Roulette sprang alive at the ringing of the bell. Without hesitation he leaped out of bed and stripped his night garments, substituting them for a full set of chainmail armor. After he was clad in metal, he retrieved his longsword and greatbow, exited the bedchamber then scurried down to the castle citadel.;

The palace was in disarray when Roulette arrived, with knights sporting the same assemblage of gear as him, frantically pushing past one another. Roulette was quick to immerse himself in the chaos as he pushed his way through the crowd. His body came to an unexpected halt when something tugged his shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going, Rule?" Denis scoffed. "You're barking mad if you think you can catch a Shael."

"A Shael?" Roulette questioned.

Denis nodded, "Apparently it was roaming the lower towns earlier this morning and is storming the castle now."

"I need my horse." Roulette said.

"What?" Denis asked.

Roulette shoved passed him, exiting the palace and making his way down to the stables. There his faithful black steed Nox awaited. Roulette patted his horse on the head then promptly saddled him. Nox groaned from the saddle. It was heavy because it was not only a seat for riding, but also a quiver for greatbow arrows.

"Oh, hush. You've rode with it on before." Roulette muttered as he settled himself into the saddle and rode off.

Roulette brought Nox to a stop once they exited the castle gates. After positioning himself close to the city walls he jumped off of his horse and plunged his greatbow into the ground, readying it to notch.

Archers lined the garrison above. The parameter appeared empty, but they released their flaming arrows into the sky regardless. It was obvious that something was there, it just couldn't be seen.

A target was finally uncovered amidst the storm of projectiles. An arrow came to an abrupt stop, floated for a moment and then a figure was revealed, as if a shroud was unveiled. There it was. The invisible dragon. The Shael.

The beast was still in the air despite the archer's arrow, but was slower now and no longer invisible, making it easier to target. Roulette reached into his saddle quiver and strung a great arrow into his bow. The time to act was now. The Shael would escape if he didn't kill it soon.

The arrow flung from Roulette's bow as he released its nock. The arrow pierced through the air gracefully in a straight line, unswayed by the wind. An excellent shot.

But nonetheless a miss.

Nox neighed.

"Yeah, I know I fucking missed." Roulette muttered, dropped the bow then closed his eyes and inhaled. With his mind clear and his anxiety cast off, he collected the bow and took aim once more.

He fired again. This time the path between the arrow and its target was exact. His accuracy was impeccable. The arrow would reach its target.

A flash of blinding blue light exploded in front of the dragon. After the light subsided, it was revealed that the Shael was still alive.

Roulette swore again and hopped atop Nox, kicking him into motion. The dragon was too far away now, he would have to ride in closer and fire from horseback.

Roulette rode for a hundred paces before drawing his greatbow. It was no easy feat aiming a bow while riding, let alone one of this size. It was always meant to be used as a stationary weapon. It required too much space and upper body strength to be fired while mobile which is why Roulette fell from his horse after he fired. He recovered quickly after the fall and returned his gaze to the sky.

It was hard to see but Roulette noticed wavering in the Shael's flight as it flew past the forest up ahead with a large black rod protruding from its back. It was a hit.

Roulette smiled triumphantly. The beast was still flying but it was soon to land. There was no way it could withstand a direct hit and remain in the air for long. Roulette got back on his horse and rushed to the forest.

The creature had lost an excessive amount of blood, but it wasn't the trail that led Roulette to its location. The screams were responsible for that. Roulette left Nox far from where he heard the cries. There was no point in endangering him while he hunted the dragon.

Nox neighed in protest.

"Stay here, Nox." Roulette ordered. "I won't have you burned to a crisp by a dragon."

The horse's eyes were full of reluctance, but remained put as Roulette left.

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The Shael had landed near a stream in the middle of a forest clearing, sprawled across the grass adjacent to the waters.

It wasn't alone.

A single greatbow arrow laid directly next to the wounded creature, doused in blood. The dragon flailed, wailing out in agony against the touch of the woman who was with it.

"Easy, Nyla." The woman cooed, "It's almost over. Just one more."

The dragon screeched as the woman reached into it again, digging even deeper despite the creature's spasms. With persistence, she managed to remove the second arrow from the dragon's body, much to its dismay.

"See?"The woman began, "All better now."

The arrow was removed and the Shael dragon looked as if it had reached some semblance of ease but it was still distraught. Its eyes remained forward, fixated on a single target.

"What is it, Ny? What do you see?" the lady asked, but when she turned around her question was answered.

"Never expected to see such a grand beauty. What a sight indeed." Roulette announced with his greatbow notched and ready to fire.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me."

"I was referring to the dragon."

"What a sight indeed." The woman agreed, resting her hand on the scabbard at her waist.

"Ease. I'm not interested in killing you." Roulette stated. "I'm only here for that thing behind you. Now move over or-"

Roulette couldn't finish his sentence before she threw herself at him. In a split second she was already vaulting high in the air, scimitar drawn.

