Aaron ran into the castle. The main entrance had been smashed in. He paused, glancing up at the ceiling. He didn’t want a part of the ceiling to fall on him, but he also couldn’t leave Hailey in there to battle the dragon alone. He hoped that the other men were following but he didn’t want to wait. A cloud of dust hung in the air, making it difficult to see. He coughed and stepped inside. Not too far from the entrance, was the large man that Hailey had pointed out the last time he was here. He couldn’t remember his name, but he had been a cook. His legs been flattened by one of the dragon’s feet. A pool of blood grew beneath him. Aaron called to him, but the man didn’t move and didn’t appear to be breathing. Disgust and fear warred within him. He shoved them both away.

“Where is it?” Derrick shouted from behind him, his voice echoing off of the walls.

Aaron shrugged. “Follow the screams.” Or the destruction, he thought. Other bodies lay with limbs twisted and eyes locked in terror. He could only imagine how terrifying it must have been for these people to wake after sleeping for so long, only to be confronted with a dragon.

Don’t look, he told himself, but he couldn’t help looking over the bodies. The large doors that opened into the dining room were clearly not big enough for the dragon. One wall had been collapsed in. People were screaming and trying to get away. Some were petrified, unable to move. He wondered if it was just the spell taking time to wear off.

Hailey and Barinon stood alone against the dragon.

“Get the other people out,” Derrick yelled.

The soldiers moved towards them, prodding those that were petrified and trying to calm the others. A few of them refused to move even then. Christian picked up a woman and threw her over his shoulder. She had such a look of complete terror on her face that Aaron’s heart twisted in pain for her.

Aaron had to try to protect Hailey. He charged forward, swinging at the beast with Derrick’s sword. It bounced off, not even creating a scratch on the silvery scales. Again and again, he swung, but to no avail. How was he going to be able to do anything if he couldn’t even pierce its hide? The dragon didn’t seem to notice. Instead, it moved to corner Hailey and Barinon, snapping at it with its jaws.

Hailey launched a ball of fire at the dragon’s throat and the dragon screamed, staggering back. The sound was deafening. She was amazing. He had never seen anything like it.

Barinon’s movements were quicker and more practiced. He sliced at it with a glowing blue sword, which puffed into mist as the dragon prepared to breathe fire.

Flames covered both mages. Aaron gasped. Hailey was completely covered in fire. He was too late. “No!” He screamed, but then the fire stopped and both she and Barinon were still standing and unhurt. They were on opposite sides of the dragon now.

Finally, the other soldiers were attacking. Dozens of arrows were launched at the dragon, but they all bounced off. The dragon turned then, to notice that there were other attackers. As it moved, it lashed its tail and knocked Hailey backward. She fell and slid against the floor.

Aaron he ran towards her, his heart in his throat. She had been hit hard.

Hailey pulled herself to her feet. She was so in over her head. Some of the spells that Barinon was throwing at the dragon, she had never seen before. She was trembling, terrified that the dragon would kill her next. She was backed into the corner but for the moment the dragon only seemed to be paying attention to Barinon.

Aaron was there, too but his strikes weren’t doing any good. The dragon screeched and Hailey clapped her hands over her ears. What was she doing here? She was just a kitchen maid who took care of the castle when there was no one left. Her spells were harming the beast but they weren’t doing any real damage. Barinon stood alone against the dragon now except for the soldiers.

Barinon threw a lance of ice at it. A long pole of ice stabbed into the beast’s throat, sizzling as it struck. Hailey tried to move out of the corner, but the dragon’s body had her pinned. She was afraid to move, afraid to draw any attention to herself. All it had to do was slide a little bit closer to her and she would be crushed. She couldn’t stay trapped here. It would kill her for sure.

If she hadn’t brought Aaron to the castle, then they wouldn’t have gotten caught and she wouldn’t have woken this thing. Life would’ve gone on the way it used to, the way she was accustomed to. Now her people were suffering. The dragon stepped towards her and she was pinned against the wall.

Pull yourself together, she told herself. Two mages had to be better than one, even if one of them was not even halfway trained. She felt rage building within her. This dragon had come here, had damaged her castle and killed the people she had worked so hard to protect. She had to fight. She couldn’t leave Barinon here alone to battle by himself. She couldn’t let herself be crushed to death. She had promised Barinon that she would help him. She clenched her teeth against the pressure. It leaned into her, making it hard to breathe.

She focused and drew her mage sword. She couldn’t make the hand movements but the thought about them and moved her arms as much as she could. She envisioned a dagger instead of a sword. Then she stabbed its leg. It moved slightly away. Hailey gasped for air, then she held the blade and raced, ducking all the while underneath the dragon. Blood splashed on her, but she didn’t care.

The dragon reared and tried to come down on her, smashing its head into the ceiling. Plaster and a cloud of dust reigned down on them. Hailey shielded herself and one of the soldiers nearby. She couldn’t see where Barinon or Aaron were, but the giant silvery beast was easy to pick out. It swatted at Hailey, but the bubble held. One of the soldiers came forward, swinging as word. He was actually able to cut at the beast as if he were holding a mage sword. The others wore looks of defeat. Everything they had thrown at the dragon had not worked so far.

The dragon ignored the soldier and Barinon, and came at her again. She had been the one to steal its scale, after all. She threw her lightning spell at the beast, which crackled over its hide but did not seem to slow the beast. She launched a fireball and the dragon lunged for her. Had Barinon’s ice spear stopped it from breathing fire?

She shielded against the dragon’s head, coming to swipe at her. She cringed back, hoping it would hold. It did until the tip of one silvery wing stabbed at her. It broke through her shield, knocking her back. She was starting to run low on magic, but the dragon kept coming after her. Barinon lanced it with ice again, but ignored even that. It was determined to kill the one who had stolen its scale.