She sat stock-still. If they couldn't find her, she certainly wouldn't speak up. Fingering a small knife she owned as her only weapon, Aster had resolved to fight until they killed her. She'd rather be killed by her own people than die in the mouth of a dragon…
"Aster! Get out here this instant, girl! Don't make us have to find you! You've been nothing but a bane on this village and I'll be damned before giving up a chance to get rid of you!" Alfred bellowed over the noise of the dragon's cries. The beast had settled on a rock cliff not far off and flapped its leathery wings menacingly.
"'Ere, sir! Found her!"
Someone grabbed Aster's arm, and she whipped her knife up and into his hand. Screaming, she stood and braced herself for any individual attackers that might come at her.
But a torrent of people came down upon her, tearing the blade from her hand and pinioning her arms behind her. They tied up her wrists and ankles and put a gag in her mouth as she tried to bite and scream her way out.
The crowd dropped her at Alfred's feet and she looked up at him from the dust. The dragon slayer looked uneasy. Probably because he was losing a chance at three bags of gold.
Alfred spat at Aster and missed her by inches. "Tie her up and call the beast. One girl like her isn't worth three bags of gold, but she'll do the trick."
Aster watched he slayer ride off in the direction of the cliffs and towards the dragon, but she saw no more of him as a few men erected a post in the one intact field nearby and brought Aster to it. They used strong rope to hold her up against the pole and keep her still.
"Mmph! Mmm Mmmph!" she implored, unable to articulate the fact that she'd do anything to be let go.
But the men were moving away now and Alfred was wielding a ram's horn. He blew into the end of it to attract the dragon's attention and Aster watched the beast hesitate for a moment, then open its wings and begin towards her.
She wriggled in her bindings, screaming against her bonds and trying desperately to do anything to get free. Her wrists began to bleed from the furious rubbing against the ropes.
Aster looked up to see the diving monster and she gave a final shriek as it dropped its foreclaws to pick up the post with her attached to it. She felt the pole pulled away from her back, just as she passed out thinking one last thought.
Dear God, don't let me see the end. Don't let me see it when I die…