Ella and Areida's Dragon gained on the five Dragons flying away from them.
Slowly but surely, they ate up the distance.
"Where are they going?" asked Ella.
"Wherever it is," Areida replied, keeping her eyes straight in front. "It's not good."
"We have to stop them!"
"How? It's five against one!"
As if on cue, the five Dragons suddenly barrel-rolled, instantly reversing their heading.
"Dive!" Areida angled their Dragon towards the distant ground below as five balls of fire whooshed past their tail.
Now they've lost the element of surprise.
Five of Edgar's Dragons were right on top of them.
They couldn't win in a dogfight.
Ella craned her neck, looking over her shoulder and at a pursuing Dragon's flaming maw.
Somehow, she was able to successfully anticipate which Dragons would fire at them and in which sequence.
"Left! Right! Left!"
Ella shouted instructions to Areida, who took the appropriate evasive maneuvers.
But they couldn't hold out forever.
Suddenly, a winged figure shot downwards behind them.
The five Dragons scattered.
Areida wheeled their Dragon around, and Ella managed to identify their mysterious saviour.
"I don't believe it!" she exclaimed. "Lucinda?"
Although statuesque, Lucinda Perriweather was much smaller than the Dragons lobbing fireballs her way, and was able to avoid every fireball effortlessly.
She bobbed, weaved, ducked, and looped rings around the giant flying beasts.
"That's your Fairy Godmother?" Areida asked, looking on in awe.
Lucinda quickly caught up to them, pulling up alongside their Dragon.
"Lucinda!" beamed Ella. "What are you doing here?"
"Your stepmum was right," the Fairy answered with an eager game face. "Now let's win this!"
She glanced upwards, then yelled, "Break left!"
Areida complied without question as Lucinda veered off the other way a second before a Dragon swooped down vertically between them.
Once Lucinda reappeared right beside them, she laid out her plan.
"We need to get rid of their Riders," Lucinda explained. "Once they're gone, the Dragons will go too."
The five Dragons were back, and they're gaining on them!
Lucinda turned to Ella's friend. "Areida, right? I'll cover you!"
Ella could only cock her head in confusion as Areida nodded.
She hooked both arms around Areida's waist as she started making abrupt banking manoeuvres, left, followed by right, and so on.
She swivelled her head to one side to see Lucinda doing the same, crisscrossing their flight path.
Out of the corner of one eye, Ella managed to spy two of the Dragons.
They were right on top of them!
Lucinda had already lined up her aim.
With a quick thrust of one hand, she fired her magic... sending the Dragon Riders falling off their saddles and on a one-way trip to terra firma.
Sensing their now-vacant saddles, the riderless Dragons quit the chase and broke off.
Two down, three to go.
Now knowing that Lucinda was the greater threat, the remaining Dragons split their formation.
One stayed with Ella and Areida while the other two made a beeline for Lucinda.
She rolled away from an incoming fireball and climbed away from another.
Lucinda ascended higher and higher with the two fire-breathing Dragons below her.
One Dragon fired...
Suddenly, Lucinda pivoted around and caught the incoming fireball in one hand, her magic preventing burns.
The Fairy spun around with the fireball's momentum, then hurled it right back at the Dragons!
The Dragon Riders banked hard, one left and one right.
The less-skilled one took half a second longer to react.
The fireball slammed into his Dragon's chin and the impact forcibly ejected him from his saddle.
Lucinda stopped, hovering in mid-air.
The remaining Dragon Rider locked eyes on her for a heartbeat, then ordered his mount to charge at her.
The Fairy waited as the Dragon barrelled closer and closer, rapidly eating up the distance...
At the last moment, she stopped fluttering her wings and let gravity pull her underneath the Dragon's massive form.
With a flick of her wrist, Lucinda shot a small bolt of magic right at the straps of the Dragon's saddle.
"Wait for it... " smirked Lucinda.
As the Dragon Rider pulled into a clockwise climbing turn, he didn't anticipate his saddle's straps failing.
Lucinda smugly placed her hand on one hip, waving at the screaming Dragon Rider hurtling towards the ground.
"Happy landings!"
But the Dragon she just freed didn't fly away.
Instead, it hovered in place, staring at her with its piercing eyes.
By now, Ella had already lost count of how many fireballs they've managed to dodge.
Her voice already hoarse, she could tell that Areida and their Dragon were already growing tired.
The last Dragon managed to stay glued on their tail.
It tilted its head back and revealed rows upon rows of massive fangs, a fireball forming between them...
Another Dragon swooped down from out of the clouds, and, with impeccable dexterity, fished the Dragon Rider up from his saddle.
His Dragon promptly ceased charging up its attack, realising that its cruel master was absent.
Now finally free, it spread its enormous wings, slowed down, then veered off.
"Hey, you two!" called Lucinda, leaning forwards on the saddle of a Dragon.
"Thank you so much, Lucinda!" laughed Ella.
"Where'd you learn to do that?" asked Areida.
"Would you believe me if I told you I was raised by Dragons?" replied the Fairy.
Her only reply was dumbfounded silence and a pair of confused stares.
"Never mind," Lucinda waved her hand, as if dismissing her earlier words. "Forget it."
Ella leaned to one side and looked over Areida's shoulder. "What about him?"
Lucinda followed Ella's outstretched finger, pointing at the Dragon Rider hanging by the collar from her Dragon's mouth.
She knew this deserted island in the middle of a swamp they could drop him off at.
Sir Edgar bit his lip and clenched his fingers around his staff, vexed.
The coronation was in full swing, but it was the gigantic clock mounted on one of the walls that had his full, undivided attention.
The hour hand was inching dangerously close to 12, with the minute hand rapidly catching up with every audible tick.
He was dismayed upon hearing about Ella's breakup letter to Prince Char and was hoping that she'd arrive at the coronation ball to do his dirty work for him.
But with time running out, Sir Edgar knew that, somehow, one Ella Of Frell had managed to throw a spanner in the works.
"Is everything all right, Uncle?"
His nephew's voice snapped him out of his train of thought.
"Apologies," Sir Edgar said slowly. "I'm just... I'm not as young as I used to be. I think I'll excuse myself and turn in early."
Once in his personal bedchambers, Heston slithered out from behind some drawers and loosely coiled himself around Sir Edgar's shoulders.
"More bad news." The snake delivered his report. "The Dragon Garrison at Barren Hills has been completely compromised. All Dragons have been released and have fled back to Ayorthia."
Sir Edgar pondered his next move.
After several minutes, he delivered his response.
"I'm sure Prince Char misses his father, don't you think?"
A/N
This scene was inspired by how General Iroh II took out the Equalist biplanes in The Legend Of Korra.
The part where Lucinda dives in to the rescue is a deliberate reference to how Skipper saved Dusty from Ripslinger at the end of Planes 2013.
Yep, Lucinda Perriweather has finally redeemed herself!
As for Sir Edgar, his Dragons have been dealt with, but he has other plans in store for our heroes...