Do not move,” Venic warned. “Not an inch.”

Venic considered the boy from behind with a hurried assessment. He was not wearing the clothes of a soldier, nor did he appear to have any with him. Instead, he had a slender build and was wearing woolen and fur clothes that had been died greens, browns, and other earthy colors. He had a hood up, and a fur trim blocked Venic from seeing his face.

“What are you doing here?” Venic asked.

“Same thing as you, I would wager,” said a voice that was a little too high-pitched for what he expected.

“Lower your hood.”

And the they did, and it turned out there was no boy at all. The top half of her face was covered by a brown leather mask, but it did not hide her full lips nor softly curved chin. She had a mischievous look in her emerald eyes that was far more curious than fearful, despite the fact that he had a blade to her back.

That unnerved him.

“Who are you?” He asked, his voice coming out in a snarl. A glimmer came to her eyes.

She was planning something.

Before he could say anything else, with insane speed, she reached into her belt pouch and brought out the puzzle ball. Venic felt his eyes go wide as all the pieces came together. She had stolen it from the men he had left by the bridge.

How? Did she sneak? Or did she kill them?

“Give that to me,” he snarled. “How did you get that? You are not supposed to have that.”

“Oh, really? Well, I consider it mine now,” she mused, turning towards him and taking a step back. Back towards the light of the throne room. Back to the den of the dragon. “You see, it was on the body of a dead man in the forest, and I found it, so that makes it mine now, I would think.”

“Stop! Stay there.”

“Stay where? Here?” She mused in an innocent tone before taking another step back.

“Stop!” He ordered, and she retreated once again.

“When? Now? Or,” another step back, this time into the well-lit throne room where he was sure a dragon would be waiting. “Or perhaps here.”

Even as light came across her, lightening her blonde hair and half-mask covered face, her mischievous smirk widened. She was not scared at all. Did she not know about the dragon? No, she had to. How could she not? The blood, the scratch marks, and the hoard were all obvious.

No, she knew. She simply did not care.

‘She is dangerous. Dangerous, or insane.’

Venic tried to wave her back over to him, and it only made her laugh. The knight had known people who fought dragons in teams for sport, and every time a great many of people don’t make it. Yet there she was, her hands still up in surrender, walking backwards into the dragon den.

His own feet stayed frozen in place, and she noticed. Her smile grew a little darker.

She tucked the puzzle ball back into the pouch and scanned the area.

Did the crazed woman even know what she was looking for? She couldn’t have. There were only three written explanations of the puzzle, one given to each of the Dryad queens children. Now, they were closely guarded secrets; a single paper in each kingdom with no copies. The ancient kingdoms had all been swallowed up by Avelynd, but the ball had been the only piece found. Only recently did a man find the instructions telling where the one here was, and it was ransomed off the information to anyone willing to pay. That was, until, the king had him killed. Still, if their sources were right, only a small handful of people should know.

Not her.

Not some forest commoner.

Venic hesitantly stepped into the room.

It was a round throne room, and perhaps the most grand he had ever seen. Despite its age, the white carved stonework on all the walls remained perfect and white as bone.

The floor had deep blue tile working that started at both the thrones, then swirled to the center of the room. It was likely to symbolize the connection of the rulers to the people.

Now, it just led to a large pile of junk. Dragons, like ravens, enjoyed collecting things, and this one had everything from a shovel to a statue of gold. It was carefully piled in a ring. He had read once that dragons with an impressive pile were more likely to attract a mate, but right now it looked like a nest of mostly trash.

The girl was searching the room as if examining it.

“Do you even know what you are here for?” He asked in a whisper. This whole situation was confusing him to no end.

Who was this unexpected person?

What was her stake in this?

Who did she work for?

“Something of Dryad make,” she said without bothering to look at him.

“That is all you know?” He scuffed, trying to edge closer to her, but without even looking his way, she stepped equal movements away. “You know we are in a Dryad-made castle, right?”