Roulette fired his greatbow at the speeding assailant, but a bright flash of blue light surrounded her, deflecting the arrow. The light blinded Roulette, forcing him to drop his great bow. He recovered from the daze just in time to block his opponents blade with his greatbow, snapping it in half.

Roulette drew his longsword and attacked. Sparks flew as their blades clashed. Roulette pressed hard against his opponent, putting all of his weight behind his sword. He and his weapon were a lot bigger than her, she wouldn't be able to defend for long.

The woman back stepped, retreating from Roulette's relentless force. Roulette dove in quickly to regain dominance. She was tiring from his blows. As long as he kept the pressure, she would submit.

The scimitar flew out of the woman's hands after Roulette performed a broad slash with his longsword. After disarming her, he went in for the final stab.

But much to his surprise the acrobat jumped backwards, missing Roulette's blade, then sprung off of the tree behind to propel her forward. The blow sent him tumbling to the ground as her foot connected with his face.

"Well aren't you the jumpy type?" Roulette sneered, wiping away the small rivulet of blood sliding down from his nose. "You've got a fine set of legs. I reckon you've got more kick than my horse and you're a dragon rider. I think know what I'll call you."

"If your swordplay was half as good as your talking, maybe you'd be a decent warrior." She said, retrieving her weapon.

"It's all in good fun, Cloudkicker."

"What did you just-"

Roulette dipped low and executed a sweeping kick that managed to knock his opponent to the ground.

"You're not the only one whose quick." Roulette stated. After disarming her again he approached the dragon.

"Don't!" The woman exclaimed. "Please. I'm not your enemy."

"No. Just an acrobat who broke my bow along with my nose."

"I was only doing it to protect, Nyla." She said, gesturing towards the dragon. "Everything I've done I've done to protect her. She means everything to me. Please. I just need to get her out of the kingdom. That is all."

"Do you know how many lives that thing and the rest of its kind has ended? How many wives stay awake at night wondering if their husbands will ever come home? How many children wonder if they will ever see their fathers again? I can tell you how many. Two hundred and fifty-three. I remember every last one of my friends who died trying to protect their kingdom from the dragons. It never gets easier, telling them that their family had been burned alive or mauled to death by those things. Never."

"She hasn't killed you."

"Excuse me?"

"She hasn't killed you." She repeated. "She could have burned you alive at any point during our fight just now but she didn't. She chose not to harm you."

"Well maybe she was feeling slothful this time around."

"You told me you remembered every single person in your kingdom who's ever fallen to a dragon. How many have fallen today since we arrived?"

"She hasn't killed today. She could still kill tomorrow."

"She's never once killed."

"What a coincidence. Neither have I."

"Pet her." The woman said.

"What?"

"Pet her." She repeated. "Look into her eyes and decide whether or not you see a killer."

"Now why would I do that? Just so that she can burn me to a crisp? Or so that you can crush my skull with one of your fancy dropkicks?"

"I'll clear away from you and you can hold your sword to her neck as you do it. So that you'll be ready if she attacks."

"Fine." Roulette obliged. "I need to practice my reflexes anyway."

Roulette approached, pointing his sword as he came closer to the beast. He was primed to react to any attack that the Shael would throw at him. Fully prepared to defend himself.

But when he was close enough to peer into the beast's eyes he eased. His guard dropped as he looked and he felt his sword arm naturally fall to his side. There was no malcontent to be found within the confides of Nyla's eyes. Only shy, frail innocence.

"Go on." The woman encouraged. "Pet her head."

Roulette was slow to abide at first but eventually reached out to touch the Shael. Petting the dragon wasn't as daunting as he had expected. It was just like petting any other creature.

Like petting Nox.

The loud thunder of horse hooves could be heard in the distance. The King's Guard were on their way now. They would be here within moments.

"Go." Roulette said. "Get out of here."

"What?" The woman breathed in disbelief, "Just like that?"

"I can always change my mind if you don't like it..."

"No, no, no. Thank you." She stuttered. "Very much..."

"Roulette." He finished.

"Thank you. Roulette."

"You'd best be off, Cloudkicker." Roulette said, tossing the scimitar. "They're coming."

"I have a name you know." The dragon rider stated, catching it.

"What? You don't like the one I picked for you?"

"It's Celia." She said before Nyla took flight. Once the pair was in the air, the Shael cloaked itself once more, never to be seen again.

Within minutes, the King's Guard arrived, scouting the area for signs of the beast.

"Roulette!" Denis exclaimed, "We got here as fast as we could. What happened? Where's the dragon?"

Roulette didn't answer initially. He didn't respond at all for another several moments. His gaze remained pensive and fixated.

"Rule?" Denis asked.

"Not here." Roulette finally said. "It must have gotten away."