As they entered the temple, the group seemed to split up. Dala went about looking for the survivors, her supposed reason for being here, and the stranger went about investigating the giant chains. It didn’t much matter to Lewis or Simone what either of them did, so long as Dala stayed safe.

The center is where I’ll get the most draw, Simone thought to Lewis. The assassin nodded as she went to where Zao had been chained for gods knew how long. She closed her eyes, and started to pull the vast amount of mana from around them. Lewis wasn’t much for magic, but due to his resonance with the night phoenix, even he could feel the raw power that this place held. He sighed, not really knowing what to do now. There was barely a place to hide here, which meant any attack that came was going to be direct.

“Not my forte,” he muttered. “This is more of Rhen’s thing…” He noticed, though, when Dala found the burnt corpse. As he approached the body, Dala pulled the ring off of his body. Proof of death. He knelt down, looking for anything else of use as Dala moved on. I doubt this was the dragon. If Zao had done it, there wouldn’t be anything left. At least, that was what he was assuming. He stood up, and followed the young girl. Simone would be able to focus better knowing that her friend was safe.

Dala sensed it first, which was a surprise to Lewis. She’s getting a lot better, he thought as he followed her to the second mage. For the most part, Lewis ignored the argument between the two. If it were up to the assassin, he would have just left the coward here to rot. It wasn’t his problem. Still, Dala managed to convince the man to move.

“Bad timing,” Lewis said as he turned heel and knocked an arrow. “Send him back.” Dala didn’t even need telling as she more or less shoved the mage back into his hidey hole. With the offer from Dala for first strike, Lewis smirked. “Fine by me.” His eyes flared an azure blue as he rushed towards the center to Simone. Her eyes had turned blue as well, matching his as their bond strengthened.

The lizard saw the first of its targets, and rushed them down. Was it an angered mother, out for revenge? Or just a hungry beast? It didn’t matter to Simone or Lewis. The night phoenix moved behind Lewis, drawing the blood dagger at his belt. With a slick smile, she ran it across the exposed skin on his neck, letting the blood trickle down the edge of the blade. At once, the blood dagger froze over, and with the skills taught to her by Lewis, she launched the dagger, aimed dead center for the lizard’s head.

Lewis pulled back the bowstring, and loosed an arrow. As it soared through the air, spiraling ice magic erupted from it, clashing with the immense heat of the temple.

“Not good enough,” Lewis said, his eyes narrowing as their attacks seemed to glance off the beast’s scales. They had never faced a creature like this. This is why I leave the beast hunting to Rhenakos…

He was thankful for the distraction made by the woman and pale-haired man, and took the chance to approach the lizard from the side. As long as it kept looking straight ahead, his plan would go without a hitch. With the frilled lizard's flank in sight, Raizel enchanted his Baltian war hammer with a spell. Winding up, his eyes locked onto the big reptile's leg as he prepared a wicked swing. Scales exploded every which way as he slammed the hammerhead into its knee. The crimson lizard reeled from the pain, letting out an awful scream. Spitting fire and breathing brimstone, its stance was unsteady with a noticeable limp. The artificer pulled back as the sparks started to rain down, taking cover behind rubble. As bulky as it was, the Baltian war hammer was a downright godsend when it came to breaking bedrock and and bashing in joints. The power it had was enough to blast a giant's kneecaps. Unfortunately it was the only weapon he had that was effective against armored enemies like this greater frilled salamander. Judging by the size, it could be a female or a young adolescent male. He'd be able to check once it was dead. 

While the lizard was raging, Raizel took note of its actions when it attacked. There was a delay where it would prepare its fiery spit and it couldn't use it continuously. It was possible the gland or organ used to produce the fluid was below its head, but he didn't know how deep it was in the body. This was a problem. The safest bet would be chipping away at the salamander by hitting its limbs, but that would take longer and might draw attention from other creatures. The riskier option would be to smash its throat to stop it from using its flaming spit, thus killing it more quickly. But getting too close could lead to the lizard swallowing whoever was under it whole. Opening his locket he gave instructions to the tiny elemental while he made the dash to get closer to the others. As Nuri made itself intimidating, once Raizel was within earshot of the three he shouted: "AIM FOR THE THROAT! IT CAN'T DO MUCH ONCE IT'S SPIT IS BLOCKED OFF!"

