Feldora

The Attack

Lestra glided down the stairs like an elegant swan. Her hair was a golden blonde and her pristine white dress flowed around her ankles. Lestra stopped by a stained glass window and gazed out, prepared to see the flowing green hills of the kingdom that would soon belong to her older sister.

Instead, she saw a wall of flames.

The castle tower shook angrily. Lestra grabbed the window sill to steady herself. Shouts rose from the coutyard below. Then came the screams. Lestra hurried downwards. Above her was an earsplitting explosion. A huge scaly form crashed through the tower, smashing through the bricks and scattering them.

Lestra screamed and fell downwards. She half ran half fell down the flight of stairs. Lestra reached the bottom of the stairs when a figure crashed into her. She was sent spinning across the landing.

"Sorry, Lestra. Follow me to the guards, they'll protect us," said Rani, Lestra's older sister and the heir to the thrown. They moved into the more inhabited part of the castle. Panicked servants rushed past.

"What do we do, princess!" they shouted in terror.

"Get to the throne room, the fortifications are strongest there!" Rani shouted. The crowd hurried forwards to the grand staircase. Lestra was shoved away from Rani as they were pushed to the back of the mob. Usually, people would make way for the Princess Rani but they were too scared.

Rani was perfect. She was ladylike, could give and follow orders and was incredibly beautiful. She had been trained as a princess for her entire life and was well prepared for when the crown would pass on to her. Rani could play the violin, harp, cello and flute. She could also fluently speak three complicated languages. She knew the full history of the kingdom (which was called Alydale) and all the laws.

Lestra was the complete opposite of Rani. She was still a princess but she didn't have a future in the royal family. Lestra could do what she wanted. She was like a ghost, drifting through the palace. She would race through the forest and swing from tree to tree. She would challenge the warrior apprentices to sword fights with branches and would often beat them.

Lestra and Rani found themselves at the back of the mob, still on the grand staircase. Suddenly, a booming roar filled the air. The wooden roof burst into flames. Sections of planks fell, revealing a huge scaly beast standing on the roof.

"Oh no," Rani breathed. The roof gave way. Lestra screamed as they dodged the flaming debris. The beast spread its huge red wings and flew down onto the mosaiced floor.

It was a dragon.

The huge scaly beast bristled with spikes. Its scales were blood red and its long tail was adorned with a fan at its tip. The dragon's eyes were amber and they sparked with evil joy. The dragon was as long as three horses and each of its wings were three metres long.

"Oh, a princess. They always cause the most uproar when I kill them," the dragon hissed. Rani and Lestra stumbled backwards.

"I am Kersus, a leader among my clan. But many call me the Heir Taker," the dragon hissed. Kersus lunged forwards and grabbed Rani in his huge claws.

"No!" Lestra shouted. Kersus looked at her, his long fangs shining with drool. Then he spread his wings and flew up though the hole in the roof. "No!" Lestra shouted to the empty air. She hurried onto a battlement that overlooked the  courtyard. Kersus was flying high in the sky, just out of range of the hundreds of arrows the guards were firing. Kersus opened his steaming jaws and shot a plume of fire downwards at the guards. They cried out and scattered as flames spread across the palace gardens.

"I have your princess!" Kersus boomed. The guards fell silent as Kersus held out Rani for all to see. "Stop firing or I'll drop her!" Kersus roared. The stream of arrows came to an end. Kersus nodded in satifaction. He landed on a broken tower and looked out across the kingdom.

"Kersus, give me back my sister!" Lestra shouted. Kersus looked down at her in disdain.

Lestra looked up to see a knight creeping up along the roof behind Kersus. Lestra's eyes filled with hope. The knight raised his sword high above his head. He swung it down towards Kersus' neck. Suddenly the red dragon whipped around and grabbed the sword out of the knight's hand. The sword spirraled down off the tower.

"You dare to attack me from behind like a coward!" Kersus boomed. "You will fight me face to face," he growled.

"But I don't have a weapon," the knight stammered.

"I don't have a weapon either," the dragon bellowed. "Let the fight begin!"

The knight ran backwards along the roof. Kersus opened his mouth and surrounded them in a circle of flames. Kersus leapt at the knight and grabbed him in his jaws. Kersus rose his head in triumph as the knight flailed around in his jaws. Then the dragon swallowed him whole.

Lestra recoiled in horror. Kersus laughed as he took to the air. He turned around and threw Rani high in the air. Her screams could be heard from far away. She flew upwards before she began to fall.

Right into Kersus' mouth.