It was broken. The leader of the Band of Steel, Jacky, was standing in front of the counter, looking at his broken great sword. The whole tavern was in panic. Voices started to rise; people didn’t know what to do. Some ran outside to pack their belongings and leave, some stayed inside in fear. But most of the people in the tavern were adventurers. They came to their senses quickly. The voices coming from outside got louder and the sound of a huge explosion woke up Jacky from his moment of mourning. Adventurers started to go outside to fight back against the Silver Dragon.

“Hey boss,” Korion was talking to him. “What are we going to do?” Jacky turned to his friends. They were standing behind him, unsure of what to do. Only Mama Millio and her employees were inside. Jackie's eyes turned to the egg that was in the middle of the tavern. He knew what the right thing was to do. But he couldn’t do it. “We leave this town. Now!”

“Boss, are you sure? Shouldn’t we take this egg back to its mother?” Antrius always had a good heart, but he was too naive. They couldn’t just show up in front of a Silver Dragon with an apology. They would be dead in no time. Jacky had made up his mind. He didn’t want to die.

“No. If you want to live, we need to go. Now!”

“Hey, take this thing out of my tavern! I don't want anything to do with it.” Mama Millio was looking outside from the window next to the counter. “What if the Dragon came after her egg? What will I do if that happens?” She was scared for her tavern and employees.

“That is your problem now. Come on boys, we leave.” The Band knew they were doing something they shouldn’t, but they also wanted to live. They followed their boss in shame and tried not to hear Mama Millio’s complaints. Outside, the battle with the Dragon was going, and it was not going well. The whole town was on fire. The Band quickly headed towards their inn, and they didn’t notice the man on top of the tavern roof at all.

***

When the young woman came outside, the Dragon had already reached the town. She looked for the man who had just gone outside but saw no clue of him. The town had wooden walls and gates just enough to defend itself from the threats in the Malargo Forest, so it was nothing for a flying Dragon. The wooden walls were partly burned, and the Dragon was already flying on top of the town, breathing fire to the town. Its flames were white and looked denser than a fire should be, almost like rays of moonlight in the night sky. Deadly rays of moonlight.

The young woman stood there for a second, looking at the disaster the creature caused. She was frightened, her mind had gone blank. Years of practice and studying were gone. The town was burning, people were screaming and running around to escape the wrath of the Dragon. Those screams helped her get herself together.

"This is no time to stand and do nothing. I need to help the townsfolk to escape.” She ran towards the closest screams.

The Silver Dragon was circling on top of the town and breathing its flames here and there. Some adventurers tried to group up to fight back the creature, but their arrows did break, and their magic disappeared against the Dragon’s thick and magical silver scales. It was a massacre; the giant creature was showing no mercy.

Only minutes had passed but it felt like hours for the ones who resisted the Dragon. Only screams and cries were echoing in the whole town. Most of the people tried to escape but only a few managed. The resisting adventurers gave so many casualties and finally, their will to fight broke and they started to run. Only the ones that were badly injured and unable to escape were remaining. And the one who tried to save them.

The young woman did all she could to help the townsfolk escape, but there were too many and she was alone. Her mind became numb after seeing so many terrifying things. People were burned by the Dragon’s flames, crushed by their house’s wreck, and run over by the others who were escaping. The disgusting smell of burning flesh and blood was everywhere. Elise did all she could, but it was not enough. She was not strong enough.

She was only 19 and left her home less than a year ago. She thought she was ready; she thought her father was wrong. Elise Vandenberg ran away from her home to travel and adventure. Leaving behind her responsibilities to her house, her family, and her father.

She didn’t realize but it had been hours now. The screams stopped after some time. Only cries were left. She was walking around in the dust and ash caused by burned and demolished buildings. The mist before morning had formed on the ground. It had a pink color in it because of the mix of blood and ashes.

At that moment, memories started to flash before her eyes. Their family house, her father was a well-known lord, so it was a big mansion.

A house crumbled next to her. She didn’t even notice.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

She had never wanted to stay in that house, even though it was big, she never felt free in there.

Her eyes shifted towards a pile of rubble. A bloody hand was sticking out, trying to reach outside. Covered in ashes and motionless.

She always wanted to go outside and explore the grounds.

She wandered around for some time; she didn’t know how much. A couple of adventuring warriors were lying on the ground. Half burned. He probably tried to fight against the Dragon.

When she got to the age that she could wield a sword she started training with the captain of their family guards. She had the talent for it and the captain was a great teacher and one the best swordsmen in the kingdom, so she kept practicing with him.

Burned books were scattered here and there. She looked at them with sadness, she always liked reading books.

When she stayed inside their family house, she read everything she could that was interesting in her father's library. Memories kept coming as she walked.

