The dragon expelled a roar from the depths of its stomach, the sound reverberating through my bones. It bent its heavily-muscled wings and bunched up its hind legs.

That thing was about to charge.

Amber, Max, and I stumbled as the entire world seemed to tremble. We rolled, crawled, and scrambled out of the way, managing to evade the dragon’s destructive path by a hairsbreadth. A pile of debris trailed behind him, tree trunks snapped cleanly in half and a small crater left where the monster had made impact with the earth.

Meanwhile, Minh huffed and back-flipped to the right. The dragon’s claws missed her by an inch as they came crashing down into the dirt.

The dragon hit the ground like a meteorite.

Soot and dust exploded in all directions, but Minh rolled away, leaping back like an acrobat as she gracefully repositioned.

Snarling with enough viciousness to scare off a pride of lions, the dragon leapt back up, slightly stunned but unscathed. His eyes bored into ours, as if wondering how we were able to dodge such a heavy blow.

“How do you defeat a dragon?” I demanded, spitting out the dirt in my mouth.

“Hey, Mackie Jade,” Minh hissed. “I thought I told you guys run like heck if you find a dragon!”

Side note: Minh didn’t say heck.

Another ear-splitting growl erupted from the ignored beast and sent the ground rocking, another web of cracks slitting through the dirt.

Minh rolled her eyes from while the rest of us were knocked down. “Lesson one. Dragons are immune to attacks!”

Her blade glinted a light-green, and she made a beautiful, arching swing. Dagger-like leaves sprayed out from the blade. A green glow faded in the air where the sword cut through. Minh’s eyes tinted purple, and she swung again. This time, the green glow stayed.

Her eyes darkened, and a fission wave erupted from her sword before detonating in the space between Minh and the dragon. I wobbled on my feet once again.

I could feel the power of the blow all the way from where I was standing. The pebbles and the specks of dirt swept like an ocean wave as the magic streaked forth.

The dragon was knocked over by the sheer strength of the attack, but did not seem to have taken serious damage. In fact, he hadn’t taken any damage at all. His glinting scales flexed once, fully unharmed.

“See? He’s completely fine!” Minh yelled over the ear-splitting roar of the infuriated beast.

Amber, Max, Olive, and I stood, completely dumbfounded. With no idea of what to do, we awkwardly put ourselves in an offensive attack stance.

Minh was now levitating mid-air with the force from her sword alone. She wasn’t the principal’s daughter for nothing.

Minh shouted as she swirled her sword three times before thrusting it towards the dragon. A storming discharge of vines and thick branches wrapped around him, binding the beast’s legs together. He barely managed to leap off the ground at the last moment, but was heavily restrained.

The creature stopped midway in the air, their wings still flapping fiercely through Minh’s rapidly unraveling net of plants.

“Minh Sagewing.” It roared, crawling forward. “ Retreat at once! You are not the prey.”

“Make me.” She snarled, taunting. She pointed her blade directly upwards, as if summoning divine lightning from the heavens.

A streak of magical power, like a shooting star, charged from the sky and pierced the ground. The earth erupted in chaos only rivaled by a natural disaster. An outburst of blinding green energy exploded outwards. And as if a bomb had been detonated, a tree that rivaled the size of the Empire State Building blasted out of the ground, punting the airborne dragon and knocking into the sky. The curling branches reached and clawed around the beast’s body, growing and growing, until it made a prison of wood and leaves, and slammed the beast back to the ground. He was trapped, at least for the time being.

Minh sank down on one knee, panting heavily.

There was no time to wait for her. I had to do something before the dragon broke free.

Brianna had taught me a cool trick.

I angled Moonshine so the blade was tilted towards the sun. A ray of light bounced off the silver blade, and I aimed it into the dragon’s eyes.

Amber, also noticing Minh’s fading burst of strength, blasted into the sky unsteadily. Her sweat-plastered hair gleamed in the sun as she shot a volley of stones that she had collected from the debris.