“It won't be that hard, not really. I know this orb I have here is near priceless. If you are here and the men at the base of the mountain, that means there is indeed another one,” she said. “So, where does a king put a piece of treasure that is too costly to use, but too precious not to display? You do not put it behind the king. No, the commoners are not supposed to look him in the eye, so that would be no good. Instead…you put somewhere both the king and commoner alike can see.”

The strange girl swiveled on her foot so her back was to the throne and smiled triumphantly. Venic could not help but follow her gaze, and when he did, he held back several curses.

She had found it.

She didn't even know what she was looking for, and she had bloody found it.

The sword was above the door, chained with thin links to the wall and closed with a lock. The walls on either side were smooth and unclimbable.

How was he supposed to—

Venic felt his jaw drop as he watched the girl use the carved vine designs on one of the pillars to climb it as easy as a ladder. The roof had beams reaching across, but none that led to the space above the door. Still, she leapt for the nearest beam, and somehow managed to hang by her only her fingertips. Her feet dangled. She still had several feet of open space between her and the sword. A fall from that height would easily be deadly, and yet, she started swinging her whole body forward and back.

“She is insane,” he said under his breath before she let the momentum of her swing launch her into the air. She flew, and hit the ledge above the door with a grunt. Despite how much that must have hurt, she pulled herself onto the gap barely big enough to fit her feet onto.

“Who are you?” Venic whispered, shaking his head. There was no way he was doing that. There was no way he could do that. Venic considered himself athletic, but the way this girl moved reminded him of those groups of preforming acrobatics, and that was beyond his ability.

With expert balance, the strange girl knelt at the sword and brought out lock picks.

'Lock picks?'

A girl in forest clothes who had stolen the puzzle ball and had lock picks.

‘So,’ Venic reasoned. ‘She is either one of those outlaws, or a cutthroat.’

Quicker than he would have ever expected, the chain fell from the sword, and the girl strapped the weapon onto her hip. She sent him a sly smile.

'Yes, I see you did it,' Venic thought bitterly. 'No need to rub salt in the wound.'

Before he could wonder how she would ever get down, she simply dropped onto the door frame by only her fingers, and let go. It had been impossible to climb, but the drop from that height was low enough to not kill. She landed in a roll, smiling wickedly at Venic.

His whole body tensed with cold horror.

“Stop! Wait! Do—”

She ignored him, turned, and hit a bottle with her foot. Her shoulders flinched as the bottle clattered across the tiles, then stiffened as it rolled right to a claw long and wide enough to rip a person wide.

Attached to that long claw was a dragon. It loomed high in the room, and grew in height as it's long neck arched back to look at them down its nose. Lips curled back into a sharp-toothed grin.

It lurched forward.

The girl rolled right before teeth snapped the air where she had been seconds before. She scrambled away and slipped behind one of the pillars as the dragon advanced.

Worst of all, she had both the sword and the puzzle ball.

“Blast,” swore Venic, drawing his sword.

But what was he supposed to do? Fight a dragon?

She reached for the bow slung over her shoulder. An arrow knocked as a spiked tail came her way. The woman flung herself forward, landing hard on the ground. The arrow rolled away from her, out of reach.

The dragon snapped forward.

Venic’s sword took it in the jaw, the steal bouncing off rock hard scales. The dragon withdrew in surprise, and that was all the time she needed to jump to her feet beside Venic.

The arrow knocked.

The arrow flew.

It hit the great beast right in the eye. A deafening roar shook the room as the dragon tossed its head this way and that.

Beside him, the insane girl moved to shoot another arrow. Instead, Venic grabbed her by the hood and pulled her with him as he ran. Once it was clear she got the hint and was running along with him, he released her.

Behind, Venic heard a stampede of steps heavy enough to rattle the nearby planes of glass.

The smooth stone became slick with ice.

The dragon snarled as it lurched forward.

Venic and the girl both grabbed onto the nearest corner wall, and used it to pull them around on the slick surface. Teeth missed a meal as they turned the corner.

The dragon skidded on the ice and hit the wall hard enough to send ripples of tremors. The ancient stained glass shattered. Shards of the story pelted them like rain, cutting at exposed skin.

