. Such as if they ran and the dragon was able to outrun them, then more would probably die than might die if they stood their ground and fought it here.
When Elin's hand hit the back of his head, Lance seemed to come to his senses. Although, he also looked like he'd been startled out of whatever daze he'd fallen into.
"So, would running away from that dragon be possible?" Kim asked, not sure what she'd do with him if he froze up like that again or became evasive. It wasn't like she could just take him to a store and trade him in for a new model.
Lance looked at the dragon, which seemed to have stopped at the top of the slope and was merely regarding them from its perch. Even if it was unpleasant and gruesome, she couldn't help but wonder what the dragon was thinking of right at that moment.
"Since it doesn't seem too interested in us, then yes, we should be able to make it if we leave before it becomes interested in us," Lance said after a minute of watching the dragon.
"What other ways into this mountain range is there?" Kim asked. "I don't want to have another week spent finding another way in."
Lance sighed. "This is the only known pass for miles. Maybe we could try to make a new one or search for an undiscovered pass, but who knows how long that might take," Lance said, sounding rather resigned.
"Alright then," Kim said, her mind made up. "We'll just have to either talk with that dragon and get it to let us by or kill it."
Kim was aware of Lance staring at her, and she was more amused by it than anything else. She completely understood what his issue was. That the simple idea of trying to talk with a creature that could eat them in one bite as easily as it could crush them under its own weight was certainly an idea that came with a rather vivid image already in place.
"Don't worry about it," Kim said, reassuringly, even though she really didn't care if that worked. "Just get the camp set up here and we'll rest through the rest of the day and the night."
"Might be good to have someone see what the orcs had that can be salvaged," Jonas added as Kim started walking away.
"Don't forget to bury them or something," Elmo chimed in, as he, Jonas, and Elin started following Kim.
Kim didn't care if Lance did anything she told him to do, about setting up camp. While she had tried giving out an air of confidence in what she had decided on, she was very much aware that she could be walking to her own death right then. The only thing about it that let her know there was a chance was the fact that this dragon wasn't supposed to be as dangerous as a fire dragon, and that was supposed to be what they were expected at killing. Which meant that while it was dangerous, there was still a way for them to be able to get out of this alive.
She just hoped it wasn't going to be as dangerous as she was afraid it was going to be.