I hope this was worth the wait, mum things got in the way but I'm getting back on track now :D
A special thanks to my editor, Jen, without her this probably would have taken longer to write and it would be filled with the most embarrassing spelling and grammar mistakes.
<=={======>
Chapter 4: Nothing Mythical About That!
Athanasia dove to the side, avoiding the jet of nacatat flame aimed at her. Her training kicked in and she rolled to her feet, reaching for her sword and shield. Axel lunged at the beast, swinging his blade at the dragon's leg. He felt the full impact of the strike, the force reflecting back up his arm. "Its hide's as hard as ..."
"Dragon Scales!" Athanasia called out, "Nothing can penetrate them."
Axel dodged the razor sharp claws intended for his head. "How do you know that?" He cried out, landing in a snow drift. The creature turned its head towards the Princess, who now had her shield and sword at the ready.
The dragon shot another burst of fire at her; she blocked it with the silvery shield. "I read!" She yelled. The power of the fiery breath hit the near by trees. She tried to remember her lessons, though nothing could have really prepared her to be fighting such a magnificent creature. She knew that apart from the hardness of the scales that the colour indicated how old it was, but her brain reasoned that it did not matter how old the thing was, as it was trying to kill them.
The Knight could not let the dragon harm his woman; he jumped at it to distract it, "Athanasia, RUN!"
"I am not leaving you," she yelled angrily, "You will die if I leave." She threw a stone at the dragon as it raised one of its deadly claws to swipe at Axel's head. The dragon turned and huffed a plume of noxious gas at her. She rolled to the side to avoid the green cloud, the dragon screeched angrily at her evasion. "We need to kill this thing!" She yelled.
"How?" Axel asked angrily, the hopelessness of the battle only served to invigorate his determination, "We cannot penetrate its hide with all those scales in the way!"
"I'm thinking!" She snapped. Their current tactics of distracting the beast so it would not kill the other would not save them for long, eventually they would tire and the dragon would finish what it started. The Dragon howled and attacked the Princess again, swiping its spiked tail at her, knocking her back against a burning tree, the branches crashing down on her in a puff of golden embers.
Axel growled, torn between digging Athanasia out from the burning branches and killing the dragon that caused the situation in the first place. He was distracted enough that the dragon knocked him back into another snow drift. He quickly dug himself out to see the dragon flick the branches away from Athanasia, remarkably she was unharmed. Her tenacity overrode her fear, striking the foot of the creature with her sword and drawing blood. Blood! How did she do it?
Athanasia was just as shocked as Axel was, her blade coated in the bright crimson of the beast's blood. Her eyes bulged in disbelief as she examined the sword, "How ...?"
"Princess!" Axel called, breaking her out of her momentary stupor, "Hit it again!"
"You jest!" She called back holding the sword before her when her eyes met the golden irises of the dragon, "Or not." She sliced at the dragon's eye, hoping to blind it to give them an advantage. She hit her mark, but the victory was short lived. It shook its head, knocking Athanasia off her feet again, her sword flying from her hand.
The sword landed out of Athanasia's reach in a snow drift. The Princess did not see where, but Axel did; he dove for it while the dragon was approaching her. Athanasia scrambled to take her two smaller back up swords. She tossed the shield aside and stood facing the beast with both fury and fear in her eyes. Axel, with Athanasia's sword in hand, jumped onto the creature's back. The Princess watched her fiancΓ© try to stay atop the dragon, she could not watch for long as the dragon attacked at her distraction. She slashed at the gapping maw filled with deadly serrated teeth. If she could distract it from another fiery breath, she would be safe.
"Athanasia!" A distant voice cried.
"Castor?" Athanasia's face dropped.
<=={======>
Castor's eyes must be deceiving him; a gigantic black dragon looked to be ready to eat his sister. "Athanasia!" He called, panicking at his sister's imminent demise.
"Castor?" She sounded surprised to see him.
"Look out!" He dismounted his horse and ran as fast as he could, pushing his sister out of the way as the beast let a blazing plume loose. The flame engulfed him in an instant. Axel saw the dragon was distracted enough for him to slash at its neck. The fiery breath stopped and Castor fell onto the now bare ground.
"What were you thinking Castor?" Athanasia asked her now unconscious brother as she dragged him to the nearest snow drift. The cold shock woke the injured Prince. "Stay here," Athanasia ordered and took off to the fight again.
Axel had bloodied the creature's neck, but had not slowed it down. "How do I kill this blasted thing!" He cried in frustration.
"You need to sever its head from its neck!" Athanasia answered, jumping back into the fight.
"And how do I do that?" He asked between slashes.
"Drive the tip of the sword under the scales and sever the spine," she explained.
"How do you know that?" He questioned.
"I read!" She yelled impatiently, "Now be ready."
"For what?" His answer came as Athanasia dove for the dragon's feet. The dragon bent down to capture her in its jaws; causing the scales on the back of its neck to lift. Knowing what to do, Axel drove the point of the sword in with all his strength, severing the spinal column in one smooth motion. The dragon fell dead with an earth shaking thud.
Athanasia crawled out from the hollow under the dragon's neck, "I knew you could do it," she beamed up at Axel as he climbed down.
"Don't you ever do anything that stupid again!" The Knight scolded her, "What were you thinking?"
"My brother is over there," she pointed to the dark shape in the snow drift, "He is burned to a crisp, but alive."
Axel's heart dropped, he found Castor with his eyes. The Crown Prince was trying to get out of his armour with little success.
Athanasia crouched by his side and helped him. "What are you doing out here?"
Wincing, Castor allowed his sister to aide him out of his armour. It was hot to touch, but the longer it stayed on Castor the more damage would be done. "I was sent to bring you home," He explained as his breast plate fell away from his body.
"I'm not going back until Jelena is safe," she argued.