Quicksilver raced along the plain toward the Dragon, and as Vincent came close enough to see the Beast clearly, he saw that there was no Damsel clutched in Its jaws. "Help me, sir!" came the cry again, only much nearer.
Puzzled, Vincent pulled on the reins for Quicksilver to stop.
"Help!" came the voice, and this time Vincent realized that it was the Dragon Itself that was calling. "Oh, Sir Knight," she said (for it was a woman's voice) "I am under attack from marauders. Won't you protect me?"
"Dragon?"
"Sir Knight, I am at your mercy, won't you save me?" asked the Dragon again as she slowed, skidding after her manic, headlong gallop, and stopped, heaving and panting great blasts of steam down on Vincent, who looked up into her pleading eyes with fear and confusion.
"You want me to protect you?" he asked. "I'm a knight. We're supposed to kill dragons. I thought."
"You want to kill me?" asked the Dragon, fear blossoming in her golden eyes. "I come begging your mercy, asking to be protected from a band of marauders who are right this minute galloping over the plain to slay me, and you want to kill me too?"
Vincent could see the Dragon was becoming hysterical with fear. This certainly wasn't how Dragons behaved in the tales he had learned at school.
"Whatever shall I do? They're holding my children hostage!" moaned the Dragon, wringing her claws with anxiety.
"They're holding your children hostage??" asked Vincent, again looking up into the Dragon's tear-stained eyes.
Hope gleamed in the Dragon's heart when she saw the determined look in his face. He didn't know it yet, but he had decided to help her.
"Yes, brave Knight," she said. "Their leader, a cruel man they called Prince Vadis, ordered them to kill my babies, but I sent them into a part of the cave the knights can't reach. They left a man to keep them in the crevice until they can figure a way to get them out, and the rest followed me. I'm not a fighter, Sir Knight, I didn't know what else to do, so I ran, looking for help. Even from across the plain I could see you were different from them."
Prince Vadis? thought Vincent. Vadis was his brother, and he knew from experience that the Royal Heir was a cruel man. "And they're coming after you?"
"I got a little head start, but they'll catch up to me any minute now, and I can't keep running forever."
"Ma'am, I am Prince Vincent, and Vadis is my brother. He is a cruel bully, but a coward at heart and not very bright.
She lowered her eyes. "I am Mayana—if you save my family and me we shall be eternally grateful."
"I shall try," he replied. "Mayana, did his men hear you speak?"
"No, I didn't have time to speak. I'm afraid I acted like any Beast whose children are in danger. I'm afraid I even burned one of his men, and I've never burned a human before. But I was scared."
"Then I have an idea I think might work," he said, trying to sound more confident than he felt.
"Oh, thank you, Prince."
