In the Shadow of Power - Hogwarts Legacy

Chapter 28

"Let's keep going." They continued to sneak around until they reached the opening into the room where the poachers were with the dragon. She was still trying to break free while the poachers cast spells to try and weaken her. A mighty roar shook the room and the ground beneath their feet. Alayna gulped. Getting in the way of an angry dragon sounded like a surefire way of getting hurt or worse killed.

"We have a plan here?" Alayna looked at Poppy. She knew the most about magical creatures between the two of them.

"If we can get those chains off of her, hopefully she can find her own way out."

"Right, hopefully." Alayna placed her hands on the girl's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. "If anything goes wrong, I want you to run to the exit. Don't even think about looking back okay?" 

"But-"

"Poppy." She gave her a stern look. It felt like trying to get her sister to go along with anything she said. "Okay?"

"Fine, but we can handle this! Once the dragon is free, she'll cause a big enough distraction we can just slip out."

"Let's hope you're right."

Charging into the room, Alayna noticed that there were quite a few more poachers than she had originally seen before, and a few goblins as well. This was going to be a bigger fight than she had anticipated, but while they still had the element of surprise, she and Poppy could take out a few of them before they could react.

She immediately started off using her ancient magic to grab one of the goblins and toss them through the air. They slammed against the wall and fell to the ground unconscious, provoking the others in the room to turn towards them. At the same time, Poppy ran in and cast her own spell at a poacher standing on an elevated platform. "Expelliarmus!" Their wand went flying across the room as they dropped down on top of the platform trying to grab after it.

Alayna let Poppy continue to deal with the two poachers on those elevated platforms while she focused on those on the ground and the goblins. Four poachers, two goblins. Not great odds on her own, but she'd had plenty of experience fighting of large numbers now. Dueling one on one was easy now compared to this and she was improving all the time.

Turning her attention to her next target, Alayna first had to block a series of incoming attacks. And since the goblins didn't use magic, they came after her with their axes and crossbows. The crossbow bolts she could still block with Protego, but the axes were a bit of a different matter. While the shield spell still protected her, it meant the goblin was up in her face while everyone else kept to a distance. If she wanted to attack anyone else, she would have to deal with him first.

"Diffindo!" Alayna cast at the goblin. In such close proximity, the slashing spell did even more damage. It cut deep, through the armor the goblin was wearing. As he fell to the ground, she ducked and rolled out of the way to where she could get a better view of the rest of her opponents. Returning to her feet, she was met with another barrage of spells and a crossbow bolt that flew past her ear.

She had no time to even worry about Poppy as she continued to fight back against the poachers and the last remaining goblin. One by one, they started to fall to her attacks even as the dragon continued to roar and fight against its chains nearby. Alayna really hoped she understood that they were trying to help. She did not want to end up charred. 

More spells joined her own as Poppy finished dealing with the poachers on the platforms and joined her in taking out the remaining enemies on the ground. With both of them working together, they pushed back the poachers. As soon as the last one fell, Alayna tried to make a break for the dragon, but before she could even think about destroying the chains keeping her there three more poachers descended from above in shadowy mists.