How to Kill a Dragon (Heir of Dragons Book 1)

the Council, doesn't it? offered Mau with a laugh.
Sure, my mother and father are on the Council, but that doesn't mean I get everything handed to me. If anything, it means I have to work harder than everyone to show my worth. But when we're through with this, there won't be any doubt. I'll have really earned the title of Dragon Hunter.
They passed through the door and across the platform built into the side of the tree which was their home. Across the canopy were countless other habitations, all of them built into the towering growths of Pan. These ancient, friendly trees, whose roots sometimes acted as pathways between the Fae in the sending and receiving of messages, were riddled with small homes, their occupants taking in the sun on freestanding decks or chatting with neighbors on adjacent limbs. Minx and Mau made their way down the narrow steps winding the length of the tree and arrived finally upon the forest floor. From there, they set out for the oldest tree in the forest; wise Winterlimb. It was beyond him that the steps into the city could be reached.
So, began Mau as they started past Winterlimb and into the city proper, what's a Royal Dragon doing in the area? They haven't been active in these parts for a long, long time...
Yes, the big ones haven't been seen around here since the Great Dragon Wars, replied Minx. Some believed them to be extinct. Apparently, that's not the case. I don't know why this thing is poking around now of all times, but it's a good thing, because we need its hide to keep the protection spell going. Without it, Pandling Grounds and Heilo Lake will be vulnerable.
They trekked past the city, hurrying into the wilds surrounding the bustling Pandling Trade Center. The Trade Center, where members of every race did business, had about it certain rules that all were required to abide by. A ban on all weaponry was at the top of the list. Not wishing to deal with the legal repercussions of toting around her bow within the Trade Center's limits, Minx and Mau skirted the borders of the Trade Center and set off for the neighboring glades, marching through clusters of close-growing trees where they were bathed in shade. From there, they would be able to access the edges of the Pandling Grounds—where the dragon had allegedly been spotted.
It was a pleasant day, haunted by a fair breeze and the trademark scents of the warm season. The greenery all about them was pronounced, and as the leaves mingled with the sunlight the forest seemed to throb with a dream-like green. The boughs of old trees creaked lyrically with every gust of the wind, and through the canopy could be glimpsed knots of cottony clouds which crawled relentlessly across skies of blue. Minx couldn't have asked for better conditions that this. It's a perfect day for a hunt, she thought as they trudged through the underbrush. Wouldn't you agree?
Mau didn't reply, however.
No sooner had the pair broken through one wall of trees and entered a clearing toward the northern side of the Pandling Trade Center did they spy something baffling in the distance. Ordinarily this was a vast and empty space, populated only by travelers on their way in or out of the territory.
On this day, the plains were anything but empty.
Minx stood half-way in the shade, peering out into the distance where a great mob had assembled. What's this? she wondered, studying the marching mass. Judging by the armaments of those marching, it appeared that a large army had assembled. An army bound for her home territory, where armed conflict was forbidden, was a dizzying sight. She scanned the throngs narrowly, and found among their ranks members of many races. There were Wuffs among them—Plurn and Krah, too. But what had brought this massive group to the Trade Center in the first place? I've got a bad feeling about this, she thought. Have you ever seen a force like this one descend on the Trade Center? Weapons aren't allowed there—and I imagine they'll frown upon armies, too...
Perhaps we should go and check it out, offered Mau, stepping out into the clearing. It's not every day you see a swarm of that size headed for the Trade Center. Do you think they mean trouble?
Minx started into the distance. It's possible...
Before they arrived within the limits of the Pandling Trade Center, Minx made certain to stash her weapons away, leaving them in a secure spot with Mau for a guardian. Unarmed, she passed into the Trade Center just in time to catch the various folk there, only moments ago engaged in trade, now looking out with concern at the approaching army. The advancing forces had not gone unnoticed by the Pan leadership, and several members of the Council—her own mother and father among them—were now starting through the town square in the interest of ascertaining the mob's purpose.
Minx pushed her way through the crowd, joining her parents. “Hey!” she called out to her father. “I was just about to head out of the area when I saw this army marching for the Trade Center. Do you know who they are? What they want?”
Her father's look was grim as he conversed quietly with other Council members. “No,” he said finally. “We don't know what they want. But we're going to find out.”
Within minutes, the army of Wuff, Plurn and Krah had arrived at the Trade Center gates. The mob was so large that their presence in the entryway all but blocked the movement of wagons in or out of the Trade Center.
The fox-like Wuffs looked to make up the bulk of the army. Though she had never seen such a thing herself, Minx had heard it said that their war parties could sometimes swell to over a thousand strong. Intelligent and not to be underestimated on the battlefield, the Wuff were an engineered race, created by audacious magic users in ages