Silene had known this wasn’t going to be easy. Their kingdom had been plagued by a fire-spewing dragon dwelling in a nearby cave / pond, poisoning the countryside. To prevent it from affecting the city itself, the people offered it two sheep daily, then a man and a sheep, and finally their children and youths, chosen by lottery. One time the lot fell on the king’s daughter – Silene herself. The king offered all his gold and silver to have his daughter spared, but she refused to give in to the terror, and she had altruistic plans for that gold… okay, maybe there also was a new Arabian steed for herself in there somewhere. Willingly, Silene went out to the lake, dressed as a bride, to be fed to the dragon. But there was a surprise under that dress, a fully armored and operational battle warrior, for she had been training with the Empire across the sea. As the wyrm drew near, the people of the kingdom scattered. Silene tore off her dress, revealing the bronzed body underneath. “Now, is your final moment, Dragon!,” she screamed defiantly, drawing her sword. Looking behind him, the Dragon, Aureus, called to unknown persons “Hey townspeople and sheep, she doesn’t want to come to the party…. hold on, what? Okay.” Turning back to Silene, the wyvern spoke, “Listen, I’ve been drinking hard today, because you townies know how to party, but it aggravates my terrible heartburn, and the Slippery Elm I’ve asked your people to harvest – paying a living wage mind you is…. uh, oh no, here comes another attack. New plan, you should runnnnnn!”
