The dragon continues to fly through the air… breathing fire on buildings indiscriminately. The whole city is in chaos… there is so much screaming. We need to stop that dragon before it destroys the entire city… shit, shit, shit, shit… how the fuck do we stop that damn thing?

  Chenowith: “Bring it down!”

  Dwynfel: “How? My arrows won’t pierce its scales.”

  Chenowith: “The wings are weak. Aim for those.”

  Dwynfel: “It’s too high…”

  Tower Shield Guy: “I shall get its attention.”

  He walked out into the middle of the square. He slammed his shield down on the ground. His entire body started to glow red and let out an incredibly loud shout and what looked like a gust of wind burst out of him in the direction of the dragon. I’ve seen this skill before… Asmodeus used to do it… it is called provoke. The effects are brief… but for that brief period, it really pisses creatures off.

  The dragon’s eyes glowed red and it focussed in on the tower shield guy. It flew towards him at full speed… getting lower and lower. I aimed my bow and as it unleashed a burst of flames I shot my arrow through its wing. The crossbow guy also fired a bolt through the same wing.

  The dragon continued on… completely unfazed. The dragon flew straight into the tower shield and swiped at the guy with its giant claw. The tower shield guy flew across the square and skidded along the ground. The dragon flew back up and started to circle round.

  Dwynfel: “It didn’t even react… all we are doing is putting small holes in the wing.”

  Crossbow Guy: “It will take more ammunition than we have to damage the wing enough to prevent flight.”

  The tower shield guy stood himself up and moved back to his previous position in the centre of the square.

  Tower Shield Guy: “Well, you better think of something fast… cause it’s coming round again.”

  He slammed his shield to the ground once more and braced for another assault. Farrow appeared next to me.

  Farrow: “Void.”

  She reached into the void and pulled out an explosive arrow. It looks like a regular arrow, but the arrow head itself is like a miniature explosive flask… when the arrowhead hits its target it isn’t designed to remain rigid… it is designed to collapse inward, causing the two fluids inside the arrow to mix and explode. They are very difficult to make and very dangerous to carry… far too dangerous to just carry around in a quiver. They are generally only used in defensive battlements. No wonder she was keeping it in that void.

  Dwynfel: “Why the hell do you have this?”

  Farrow: “Who cares. Use it!”

  Right… this could work… if I get the wing in the right place then this should do some real damage. Just got to get the timing right… we only have one of these… I assume. I cannot miss… I need to get this hit… I can do this.

  The dragon swooped down once more… heading straight for the tower shield guy. He braced himself for impact. If I can hit the wing as close to its base as possible then it should break the bone, rendering the entire wing useless.

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I held my breath and pulled the string back. I can do this… I’m a great shot… it has always been my strength… just focus.

  The dragon got low enough to shoot a high intensity burst of flames directly at the tower shield. I loosed the arrow and it flew through the air. It must have only been in the air for a second or so… but it almost felt somebody had cast slow on the entire area. The seconds have never passed so slowly.

  I saw the arrow hit. It was only a few centimetres from the point of connection between the wing and the dragon’s back. The explosion wasn’t as big as a standard explosive flask… but it was enough. As the sound of the explosion resounded, I saw the bone at the top of the wing break. The wing was still attached… but only barely… the scales on the dragon’s back were scorched, with a few cracks here and there… but not as damaged as I would have liked.

  With its wing no longer functioning, the dragon lost control. It was already flying low and it hit the ground with a thud that could probably be felt all the way across town. It was however travelling at great speed… and that speed did not dissipate immediately. It skidded along the ground, sending cobblestones flying and leaving a worryingly deep scar across the earth.

  It skidded right into the tower shield guy. He planted his feet solidly into the ground… but even he couldn’t stop the thing from skidding and he was pushed back with it.

  Eventually it stopped moving… it lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

  Chenowith: “Nice shot, kid.”

  The tower shield guy drew his spear and went to stab the beast, but it swiftly came to life and swatted him away like a bug. It climbed to its feet once more. It looked back at its broken wing and attempted to flap it. The wing hung limp. The dragon’s head turned to all of us… stood at the entrance to the brothel.

  Knight 3: “Oh Shit.”

  The dragon took a deep breath in and as it did, we all attempted to scatter. We can’t risk it setting fire to Madame Laurent’s. There isn’t any bloody cover in this square though… shit. Whoever it decides to target is going to get fried. The only one with any hope of surviving such a thing is Chenowith because of his shield.

  Chenowith attempted to get its attention by charging straight at it with his shield raised. But the dragon’s gaze was not on him… it was staring straight at me. It swiped its claw at Chenowith, knocking him over and it unleashed a torrent of flame in my direction.

  Shit, shit, shit. Once again… it felt like everything was happening painfully slowly. The flames filled my vision. I was blinded… I looked away and raised my arms to shield myself… not that my arms would protect me from being burned alive… but you know… it’s an instinct when something unpleasant is flying towards your face.

  I didn’t however feel any pain… I was expecting burning… I was expecting searing agony… but there was nothing. Inexplicably… I felt cold… bizarrely cold. Maybe that insane demon was right… maybe death truly is a cold and heartless thing.

  My eyes started to recover from the intense light and I opened them once more. Then suddenly the cold made sense. The ground around me was coated in ice. There was a wall of ice between me and the dragon. The wall looked half melted. Little Johnny was next to me… with those weird ice blades on his feet again.

  Dwynfel: “What the hell are you doing here? You’re supposed to be inside. This is no place for children!”

  Johnny: “Ice is good against dragons. You need me!”