She heard them before she saw them, the rattle of armor and swords. Soldiers were coming up the stairs to face the dragon. The bald man with the sword that actually cut the dragon was ahead of them. The dragon itself was bleeding in a dozen places, but still it would not die. She ignored everything that was going on around her.

Hailey fell to her knees beside Barinon. His chest was still smoking and his robe had been burned away. His white hair was blackened in places. Tears streamed down her face. She took his good hand and squeezed it. “What do I do? How can I heal you Barinon? Help me learn to heal you.” Her voice wouldn’t work right. She was having a hard time speaking over the sobs and he was having trouble speaking over the pain.

“No, child.” He said to her. “I am not long for this world. I go wherever my community of mages have gone.” He was smiling as if he were happy to die.

“No!” She yelled at him. “Don’t leave me.”

“I can’t help it,” he said. “I tried not to let that thing kill me but in the end, it was either you or me. I think I made the right choice.

“No I was the stupid one who couldn’t remember how to make a basic shield.”

She glanced back at the soldiers. They wouldn’t last long agains the dragon, but they were pushing it back, farther away from her and Barinon.

“I know who you are now. It took me until today to figure it out.” He coughed. “Sequana was right. You don’t know who you really are.”

That didn’t make any sense to her, but he was gasping for breath now. “Go… help them… I will give… my last.”

She nodded to him. She knew what he was asking her to do. His last bit of power, all he had left to give would go into the spell she cast next. She had to make this count. She knew it wouldn’t be worth his death. Nothing could be, but she had to try.

Aaron had been left behind when the soldiers began running into the corridor. “It’s up the stairs!” Someone yelled. In all the confusion, Derrick must have lost the dragon blade. It gleamed at him from under a massive chunk of plaster. The dining room was once again filled with bodies, but these ones were dead. He grabbed the sword and limped after his fellows. He would not let Hailey fight the dragon without him.

He staggered up the stairs. He had come down hard on his right hip and it made it difficult for him to move. At the top of the stairs, he could hear men fighting, screaming dying. He would join anyone who was brave enough to fight the beast. Swords bounced off of its hide. The soldiers had positioned themselves behind the head, fighting agains the chest of the dragon, which filled almost the entire corridor.

He came in swinging, fighting for all he was worth. He made a long slash down the creature’s neck, and it tried to turn towards him, but its bulk and the ceiling was in the way. He glanced back to see Hailey kneeling over Barinon. Barinon looked like he was dying or maybe he was already dead.

Hailey clenched her teeth and created a massive glowing blue sword. He wondered if she could have made them for the soldiers and let them do the fighting instead of having to wield it herslelf. He turned back and stabbed at the dragon’s leg. If they could stop it from being able to move, eventually they could kill this thing.

“Get away!” Hailey was screaming at them and Aaron stepped back, creating a space for her to fight.

He shoved the soldier next to him against the wall and screamed at the others to move. Hailey looked exhausted. She was panting for breath and covered in blood. She screamed and drove the massive sword into the dragon’s right leg.

A scream echoed Hailey’s but the dragon’s was much louder. It rang through the castle loud enough to make the walls shake. With an effort, Hailey pulled the sword out and prepared to stab again. The dragon limped backwards, holding its injured leg up off the ground. Blood welled and dripped off of the silvery scales. She harried it with blows, slicing at anything she could get. Aaron followed her, afraid to get to close. The dragon continued to limp away, but it was still fast and now Hailey was jogging to keep up.

She raised her sword one last time, and prepared to slam it into the creature’s neck. He followed her, fear for Hailey running through her. Then the dragon began to slip backwards, falling out of the castle. Hailey almost went with it. She dropped her sword which puffed into mist and began to fall with it.

Aaron ran forward. She couldn’t have died, could she? Then he saw her hanging on to the edge of the wall. His sword clanged against the floor and he reached down to pull her up, cursing his bad arm for being completely useless. She clawed at him, fighting to stay alive.

Finally, he pulled her to safety and she collapsed into his arms. She gasped against his chest. He looked out over the city and saw the dragon flying away into the distance. It hadn’t fallen to its death then. He supposed that that would have been too much to ask for.

She was crying in his arms. “I’m so sorry,” she told him. “I failed you. I failed the kingdom. I failed Barinon.” He held her tight and let her cry.