Hailey and Barinon turned and ran away from the dragon. Hailey hoped that it wouldn’t turn around and attack the soldiers again, but she ran with Barinon right back into the castle.

“We need a basket,” he said.

“There’s one in the pantry,” she panted. They hurried into the kitchen. In the pantry was a basket of potatoes. He dumped it upside down and they turned and hurried out of the kitchen. She was breathing hard now, but Barinon didn’t slow. They ran up the stairs and back into the mage’s library. Hailey’s hand was getting tired from constantly trying to hold onto his.

“We are so close to finishing the spell,” Barinon said. He looked worried, though and Hailey hoped he was right. “We cannot let the curse remain on the princess any longer. We have to do what we can before the dragon comes for us. At least now the dragon won’t be fighting the people.”

She trusted Barinon. He had not been wrong this far and he would do his best. He had said over and over again how important it was for a mage to take care of the people of his kingdom.

Inside the mage’s library. They placed all of the herbs and candles in a circle and then Hailey put the chicken in the center. She petted it’s feathers one last time, feeling a pang of guilt for what they were about to do. She put the basket over the bird. Henny remained still.

Then Hailey watched, as Barinon tried to pull the death spell off of the princess. She could see the magic flowing from him, could see the dark magic that encircled the castle, but when he pulled on it, it didn’t move.

“Bok, Bok, Bok,” said Henny.

Hailey lifted the basket, feeling frustrated. “Did we do something wrong?

Barinon glanced at the spell book, looked across the hallway at the princess’s chambers and sighed. “I don’t know. It shouldn’t be that difficult.”

“Try again. I will join magic with yours. Hopefully it will be enough.”

Barinon closed his eyes. She placed a hand on his back, feeding magic into his spell. She could feel it pouring through him. He moved his arms toward the princess, spoke a word and then pointed his hands at the chicken.

Again nothing happened. A low grumble came from outside. The dragon was getting closer. She hoped it wasn’t about to breathe fire on her castle.

“We cannot leave it trapped inside the spell. It will tear the castle apart,” Barinon said.

Hailey nodded. “If I ran away from it, do you think it would follow?”

“No. Too risky. We need to face it together.”

“Do you want to try the spell again?” Hailey asked him. They needed to be doing something.”

The dragon screeched. Hailey clapped her hands over her ears.

“No. We have to get the dragon out of the spell first. I think its changing the spell,” Barinon said. “Then we should be able to move the spell off the princess. It should work. It has to.”

“If you don’t want me to let it chase me, then what if we shrink the spell. Would you and I be able to do that?”

Barinon’s eyes went wide with excitement. “Why didn’t I think of that. Of course.” He slapped his head with his palm. Then he returned to his book to glance over the spell.

Hailey thought about letting Henny go, but she didn’t want to have to track her down later. Everything was so uncertain at the moment.

Barinon glanced up. “Be ready. As soon as we get the dragon out of the spell, it will be back at full speed and it will attack us.”

Hailey nodded. It seemed their best chance.