It was a cold, clear day in the Oscardian Isles on the 18th of November, exactly two minutes from disaster. Henry White stood by the stone fountain in the town center, thinking about his next request for planks. He was a well accomplished carpenter, yet all he was ever asked to do was cut his supply of logs into identical, oak planks. He divided the task into the week his client would wait for it, and discovered it completely unnecessary to work the first few days, so he had a few days to spare. He walked around the town, buying things he knew he was not going to need, or particularly want, but this was his day off, the first in a long time. 

    'An entire pound of clay,' asked Valerie, the expert in ceramics. 

    'I've gotten a sudden interest in ceramics,' Henry replied, 'and I thought I'd have a go myself.' It was very lucky he was in that small, cramped room that was stiflingly hot from the furnaces, because that well insulated house was both his poison and his saviour as a long roar enveloped the town. Peeking his head through the heavy door, Henry saw what could only be described as an insect scaled up to be a thousand times its original size. Its razor sharp legs pierced through the surface of the rough ground as if it was made of the feathers in a pillow.

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     All the people of the village screamed and ran as fast as their weak legs could take them. Parents hoisted young children onto their necks as some of the crowd ran back to help them. Some of the kingdom's soldiers stationed in the town drew their swords, only to be pushed back by the plumes of flames escaping from the beast's open mouth. The paint of the emblems on the shields of those who chose to remain had smeared in the heat and was bubbling. The kingdom’s griffin now looked like a baby in an artist’s house. It was obvious that no one and no thing left in this village will not be dust by morning, yet it was only occurring to some of the crowd now the danger of this situation.

    Henry peeked his head out some more. He stepped on a branch blown outside the house accidentally. The beast’s neck began to slowly swivel around to him, its fiery eyes staring right into his soul. Henry ran back inside, and the dragon slashed at the house. Its roof tore off like a leaf on a windy day.