It was early evening when we got to the three stakes. They were not in front of the cave mouth as before but in a steep-walled gully with a grove of trees partway up it. Hidden in that grove were the crossbows, manned by Grigor and Lorenz. When Almidahl came into the gully she would not be able to fly out easily, or to dodge the crossbow quarrels. I tied my ladies to the stakes—a rope about the waist and a rope about the neck—and blindfolded them. Downhill from their stakes was my artificial dragon machine. I sat down beside it.
We waited. We all felt certain the Queen would not wait until midnight.
On the way there the wind had gusted from the south. A storm was brewing, much as it had been on Dragon Day. I fretted. Strong wind could ruin even a well-aimed shot. But as we waited, the wind died down and was replaced by a chill, silently moving mass of air from the west. The wind would turn to the north soon and a slow steady rain would begin.
I thrilled with panic! The crossbow strings! Would they work in rain?
I calmed myself. If there was a problem he couldn’t solve, Lorenz would tell me.
At deep dusk our wait ended. The color had drained from the dark green vegetation around us. I saw nothing but sensed her presence.
I moved to sit in the dragon machine and build up the pressures. In a minute or so it would be able to perform its imitation.
“You have come with my prizes, Woman Stealer. Does this mean you are ready to pledge to me?”
I heard her … but I still didn’t see her!
She laughed. Ack! She was on the ledge above the gully, not in it!
“The ladies have come to offer themselves in order to protect their villages,” I said. “I am here to see that their sacrifice is not in vain.” I was babbling. I had to figure out how to get her into the gully!
“So I want your pledge,” I shouted.
“You would take my unsupported pledge?”
“No. I want something tangible.” It sounded logical, but I was just fishing.
“What would you like, Woman Stealer?”
An idea came to me. “The Head of Qin Non-won!” It was nonsensical, but it would buy me some time and it sounded important.
Queen Almidahl roared in what was likely a laugh. “And how do you propose I get you that head?”
“You know … you’re right. There is no bond of yours I can trust.”
I pulled levers and kicked my artificial dragon machine around to face my ladies at their stakes. I turned on the whistle and held my breath as I pulled the big lever that started the fire-breathing sequence.
“No!” screamed the Queen in a long howl, over my whistle. In a chilling display of agility she scuttled down the gully wall, circled herself protectively around my ladies, and breathed hard on the threatening machine.
My machine was relatively immune to fire; accidents would happen, and I had designed it so. Nevertheless, the Queen’s breath was a great deal of fire! The young fire elementals in the machine squealed in delight, but the Imps abandoned ship and the brass gears warped. My machine ground to a stop, hissing futilely at its model. Of course I was protected by a formidable flame protection spell, but I could take my ruse no further. A clawing or any other physical attack by Almidahl would do me much damage.
I braced for an attack that did not come. She remained coiled unmoving around the ladies.
When she did not move I hopped quickly out of the noisy dragon machine. As I slowly approached the real Dragon, I heard the twang of a crossbow and the thunk as a quarrel hit. As I got close I could see this was the third of three quarrels embedded in her body.
“Not needed! No more!” shouted Lorenz, alias Qin Non-Won. He was out of the grove and running down the slope towards Almidahl, who now collapsed prone onto the ground. So that must have been Grigor’s shot, I thought, his second.
“Come, quickly, help me!” Lorenz shouted as he ran, followed by Grigor. We reached the Queen together.
“Quickly, Grigor, Baron, lift her head and stretch out her neck.” Lorenz had a quill pen out and some ink. He was writing magical glyphs on the nape of her neck. “Hold it there.” And soon after, “Lift her head higher! I must write these around her entire neck.”
We lifted the head a little. It must have been a hundred and fifty kilograms. Grigor and I hefted harder. The two of us wrestled Almidahl’s head up while little Lorenz lay on his back and continued writing under her chin.
All this time the Queen was breathing and there was fire in her eyes, but she didn’t move or speak. I smiled at Grigor in relief as we held up her heavy head. My impromptu ploy had worked, and Lorenz’s potion was as fast acting as he claimed.
The glyphs were finished. Lorenz sprang back to his feet.
“You may put her down.” We released the Queen’s head and backed off beside him. He chanted a spell and the glyphs were replaced with a steel collar.
“It is done,” he sighed. “She is mine now.”
“What do you mean yours?” asked Grigor.
“I now have a pet Dragon! Isn’t that right, dear?” Lorenz asked cheerily.
The paralysis was wearing off and Almidahl managed a small shriek of frustration.
“And you, my helpful Baron, now can keep your ladies.”
“You’re not going to kill her?” Grigor asked.
“Quite unnecessary. This will be just another episode in the story of Queen Almidahl’s Search for Qin Non-Won … a most humiliating one for her, I might add.”
Lorenz turned to me. “My Baron, you are a good man, for a man. Clever, resourceful, respectful, and honorable. This victory is yours.” As I started to protest he waved me silent. “No, no, no. I gave you the tools, including myself, but you were the one who used them—don’t sell yourself short.
“And don’t sell these ladies short, either. If they had not been truly outstanding in their own ways, this story would not have been told.”
“If I’m a victor, why are my eyes covered and my arms still behind me?” put in Adrijana.
“Can we not see what our Baron has accomplished?” asked Marija.
“I think we’ve been at these stakes quite long enough,” Ana declared.
We men untied the ladies and I gave each a long kiss of enormous relief.
Queen Almidahl was now on her feet. The potion was nearly as fast retreating as it was advancing. The ladies stared at her in amazement. Adrijana moved up and touched her. “I have heard many a tale of a man meeting his destiny for a woman, but never a she-Dragon.”
“You are not likely to hear another, Human woman,” said Queen Almidahl. “For this is a Dragon tale you have been part of, and your part is now played out. It is on Qin Non-won that my attention rests.”