Frankly hitting it in any vulnerable spot in the head would do; shooting out an eye or jamming its mouth was just harder to pull off. The pair looked like they could use magic, so they had a good chance in making it happen. Despite bracing itself with its other three legs, the frilled greater salamander was getting ready for another volley of molten bile. Its big scaly hide was still blocking the doorway.

Dala watched as Simone and Lewis attacked the giant lizard, using some sort of magical ice enhancement on their weapons. A flicker of envy flew through her eyes as she watched them fight. Their abilities were far beyond her experiences and that powerful magic seemed essential to have. If only she had a fraction of their skill… Raizel's powerful war hammer slammed down on the monster's knee. A crack pierced the air and the lizard released an ear-shattering scream. The monster breathed brimstone and spat out balls of fire into the air. Dala quickly dodged on of the fireballs and backed off further, realizing there wasn't much a simple little sword could do in comparison to such a creature. She couldn't even get close without getting burned. 

An idea formed in the girl's mind. Her sword was useless, but she did have her green daggers. A special gift from her father made of bone and enchanted so it would always find their mark. But even these unique weapons would be useless against those powerful scales. Raizel shouted to aim for the throat and that was all the instruction Dala needed. A memory filled her mind of when an old friend of hers showed her the anatomy of a lizard to let her know how to retrieve the creatures for money. Remember, the pouch of the lizard is sensitive. Even the smallest hit could seriously damage its throat. The memory faded away as she began inching her way towards the beast and ducking behind pillars while the other two captured its full attention. 

Soon she was close enough to use her daggers while still keeping out of the monster's attention. Grabbing her daggers, she quickly threw the daggers towards the lizard's sagged pouch. The dagger's pierced through the soft skin and made the creature screech in pain. The giant lizard flailed its arms around its delicate pouch, trying to remove the three daggers that were still lodged in its throat. The lizard spun around and hit Dala with it's powerful tail, sending her forwards a couple of feet. She yanked herself off the ground and ran away from the creature, wincing at the injury from the attack. A medium-sized bruise was developing on her arm and she had a few cuts and scrapes, but otherwise found no important injuries. 

"All yours!" She said to the others, hoping they would have enough strength to finish it off. 

Lewis was impressed at the speed in which the others responded to Lewis and Simone’s striked. The blonde one produced a powerful blow to the lizard’s knee, shattering scales. It was an impressive strike, and Dala followed up with her own dagger throws. The magic in the daggers aimed true, and tore at the throat of the lizard, rendering its breath attacks useless.

Simone winced when Dala was struck, but it was a survivable blow, and one that they could check up on after. Lewis knocked another arrow, letting it loose, aiming for the broken leg. This time, without scales to protect it, the magical arrow struck its mark, freezing the leg to the ground. In this heat, it wouldn’t last long, but all they needed were a few seconds. Lewis and Simone started running in tandem towards the lizard, their eyes flickering to a brilliant azure blue. Simone’s body faded as the two became one, and Lewis leapt into the air, producing black wings, erupting with blue flame about them as he leapt high into the air, drawing a feather-like dagger.

The lizard was too distracted with attempting to free itself, and with the momentum Lewis had gained, he slammed down his sharpest dagger into the lizard’s head. With a quick downthrust of his wings, Lewis leapt back, avoiding the thrashing beast’s death throes, wailing.

Lewis and Simone separated, both of them panting. What was once something that they could easily do was now becoming harder and harder to achieve. Their twin children, born of their magic, still left a gaping hole in each of them, eating away at the mana that they produced. Lewis was the first to recover, and made his way over to Dala.