Max had taken the spellbook. His clumsy magic sent tornadoes of dust spinning around the battlefield, turning the sky hazy.

All of these attacks were nothing more than minor annoyances to the dragon’s impenetrable suit of armor. With another roar, the dragon sent Amber and Max crashing to the ground.

Minh’s words rang true. We were quickly exhausting our cards, and yet the dragon continued to lie unscathed.

Then it erupted from the tree’s grasp.

For the nth time that day, dirt exploded everywhere, this time accompanied by heavy branches and a flood of leaves.

Minh dropped to the ground, dodged to her right and unleashed another wave of magic. The tree branches and leaves vanished into green smoke right before crushing our bones. She swung her sword against the monster’s back.

Clunk. The blade bounced off against a green scale. Minh quickly hopped away as the dragon swatted his tail at her.

“See?” she said as she hopped back up, gesturing at me. “See how you can’t hit him, because of his scales? I think they're made of titanium or some similarly hardy mineral. But-” She paused for a moment to drop into another roll, narrowly avoiding being stomped to death.

“He does have one weak spot! It’s a different colored scale that-” She was cut off.

Blistering heat swept across the field.

I felt as if I was swallowed by lava. Sheer pain blossomed as a flaming pebble hit my leg. I forced my eyelids open and looked up.

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The smoldering remains of the dragon’s breath laid motionless, in embers. The entire section of the field that he torched was nonexistent.

Minh had been right in the middle of its path.

Nearby, Max and Amber let out bone-chilling wails that echoed across every pebble.

“Don’t attack and stay back!” I yelled, numb at the sight of the still-aflame ash in front of me. “Distract him for now! Where did Olive go?”

“I don’t know! I thought Olive was with you!” Amber shouted back as she dodged a swipe from the dragon and dived under its claw, her voice with uneven emotion.

In the rush to avoid dying, I had completely forgotten about the little girl that had been clinging to me only minutes before.

“Ugh!” I grunted as another stomp shook the earth. “Distract it! Don’t let him wander off and find Olive before we can!”

The dragon’s next screech split my ears. Then scorching, blistering flames came rolling down like meteors before I could move.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I awaited my inevitable death. At least I’d be one of the very few to ever die by dragon.

Suddenly, a pair of hands seized me by the shoulders from the sky. Amber’s nails dug into my flesh as she ripped me off the ground and into the sky.

The inferno swept right under my feet.

We had barely landed on the ground when the dragon blazed toward us again. I broke apart our combined arms and shoved Amber out of the way. We both rolled backwards.

Dodging wasn’t going to work forever. I could already feel the fatigue weighing down my arms like lead. Amber and Max stood several yards away from me, panting hard.

The dragon laughed with a fatalistic intensity and charged straight at me. I feigned right with Moonshine and dodged to my left.

“Guys! Minh had said about a different colored sc-” I never finished that sentence.

The dragon’s tail shot out of nowhere. With unexpected reflexes, I managed to get my sword up before it fully made contact.

I was sent flying. The force knocked the steel of Moonshine into my chest, and pain exploded where tiny spikes had sunk into my flesh. Hurriedly closing my eyes, I smashed into the ground and saw stars. Tearing open my hazy eyes, I saw Max and Amber, screaming and shouting and screeching and shrieking.

My head felt like soggy waffles. A dazed swirl bloomed on whatever spot of clear sight I had left, and my limbs felt like they were crushed by a bus. Still, I thrust Moonshine into the beaten earth beside me, planted one knee on the ground, and painstakingly hoisted myself up.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a small violet-colored flower. How is it still alive? I thought, weary and dizzy.

Oh. That was not an ordinary flower.

The petals were glowing, the same piercing violet shine of Minh’s eyes.

It’s my fault.

