But the red dragons were faster. Florence aimed for the creature’s open mouth and let loose another arrow. This time it hit, flying straight up the nostril instead and disappearing. The dragon shrieked and roared. Then its eyes rolled back into its head and it started falling, spiraling all the way down and crushing one of the corner towers. The palace shook.

Florence stared. She’d killed it with a direct hit up the nostril. Had it gone to its brain? Was that the secret? Was that the most vulnerable part of a dragon? “Move away from the palace!” Florence cried. She had to draw the dragons away from the structure so they didn’t accidentally crush Fifer if they went down. Astrid did her best as the dragons roared at them from three sides, now. Florence took aim again but held off releasing the arrow until the dragons weren’t directly above the palace. Astrid darted upward with one of the dragons on her tail. Florence, trying to keep her aim steady, took the shot and nailed the second dragon in the same place. It fell much like the first, narrowly missing the palace and landing with a hard thud on the property below.

The other two dragons were fully charged now, and they came after Astrid. One of them took the ghost dragon’s neck in its mouth and yanked her around while the other barreled for Florence. Before the warrior trainer could get off another fatal shot, the dragon plowed into her, knocking her off balance. Her bow went flying out of her hands and fell to the ground. Florence grabbed on to the red dragon’s face and pried its mouth open as its back end bucked. It roared, engulfing Florence in flames, but they only blinded her momentarily.

Then the red dragon reached out with its front claws and tried to grab the stone warrior, but its claws merely left long, shallow scratches in her. Florence hung on to it, frustrating the beast. It swung around violently, nearly throwing Florence into the air. Quickly she let go of it and grabbed for Astrid, but her fingers grasped only the ethereal cloudiness of the ghost dragon’s body, and she started sliding. Astrid tried to help, but the second remaining dragon came roaring back and head-butted Florence off.

With an angry yell, the Magical Warrior trainer dropped like a bomb to the ground and smashed into a hundred pieces.

A Giant Puzzle

Fifer gasped when she saw Florence hit the ground. “Oh my God!”

Dev, who’d begun his careful but harried return from the alcove after witnessing the first red dragon hit the corner tower on its way down, came running into the library. “We need to take cover!” he cried.