There was a crash.

Azira sat bolt upright. Her sword hung at her side.

Creaking. Splintering wood. A heavy thud. Silence.

She crept through the undergrowth of the woods, following where she thought the sound had come from.

She was heading for The Drop. The Drop was a massive granite wall that rose steeply upward before sloping into a mountain. Two great boulders made a natural cove that was open to the sky. A 42 foot clearing, surrounded on three sides, sat in the middle. The cliff itself marked the edge of her families huge land. She had been to The Drop many times with her older brothers.

Creeping closer to the clearing she stopped. Harsh, painful breaths sounded ahead and she was cautious. She drew her sword and stepped into the clearing.

Yelping, Azira scrambled back just in time to avoid a burst of flame. A weak but menacing roar sounded in the clearing and she ran back, hoping whatever was there wasn't chasing her.

Azria stopped a few yeards away. Silence, except for the sounds of the beast in the clearing. But no pursuit.

"what the?..."

She wondered what would attack her, but not bother to chase.

Curiosity pushed her forward. She snuck back to the drop, but stopped a few feet away. She had a perfect view of the clearing.

The only thing in the clearing was a great dragon. It filled almost the entire clearing with its tail curled close to its body. Dark, blood red scales shimmered dully. It would have been a magnificent dragon except for its condition. One of the wings hung awkwardly. There were several large claw marks in it that sliced the wing into ribbons. Blood oozed from various cuts and wounds on the dragons side and tail. Its head had a long slash from the brow down the jaw. Arrows stuck out of the chest and leg like porcupine quills. But the most glaring injury was small sword, sticking out just below the rib cage.

Azira gasped. It was horrible.

She stepped forward. The dragon growled low in its throat, but didn't move. She ripped her pack off her back and stepped cautiously closer. The dragon would probably die anyway, or kill her. But she didn't care. She couldn't leave it.

Please, let me help you. Who did this? Whats your name?

She hoped the message got through.

Kehaar.

The voice was rough and strained. It must have been his name. He let her come closer and didn't say anything else.

Azira stepped as close as she could and reached for the sword.

This is going to hurt. Bad. Please don't hurt me.

No reply, but Kehaar's body tensed.

She grasped the hilt of the sword and slid it out quickly.

Kehaar roared and Azria leaped forward to avoid his tail lashing.

He stopped, shuddering. The wound gushed blood now and she went to press her hand and a bandage against the wound.

As soon as her hand came into contact with the dragon, a burst of burning energy scorched her hand. Her whole body felt like it was on fire and she staggered back. Gasping, she looked at her hand. It shimmered in the middle and made a silver oval shaped mark. As quickly as it had begun, the pain subsided. But the mark itself still burned slightly.

Kehaar hadn'd moved, but he now stared at her.

Why did you do that? Will it happen again?

She questioned him.

Because, and no.

"Fine" she muttered and returned to the dragons wounds. She pulled out all the arrows, none of which were in too deep.

After about 4 hours, Kehaar was mostly okay, except for his wing and side.

That's all I can do for now. I don't want to mess with your wing and make it worse.

He grunted in acknowledgement.

Ill be back later with food.

She walked away without waiting for his reply. Azira went to where she had tied her horse. Ruach stood waiting. He was a fast and lean horse. His black fur gleamed in the sun and she mounted him. Urging him forward they galloped back to the barn. She skidded to a stop outside and grabbed a rope. No one was in sight and the house on the hill was on the other side of the barn. They had many sheep and she knew no one would notice if one went missing. She found a normal sized ewe and led her away.

After stopping Ruach outside the clearing she climbed down and took the sheep in.

Kehaar growled when she walked in, but stopped, recognizing her.

The sheep bleated and tried to get away. She led the sheep away from The dragon and back into the woods. There, she slaughtered it, and dragged it back to Kehaar.

Thank you. He said gratefully and snatched the sheeps carcass, tearing into it.

Azira sat on a rock off to the side and watched the dragon.

Kehaar finished the ewe and looked back at her.

Well this is awkward. He said.

Azira couldn't help but laugh.

This is awkward for you!? I didn't even know if dragons still lived in Algaesia and one lands in my backyard practically!

Kehaar snorted.

I've never met a human that wasn't trying to kill me! Now ones actually helping me!

Azira smiled.

What happened? And what did you do to my hand?

Kehaar looked away and wouldn't meet her eyes.

Soldiers. And a dragon. I refused to join the varden and they have been trying to kill me ever since. I would have died had you not found me. Thank you.

Azira stared at him. That was odd. The varden were not known to be like that.

Kehaar stretched with a groan and stood up.

He was even bigger than she thought. At least 15 feet at the shoulder.

Azira stepped back.

He looked down at her, about to say something and then whipped around with a snarl and looked up to the top of the cliff. Azira also whipped around and drew her sword. Aiedail, the Morning Star. The blade itself was silver. Light and fast. The hilt was encrusted with saphires.

At the top of the cliff stood archers ,at least 15, bows drawn, ready to fire. A large shape that could have been a cloud soared high overhead.

Kehaar roared in fury and spread his wings, even though they wouldn't fit in the clearing. Azira yelped in surprise as he snatched her up and dropped her on his back. He spread his wings and took off, flying us as fast as he could.

Hang on.

The dragon twisted upward and flew low over the archers, breathing fire on them. Azira screamed as Kehaar flew faster and faster.

I believe "hang on" is an understatement!

The wind whipped past her face. Her long curly brown hair whipped back. She hugged Kehaars neck and squeezed her eyes shut.

Something slammed into Keharr and he snarled. The jolt shook Azira and she lost her grip, starting to slip. She yelped and grabbed onto lot dagger like spikes on the dragons back. Kehaar righted himself and whipped around to face the enemy. It was a snow white dragon. Twice as big as Kehaar. ON its back sat a firgure. It was covered in black. Its face hidden. The figure sat confidently on the feirce dragon. Bearing 2 swords. Azira sat quivering on Kehaar. Her single sword held awkwardly as she clung to his back.

The match was unfair.

Kehaar dove in low and sank his teeth into the white dragons throat.

The white dragon roared in fury and twisted, slashing his claws across the red dragon, narrowly missing Aziras head. Kehaar twisted blasted the other dragon with fire. The bigger dragon slammed into Kehaar and knocked him off balance. The white dragon came down from above kehaar and sank its fangs into the back off his neck, just in front of Azira. He folded in his wings and dove. Spiraling down and dragging Kehaar with him. Kehaar snarled and tried to regain balance as the earth quickly came up to meet them.

Azira ducked down as the other rider slashed at her head. She drew her sword and the two blades clanged togather, sparks flying. She swung the sword at the riders head and missed barely as he blocked it.

Kehaar twisted violently to escape, and Azira had to hold on to him to keep from falling. They got closer and closer to the ground.

Kehaar tried desperately to free himself from the larger dragon. No luck.

The white dragon roared in pain as Azira stabbed her sword into its neck.

Kehaar snapped out his wings and flew up a second before hitting the hard earth. The white dragon crashed onto the rock below and lay motionless.