Jesika arose at 5:00 the next morning and got dressed, braiding her hair down the middle. She then grabbed her sword and bow and arrows. She ate her breakfast quickly, then started to head out of the cave, only to be stopped by Rowan calling for her.
"Your Majesty," he said.
Jesika paused, turning, one brow raised expectantly. Darryn and Aquila stood with him.
"This better not be another last minute try at making me change my mind, because it won't work. I thought I made that clear," she said sternly.
Rowan shook his head. "We refuse to let you do this alone. So, we're going with you. We're going to fight alongside you."
Kronos, Rocky and Frankie came to stand behind them also, as if also giving their allegiance. She crossed her arms, studying them, now noticing how they had also prepared for battle.
"We can win, you know. We have a griffin, an amarok and a phoenix. And a heck of a lot of fighting skills," she encouraged.
Rowan shrugged, shaking his head. "Or we die trying, Your Majesty."
Her hopeful expression dimmed yet again. "If that's the way you want to look at it, fine. Let's go," she said. With that, she turned, heading out. The three followed with their beasts behind them.
***
Nerves were high between the four as they climbed up towards the dragon's cave where she overlooked the mountains. She let out a bellow that echoed loudly across the mountains, as if she knew they were right around the corner.
They stopped a few feet away, Jesika turning to the group.
"Alright, are we ready? We remember the plan, right?" They nodded, but Jesika went over it again anyways. "Rowan, you fly by on your griffin and attack the dragon to distract her attention away so that Darryn and I can fire the poison arrows at her. Aquila, you stay away from danger with Frankie in case one of us need some fire protection. Now let's kill a dragon!" She roared and turned, running forward. The group followed.
Rowan swiftly mounted Kronos, flying into the cave and diving to attack Aethelinda's head where she rested in the cave. The dragon rumbled her protest, turning on Rowan and Kronos. The pair deftly dodged the dragon's attacks, flying in and out, left and right. Jesika ran forward to shoot, followed closely by Darryn. She stopped at the entrance of the cave and readied her bow, then looked up at the dragon to aim.
As she aimed, she felt herself get distracted as reality set in. This was the beast that had killed her parents. This huge, scaly, larger than life creature was the reason she now had no one to look up to, no close family to turn to. Tears filled her eyes as her hands trembled. She could hear her name being screamed but her mind was now too fogged to care. She felt like flames were creeping up on her, devouring her whole. She saw the burning castle, the people screaming and crying, her ears were overwhelmed with the noise of her own pounding heartbeat. As she got wrapped up in the past, the dragon turned on her, opening her mouth and breathing a flaming inferno straight at her.
Jesika came to her senses, falling back away from the flames and holding up her arms to shield her face. She screamed sharply in painful agony as the flames stung her legs, her arms, any bit of skin it could. Suddenly, Frankie jumped in front of her, pinning her to the ground, covering her, protecting her from the flames. Her tears dried up in the intense heat. Rowan yelled loudly at Jesika's affliction, sweeping in to attack the dragon yet again on Kronos.
As Kronos tore at her head, Rowan jumped off, stabbing the dragon repeatedly with his sword. The dragon snarled, shaking them off, throwing them across the cave easily. During this time, Darryn grabbed Jesika from underneath Frankie, throwing her up on Rocky and riding out.
