Percy Jackson and the Triwizard Tournament (Goblet of Fire)

Chapter 29: The Dragon Slayer

Thalia broke into a mad dash. She had the nerve to glance back just once, and was taken aback by the closeness of the dragon.

The Hungarian Horntail was suprisingly swift, as its snake-like body weaved past the trees. Every once in a while it would run into one, forcing the wooden trunk of the gigantic pine trees to slant slightly sideways with a small 'creak.' The tip of its iron muzzle was only 5 feet away from the fleeing Thalia. However the dragon was gaining speed, as she sprinted upward onto a slope of a surprisingly steep hill.

She pushed herself over a fallen log, given her an extra millisecond to re-manipulate the mist. She no longer held the black leather satchel over her shoulder, but a bow and quiver was now in her hands. In the process, she tossed her wand (still emitting the warm glow from the tip) aside, a small rustling sound emitted as it fell into the pile of leaves.

The dragon's claws scratched at the log, as it pulled itself up the steep slope to face the huntress. Apparently the dark night masked herself, giving an advantage. Who knew such a vicious dragon couldn't see that well in the dark?

It's head rose behind the fallen wooden obstacle, its beady, yellow eyes now facing the demigod. The wand still glowed, illuminating its scaly, lizard face. Before the dragon could rise any higher, Thalia fired her weapon. A small 'whoosh' was heard before the silver-feathered arrow impaled the dragon's left eye.

The sudden shock of pain caused the dragon to stumble, loosing its current grasp on the log. The layers upon layers of leaves beneath the two had already caused some lack of friction, adding into the fact that the dragon began to roll back down the hill. It scratched and clawed, but still was silent thanks to its mouth's bindings.

Thalia had stumbled back in the process of drawing her bow, and quickly rose back to her feet to face the dragon, the two glaring at each other wickedly. The Hungarian Horntail began to spread out its wings, but quickly retracted them back to its side after finding not enough room to take flight.

That is when the dragon surprised her.

It pounced off the ground, lunging towards the top of the hill where she currently stood. It's muzzled-mouth slammed into the log perched at the top, causing it to explode into splinters of wood at the massive amount of force. Thalia was pushed back onto the floor, her bow flew out of her grasp.

The dragon slammed its head on the ground again, just for the sake of it. Then, it outstretched its front talons as it climbed towards her. Thalia's vision was blurry, only returning to normal to find a dragon hovering over her.

She panicked, just in time rolling out of the way before it attempted to use its head as a third time to squash her.

Unfortunately, she rolled aside in the opposite direction of her bow. So there she stood, facing a dragon unarmed.

At least at the moment.

Thalia conjured her Medusa Shield from her bracelet, just as the dragon swung its tail in her direction. Instead of being nearly decapitated by its sharply-pointed tail, she was shoved into a nearby tree.

The dragon turned to face her with minor difficulty in avoiding crashing into trees. The arrow was still lodged into its left eye. The dragon attempted to blink, only for the arrow to wriggle in place. It looked gross, that's all she had to say. But that was besides the point; she had managed to injure it.

But now she was getting angry, remembering the pain and suffering this beast had caused. The people it had killed. Before she even knew, her clenched fists were crackling with electricity. The air grew thin.

The dragon growled, as Thalia jumped into the air.

The wind blew her higher then any mortal could've possibly jumped, until she landed atop its head. She usually didn't prefer manipulating the wind's currents, but every once in a while, she found an opportunity to give it a try.

Her arm gripped onto one of its odd, uneven horns placed on the dragon's head, just at the start of its neck. She gripped onto the shield, ramming it into its scaly skin. If it wasn't going to hurt it, she might as well give it a headache.

But surprisingly the shield seemed to be working. The dragon whimpered.

She slammed her shield for a second time into the same spot and the dragon stumbled. There was now a noticeable curved indent, where the shield's edge impaled its scales. The dragon began to wail from behind the muzzle, as it desperately tried to shake the demigod off of its head.

Thalia's arms were practically crackling as lightning ran through her skin, her blue eyes emitting a cold, powerful glow. She screamed in rage, as her entire self and shield suddenly radiated the powerful surge of lightning.

The shield was held into the air, now gripping it with both hands, before she slammed the sharp edge into the dragon's skull for a third time.

'BOOM'

Thalia was shoved off the dragon by an incredible force... her own powers. As she damaged the dragon for a third time, a jolt of thunder transmitted through her shield, electrifying the Hungarian Horntail. The dragon's entire body trembled for a few moments, before tumbling onto the ground...

it had died, with the shield still lodged into the top of its head.

Thalia stared in horror, before noticing her own pain. She winced as she looked down at her now broken left arm. As she was pushed off the dragon, she had landed awkwardly on top of her arm in hopes to brace herself after the sudden release of energy.

She slowly began to sit upright, fishing through the pockets of her parka jacket for ambrosia. As she began to nibble the corner, her left arm felt an odd sensation of pain; the bones being pushed back in place. Thalia grimaced, before it had quickly stopped and left her with a warm, delicious taste in her mouth.

Thalia wiped the dirt off her face, as she began to stand up. Slowly and tiredly limping towards the her shield. She pushed herself back onto its head (now sideways and limp on the floor), and with minor difficulty, dislodged it to reveal one half of her shield covered in red blood.

Through the rapid battle, the dragon had staggered back to the bottom of the hill. Thalia's eyes darted back up towards the top, where the log once stood, as she noticed the warm glow of her wand fading.

She limped towards the light after slinging the bow and quiver back over her shoulder. Now she knelt down to retrieve her wand. As her fingers wrapped themselves around the cold surface of the wood, the light slowly began to fade. Thalia held it towards her face so it was eye-level. She had just enough time to glance back towards the dragon before the light died down...

and it was dark again.

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Word Count: 1,199