The next day, they were back on the road. Both were in high spirits, enjoying the warm sun and each other's company. This was the adventure Britina had wanted. Suddenly, Prunhiline stopped and went quiet. Britina tensed, instinctively preparing for danger. Prunhiline didn’t have the best sense of direction, but her ability to sense danger was uncanny.

“What is it?” Britina whispered.

“Dragon excrement,” Prunhiline whispered back, sounding deadly serious.

“What?” Britina exclaimed.

“Dragon poo, Bri. You know, poop,” Prunhiline replied, giving her a look.

“I know what excrement means! How do you know it’s dragon excrement?” Britina wasn’t sure she believed the warrior.

“Well, it has a certain smell and color,” Prunhiline said, pointing to a mound of manure. Britina wrinkled her nose. “We need to track it!” With that, Prunhiline bounded into the forest.

“Wait!” Britina said, but the warrior had already ridden off. Britina kicked her horse and galloped after the warrior. “Prunhiline! We need a plan!”

Prunhiline finally stopped and looked around, allowing Britina to catch up. She paused, listened, and took a long breath through her nose. She turned her horse to the right and was off again, with Britina close behind her.

They rode for a while, and then Prunhiline stopped. She leaped off her horse and began inspecting the ground, circling the small clearing.

“What’s wrong?” Britina asked.

“The dragon’s gone, but there were people here,” Prunhiline muttered as she knelt. “Something about this feels wrong.”

“Any idea what happened?” Britina asked, trusting her companion’s instincts.

“Yes. Two barefoot people, possibly children or teens, and what looks like ten adults, most likely men,” Prunhiline replied.

“Maybe they are from the village we were traveling to. We aren’t that far.” Britina said.

“Maybe.” Prunhiline mounted her horse and slowly walked toward where the people had gone.

Britina was quiet and listened. A dragon and now no dragon. Barefoot children and adults.

“Maybe the children were lost, and the men were looking for them,” Britina said.

“No.” Prunhiline pointed to the right. “One pair of tracks ran off that way. The other went to the left with the men. Looks like there was a small struggle here.”

Britina was impressed, as always, with Prunhiline's ability to hunt. “Should we pursue the lone barefoot child?”

“No, I think we need to find the men first. I have a bad feeling something is wrong.” Prunhiline said as she pointed her horse to the right and began a fast trot. Britina followed.

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They arrived at the village to find a large crowd gathered in the town square. As they got closer, they saw that the crowd was gathered around a pole, and the townspeople were yelling at it.

“What’s going on?” Prunhiline asked as she dismounted.

“I’m not sure, but I don’t like this.” Britina said also dismounting.

The two women approached the crowd. Once they got close enough, they saw that a teen girl was tied to the pole. The crowd was chanting, “Burn the witch!”

Britina grabbed the nearest person, a young man. “What is this?”

“What?” the man looked confused. “It’s a witch, and we will burn her.”

“No, you aren't!” Prunhiline shouted. Witch or not, she wasn’t going to die.

“This is barbaric!” Britina shouted.

The townspeople started to notice the two women. The angry mob wasn’t happy that strangers were intruding on their execution. Some of the men with pitchforks lowered their weapons to keep the two from the young woman.

Prunhiline made a rude noise. “Those aren’t weapons.” She drew her broadsword, pointing it at the men. “This is a weapon! I am Prunhiline of the plains, defeater of...” She was cut off as the men charged.

Britina summoned her magic, binding several villagers’ feet in ice, while Prunhiline swung her blade, cleaving makeshift weapons in two. The villagers were not warriors, and they found themselves easily beaten. Britina sent a blast of magic wind to blow out the torch that one man was attempting to throw onto the pyre.

But she couldn’t stop the other two torches behind the pyre. The wood ignited with an enormous fireball. The villagers had soaked it in oil. The young woman screamed!

“No!” the two heroes screamed in frustration. This was not how things were supposed to happen.

Prunhiline swung her sword with the flat blade, knocking back ten villagers. She tried to rush the bonfire, but the heat was too much. Britina tried in vain to use her magic to put out the fire, but whatever the villagers had used was too hot for her magic to extinguish. She was confused as to why her magic wasn’t strong enough.

The villagers lost interest in the distraught heroes and returned to the fire. They began to chant, “Witch! Witch!” The young woman twisted against her bonds as she screamed, and the villagers chanted louder.

The bonfire suddenly erupted into a towering pillar of flame. The villagers, shocked, backed away from the searing heat, wondering if they’d used too much oil.

The young woman stopped screaming and started laughing. Suddenly, black wings spread from the fire, and a long serpent head snaked upward. The flames swirled around the dragon, which now looked down on the villagers.

“I am now free!” The dragon bellowed, “You have released me from the spell that has contained me!”

Prunhiline and Britina exchanged uncertain looks. The villagers had tried to burn a dragon at the stake, a plan that could hardly have been more foolish.

“Now, I hunger!” the dragon bellowed. The villagers scattered in panic, tripping over one another. The dragon spread its wings, towering above them, and breathed fire into the sky. Soon, the village square was empty except for the two heroes.

“So, do we fight the dragon?” Prunhilne asked.

“I’m not sure,” Britina said, looking at the giant creature.

“I mean, they tried to burn a young girl, so I’m not sure they were good people,” Prunhiline said.

“No, they were good but misguided. And the dragon doesn’t seem to be pursuing them.” Britina said.

The dragon looked down at the two heroes, who stared back in shock. Then, unexpectedly, the dragon began to shrink, soon returning to the form of a young girl.

“You two tried to save me,” the dragon said softly.

“Yes, we did,” Britina said.

“Thank you.” The dragon smiled at them.

“Uh, you're welcome,” Prunhiline said confused.

“I take it you’re wondering what happened?” the dragon giggled.

“Yes,” they said together.

“Then come with me. You’ll be safe in my forest,” the dragon said, turning and walking toward the trees.

“Ok, just let us get our horses,” Britina said.

The dragon turned to them, “They ran off into the forest when I transformed into my true self. Sorry about that. But don’t worry about them. They will be safe, and the druids will bring them to us.” She turned and walked into the forest.

“So, will we follow the dragon into the forest?” Prunhiline said.

“Looks like it,” Britina said with a wry smile. “And honestly, this won’t even be the craziest thing we’ve done.”