The morning light spilled in through the bedroom window with such gay intensity that it would have awoken even the heaviest sleepier. But it was a moot point, for the room's sole occupant was already awake and had been for some time.
But this was not to say that Ryu was doing something productive. For once in his life, he was just doing nothing. He sat on the fall with his back against the wall. Normally, his heavy blade would be across his knees, but this time the weapon lay unnoticed on his bed.
Ryu was thinking. Or, rather, reflecting. Much had happened in the last few weeks, and more in just the past two or three days. Meeting his new friends, finding Yua, reuniting with Bow…and most prominently his beautiful, newfound relationship with Katt and Nina.
The ranger found himself pondering, "When did this all happen? Where did it all start?" He could say that it began when he began a quest to find a thief. But even after meeting Rand, Katt, and Nina, he was still cold and distant. He could say that it started when the girls began their "rivalry," but even then he treated it with the faraway care of someone that was merely amused rather than involved. He could even say it began when he was reunited with Yua…but even at that joyous event he held himself in reserve, simply because he was afraid that it was merely a dream….
In truth, there were no ready answers. In truth, it did not matter. He was changing—he had changed—and it was for the better. Now he smiled fondly when he thought about Katt's fiery boldness or Nina's elegant and quiet smile. He felt something stir in his heart, a memory of a happier childhood, when he looked on Yua. He no longer minded the smell of wet dog fur when he was with Bow.
Yes, he had changed. And he invited the change.
A knock interrupted his reverie. It was not a bold knock, like Katt's, or a soft and uncertain one, like Nina's. Nor was it the familiar rap-and-open method of Bow or the happy-go-lucky pound of Yua. This was a powerful blow, to be sure, but it was also reserved, as if methodical and measured.
"Come in," Ryu invited.
Rand stepped in; Ryu was surprised. Admittedly, the ranger did not know the Shell overly well, so he was not expecting him to pay a visit.
"From what Katt has told me about you," began Rand with a smile, "you ought to be working on Eva-knows-whatever project."
Ryu chuckled. "Perhaps I finally decided to use up some of my floating vacation days," he quipped, standing. "Is there something I can help you with, Rand?"
The large Shell frowned, his rocky features expressing a great amount of concern. "I'm curious about how you met the Highlander, Sten."
A frown touched the ranger's lips as well. In light of Katt and Nina's amorous attentions, he had completely forgot about the little incident when the Shell and Highlander first met. He had been meaning to bring it up again, but between playful kisses, it slipped his mind.
But now Ryu brought it to the fore. "We found Sten near Windia. He was trying to steal our food. You seem to recognize him from somewhere; care to illuminate me?"
"It really isn't my place to do so," replied Rand evasively. "It is not polite to share secrets if they are not yours to share in the first place."
"I couldn't agree more," said Ryu, "but right now that isn't the point. I've noticed some things about Sten: he's quick and agile for someone in his middle years, and he's strong despite a slender build; he's impeccable with a knife, and doubtless with a blade as well; he knows his woodcraft and can slip through any shadow or blade of grass with the ease of a summer breeze. In short, there's definitely more than meets the eye."
Rand said nothing, but he did not have to; the tenseness around his jaw and neck corroborated Ryu's observations and his assumption.
Realizing that the Shell would not divulge any information without certain prompting, Ryu tried another approach. "Since you won't tell me anything, how about at least telling me if I'm right or not? Sten Legacy is one of the Queen's Guard—the elite of the Highlander military, the personal bodyguards of the royal family—and the only reason why he'd be so skilled. You mentioned that he was the captain of something, so I'm assuming that he's captain of it."
"You're quite a detective," said Rand flatly, which was all the confirmation Ryu needed.
The ranger smiled. "Bow and I hunted bounties when we were younger; some were quite good at hiding. You need to be a detective to find them. So, will you tell me anything more? It seems I already know all there is about Sten except the details."
"Like?" Rand was not going to make this easy; the huge Shell's sense of duty and responsibility would not let him give away someone else's secrets so readily.
Ryu decided to bite the bit and work with it. "Why did someone like Sten quit the Queen's Guard, the highest and most influential military position outside of a general, and why is he so hell-bent on keeping his affiliation a secret? And why do you know about him?"
