"Father!" The prince ran out down the steps, slipping on the rain slick wood. He reached the bottom and drew his coat tight around his royal garb. Rain poured on his head and thunder rumbled from the dark clouds, which hid the moon. "Father!" The prince stamped his foot like a small child, despite being a teenager. He looked back reluctantly at the warm castle and shivered. He gritted his teeth. Why couldn't his father just send a servant or a soldier to go look for the escaped dragon? Why did he have to go by himself, and the worried queen, of course, had to send the prince off to fetch him. Typical. With one angry glance back at the castle, he narrowed his eyes and walked in the direction of the woods.

The king caught his crown as a stray branch knocked it off. He settled it on his head and tried to look dignified. Silly dragon... I, a brave King, shall.. Er... Catch it. By myself. He thought determinedly as he tripped over a root. The rain made things awfully slippery. He jumped when he heard a crash from ahead. A low growling could soon be heard as the king blundered forwards, pushing vines from his face.  He gulped. What if the dragon should not want to return?

The prince drew his sword and cut away at the vines obscuring his way. He could see a clear path tramped through the woods. Oh father. Thought the prince, shaking his head. Suddenly the ground rumbled, softly at first, but then clearly noticeable. He thought he heard a crash of something big right ahead of him. The prince gulped, backing away slowly. The crashing stopped, the prince took a tentative step forward, and a deafening roar exploded from the bushes right in front of the prince.

The king smiled to himself as he made his way towards the growling. Who am I kidding, the dragon is tame. The dragon caretaker said so. I'm a king! I can handle some overgrown lizard. He picked up his pace, breaking into a run. Suddenly,  a tree loomed out of a mist that came out of nowhere. The king gasped, dodging, only to come face to face with another. He avoided this one too, before the noble king tripped over a stump. He clutched his ankle, which was throbbing in pain. He sniffed the air, was this fog, or smoke?

The prince clutched the sword tighter as he stared up into the eyes of the dragon. It was much bigger then he thought. The dragon reared its head, smoke pouring out of its nostrils. It's tail lashed.
"Nice dragon," the prince murmured, backing away slowly. The dragon stopped lashing it's tail, and looked at the boy curiously. The prince smiled shakily, still backing away. "Nice-" the prince froze as he stepped on a stick. The dragon reared up on its hind legs, and roared. The sound was louder then the prince has ever heard. The dragon planted its front talons back down with such force the earth shook. It opened its jaws. A hissing sound could be heard. The prince rolled aside as a plume of fire shot past him. The dragon roared again, pouring fire into the sky, setting multiple trees on fire. The legend is true!! He thought, panicked, dragons CAN breathe fire! He scrambled to his feet. The dragon stopped breathing fire and narrowed its eyes at him. The prince froze. The dragon unfurled huge leathery bat wings. It planted it's front paw farther apart and leaned towards the prince, its eyes narrow slits. It hissed at him, a forked tongue darting between its jaws. The prince forced to calm his quickened breathing. The dragon seemed to relax slightly, it stopped hissing, but then it laid its eyes on the prince's sword.

The king stiffened as it heard a third roar, louder then the rest. He shook his head, wondering what could make the dragon so mad. If I try to approach it now, I'd get roasted!  He thought with a shiver, and then he heard the scream.

"Christopher!!!" He yelled the prince's name, recognizing the scream immediately. He ran as fast as he could, bursting into a flattened clearing. Several trees were ablaze, and the fire was spreading quickly. At the far side of the area, the dragon stood snarling over the prince, its eyes fixed on the iron blade. Blood trickled from a scratch on the prince's arm. The king ran forward, placing himself between the dragon and his son. he grabbed the sword from where it had fallen, (the grass a few feet away), and waved it in front of the dragon's nose.

"father no!" gasped Christopher, finally speaking, "you'll just make it mad!" The king didn't listen, instead he swiped the sword across the dragon's snout. The creature roared in fury, hooking the king by the collar of his robe, and lifting off into the night. The prince stared at the dragon until it and his father were just a speck in the distance, and then, they were gone. Christopher shakily got up from where he lay. He looked down at the sword in the grass, tipped with dragon blood. He picked it up, stared at it for a moment, and threw it as far as he could with a yell. "No!" He screamed to the sky, not sure why he was yelling it.

The prince ran all the way to the castle, where the door opened to his mother, the queen. The prince sank into her arms and sobbed uncontrollably. The queen looked startled, but stroked his head until he calmed down. The queen called healers in, who bustled him away without a word, fussing over his arm like he was way younger then he was. The queen stared after him for a second, then turned to the still open door and looked up at the sky. The rain had cleared, and the stars shone bright as ever.

"goodbye," she whispered, and then she closed the door.