Rohan charged, whether from bravery or foolishness, even he couldn’t say, his gaze locked on the dragon’s massive foreleg. The beast loomed above him, its eyes fixed on the insignificant creature daring to strike. Claws scythed through the air. Rohan jerked his shield up just in time. Steel screeched as talons raked across it, the impact shuddering through his bones. Rohan countered, hammer crushing into the dragon’s leg with a splintering crack. The beast staggered, scales fracturing like brittle glass and Rohan allowed himself a quick smile before it was gone the next second. Frost seethed across the dragon’s wound, scales knitting back together before his eyes. His breath hitched, and a hint of panic. The dragon’s head snaked down, maw gaping. Rohan looked up to see a vortex of cold churned in its throat. Serena and Ayla threw up their arms as the blizzard erupted. Wind howled, ice needled their skin. When the storm cleared, Rohan stood encased in tomb of ice, shield half-raised, his face frozen mid-snarl.

“No!” Ayla screamed. She drew her bowstring back and loosed arrows in rapid succession, aiming for chinks in the dragon’s scaled armour. They bounced off its icy carapace, clattering to the ground uselessly, but the barrage drew the dragon’s gaze.

“Free Rohan!” Ayla shouted. “I’ll keep it away!” She dashed backward, firing more arrows. The dragon roared, fury shaking the cavern as it stomped toward her, oblivious to Serena darting toward Rohan’s frozen form.

Serena reached Rohan’s icy prison, her hands trembling as she pressed them against the frost. “By the gods, I hope this works,” she whispered. A warm glow spread from her palms, flames licking across the ice. Water dripped, pooling at her feet.

Inside, Rohan felt the ice weaken. He strained, muscles burning as cracks spiderwebbed around him. With a final shudder, the prison shattered. He gasped, shaking off the remnants of frost.

“What would I do without you?” he said, flashing Serena a grin. She blushed despite the cold.

“Come on,” he said, hefting his hammer. “Let’s help Ayla.”

 

The pair scrambled backward through the cavern as Ayla's eyes darted across the dragon's armoured flanks, searching for any weakness. With the beast distracted, Rohan slipped behind it and drove his hammer into its hind leg with a thunderous crack. Divine light erupted from the impact, sending the dragon reeling with an earth-shaking roar.

As the creature whirled to face this new threat, Serena's staff blazed to life. A firebolt scorched across its snout, followed instantly by a second. Ayla gulped air, her fingers trembling as she nocked another arrow.

The dragon's wings snapped open without warning. The resulting gale nearly swept the warriors off their feet as it reared upward.

That familiar blue glow pulsed in its chest, frost gathering at its jaws.

"Ice breath!" Rohan bellowed. "Split up!"

They dove in different directions as the glacial blast shattered the ground where they'd stood. The cavern became a whiteout of swirling snow and ice fragments. Ayla wiped frost from her lashes, squinting through the chaos.

A thunderous crash beside her. The air cleared just enough to reveal movement. She turned just in time to see death approaching.

A claw swiped through the frost straight toward her. Ayla’s footing faltered on the ice. No time to dodge. She closed her eyes. Then the world exploded in pain as something collided with her ribs, sending her skidding across the ice. A scream, terrible and raw, tore through the cavern. Ayla looked up from where she'd fallen to witness horror.

Serena, who’d lunged to shove her aside, now lay in two halves, a crimson pool spreading across the ice. The mage's staff lay nearby, its glowing tip sputtering like a dying star.

No sound escaped Ayla's throat. The truth of Serena's sacrifice struck her like a physical blow, sharper than any winter wind. Hot tears traced paths down her frozen cheeks as she crawled forward, hands slipping in the spreading crimson.

 

The dragon's triumphant roar shook the cavern as its gaze locked onto Ayla. It lunged, only to hesitate when Rohan's hammer crunched into its tail, sending scales flying like shattered ice.

"Ayla, move!" Rohan's voice was raw with fury and pain. He ducked beneath snapping jaws, drawing the beast's attention from the stunned archer.

Ayla wiped her tears with a trembling hand. Not for nothing. She wouldn't let Serena's sacrifice be wasted.

"Bring it back this way!" She knocked a crackling arrow, its tip alive with sparks.

Rohan blocked another claw strike, the impact shuddering up his arms. He rolled between the dragon's legs and sprinted toward Ayla. The beast whirled, just as her arrow found its mark. The shot struck true.

Lightning erupted from the dragon's eye in jagged arcs, blood sizzling as it ran down the scaled muzzle. The creature's scream was deafening.

"Now!" Rohan moved to strike, then froze.

The dragon had gone berserk. It spun wildly, claws raking air, tail lashing like a whip. Rohan barely raised his shield in time. The blow drove him to his knees; breath crushed from his lungs. Ayla had no such protection.

The tail caught her full in the stomach, sending her skidding along the ice like a discarded stone across a lakebed. She came to rest in a broken heap.

Rohan reached her in three strides, hammer forgotten next to him as he cradled her. Ayla's breaths came in wet gasps. One leg bent unnaturally, blood painted her chin with each exhale.

As he sat her up, Ayla coughed, blood spilling down her front.

"I'm not... walking away... from this one," she managed.

"Don't…" Rohan's voice broke. "We'll finish this together."

Behind them, the dragon's thrashing sent up plumes of snow and ice, its movements increasingly erratic.

"Serena's potions…" Rohan said desperately. His gaze darted to where the mage lay, her blood a dark blemish against the white floor. The hope died in his throat.

Ayla's hand rose, trembling, to brush his cheek. Her touch left a smudge of blood beneath his eye. "Shh... It's okay."

Rohan bowed his head as her breathing slowed.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I think... this is where our story ends."

Gently, he laid her down.

He let his shield drop to the ground with finality. The hammer felt heavier as he lifted it, not a weapon now, but a promise.