Rand sighed, finally acquiescing to the ranger's inquiries. "I used to serve in the Highlander army as a mercenary. That was about ten years ago. I needed the money, so I enlisted for a tour in a contention over lands and borders in Goonheim. The Highlanders hired their troops to the Goonheim to help defend against the sieges of the Corsairian ships and the Tunlan armada. The campaign lasted a year, but it would have gone on indefinitely, were it not for the bold strategies of the tactics genius that rose to prominence during the war."
"Sten," Ryu said simply.
Rand nodded. "Yes, Stenanil Legacy, the captain of the Queen's Guard. As you might know, every major war that the Highlanders participate in requires, by tradition, for one member of the royal family to act as the commander in chief, the only position higher than general. Often, this is merely a cultural observation; the royalty in question doesn't do much more than inspire the troops. This was the case in Goonheim, as well. But it gave Captain Legacy a reason to go to Goonheim alongside the other warriors."
"I noticed that you speak his name very reverently."
Rand nodded again, his eyes shining with remembered admiration. "Yes, he was one of—no, he was the—greatest and bravest soldier I've ever seen. His strategies were radical, but brilliantly effective. We wouldn't have survived Goonheim without him."
"So what happened? Why did he leave?"
Here, the Shell sighed sadly and his shoulders sagged. "During the final battles of Goonheim, the Corsairians were preparing to launch an all-out, last-ditch effort to sack the city that involved using Corsairian heavy cavalry and riflemen. Captain Legacy's spies informed him of it, and so he set to planning a counterattack. Given Goonheim's disadvantageous position in a dale beside the sea, he had a difficult time coming up with a strategy to defend against both a frontal assault of that caliber. But he came up with a solution nonetheless.
"He invented what is now called the Legacy Maneuver, which is taught in military academies throughout the continent. It involved splitting a four-horse light cavalry unit into two pairs, each pair flanking around an enemy force of anywhere between four to ten troops. The idea was not to defeat or destroy, but to confuse; the light cavalry would drop smoke bombs to trap the enemy in blindness. At this point, the light cavalry would regroup and perform a standard charge, breaking away into a pincer maneuver as soon as contact was made. The cavalry would again regroup behind the enemy and repeat the attack."
"That's a dangerous tactic," Ryu said thoughtfully. "It all lies in the timing. If the smoke bombs aren't dropped precisely, the cavalrymen will get slaughtered."
Again, Rand sighed sadly. "And that's exactly what happened. The first few ranks of cavalrymen weren't fast enough and the Legacy Maneuver failed miserably. Luckily, the second complement was more precise and the maneuver went off without any further problems. The day, and Goonheim, was won. But the first complement of riders were killed to a man…and many of them were fellow Guardsmen—Captain Legacy's closest comrades."
"So that's it. It's guilt," Ryu murmured. "That's something I can empathize with. When you think something's your fault, you really can become your worst enemy."
"Be that as it may," said the Shell, "it isn't any of our business; unless he asks for our help, it is not our prerogative to pry. Inner demons are best faced alone."
The ranger nodded. "That's something I know from experience." Then he stood. "Well, we should be getting ready to leave—we still have to clear Bow's name. Is he ready yet?"
"He is just finishing packing, I believe. Katt and Nina are already downstairs, as is Sten."
Ryu girded on his sword and looked at Rand. "Will you be coming with us?"
"I will have to refuse," he answered. "Much work needs to be done yet; I will be needed here. But be careful on your journeys, my friend; as you know, the roads are not as safe as they used to be, even here, so close to Hometown."
It was a strange group that traveled across Mount Fubi toward the western coastlands: a fiery Woren, an elegant Windian, a bombastic Grass Runner, a laconic Highlander, and two blue-haired siblings. The complement was so alien that most of the other road-walkers following the highways gave them wide berth. As such, Ryu's party suffered no molestation, either from talkative travelers or roving bandits.
The only encounters that they had were among themselves.
During the journey, Bow noted the subtle change in relationship of three of his friends. Ryu would smile quietly and Katt and Nina would return it with knowing grins of their own; the exchange made Bow smile as well, for he truly felt happy for his blue-haired friend.
Yua would draw attention to herself with pranks and antics that harassed or bebothered the others; her older brother as a particularly worthy victim. Everything from squirrels in backpacks to spicing a water bottle with pepper spices to placing a spider in Nina's bedroll were part of her repertoire. None of the tricks were ever malicious, but they certainly seemed that way. The friends' only consolation, if it could be called that, was that Yua found them all uproariously amusing.