“What a mess…are you okay?” he asked. This was more for Simone’s benefit than anything. She wasn’t in danger of dying, but he could feel his wife’s worry over her friend.

Seeing the frilled salamander fall took a huge weight off his shoulders. Now it was dead, they could work on hauling it's carcass out of the way. A fresh corpse might attract scavengers and he really didn't want to deal with swarms of smaller fire-based creatures. He saw the blonde girl take a hit from the lizard's tail but she was able to get back up to flee. Her friends were already checking up on her, so he had time to assess what to do with the corpse. Raizel knew he couldn't take everything, so he chose to take a few select parts. Removing the eyes and peeling some undamaged scales from its neck, he left the daggers untouched. Wedging open its mouth he pried a few teeth out, then left it be. The organ used to create the fiery liquid was definitely punctured, so he couldn't get much for it. The heat was still ever-present, and he really needed to get out. His sweat was drying and that wasn't a good sign. Unfortunately he didn't have the tools or equipment to break the entire lizard up into transportable pieces, much less move the thing from its place.

Turning to see if the other three were still busy, he waited a bit before coming over. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. "Thanks for taking down the frilled salamander, but we've got another problem." He pointed back at the large reptilian corpse in the doorway. "If there's something you want from it, I'd suggest taking them now. A big pile of fresh meat'll attract scavengers so unless you have a way to cart it out–it'd be better to shove it off to the side into the caldera." He left the decision to them as Nuri told him it found some golden fire crystals which would make the risks he went through more than worth it. No more gathering after that, he told himself. He was out of water and he wasn't going to let other people carry him back because he collapsed from dehydration. Once he was done, he stood nearby the salamander's dead body trying to figure the quickest way to dislodge it. 

Dala watched Simone and Lewis' combo attack in an inspired awe. She knew both had their own talents and abilities but she had never seen them attack like this before. Then again, that was due to the fact Simone liked to keep Dala out of trouble whenever they were together. The two of them combined finished the giant salamander off with a final powerful blow. When the two separated, Dala's quick eyes noticed how they were panting. She knew they both were strong and the way they joined together so quickly showed it was an attack they normally did. Although the teenager didn't know the details, she had a feeling it had something to do with the magically created twins. She had a feeling it was better to not ask right now. Lewis recovered first and made his way over to Dala, probably due to Simone's worry. 

"It's fine. Only a bruise, nothing broken." Then she glanced over to Simone with a small smile, "A little bruise. Don't worry too much." 

The bruise was more medium sized than anything but the girl didn't want to reveal that to somebody who got concerned at the slightest of injuries towards her friends and family. Dala could walk and function normally and the pain was mild at worst. She gave a convincing smirk to the both of them, something she had learned over the years, then turned towards the man who had been hiding in the hole. Dala pulled him out and made him stand up, telling him things were safe now and asked him if he could make a portal back to the city. He nodded in response, and explained how he had run out of mana before he could properly escape. The teenager watched as he went through the portal to the city and let out a sigh, now that problem was finished. 

She then walked over to the lizard and began pulling out a few useful organs that Madam Whoozy mentioned had sold well in the past few years. After putting them in cooled jars near the never melting icicles, she looked towards the other two. Normally Dala would help them out with the mana gathering but seeing as she was unable to do anything, she decided to focus on Raizel and ensure he got what he needed. 

"You got your crystals yet?" She asked, "If you need help let me know." 

Anybody could see that he was a scavenger, but a thought came to Dala's mind. She wondered if he had a place to go or some sort of family. He didn't seem to come from the city and certainly wasn't one of the mages sent to gather mana. Although he had strength and was amazing with a weapon, he didn't seem like a trained soldier or even a warrior who enjoyed fighting. A business man who happened to be a fighter was the best Dala could come up with. Heading back towards Simone and Lewis she checked up on their progress and to see if they needed anything. 

"Hows it going with the mana gathering?" She asked.