Her mind went blank after some time, she lost her sense of time. While she was roaming, she noticed that she had come back to the tavern where everything had started. But something strange caught her eye, the tavern was still standing and took no damage whatsoever. That woke her brain up and she noticed what was about to happen at the last moment. She jumped forward to dodge the incoming attack. A loud noise came from her behind and a big cloud of dust filled the air. She immediately got up with a roll and drew her sword.

She saw the shadow of the giant beast in the dust cloud. It landed on the ground where Elise was standing a moment ago. With a strong beat of its wings the dust scattered around, and Elise almost fell from the force caused by it. But she stood her ground and held her sword with all her strength. Her sword was a thin longsword made for dualling mostly. It was a gift from her father, one of the best on the market. But she knew it was no match for a Silver Dragon.

Elise thought the beast was bigger up close, almost half of the town was buried under its shadow. Elise knew there was no way she could beat that monster. But she got ready to fight and took an aggressive stance. The beast sensed her intention and got ready. But when things were about to get started, a voice came from the back.

“Back off!” A man was sitting on the roof of the tavern. The man who challenged the Band of Steel. He got the Dragon’s egg with him on the roof. He stood up slowly and lifted the giant egg with his one hand.

Elise was surprised, only seconds ago she was looking there and didn’t see the man at all. How did he get up there so fast? And with that heavy-looking egg, it was impossible.

The man looked at the Dragon with challenging eyes. “Take your egg and leave, now!” He extended the egg toward the Dragon. The beast looked surprised at first, who was this disrespectful little creature? It got ready to attack and smash the man with its talons... But an uneasy feeling started to surround the area. The beast stopped and looked at the man with cautious eyes.

The man was oozing the intention to kill. It was so intense it almost solidified around him. Elise couldn’t see it, but she could feel it. She had never seen or felt something like that before. She froze in fear, her hands and knees were shaking.

“Take the egg and leave, that is your final chance” The man's voice got serious and cold, he was ready to kill, and he was sure he could do it easily. His appearance was unnoticeable, almost weak before. But now he looked way stronger. How did nobody notice someone with that much power? The Dragon felt that too and started to bow down in understanding. The beast was clever; it knew when to back down. It took the egg slowly; trying not to do anything threatening. It placed the egg inside its talons and stretched its giant glowing silver wings to fly and dropped a dark shadow on the town's west side. The man kept looking at the Dragon until it disappeared above the clouds.

The sun started to show itself after a long night, and the man turned his face to the young woman. He had a slight smile on his face. Only then Elise did come to her senses and move again. He took a step out of the roof and descended slowly to the ground. His loose clothing flung with the wind, under the light of the rising sun his reddish bunches of hair glowed, and he landed smoothly. It was a magical sight.

“Sorry if I frightened you,” The man slowly approached the woman, he knew she was tense after what happened. “I didn’t want to kill the Dragon; she was only trying to avenge her stolen child.” He looked at the town, almost none of the buildings were standing. “She looked satisfied at least.”

“Do you think it will be back?” Elise was still shaking from the encounter she experienced.

“No. Don’t worry, she took what she wanted.”

She turned her eyes towards the tavern. Mama Millio and her staff were in there and they don’t seem to have any injuries. “Did you protect them?” She asked the man.

“Of course! How could I let that pumpkin pie recipe die with that woman? It was one of the few wonders of this world.”

Elise was shocked by this statement. “You only saved them because of the pie they make? What kind of logic is that?” Her pent-up anger started to rise. While she was doing everything in her power to save the people of this town, the knowledge that this man had the strength to finish all of this at the beginning hit her harder than she thought.

“You could have ended this, from the start, and you didn’t do anything. Hundreds, maybe thousands died out there and you just sat there and watched?” Her voice got higher and higher as she spoke.

“Listen, girl.” The man's voice was colder this time. “That group of idiots should have given back the egg, that was the right thing to do. If they were, the Dragon would have killed them, and I could persuade her to leave. But they choose to escape instead. Actions have consequences girl, never forget that, and I am not gonna pay someone else's consequences. Direct your anger to the guilty ones, not me.”

“You are right. but that is not an excuse for not helping.” She thought the man had a point but the lack of empathy in his voice bothered her a lot.

“Don’t force what is right to you to other people, girl. But you have a strong heart, I liked that.” He looked serious while saying that and that made Elise a little calmer.

“Sorry, my nerves are still tense, I didn’t mean to snap at you. The things I witnessed there were just so...”

“I know. And I also know who is responsible and where they are now.” A naughty smile appeared on his face. “So, tell me, girl. Do you want to have some fun?”

“Stop calling me girl, my name is Elise. And yes, I’d like to.”