I turned my head from the destruction and death ahead of me to see Tadwick and Olly advancing towards me on Lucas’ horse. They were closely followed by Dolly and Alexi on the stallion from the farm.

  Upon seeing them I was filled with both relief and panic. Relieved that they are alive, but panicked that they have arrived just as a bloody dragon has started swooping around the area.

  Fortunately, the dragon had done more damage to our horde of attackers than it did to us. The remaining goblins and kobolds were panicking and fleeing as they knew that they could not win with their current numbers. I imagine this is the problem with relying on such beasts as part of your attacking force… they are rarely bothered about friendly fire.

  I saw one of the kobolds running in the direction of the boys. I drew my daggers and dashed past Chenowith who was fighting a couple of goblins in front of me. Fire erupted from its mouth in the direction of the feet of Lucas’s horse and the horse reared up. Olly held the reins tight, so neither of them fell. The kobold rushed forwards and went to slice the horse open with its sword. It was stopped however when Dolly charged his horse into it. The kobold fell to the ground and I pounced on it, driving my dagger into its throat.

  Tadwick jumped off the horse and ran over to me, wrapping his arms around me and squeezing tight.

  Tadwick: “Dad, what’s happening?”

  Dwynfel: “The town in under attack.”

  Tadwick: “From who? And why? And like… fire!”

  He was pointing at the flaming corpses that littered the square. Kiyui arrived and helped Alexi and Dolly off their horse.

  Dwynfel: “There’s a dragon.”

  Tadwick: “A real one? Really? That’s so cool!”

  Dwynfel: “No it isn’t… it’s massively dangerous… where’s everyone else?”

  Olly: “Don’t know. They said they’d be right behind us.”

  Dolly: “The mare is sick. Travelling on foot will take them time.”

  Tadwick: “Lucas showed up out of nowhere, gave us his horse and told us to go.”

  Olly: “He had no intention of leaving your mother and Nomius was insistent that we got the kids to safety… although it doesn’t exactly look safe here.”

  Dwynfel: “Yeah, like I said before, dragon! Now would everybody get inside the damn safe zone!”

  I grabbed the boys by their hands and dragged them towards Madame Laurent’s, passing Big Bertha on the way. She was repeatedly smashing an injured goblin’s head in with her skillet. She was… she was not holding back… like… at all. The skillet had bits of brain and shards of skull stuck to it. It would seem that you do not need to be a trained adventurer to smash somebody’s skull in.

  I flung the boys in the front door of the brothel. Tadwick initially objected to being left in there, but he conceded when he saw some of his friends were already in there. I gave the boys a big hug and kissed them both goodbye, before swiftly returning outside. I need to get my damn sword back and I need to get it quickly.

  The remaining enemy forces in the immediate vicinity had either been killed or retreated. Olly and Dolly started tying up the horses in case we needed them later and I took the opportunity to quickly salvage some of my arrows from the corpses. Unfortunately, many of my arrows had been burned up in the flames. I was only able to retrieve seven of the damn things. And seven arrows are not exactly going to get me very far in an all-out invasion situation.

  We heard that horrifying roar once more… I turned my head in the direction of the sound and saw Freddy running down the street to the north towards us. After a couple of seconds, Zayan and Xion came running down the same street.

  Then the sound of pounding footsteps began. Shit… shit… it’s following them. I saw Olly run past me in the direction of the boys. I ran towards them as well… as did Big Bertha. The sound of the footsteps got closer and closer. Any second and it’ll be at the top of the street with full view of us.

  Olly reached Zayan just before I reached Xion. We grabbed them and dived to either side of the buildings at the bottom of the street. We stood with our backs against the walls desperately trying not to make a sound.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  I saw Bertha grab Freddy and they both ducked down behind the fountain. I need to be calm… I need to be calm… if I freak out… then the kids will freak out… and I can’t afford for that to happen right now.

  I felt Xion’s hand gripping mine tightly. He has one hell of a grip. It really hurts, but I don’t care… he’s scared… he’s fucking terrified. If breaking my hand keeps him calm right now then he’s welcome to it… just as long as he doesn’t draw any attention to our position.