Only Sten remained distant from the camaraderie. Ever since the loss of his ear to Kuwadora, the old soldier had grown colder and more somber. He went through the day's journey as if a ghost. He ate as if he were alone. It became uncomfortable, if not outright impossible, to open up a conversation with him.
The Highlander brooded. He would caress the rough edge of flesh beneath his temple, tracing the scar of Kuwadora's knife. He blamed Ryu for it; he admitted that in the darkest depths of his heart. Kuwadora did not want Sten to suffer so much as to thrust a blade of shock into Ryu. Thus, the Highlander's suffering did not mean a thing outside of being a message to the ranger. Sten was angry with that.
Logically, it was not Ryu's fault. It was just bad timing, bad luck. It happened to every solider—that was when a trooper died, after all, when bad luck came around. But that did not alleviate the bitterness in Sten's heart.
The party finally arrived in Hometown. Ryu and Bow visibly relaxed upon crossing the city's walls, for they were home again. "Been a long time, eh?" commented the Grass Runner. The ranger could only nod, for he was still absorbing the smells, sights, and sounds of the place. It had been far too long.
"To Kilgore's house, then," Bow declared, leading the group to the wealthier districts. Upon arriving at the manse of his former employer, the party saw the man in question speaking with a servant in livery. When Kilgore saw Bow coming up to his gates, the nobleman immediately dismissed his servant. With a look of profound surprise, Kilgore opened the gates himself and took Bow's hand.
"My eyes do not deceive me!" he murmured. "Bow, you are yet alive and well!"
"And one step closer to being a man free of charges," the Grass Runner added. He introduced Yua, who stood behind. "This is the thief who stole the magic hood from Trout. Incidentally, it was your son who hired her to do so, since he knew that Trout was a slippery one."
Kilgore's lip twitched. "I shouldn't find any mirth in this," he said, "but I can't help but be amused by the irony of it all." Then he took Bow's arm and led him, and the rest of the party, into his home.
Over one of the richest meals the adventurers had ever tasted, Kilgore was informed of the strange episodes of the past half-year, from the battle with Augus to the fateful meeting with Yua and Kuwadora…and the party's speculations on Trout's own motives for desiring the magic hood.
At the end of the meal, Kilgore crossed his fingers thoughtfully. "Such ill news indeed," he murmured. "But, unfortunately, news I have heard before. Strange tidings have come to this land in recent weeks. Monsters grow stronger and more fruitful, as if by some fell influence. The Sea of Trees beyond the Valley of Fog is shrouded in darkness and evil things walk its grassy lanes. Highfort no longer sells its mercenaries, but hoards them within its walls."
Sten looked up at this last rumor. "Highfort? What has happened in Highfort?"
Kilgore shrugged. "I've heard only that a new general, named Shupkay, has taken over within the last three months. An accomplished, if young, tactician, she has the military's ear, if not the royal family's. She came out of the blue, so it is said, and won her way to the top through her valor and brutality. For she is truly a fearsome foe upon the battlefield, and her enemies call her the 'Terrible Storm.'"
Sten's gaze grew distant and thoughtful; it was clear where his mind's eye had turned.
But Kilgore drew the conversation back to the matter at hand. "Our concern now is to capture Trout—with that, Yua's testimony, and Trout in custody, we will surely be able to clear Bow's name and relieve Yua of any blame."
"Only a small group should go," Bow said suddenly. "Were it any larger, we would look very suspicious and it would be difficult to move in stealthily." He nodded, as if coming to a decision. "I will go, alone if I have to, though Yua should come to—she knows the layout of Trout's house as well as I do, since she stole the hood in the first place."
"And where is the hood now?" Kilgore asked. Yua produced the hood from one of her belt pouches, unfurling the troublesome garment on the table. It was a simple burlap sack with eyeholes cut into it; such a dreary article had caused so much grief. Kilgore took it thankfully and then handed it to Bow. "I want you to have it. Perhaps with this, those demons you spoke of will be easier to defeat."
The Grass Runner accepted the gift gratefully. "Thank you." Then he stood up and prepared to leave immediately for Trout's house. He looked at Yua briefly, pleadingly, but she did not return the glance; she had no desire to go into Trout's home again. Bow sighed and continued on, alone….
Ryu's hand grasped his wrist. He said nothing, he did not even look at Bow. But the message was there just the same.
"I didn't want to ask you because I've caused you a lot of trouble already," Bow murmured.