I had already lost Moxie because I had cowardly avoided the Mist. Now I’d lost Minh because I was too idiotic and hesitant to fight alongside her. I was proud because I could beat a few newbies. I didn’t even know my power, and yet my arrogance told me that I could fix this. I didn’t even get to know Minh properly yet, even though she helped us out.

“WATCH OUT!” Amber’s cry rang out in the field, but it wouldn’t have been different if she was screaming into the void.

I was lost in agonizing pain. And as if my movements were underwater, I turned my head wearily just to see the marble-white of the dragon’s claws as they shot towards me as if in slow-motion.

Before I could even raise my sword to block, Max rammed into my side. We tumbled down the torn earth, my bones screaming for help.

His sweat-slick face appeared above my faded vision. A new kind of desperation was glowing from those usually-warm eyes.

“DO YOU WANT TO DIE?! WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU DOING?” Max screamed as he lifted me off the ground. “I DON’T KNOW WHERE MINH WENT, BUT I DON’T THINK SHE WILL BE PROTECTING US NOW! Please never do that again!” His voice faded into pants of breath.

I shook my head weakly, my eyes still filled with dancing stars.

Max was right. Mourning won’t do anyone any good right now.

“I’m sorry… thanks for saving my life.” I croaked, my throat feeling like the Sahara Desert.

I needed to avenge Minh. I couldn’t just allow the monster to get away with killing someone I had somewhat begun to consider a friend.

C’mon Mackie. Get up. Minh didn’t do this for nothing. She bought you time, now use it.

“It’s alright.” Max’s voice softened. “Just be careful, okay? And remember what Minh said? The dragon has a-”

I screamed and grabbed Max by his shirt collar, the abrupt movement sending balls of pain ricocheting down my arms. I pushed my suffering right leg off the ground, and rolled away with Max just before we were flattened by a giant green foot.

Max’s eyes widened. “Thanks, dude.” He squeaked as he pawed the dirt. “You’re heavy, by the way. No offense.”

I gave a pained snort as I hurriedly clambered off of him.

“She said the dragon had a different colored scale, right?” I asked, my heart shuttering as Amber drew the dragon away from us, flying unstably as if she were a leaf in a hurricane.

The dragon roared in frustration, attempting to swat her out of the sky like an annoying fly.

“Yeah, that’s going to be like finding a needle in a haystack,” Max replied, huffing like a train.

“Don’t remind me!” I didn’t look back as I raced towards the dragon again, clenching my teeth against every inch of pain howling in me.

I let out a yell to let Amber know that I was coming, and I looked.

I looked for that different colored scale on the dragon’s shimmering green body.

A sea of metallic green. Each scale was disgustingly sharp and durable. Sunlight glinted off of them, blinding my eyes.

Then I saw a red one.

“Max!” I screamed, dodging the flames and gigantic feet. “What are you able to shapeshift into?”

A spark flew as Max delivered another cut to the scales. “Anything!” He yelled, ducking underneath another wave of fire. “I might not be able to hold it for long!”

“FIGURE SOMETHING OUT, GUYS! I’M AT MY LIMIT HERE!” Amber yelled, plunging her sword through the dragon’s toenail as she landed on the ground again.

“I know where the scale is! The one Minh talked about! Turn into a big bird and fly me up there!” I yelled to Max over the sound of dragon footsteps, which were VERY LOUD BY THE WAY. “Amber, distract him in midair. Max, you have to carry me to the top of his back and land on him. Amber won’t be able to carry me, but she can defend herself.”

Amber gave a nod and rose unsteadily back into the air. Max did what I told him to do. He took a deep breath and he began to change.

Big, white feathers covered his body. His arms turned to large white wings, his feet transformed into three toes, which turned into talons. He grew bigger and bigger until you could clearly see what he was. He summoned me with a flick of his large yellow beak to climb on his back.

Amber and I stared at him in awe. Finally, Amber spoke.

“A CHICKEN!!!!” She shouted.

