The artwork used is “Dragon” by by Max Gorbatiyuk, found here: https://i.imgur.com/LidHk3D.jpg
“Alright, I’ve got a clear shot!” she said.
She managed to maintain her steady footing despite the dragon’s movements causing the earth beneath them to tremble.
“For the chain?” he asked.
The sharp-eyed archer glared back at him, but held her bow drawn taught.
“We’ve been over this, the chain won’t-“
“If there’s any chance we can save him-“
“Well there isn’t!” she said.
The swordsman stared back at her with a growing, cold anger.
The dragon continued to thrash and roar under the pain of the chains that bound it; and in its throat leaped the flames that threatened to devour them as soon as its rage and pain grew too great to bear.
“I know you care for the dragon,” she said as she eyed her target again, “but if we don’t put an end to this-“
“You don’t know a goddamn thing!” he shot back. “My father raised him, I raised him – he is my family, and if you kill him I swear-“
“Well your family is destroying this kingdom!”
The companions were at a standstill. The dragon snorted and thrashed its head. The chains around it grew so cold that they burned.
“Break the chains from him,” the swordsman begged, “that’s what’s made him do all this.”
The archer shook her head.
“Please,” he said, “and… and if I’m wrong-“
He gripped his sword hard as if to draw blood.
“Then I’ll end it myself,” he said, “But right now you’re the only one who can do this. If I tried to get close to him now, he might crush me.”
The archer gave a small nod and looked at the dragon. It let out another pained roar as the chains dug into its soft underbelly, leaving clear marks from where each link lay.
She drew her bow, eyed her target, took in a deep breath, and –
He didn’t hear the arrow when it collided with its target, but the sound of the chain breaking was unmistakable; a great ringing noise shattered the air as it fell from the dragon.
The dragon in turn let out a long breath, as if the chains had been suffocating it. The fire licking at its teeth died away, and slowly it collapsed onto the ground – exhausted, but alive.
The archer sheathed her bow and turned to her swordsman companion as he drew closer.
“You’d better be right about this,” she said.
The swordsman nodded and put a kind hand on her shoulder.
“Thank you,” he said.
Together they approached the sleeping dragon to tend to its wounds.
For more of Max’s work, follow this link: https://hemyl.cgsociety.org/
This prompt was found on r/writingprompts, found here: https://www.reddit.com/r/WritingPrompts/comments/gs5o4a/ip_defending_the_north/
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