A grin split Ryu's stony visage. "You always cause me trouble, ever since we were kids. Why stop now?" he said lightly. Bow grinned and clapped the ranger on the shoulder, truly touched. Ryu glanced around the table, at each of his friends, and said, "This is something Bow and I have to do—as best friends and as thieves. I'm not even going to give you the option of following, got it?"
"And if Trout turns out to be a demon like Kuwadora?" Sten pressed.
"Then we'll handle it," Ryu countered. "Remember what I can do," he added pointedly. Sten backed down, not too happy, but unable to refute the power of a Dragon.
As the two made to leave, Nina spoke up, "Be careful." She added hastily with a blush of embarrassment, "Both of you."
Ryu just smiled, as if sharing a joke. Then he tossed something to the Windian. "These are the keys to our apartment. It's probably a junk pile, and the rent has to piling up like crazy. But you can stay there until we get back. It'll be cramped, but there should be enough room for all of you."
With that, Ryu and Bow left.
Nightfall was a most appropriate time for a little break and entry.
For it was in the night that Bow's name had been sullied. For it was in the night that he and Ryu fled to the ruins so long ago.
And it would be in the night that poetic justice would be done.
Bow knelt before the third-story window of Trout's enormous manor. There was no light beyond the paned glass, but he took great care anyway. Within, he could see a bedroom—with his quarry lying on the canopied divan. Bow's sharp eyes scanned the edges of the windowpanes, his fingers dug through every crack and crevice.
He found no trap, no alarm. That only made him all the more alert, for any wealthy man who had no alarms that a thief could find simply had better and more invisible traps somewhere else.
Bow heard the soft screech of wood against wood. "What are you doing?" he demanded of Ryu, who knelt behind him and was spinning a toy top on the roof shingles. "Quiet!"
"He can't hear us," the ranger responded absently, winding the top and letting it dance once more.
"You're not being very professional," Bow grumbled.
"I don't see the point in sneaking in," Ryu countered. "We're going to fight him anyway. And with our speed, we'll apprehend him before the guards can come to his aid. Let's just go in now—speed will serve us better than stealth in this instance."
The Grass Runner mulled over that for a moment. "Perhaps you're right. Where did you get that thing, anyway?"
"I found it in my travels," Ryu answered guardedly. He pocketed the top, drew his sword, and motioned Bow to stand aside. "Come in right behind me, as fast as you can," he said. Then he burst into motion, breaking through the window and laying the flat of his sword on Trout's neck.
"Don't move, and you'll live," the ranger said coldly. He heard Bow clamber in behind him. "The hood—check him with the hood."
Bow drew forth the magic hood and slipped it over his face. Through those eyeholes—empty and unremarkable—a startling change occurred. Bow saw the world in grayscale, everything was fuzzy-edged and virtually indiscernible.
Except for Trout. Bow saw him in his true form.
"Ryu!" the Grass Runner cried, stumbling onto his rump in shock. "Ryu, he isn't human!"
The ranger glared at the now-awakened Trout. "I didn't think he was. I could smell it."
Despite his disadvantageous situation, Trout grinned evilly. His eyes burned hot with a malicious glow. "Blue-hair…you must be the Destined Child. Though you weren't invited, welcome to my humble home." A hand shot out and knocked Ryu's blade across the room. A second hand lashed forward and struck him in the neck. The ranger gurgled from a collapsed windpipe and crashed into a nearby table.
"It was foolish to attack me," Trout said simply, growing larger and more hideous with each passing breath, "but now it saves me the trouble of taking back that stupid hood. Such a device is best kept where it can do my kind no harm!" The demon ignored the dying ranger and advanced on the hapless Grass Runner.
But Bow had regained his senses and, upon seeing his best friend's final moments, raised his crossbow in anger. "Take back this, you rotten bastard!"
The quarrel cut the air with a screaming whine, slamming into Trout's eye. The demon howled and threw his head back in agony. He clawed the offensive dart free from his face, the shattered organ spilling milky white fluid onto the floor.
"Curse you, dog!" Trout roared. "Your head will be mine!"
The demon moved in for the kill when another roar shattered the night—the roar of a Dragon.
Nina was staring out into the night-shrouded streets from the windowsill of Ryu's apartment. When she and the others first arrived, it was a pigsty—and that was made as a compliment. Laundry and leftovers long since decomposed had been strewn everywhere. It smelled like wet dog fur. It was frightfully sickening.
