Saving Rose

Chapter 8

The dragon raised one of its mighty paws, vicious looking claws spread wide as the beast brought them down all around Rose. She froze at the sight of the massive paw above her, and as the dragon brought the claws down around her, she flattened herself against the ground. The creature's claws punctured the earth surrounding her small body, leaving her trapped inside a deadly cage.

For a moment, Rose was lost. She didn't know how to be a warrior, didn't know how to fight a dragon even half as well as her brother. Boys trained from the day they were born to destroy dragons and fight like soldiers, but girls...

Fighting back the hot prickle of tears behind her eyes, Rose did the only thing she could think to do. The only thing she knew she was good at. Lifting one of her arms through the gap between the dragon's claws, she summoned her gemstones. She could feel them racing toward her from inside the cellars of the castle. They flew with a dizzying speed, and she tried to focus on them as the dragon leaned its face close.

Rose could feel the creature's breath hot against her cheeks as it dipped its face to hers, its tongue snaking free of its teeth in laughter. The earth shivered as the dragon closed its claws around her, and Rose screamed as the beast began to take flight with her still trapped in its talons.

She urged the gemstones to hurry, begged them to move faster than ever before. And she felt a cry of relief escape her lips as the first of the gemstones glanced her fingers. She gathered the gemstone in her hand, a small bit of fire diamond that was hardly more than a sliver of stone. Yet in that moment, it was more beautiful to Rose than the most ornately decorated sword.

With all her might she thrust the bit of diamond into the soft padding of the dragon's claw. The beast let out a terrible roar as the talons released her from their clutches, and Rose careened toward the ground at an impossible speed.

Stomach lurching at the sight of the approaching ground, she gathered the gemstones around her and created a slide to cradle her fall. The moment she hit the glittering slope, the gemstones wrapped about her, absorbing much of the impact of her fall. Her speed slowed as she reached the bottom, and she stumbled out from within the slide completely unharmed.

But the same could not be said for the dragon. For the first time since the fight began, the dragon had been well and truly injured. It landed at the end of the courtyard, steam billowing out from its nostrils with each breath it took. Its golden eyes were rimmed with red, and Rose could see that the dragon refused to put any weight on its injured paw.

As it opened its mouth once more, the sight of flames sending chills down her spine, Rose rearranged the gemstones. They glittered like fallen stars as they zipped about before her, fitting together to create a shield that covered her from head to toe. As the dragon's fireball grew larger and larger, finally erupting from its throat and showering her with flames, the gemstones held fast against it, protecting Rose from harm.

As the flames disappeared into nothing more than ash, the gemstones broke apart and hovered in the air before her. The dragon watched her with curious eyes, and for the first time she thought she could see the shadow of defeat within them. Was it possible she could win this fight after all?

But for whatever she imagined she saw in the creature's eyes, the dragon wasn't ready to give up. Angry now at the sudden obstacle of the Princess, the dragon snapped its jaws at the air.

Ready to fight, Rose hurled several gemstones at the dragon. They landed on its scales with a hiss, and the dragon's resulting roar shook the castle. Rose smiled. The dragon did have a weakness. It was a weakness no one but her could have uncovered. Swords and shields wouldn't work well on this beast. But her gemstones would.

In a sudden burst of inspiration, Rose gathered the floating gemstones around her. They circled her, bits of red and blue and emerald and white shimmering as they wound around her, faster and faster, until she stood at the center of a maelstrom of stones.

All at once she thrust them forward, and they pelted the dragon from all sides. The dragon seemed to shrink beneath them, its pitiful cries growing quieter and quieter as the stones beat down upon its scales. Rose watched it all from afar, but her work was far from over.

She reached inside the castle, pulling every single gemstone from within. She tore apart displays that took years to create, entire halls made of the finest gemstones were ripped asunder at her whim, and she called all of them to her in that moment.

When at last they surrounded her, the ground littered with sparkling stones, Rose formed them into an impenetrable sword and shield. They hovered there in the air before her, and as she slipped the shield about her left arm and gripped the sword with her right, Rose smiled.

She was ready to defeat the dragon.