2

"Muuuum! I'm going."

"Not until you—"

"Introduce myself to the guests. Okay, okay."

Queen Elinor laughed as she watched her daughter walk sarcastically elegant to the main hall. Merida graced their guests with her presence and warm welcome.

"Welcome, visitors. My name is Merida, first-born and only princess of Clan DunBroch. My father will be with you shortly so please, enjoy this feast prepared by the finest in our land." said Merida, standing as straight as possible.

She then turned slowly and walked away. Her mother stopped her in her path and spoke softly.

"Now, was that so hard?"

"Nope. Just like we practiced, right?"

The two laughed at their performances. Elinor went forward to entertain their guests and Merida went back to the stables to get Angus.

Merida hopped on her horse and rode off to the forest. She smiled as her long, curly, auburn-red hair flowed with the air. She let out a giggle while she thought of what to do.

The targets she had set around the forest started to fall one by one in front of her. She took her bow from her shoulder and started aiming and firing arrow, all hitting their marks.

"I remember it being harder." She patted Angus and laughed.

After her target practice in the forest, Merida headed straight to the falls to get a drink and to wash her hair. Angus drank, as well. The Fire Falls was just majestic. The falls reflected the sunset so perfectly it looked as if it were really on fire, just like Merida's hair.

"Look at that, Angus. Remember the last time we were here?" She patted Angus and brushed his mane as she looked up. Angus neighed to tell Merida he agrees. "Well, it's getting dark. Let's head back before mum loses it again."

The duo headed back to the castle in a rush. On their way, Angus tripped on something and the both went rolling on the ground. Merida looked back to see there was nothing there. She equipped herself with her bow and drew back an arrow. She looked around as they continued to head back.

Merida hopped back on Angus when she decided they were safe. She held tightly onto Angus to assure herself she won't fall again. She made Angus run as fast as he can to get back to the castle faster only to trip again but this time... it wasn't the ground they met.

They were picked up by a trap. When Angus stepped on a trigger, it snapped in half and set off a trap under them. A net came up and caught the two of them. They were lifted off the ground.

"Oof. Traps? Since when did the forest have traps? This wasn't here when we first passed here."

"Indeed it wasn't, Red." A low disembodied voice said.

"Who's there?" She asked with her thick accent getting thicker with nervousness.

"Just a hunter looking for its prey," Luther the Hunter came out of the shadows, cleaning his sword. "Tell me, have you seen a group of, I don't know, four, around here? One of them has a metal leg so it's not that hard to pick."

Merida thought hard to remember if she had seen a man with a metal leg. She couldn't because she hadn't seen one. Angus started kicking and thrashing inside the unusually large net they were in when Luther lit a torch.

"Well? No?" He asked again.

"No. I haven't seen anyone with a metal leg. Let us go!"

"Now, there's the tricky part. Nobody can know that I'm here and that I'm hunting them. You see, there's a large price on each of their heads," He said. "A chest full of gold. Another set is for their companions."

"So you're going to kill me?" Merida slowly reached for an arrow in her quiver. He must not see me, she thought. She started cutting her way through the rope. It was thicker than it looked.

The hunter cut the rope that held the trap up even before Merida could cut herself out. Angus tried to kick the hunter but was punched by it instead. Angus ran away in fear. Merida tried to run with her partner but the hunter shot an arrow and hit her leg. Merida wailed in pain before the hunter put his hand over her mouth.

"Don't worry, lass. It'll be quick." Luther said, trying to imitate Merida's accent.

"No. Please." Merida begged in her muffled brittle voice. She tried mustering some strength but the man was too strong. There was not escape for her.

Merida closed her eyes, clenched her fists, and thought of her family. Tears fell from her eyes as the image of her mother, brothers, and father went through her head. She felt the cold sword's edge of the hunter on her throat, then her chest, and then her wrist. He was choosing where to cut her.

"You know, I'll just cut your head off just to be sure. What do you think?"

"My dad will find you." Merida said, still with her eyes shut.

Out of nowhere, she heard crashes, explosions, some very near. The hunter threw her aside and ran away. She rolled down a hill and hit her back on a boulder. A groan went out of her mouth as she felt a sharp pain on her back. For a while, her world looked as if it were spinning. Merida tried to crawl and pull her way to safety. When her vision stopped spinning, she pushed herself up and tried to run.

As she was running, Merida looked up and saw something. She saw wings. She saw a tail. Angus came back not so long after Luther ran and Merida hopped onto her horse as she looked up on the figure that was now circling above her.

"What is it?" She asked Angus as she made him stop. "It can't be a dragon, now can it?"

"Oh, it is, Red," Luther said. "That there is a dragon, in the flesh."

Angus ran at the sight of the hunter. The hunter chased and fired arrows at them. Unfortunately for him, Merida was an archer, too. She fired back and hit every arrow the hunter shot at her. She was feeling great and safe when the hunter fired two arrows at once. Merida hit one but the other went right on Angus' leg. He fell and rolled and threw Merida, causing her to hit her head on a tree.

Merida's world spun and spun but she didn't need a clear vision to see that the hunter was right in front of her. All of a sudden, she felt like being lifted up and saw a blurry vision that looked like a dragon picking Angus up, and then she passed out.

The sound of metals clanging, swords clashing, and some animal roaring woke the red haired princess. She sat up and looked around only to realize that nothing in the place looked familiar. On the walls, pieces of paper with drawings that looked like weapons hung; to her side, a table with some meat on a plate and water which she hurriedly ate.

After the last drop of water and slice of meat went down her throat, Merida pushed her aching body up from bed and headed to the door. She laid her hands on the wooden door and pushed it gently. It opened immediately for it had no knob or anything that would lock it in place.

"Must have been built in a hurry," She whispered. "Now, where is Angus? And where am I?"

Merida shielded her eyes as the light of the sun shone directly upon her pair. Half a day, she thought.

When the red and green screen that obstructed her vision faded, Merida's jaw dropped for before her stood five – no – six dragons. One had a horn on its nose and blue scales. Another had red scales and wide wings, and it was on fire! But what caught Merida's attention was one specific dragon. This one had jet black scales, and a mechanical tail fin.