It was true. Of all the birds, he turned into a chicken.

“Look, I’m really stressed out, okay?!” He clucked, flapping his wings. “GET ON ALREADY!”

“Can chickens even fly??” I screamed at him.

“As a matter of fact, yes they can! Now hop on, m’lady!” He snapped.

I slid under the belly of the dragon, my legs scraping against the cracked concrete of the street.

And with that, I hopped onto my doom while Amber fluttered up with her own powers.

It was a bumpy and shaky and all around terrible ride. Chickens can’t fly for extended periods of time, and Max had horrid flying skills. “A chicken! Why Max! WHY?”

“Aww, be quiet. You would- hey!”

The three of us collapsed onto the dragon’s back.

The dragon roared and tried to shake us off, thrashing around wildly like an angered bull. Amber pushed off into the air again, losing her hold, while Max and I clung on for dear life.

I growled, and wedged Moonshine into a space between the two scales. It did no damage, but I managed to secure a hold.

I pulled my knee up to my chest and slipped my feet between another two scales. I ripped Moonshine out of the dragon’s back, and then jammed it into two other scales in this ocean of green. I dragged my other knee up, thrusting myself forward.

Bit by bit, I made my way up the dragon. Frozen horror grabbed me as I realized he wasn’t on the dragon anymore-

His white-feathered body was sailing with Amber.

My knees went weak with relief.

A huge shake of the beast almost sent me sailing with them. I clenched my teeth and grabbed onto the scales again. My left hand caught onto the wrong edge of a dragon scale and erupted in fiery, burning pain as a cut tore open flesh. I clenched my teeth in agonizing pain, looking up.

The red scale flickered several feet above me, almost like a tantalizing apple in a tree that was finally within reach.

I wanted to cry.

So bad.

All of a sudden, I was flung upwards, my hands ripped off the sword. My last, desperate attempt to grab on proved futile.

I fell from the sky.

“AAAAAAHH-” My scream was cut off-

My foot caught, somehow right on the flat edge of Moonshine. In the mere seconds of balance I had, I sank my nails like a cat into the crevices between scales.

Almost grinding my teeth to dust, I edged down and ripped Moonshine out of the dragon scales. I swung my right hand back up, and climbed another step.

The scale was right before my eyes.

I raised my sword, red running like ribbons down my arm, and stabbed the weak spot.

The scale resisted against the pressure. As I pressed down harder, it began to crack, before finally shattering and giving way to the tender flesh underneath. Blood oozed from the wound. A foul stench rose from the liquid dripping out of the cut.

The dragon roared in agony.

He arched his back and flailed around. I was thrown backwards, but I barely managed to hook my left foot into another set of scales.

Thinking of Minh, I felt another rush of adrenaline through my veins. I heaved myself up again and clung on, blood shimmying down my arm like honey and staining my shirtsleeve.

The dragon continued to rage around like a mad bull, but I was ready to be a matador. I would do whatever it took to defeat this thing and make sure Minh hadn’t died in vain.

I dug the tips of my feet even deeper, strengthening my hold. I stretched out my arm and stabbed the wound. Again and again, I wrenched Moonshine away from the dragon’s skin before thrusting it back in with as much force as I could muster.

The dragon’s roars turned to screams, more and more pained howls, and kept twisting. Its suffering split the air, and rose into the dust.

It shook for a few more seconds before collapsing.

I collapsed with it, but with a sudden flash of white, I was on Max’s back. We fluttered clumsily onto the ground, my blood dying his feathers red.

Finally, the dragon lay still on the ground, no claw slashes or breath attacks in sight.

I melted from relief.

This was different from all the combat training I had been doing for the past month. We - no, I - had actually killed something, a mythical creature though it may be. I was sorry for the dragon’s fate. I felt guilty. I didn’t want to kill.

The victory was not sweet.

I crawled over to the flower in Minh’s place and picked it up gently.