A large black shadow covered them both. With a crunch and a splurt Borgon drove his axe upwards into the belly of the swooping dragon. The giant beast gurgled horribly. Its wings flapped and its legs thrashed but it couldn’t stop itself hitting the ground and skidding along helplessly until it came up against some rocks.
Grizzy ran off and dived for cover behind a fat cactus, but where had Borgon got to?
The dragon staggered to its feet. It was as big as ten horses, with bulging eyes and a long arrow-headed tail. As it gasped for breath, long flames spluttered from its mouth and blasts of sparks and dirty smoke exploded from its nostrils. Black blood was dripping out of its belly and splashing into a thick pool on the ground. In the middle of the pool was a crumpled barbarian-shaped heap.
The heap wasn’t moving so Grizzy picked up a small stone and threw it. The stone curled up through the air, soared over the dragon’s tail and then came down and smacked Borgon right on the nose.
‘YEOWW!’ yelped Borgon as he woke up.
While the dragon was looking the other way, Grizzy ran out and dragged Borgon back to hide behind the cactus with her.
‘Well?’ said Borgon triumphantly. ‘Well? WELL?’
‘Well what?’ asked Grizzy.
‘I was right, wasn’t I?’ said Borgon. ‘A dragon DID go up there. And it was BIG, so my dad did NOT lie!’
‘Yes, ok, you were right,’ admitted Grizzy. ‘But why was that other dragon so small?’
‘It must have been a baby,’ said Borgon. ‘This is the one we came for!’
The two of them peered out from behind the cactus. The dragon was trying to make its way back up the path. It flapped its wings, but then fell forwards and smacked its head on the ground. FUBBLUMP. The great beast lay there grunting and panting and thrashing its tail around crossly.
‘Quick!’ said Grizzy. ‘Let’s go while it isn’t looking.’
‘Go where?’ asked Borgon.
‘Home!’ said Grizzy.
‘You go home if you want to,’ said Borgon, stepping out from behind the cactus. ‘I’ve got a breakfast to make.’
Borgon’s axe was still lying in the pool of black blood. He went to get it but Grizzy dashed ahead of him. She snatched up the axe and raised it over her head.
‘Stop right there!’ warned Grizzy.
‘What are you doing?’ asked Borgon.
‘You’ve already hurt that dragon enough,’ said Grizzy.
‘Well, pardon me,’ said Borgon. ‘I was only saving your life.’
‘Get back,’ said Grizzy.
Borgon took a step backwards, but only because the axe was heavier than Grizzy had expected and she was starting to wobble a bit. There were many brave and heroic ways a barbarian could die, but being accidentally chopped in half by a wobbly girl savage with an axe wasn’t one of them.
‘Give me that before you hurt yourself,’ said Borgon.
‘NO!’ said Grizzy. ‘You can’t have it.’
‘Please yourself,’ said Borgon. ‘I need to get something from my horse.’
Borgon set off, but Grizzy shot past him and got to the horses first. She grabbed the triple-headed spear and pointed it at Borgon, still holding his axe in the air with the other hand.
‘I’m not letting you have this either,’ she said.
‘I don’t want it,’ said Borgon.
‘And you can’t have this … or this!’
Grizzy grabbed the mighty sword and the battle mallet, and tried to hold them all steady and point them at Borgon and look frightening at the same time.
Wobble wobble wobble.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ asked Borgon.
‘That might be a mummy dragon,’ cried Grizzy desperately. ‘And the little dragon that we saw might be her baby sitting on a mushroom waiting for her to come back. So you CAN’T just kill it for breakfast. I won’t let you.’
‘Whatever you say.’ Borgon smiled. ‘You can have all the weapons if it makes you happy. All I want is the bag.’
Grizzy had forgotten about the bag hanging from Borgon’s horse.
‘No sudden movements,’ said Grizzy. ‘I mean it!’
Borgon went over to the bag and reached inside. Grizzy raised all the weapons in the air, ready to attack him with everything at once if she had to.
‘I wanted this to be a secret,’ said Borgon. ‘But I suppose you had to find out some time.’
Very slowly, Borgon pulled something out of the bag. Grizzy was so astonished, she dropped all the weapons to the ground with a big CLUNK!
‘What have you got there?’ said Grizzy suspiciously.
‘It’s a slice of bread,’ said Borgon.
‘Bread?’ gasped Grizzy. ‘Is that how your dad killed a dragon?’
Borgon shook his head and laughed. ‘He didn’t kill a dragon. That would have been far too easy. Dragons are a lot more DANGEROUS when they’re alive … and more FUN too!’
‘Then I don’t get it,’ Grizzy said, looking very confused. ‘What breakfast can you make with a live dragon and a slice of bread?’
‘The Best Barbarian Breakfast Ever!’ chuckled Borgon.