The dragon's roar shook the cavern walls, molten eyes blazing as it reared back.
Its massive claw came down, aiming to crush Sari like an insect.
She froze. Knees buckling, arms raised over her head, she squeezed her eyes shut.
"So this is it. I ran from debt collectors, insulted ogres, and mocked a dragon. Guess I was bound to get squashed eventually. Sorry, Kel, it seems your sis won't be able to see you become a knight."
The air shifted. The ground trembled. Her heart thundered in her chest.
And then—
"HEY, LIZARD BREATH!"
Something clattered off the dragon's head. A dented cooking pot.
The beast snarled and jerked its head to the side.
Sari cracked an eye open. The claw had stopped inches above her, trembling with restrained fury.
Arlo stood a dozen feet away, hurling anything he could grab from the scattered supplies. A broken dagger. A few pieces of gold. Even a half-burned boot. Each object slammed into the dragon and some seemed to be doing some damage, clanging like hammers against steel.
"Come on, fate!" Arlo shouted, rifling through his pack. "Gimme something useful!"
He flung a rusty spoon. It whistled through the air and struck the dragon's snout—harmless, yet insulting.
The dragon's pupils contracted to slits.
"Oh no," Arlo muttered. "That one just pissed him off."
The dragon roared, whipping its tail. The floor split open where Arlo had been standing a second ago. He dove, rolling across coins that burned against his skin.
Another throw—a loose stone. It struck the dragon's jaw and chipped a tooth. The beast howled, thrashing in outrage.
Sari stumbled back, breath ragged, watching in disbelief. He's... he's actually... injuring it?
Arlo ripped off his own boot and hurled it. By sheer cosmic joke, it struck the dragon's eye ridge and left a bleeding welt.
"YES!" Arlo crowed. "Boot beats dragon!"
The dragon's entire head swung toward him, knocking Arlo back. Its nostrils flared, flames leaking out.
"...Crap," Arlo groaned.
The beast lunged again, jaws opening wide enough to swallow him whole.
"ARLO!" Sari screamed.
But before the teeth could close, a burst of radiant light slammed into Arlo's chest. Tessa's healing glow snapped through him, mending his battered ribs, surging strength into his limbs.
"Keep moving!" she shouted, her voice echoing off stone. "Don't you dare stop now!"
Arlo staggered to his feet, clutching what remained of his pack. "Right! No problem! Just gonna... uh... improvise."
The dragon snarled, stomping closer, each step cracking the cavern floor.
Arlo dug through his pack in blind panic. His hand closed around something small—
A tin cup.
He stared at it. "Really?!"
But he hurled it anyway.
The cup spun through the air—then struck the dragon's wing joint with a crack. The beast shrieked, rearing back as the joint buckled.
Arlo's jaw dropped. "...Okay. Cup beats dragon too. What's next, a sock?"
Sari, still trembling, finally found her voice. "Arlo—you're insane."
"Insane's all we've got!" Arlo yelled, sweat pouring down his face. "Now MOVE before it remembers you exist!"
The dragon spread its wings, the cavern trembling with the sheer force of its rage. Smoke and flame leaked from its jaws as it turned back to Sari, then to Arlo, deciding which to annihilate first.
Its eyes burned with a single truth: this was no longer entertainment.
This was personal.