The icebox had been even worse. It had simply been frightening. Nina was almost certain that some form of spontaneous genesis had occurred, giving rise to a new breed of life form.
Needless to say, the first thing Nina did—and forced the others to do as well—was clean up.
Now victory had been attained, and the apartment looked and smelled decent. Which only gave way to free time—time Nina spent looking out the window while Sten sharpened his knives and Katt slept on one of the cots.
Yua hopped up beside the Windian and poked her on the scalp. "You looking for my brother, Nina-neesan?" she asked bluntly.
Nina smiled the affirmative. "Am I that transparent, Yua-chan?"
"Oh, very," the girl said without hesitation. "You and Katt both."
"Is that so? Well, it's not like we tried to hide it or anything."
"You know, just staring out the window isn't going to make him come back any faster."
Nina sighed. "I know, but…I'm worried. Katt just says I'm thinking too much—she has a lot of confidence in Ryu's skills—but I can't shake the feeling that something's going to happen. It's just…that kind of night, I guess."
Yua looked at the Windian in genuine concern. "Well, whatever comes up, if it comes up, I'm sure Ryu-niisan can handle it," she said with gusto. "My oniisan can do anything."
Nina smiled at her exuberance. "It's nice to know that he has someone who believes so much in him. But you shouldn't put too much pressure on your perfect brother; Eva knows that I know how that must feel, being the object of a sibling's hero-worship." She said that last bit softly, so that only she could hear her own words.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash. A building collapsed in on itself.
"What was that?" Nina wondered in shock. She heard Sten walk up behind her and Katt awaken with a loud yawn. Both had noticed the destruction of a two-story building.
Another set of houses fell, ripped asunder by some force. Then that force reared its ugly head. And what an ugly head it was—serpentine and insectoid, a great, many-legged beast rose up into the night sky and issued forth a tremendous roar that shook the foundations of the city. Its tail slashed left and right, felling buildings by the dozen with each pass. It seemed that, in mere moments, the city of Hometown would be no more—if no one stood up against the titanic creature.
"What the hell is that thing?" Katt asked.
Sten answered blithely, "A nightmare come true."
Nina watched in horror as the Magic School she had studied at crumble into rubble. Something snapped in her heart at the sight. Firming her resolve she declared, "We have to fight it. We have to stop it from doing any more harm." With that, she ran out the door. The others followed her lead, only seconds behind.
When they arrived, the beast barely noticed them, for it was like a giant walking among ants.
Nina, so fortified and determined, started having second thoughts. But she shook them away. It has to be stopped, she reminded herself. But the uncertainty remained.
Then she felt Katt's strong hand grip her arm encouragingly. The Woren's lips were ashen, her tawny face pale from her own doubts and fears.
But she believed, and that was all that mattered. Nina squeezed her hand thankfully and said aloud, "We have to protect the city!" She took wing, flying high into the air, blue-white lightning crackling about her hands.
At her command, bolts of energy struck the beastly creature, chest, neck, and face. It growled ferociously, but Nina deftly maneuvered through the air, avoiding its vicious slashes. Then she saw that the sky was not hers alone; Yua had taken wing as well, diving for the creature's eyes and hurling knives. Though the small blades struck home, the creature's hide was thick, and the missiles bounced off harmlessly.
Sten and Katt jumped atop rooftops, trying to get high enough to join in the fight. Against such a large enemy, it seemed uncertain how the two fighters would aid their winged comrades. But Katt found a way. She set her staff aside and grabbed hold of a large piece of rubble. Hefting with all the might in her deceptively small frame, the Woren lifted the makeshift projectile and launched it overhead. The stone struck home, shattering to pieces and bruising the great monster.
But for all the party's valiant efforts, the monster simply shrugged it all off. Contemptuously, it whipped its tail, slashing apart the buildings that Sten and Katt stood upon, and knocking both Nina and Yua out of the sky. In a single pass, they had been defeated and lay battered and broken on the ground.
Trout had heard of this power, had been warned of it since the beginning of his infernal existence. The power to destroy worlds, conquer gods, wreak pure and total havoc. The power to alter Destiny. The power of Destiny made flesh.
But none of that prepared him for the sight he beheld.
A majestic dragon, as beautiful as it was terrible, unfurled its mighty wings, the leathery flesh tearing through the roof and walls of the mansion as if they were paper. The reptilian head reared up on a serpentine neck, its bony crown ripping apart mortar and brick with just the barest turn. Talons as long and sharp as swords rent the floorboards to splinters, dropping Trout to the bottom level of his house.
