A stream of ice shot out in a cone in front of her and smashed into the huge monster that had just broken through the wall to enter the building. Ice began to form on its huge body as it stumbled backward. Desaray didn’t even think to look at the monster any longer as she stopped the channeling of her ice breath, turned, and yelled at her friends. “Let’s go!”

Desaray picked Jake up by his legs, taking Mike with them as she ran towards the stairwell door. She turned to see Becky hot on her tail and the monster with a partially frozen body not far behind but now much slower. She kicked the door of the stairwell open and dropped Jake to his feet. “Go up and do not stop! If you drop Mike, I will kill you myself, so you better not leave him behind.”

Jake’s face paled as he began running up the stairs. With Mike’s weight piled on top of him, he was already sweating after a few steps and having a hard time breathing. Luckily Yu and Becky quickly went to his side and took Mike from him. “Just go! We will handle Mike. But do not stop for anything!” 

Becky gave Jake a dirty look as she and Yu began running up the stairs. While Mike’s legs were dragging behind them, it was at least faster than Jake carrying him. Jake had already been left in the dust as he struggled to climb the steps. He was scared and out of breath. He felt like he was going to die just from breathing. 

Desaray couldn’t take it anymore and quickly lifted him up by his legs again as she ran up the stairs following after the other two. All the while, the monster once more lost sight of its prey, angering it to no end. It smashed its body against the stairwell door entrance trying to force its way up, but this stairwell was built in a different way than other buildings. It had metal plating inside the concrete, which made it harder for the monster to push its body through. The metal was bending under its weight, but since it was almost a fully solid construction, it was having a more difficult time than it had with the entrance. The width of the staircase leading up was also another factor that would not make it easy for the monster to traverse.

Desaray’s split decision to take the stairs was the right call, even if she did not mean it to be. She was only thinking of trying to escape the monsters in the quickest way possible, and since the stairs were the closest thing to her, she made a sudden judgment which turned out to be the right call.

“How far are we going?” Becky asked. As they continued to rush forward. They were now five floors up and almost to the sixth floor. 
 
“We will exit to the next floor,” Desaray replied. She felt it didn’t matter which floor they got off at as long as they were able to escape the monsters.

They pushed open the sixth-floor door and stepped into the hallway. The building they were in seemed to be an apartment building. Desaray looked around and frowned slightly. She didn’t realize the kind of building they entered until now. And hiding in a hallway was not an option. “Yu, take Becky and listen in on the doors. If you hear nothing inside, break the door open so that we can still close it. I will protect Mike and Jake.”

“Alright. Becky, let’s go.” Yu grabbed Becky’s hand, and the two went over to the first door, where Yu pressed her ear against the door and stood there quietly. 

While they were doing a check, Desaray turned and looked at Jake, who was as pale as a ghost and having a hard time breathing. She clicked her tongue before walking over to him and patted him on the back. “Jake, use your shirt to cover your nose and mouth and take deep breaths.”

She did not have any kind of bags inside her backpack that she had still strapped to her back, so she was unable to give him anything of that nature. She could give him her bag itself, but she refused to do that as it had her treasures inside. No one was allowed to even look at her treasures! She had not even realized her dragon instincts were starting to surface.

A loud roar came from below and echoed through the stairwell, making it seem more horrifying than before. The building was even shaking a little as the monster downstairs was struggling to get up the stairs after pushing its body in.

“Desa, it’s open!”  Becky announced as she came over. 

Desaray was lost in thought because she was trying to decide whether or not she should check on the monster’s situation. If its big body got stuck in the stairwell, then she would have a chance….

“Becky, you and Yu take Jake and Mike in. Find a bag of some kind of Jake to breathe into and tell him to keep taking deep breaths, or he might die from hyperventilating. I will go check on the situation with the monster.” Desaray took a deep breath. She hoped she was not sending herself to her doom, but if this monster was truly stuck, then things would work out in her favor. If she could reach level 2, then she just might be able to get appraisal and first aid. The first aid skill might come in handy in healing Mike. It says it heals minor wounds, although, she did not know if Mike’s current situation could be considered minor or not.

“Desa….” Becky was reluctant to let her friend go. She was afraid something bad might happen to her.

“I will be fine. I can use my ice breath to slow them like before, so I am the best person… err… dragon to do the job.” Desaray was not lying when she said this. But she also knew that if she was by herself and the monster decided to chase her, she could lead it away from her friends, allowing them some much-needed rest. 

Becky sighed and hugged Desaray. “Be careful. If you are not back in ten minutes, I will come looking for you.”