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

a boiling point. Panicked at seeing her mother pulled away in chains, she prepared to lash out—to fight off the army bare-handed, if necessary—but her father interceded before she could do so. “Please,” pleaded her father, approaching Valry, “reconsider. Release these hostages. There is no need for this. We cannot allow outsiders to access Heilo Lake, but surely we can negotiate on other fronts and find some way to—”
Valry silenced the Royal Fae with a savage kick, her leathery heel knocking the air from his lungs and sending him falling into Minx's arms. “I'll be very happy to reconsider—as soon as I get what I want, that is.” She bared her sharp teeth in a coquettish smile. “You refuse us access to your special lake, and you have no grazing lands for our friends the Krah. But we have something you want,” she mocked, taking up a lock of Minx's mother's dark hair and running it through her clawed fingers. “I propose a trade for these leaders of yours. Deliver us the hide of a Royal Dragon and we'll return these prisoners safe and sound.”
“A dragon's hide?” gasped Minx, helping her father to his feet. “But—”
“It's my final offer,” spat the vixen. “We won't leave here empty-handed. Either you deliver a precious dragon hide within a week, or we kill the hostages. It's that simple.” She raised her right arm over her head and made a quick motion with her hand. At her signal the entire war party began to shift, slowly backing out of the Trade Center entrance. Before she disappeared back into the mass of Wuff, Plurn and Krah, Valry paused to size up the remaining Council members and other onlookers, their eyes wide with terror. “You have one week. Be thankful I've given you that long.”
Over the course of minutes, the war party marched from the Trade Center, dragging their hostages behind them. The Council members who'd been left behind now clustered together, exchanging panicked glances and despairing over the fate of those kidnapped. “A week? How can we hope to come up with a dragon's hide within a week?” one of them asked.
“We already needed a dragon's hide for ourselves! Without it, the warding spell will fail and our territories will be vulnerable! We can't afford to just hand such a thing over to her,” muttered another.
“Father,” said Minx, watching the retreating army, “Mau is waiting nearby, with my bow. If we follow the army and find some high ground, I can take out that Wuff leader and rescue mother.” She knew it was a reckless plan before the words even left her lips, but she was possessed by a fiery anger. This insult was too great to bear, and her desire to save her mother overpowered her. “One shot. That's all it will take. One good shot...”
“No,” he replied sharply, drawing her close with a tug of the arm. “No, don't be rash. If you attack them, there's every possibility they'll overrun you. Your mother might even perish in the chaos. Don't doubt the viciousness of the Wuff; Valry wasn't lying when she threatened to kill the hostages. She's given us a week to deliver the dragon hide. This will be the only way...”
“But, Father—!”
“I mean it,” he continued, taking her into his arms. “It would be reckless to try and fight an entire army with nothing but a bow—whether you're Dragon Hunter or not.” He cleared his throat. “It's true that we need a dragon's hide for ourselves, but... the situation has changed. We must see to it that we can meet this unreasonable demand of Valry's...”
“So...” Minx lowered her gaze, trying to swallow her anger. “So, we're going to give them what they want? We're... I'm... going to get them a dragon's hide?”
Her father nodded. “Yes. And you cannot afford to fail. Your mother's life, and the lives of the other hostages, depend on your success.”
Securing a dragon's hide to ensure the continuation of the warding spell over Pandling Grounds had seemed a big job to her only moments ago. Now, she had to somehow secure two.
The stakes had gotten higher.
Much higher.

Chapter 2
Minx and Mau both kept close watch over the outskirts of Pan, looking for signs of the reported dragon. They could not afford to let the intruding dragon escape; to do so would only prolong their quest for a hide and put the lives of the hostages at further risk.
I can't believe it, thought Minx. She sent her thoughts to the watchful Faelyr with extra emphasis. They dragged her and the others off because we wouldn't comply with their requests. What were we supposed to do? We can't let them enter Heilo Lake, Mau.
Of course not, came Mau's telepathic reply. But worrying about it now isn't going to change things. We need to stay calm, keep a lookout for the dragon. One successful hunt and we can put all of this behind us, she said.
Not one hunt, corrected the Fae huntress. Two. We're on the hook for two dragons now.
The job she'd been assigned earlier that day had only become more complicated over the course of hours. Minx needed not one, but two hides. The wellbeing of her mother and the other hostages notwithstanding, the elders of Pandling Grounds still required a dragon's hide to re-cast the protective spell over their territory. The magic involved in working the protective spell could use no substitute. It was only because of the magical barrier that the homelands of the Fae had remained safe and peaceful for so many years—and if she failed now, that safety and peace would evaporate in the blink of an eye. Rather than being remembered as the valiant Dragon Hunter, she would go down in history as a failure if she returned empty-handed. This was something that her pride would never allow her to bear.
Discussions with her father had been tense and unproductive. She'd pitched him all kinds of different rescue plots, considered