And the Dragon followed him down with a roar to shatter mountains.
"Stay away! Stay away!" Trout cried in fear. He had once thought himself powerful and fearsome. But against this incarnation of power and fear, the demon could only tremble helplessly.
The Dragon's response was a breath of fire.
"ARRRRRRAAAAGHHH!"
When the final notes of Trout's scream faded into the ashes the remained of his body and home, the Dragon issued forth a rumbling bellow that shook the ruined mansion to its foundation. It was the roar of victory.
Bow pushed off a beam of charred wood that had caught his legs and stared up at the Dragon in awe. "Ryu," he murmured quietly, barely able to reconcile the reality before him—his best friend truly was a Dragon.
Then the sound of flames, cries, and destruction brought the Grass Runner out of his stupefaction. He saw the Magic School crumble and a horrible beast rear its monstrous head high. "Ryu!" Bow cried. "We've got another problem! The city's being attacked by…by…." He squinted, trying to place the strange familiar feeling of fear that stabbed at his heart. Then he gasped as realization dawned on him.
"Ryu! It's the monster from Gate! The one in the cave!" Again, fear quaked throughout his body, the old fear of a wandering child in a dank cave with naught but a monster before him. "It's him, the monster!"
But the Dragon could not speak the tongue of mere mortals. Instead, it put its thoughts to action. Picking Bow up by a talon, it set him upon its broad back and then flapped its powerful wings. It took to the air like an image out of a nightmare, frightening and powerful, beautiful and horrible, all at once.
Bow could only hang on to the iron-like scales for dear life as the Dragon zoomed through the air, closing in on the beast with rapid speed.
But when contact was made, the Dragon halted a distance from the beast. Had the great creature been capable of making human expressions, it would have seemed…thoughtful.
The beast turned to regard the Dragon…and it laughed. "The Destined Child and the little dog," it rumbled evilly. "Yes, I recognize you both. Ten years ago, I almost killed you. It was by luck alone—luck and the Dragon that sleeps inside you—that you lived!"
The beast spread its wings, bared its many fangs, and howled with enough force to blast down nearby houses. "I am Barubary, the Demon Dragon!" it declared. "It is appropriate that I fight you, Destined Child. Prepare to meet your end at the hand of your greatest nightmare!"
Barubary slithered like a snake, with all the speed of a viper, claws and fangs slashing and tearing. The Dragon, with its great, muscular bulk, could not dodge; blood sprayed forth as a carotid artery was torn apart. The serpentine creature roared in pain, a fountain of life spilling into the chill night air.
"Ryu!" Katt and Nina could only shout out his name in despair as they saw the Dragon fall onto its side. The powerful creature thrashed in agony; a talon clawed at the gaping wound in its throat. At last, its death throes subsided. It lay still.
"No! No!" Katt wailed, picking up another block and hurling it at Barubary; the beast knocked it out of the air with a contemptuous claw.
Yua was most affected by the sight of the Dragon's defeat. "Niisan," she murmured in disbelief.
"NIISAN!" she cried, running to the creature that was her brother. Bow was already there, drenched in the Dragon's blood, and vainly trying to awaken his friend. Yua slid to her knees beside him, resting her head against the wound in the Dragon's throat…a wound that had stopped bleeding, for there was nothing left to spill.
"Ryu…niisan," she murmured as hot tears ran down her cheeks.
"And so the Destined Child is dead!" Barubary roared triumphantly, breaking the moment with his cruelty. "By my hand, Lord Deathevan will dominate this world! Know fear and despair, humans! Your dark lord is come by the hand of his loyal servant, Barubary!"
At these words, Bow's eyes heated up in anger. Grabbing his crossbow, he took aim and fired, yelling defiantly, "SHUT UP!"
Against all odds, against all reason, the quarrel struck home—and tore out the Demon Dragon's eye.
Barubary howled at the pain and shouted, "Mortal! You will suffer for this insult! You will perish the final death!" And with that, the Demon Dragon's claw swept down….
And impaled Bow Doggie through the heart. The great talon tore his simple mortal body to shreds, leaving him a tattered rag-doll on the dirt.
"Bow!" Nina and Katt cried.
"Damn," was the only thing Sten, used to death on the battlefield, could say.
It seemed hopeless. Barubary was too powerful. He could kill them, one by one.
But then something happened.
The Dragon took a single, gasping, ragged breath.