Fire breathing dragons are terrifying enough, but how about a dragon made of hard, black, nearly impenetrable hide and created merely to kill? There was just one, but it could have killed them all in one firey breath. It prowled gracefully from the depths of the volcano, smelling out its targets.
Elsa, nearly spent, stumbled to where the group had now reunited. Her skin was blackened, her eyes bloodshot. Thick liquid; not quite blood and not quite magma, dripped down her arms. Blackness peppered her lips, which she could barely move.
"Goodbye, Anna." She had seen the sheaths at Eugene and Aaron's sides.
One way or another, she would die, but she would see her sister perish first.
Clenching her fists, another thick burst of magma flowed out of the volcano. With that, Elsa stumbled slowly away from them and then loosed a sharp, short, ear-piercing whistle.
Anna gasped. "Stop!"
The dragon lunged.
The pathway crumbled, separating Rapunzel from the rest of the group, and in the madness, the queen disappeared out of danger.
Eugene let out a cry, realizing that his wife was separated from them.
The dragon leapt for Anna, but she slashed its tender nose with her knife. Aaron drew his sword, slashing desperately at its hide.
"Stay there!" Eugene yelled at his wife. He didn't know that Elsa was working her way across the volcano to capture his wife.
Reaching for his sword, he managed to tear his gaze away from his wife, turning to aid the other two with the dragon.
Rapunzel, frustrated with her uselessness, started to run away, headed around the looping pathway to meet back up and help them.

She was met by Elsa's staggering figure.
Gasping, she backed away. She wanted to run, but she dared not turn her back to the crazed queen.
But Elsa had a plan.
"Help..." she whispered. She knew Rapunzel's secret. She had once been able to heal the sick and injured. Though her powers were gone, she remained very passionate in helping others. She would hesitate to flee the queen. Turning away from an injured person would destroy her.
Just as Elsa had planned, Rapunzel paused, panic growing in her eyes.
Elsa lunged.

Knocking her to the ground, she wrapped her rough, hot fingers around the other queen's neck. She focused on forcing her remaining energy into burning Rapunzel alive.
Rapunzel choked and gasped. She knew she couldn't cry out and distract the others - that would prove fatal. She felt around her waist, and felt her fingers grip the rough handle of her small knife. Clutching it, she squeezed her eyes shut and considered her options.
A loud, reptilian sound - a cross between a growl and bloodcurdling scream - assaulted her eardrums. Cheers told her that the dragon had been slain.

Eugene turned, wiping the soot and blood away from his eyes. He smiled triumphantly towards his wife, only to see that she was gone out of sight.

"Help!" Rapunzel screamed. She'd get help. She couldn't kill Elsa. She couldn't!
The rough blackness slowly crept across Elsa's face, but she couldn't get any fire into her hands. Her arms streamed steadily with her mix of magma-and-blood. Gasping, she managed to tighten her grip around Rapunzel's neck. The brunette cried out, feeling her neck become excruciatingly hot.
That's when she struck upward with her knife, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her breath.

Elsa choked, rolled off of Rapunzel, and desperately yanked the knife from her stomach. With shaking fingers, she attempted to cauterize the wound, and that's when she finally turned to solid stone, frozen in place with her hands pressed to her stomach as she lay on the ground.
The volcano went silent, and Rapunzel's sobs echoed all around it.
Moments later, Eugene was at her side, dropping to his knees and pulling her against his chest, muttering words of reassurance and turning her head into his shoulder so she wouldn't stare at the statue.
Anna froze and then collapsed on the path floor, weeping for the loss of her sister.
A loud, trembling groan shook the volcano, and boulders came crashing down, falling into the magma below.
"It's coming down!" Aaron cried, pointing to the top of the volcano and distracting the other three away from the other situation.
The top of the volcano opened. Chunks of the ceiling tumbled down into the hot, still magma below. It splashed upwards, and Eugene's shirt sleeve caught fire. Patting it out quickly, he hauled Rapunzel to her feet.
"We have to get out of here," he yelled. "Come on, run!"
The foursome raced to the entryway and started to quickly slip out into the open air. Only three got out.
Aaron didn't escape in time. The opening slammed shut, and part of that side of the volcano collapsed in on itself.
Anna shrieked. They all stared, frozen in horror, but then their pathway threatened to give out. Hauling Anna away with one arm and pulling his wife close with the other, Eugene pulled the ladies down the path, away from the imminent danger.

They ended up rolling down the last twenty feet, and that's when they were met by a bloodied Aaron.
Anna saw him first. She screamed his name, scrambling frantically to her feet and stumbling over the hardened lava rivers to tackle him into a tight hug, crying openly.
Eugene helped Rapunzel to her feet and quickly pulled her close.
No one spoke for a long, long time. The volcano had completely crumbled; all but a pile of boulders and dried lava remained from the towering monstrosity.
When they spoke, finally, Aaron told his tale of how he had escaped. He had raced for the opposite side of the volcano, climbed over the crumbling edge, and had half-fallen, half-rolled down the face of the volcano. He had injuries to prove it, which the three of them quickly tended to.
Once the shock of it all had died down, they began the slow trek home, dreading what destruction surely awaited them.