Gritting his teeth, Venic tried to shield his face as he kept going.

Pictures, statues, and tapestries blurred by.

They made it outside, down the steps, then Venic suddenly stopped.

The sheer drop was in front of him now, with drifting clouds and tiny scenery impossibly far below.

He had not thought ahead.

'Sard.'

The girl, not paying attention, slammed into his back. Venic waved his arms to catch his balance, and swore wildly. She could have easily tipped him over, but instead he was lurched back from a yank to his belt. Venic turned just in time to see the dragon approaching. It was not running now, not with his prey facing them.

That was the way of many wild animals; they preferred to attack from behind, and could often be made cautious if the prey turned to be face-to-face.

It would judge them as a threat before attacking again.

This was it. This was as far as he would go. That thought drew a cold feeling in his chest, but he let it out with a breath.

‘Well, might as well make it a good death.’

“Get behind me,” Venic said, stepping past her with her sword raised.

A hand grabbed his arm. He tried to shake her off until he realized she had removed the sword. She pushed it into his chest, forcing him to grab it.

“Hold this, will you?” She asked.

“What are you—” He trailed off as she ran towards the dragon with only a simple dagger as a weapon.

Only then did Venic notice she was missing a glove and the bare hand was dripping red liquid from the wrist.

The dragon snapped at her and she fell backwards, letting the ice carry her under the beast. As she went, she dragged her hand behind her, leaving a trail of blood that reacted violently. The ice under that red trembled and bubbled, as if eager to move.

Her slide stopped under the dragon's belly.

Rolling out between its legs, she slammed her hand to the ground. The ice fractured upward into a barrage of large spikes that slammed like knives into the dragon. She was clenching her wrist to stop the bleeding as he ran up beside her.

What had he just seen?

Before he could think about it further, a large gust of winds hit as the dragon beat its wings. Icy shard pelted in every direction.

The ice had not pierced the scales.

It turned toward them. Heat waves barreled out of its nostrils.

“Blast,” The girl said, and he had to agree.

'My turn. Time for a new plan.'

Before he had a chance, however, the ice under their feet groaned like an old man. That was followed by a series of pops. Cracks snaked along the ice, getting deeper and wider by the second.

Both the knight and the girl exchanged looks of horror.

'There is no way.'

How could he be that unlucky?

But he knew he was. They before running towards the stairs. The dragon gave chase; leaning it’s long neck to snap.

The ground tiled as the ice folded heavily behind them in great sheets of tumbling ice.

Venic jumped, landing hard against the stairs. The dryad sword he had been clutching clattered on the old stone. Venic whirled back in time to see the girl follow suit, but was too far away.

Her chest hit the bottom stair. Her nailed tried desperately to dig into the stone, and found nothing to grab hold of. She slid downward.

Behind her, the dragon unfolding its wings and squealed. The ice had not been enough to pierce the scales, but it had been enough to pierce the membrane of the wings. It flapped wildly, but it was not enough.

The dragon fell with the ice.

The girl would soon follow. Her body hung precariously over the ledge, pulling her towards the same doom.

Clearly, whatever had happened with that ice and blood before would not save her now.

Her fingers slipped over the ledge.

Lurching forward, his hand slapped around her forearm. Venic grunted as he suddenly held all her weight.

She gawked at him; confusion blending with the terror in her eyes.

“Do you know the forest?” He asked

“What?”

“Do you know the forest?”

“Yes.”

“How about a deal?” Venic asked, letting her hang there. One slip of his hand, and she would be at the base of the mountain looking like flat-bread. Already, her weight — though not particularly heavy — was already causing his strained muscles to tremble. “Swear to help me and I let you live.”

She gave a nervous laugh. “Not much of a choice then, is there? I swear to help you.”

He did not know if he believed her, but Venic pulled her up.

She gasped beside him, trembling but smiling.

“Well, today was not what I expected, but it was fun,” she said and Venic raised a brow at her.

“You and I have very different definitions of fun.”

That settled it.

She was certainly both insane and dangerous, and he just made a deal with her.