  The footsteps were closer now… they were coming down the street that the boys had emerged from moments ago. I can hear its breath. Puffs of smoke keep bursting forth from the side of the wall.

  Kiyui and Dolly are stood by the entrance to the brothel looking horrified. The crossbow guy is desperately trying to find more bolts. Chenowith and the tower shield guy are moving into the centre of the square and are assuming a defensive position. The hammer guy was carrying Darlington’s charred body back to the brothel, but he has had to abandon that task and he is now readying himself for a fight.

  Farrow and the Rogue are rushing for the horses… what the hell are they doing?

  Chenowith: “We need to draw its attention away from this area!”

  Yes… please… please do that… for the love of all that is holy… please get its attention away from here.

  I looked to my right and saw the dragon’s snout poking out from the edge of the wall. The brownish red scales were so close that I could touch them if I just reached out. It took a deep breath in and spewed smoke all around us. I don’t think it knows we are here… I really bloody hope it doesn’t know we are here.

  Suddenly a crossbow bolt got stuck it it’s nostril. It roared fiercely and rushed forwards. It shot a ball of fire at Chenowith and the tower shield guy. The tower shield guy was pretty solidly protected by his shield. Chenowith’s shield however was smaller and some of the flames did get past, singing his hair and his shoes.

  The dragon stopped and looked at them… almost as if bewildered by the fact that they were not currently aflame. The two men started stepping back, towards the east street. If they can get it down that street then it will be away from the brothel and the risk of collateral damage will be much less. Please… please succeed.

  The dragon made another attempt to set them alight. It achieved similar results and became enraged. It charged at them, batting Chenowith to one side with its claw and slamming its other hand down on the guy with the tower shield. It was taking all of his strength not to collapse to the ground and push back against the sheer force that the dragon was exerting.

  I heard steps to my right.

  Olly: “Zayan, no!””

  Zayan panicked and decided to attempt to rush across the square while the dragon was distracted. Olly rushed after him. Please stop… please… go back to where you were… please.

  The dragon’s tail thrashed around… Zayan ducked under it and continued running. The dragon suddenly pushed itself back from the knights and turned. As its tail swung round it smashed into Olly, sending him flying into a wooden food stall at the side of the square. Dolly screamed and went to rush towards Olly, but Kiyui stopped him. Zayan continued running. The hammer guy realised what was going on and rushed to distract the dragon.

  The dragon’s head swung in Zayan’s direction and the boy was scooped up in its mouth… the dragon flung him up in the air and set him alight in one swift movement. Zayan let out a painfully high-pitched squeal as the flames engulfed him… the chilling sound came to a sudden stop when the dragon clamped its jaws down on the falling ball of flames. The crunching sound that followed was sickening.

  Xion went to scream but I covered his mouth with my hand. The hammer guy slammed his hammer down on the dragon’s claw in a rage, breaking one of its nails… but doing little else. The dragon recoiled its claw in response. It went to slam its damaged claw down on him but Farrow’s flying swords proceeded to slam against its face. One managed to cut the dragon’s eye.

  Farrow was charging the dragon on Lucas’ horse. And she had certainly succeeded in getting its attention. It batted the hammer guy to the side and squared off with her. As it did, she turned the horse around and started luring it down the eastern street. It charged off after her. The dragon is faster than the horse however… so it caught up to her quickly.

  Fortunately, it was being followed by the rogue on the other horse. As the dragon went to swipe at Farrow, the rogue jumped onto the dragon’s back. Using the spikes on the spine of the dragon, he proceeded to climb up the dragon’s back.

  The dragon stopped and started shuffling about and reaching its claws round its back in an attempt to get him off.

  Kiyui: “Salient blade.”

  The rogue’s dagger started to glow and he started to plunge it into the dragon’s back repeatedly. The dragon screeched in pain. Farrow turned her horse to make a run at the underside of the now distracted beast, but it was not hanging around to be targeted in that manner. It flew up into the air, taking the rogue with it.