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

too close, don't engage it seriously. You're running interference for me. Keep it busy, but don't get yourself killed. It may take me a bit to size up a good shot, but it should only take one if we do this right...
Gotcha. I'll give him the run-around so that you can move freely in the woods. Just don't take too long. If he starts lobbing fireballs at me, I don't know what I'll do. Mau remained very low to the ground, her wide paws guiding her toward the break in the woods where the dragon presently idled. Then, with a burst of ferocious speed from her powerful hindquarters, she barreled through the trees with all the swiftness and silence of a summer breeze.
The arrow was nocked with a single fluid motion and the Fae huntress shifted soundlessly between the trees, drawing closer to the ruby-colored giant and preparing to unleash a surprise attack. Mau would let her know when she'd entered into the perfect range, and upon Minx's say-so, the Faelyr would strike. Then, when the winged beast proved sufficiently distracted, she'd cut it down to size with a well-aimed shot. OK, Mau, are you ready? she asked, testing the tension of her weapon. I'll see about climbing one of the trees for a better vantage point. Either that, or I can crouch near the edge of the woods and go for a weak spot.
Up ahead, she watched the dragon move, as if it had suddenly taken notice of something in its surroundings. Minx froze, uncertain if the beast had noticed her or the Faelyr. Its large head, studded in ivory horns just above the brow ridge, turned toward the woods, and one of its gleaming yellow eyes scanned the treeline. The tip of its rusty snout was tipped in a small, blunt horn, and visible just past the edges of its lips were myriad fangs of terrifying length. The longest of them seemed nearly the length of Minx's forearm; a single bite from that fearsome mouth was all it would take to kill most anything unfortunate enough to end up in range. The red titan's long, snake-like neck turned this way and that as it peered through the woods, and its dense body, studded in shimmering plates of red, scaly armor, was raised on four dense legs as big around as any of the trees in sight. Two tremendous wings sprouted from the creature's back, ribbed in shining veins of red and laced with a black, leathery membrane that could capture an incredible amount of air with every flap.
This was her target, the thing she'd been sent to hunt—the very thing she'd trained her whole life to kill. A dragon, she thought with a tremor of wonder. This is it. This is the real thing... Standing in the woods, waiting for Mau to make her move, Minx couldn't help but be awed by the sight of the great and terrible creature. OK, Mau, I think he's noticed us. Go ahead—attack him now! ordered Minx, placing her back to one of the trees and waiting for the Faelyr to strike.
But there was no reply.
Mau, I said to go ahead, attack.
Minx paused, still receiving no answer.
Mau, are you listening? More than the enormous dragon looming just beyond the treeline, Minx was distraught over the ominous silence. Their telepathic link had never been disrupted before, and surely Mau was still within range of her thoughts. So, why wasn't she responding? This was no time to go silent! Mau, began the Fae huntress nervously, you're scaring me. Where are you? We need to launch the attack before—
The scaly titan to her back loosed a sudden grunt. Minx turned very slightly, peering around the trunk of the tree to see what it had reacted to, only to find herself locked in its burning yellow gaze.
It had found her.
Having lost the element of surprise, Minx stepped out from behind the tree, raised her bow and let fly a well-aimed arrow. The shot raced through the trees and met its mark with a rattling crash—though it did not prove the killing blow she'd hoped. Instead, the simple arrow had ricocheted off the heavy plating of the dragon's brow and had snapped against the dense white horns atop its head.
And to her horror, the beast wasted no time in retaliating.
Rising to its full height, the fire dragon stretched its neck upward till its flaring snout was nearly buried in the canopy. It loosed an earth-rumbling growl, and tendrils of black smoke poured from its nostrils. The reddish skin along its throat swelled, and without warning it opened its terrible maw and belched forth a rain of fire which crashed through the trees and scalded the forest floor.
She felt the heat wash over her as she dove to her left, rolling through the sizzling undergrowth and emerging into the windswept glade. Before she'd even regained her feet, Minx had taken another arrow from the quiver, and without hesitation she quickly nocked it and sent it flying upward, toward the dragon's neck. The razor-sharp point struck the thing's stony red plating, but could not penetrate, leading the shaft of the arrow to erupt into splinters.
There was no time just then to launch a third, for before she could nock another arrow, the Royal Dragon's rock-like tail was upon her. The powerful appendage, studded in boulder-like scales, rushed in from her right like a sledge, and it was only by a swift dodge that she avoided being crushed by it. The thing's tail struck the ground with cataclysmic fury, sending up a cloud of dust, grass and debris. She took several steps away from the creature, clutching her bow and searching its enormous form for a vulnerability.
There was no denying it. She was shaken. Though she'd trained a long time for this moment, she now realized that no amount of training could ever have prepared her for the real thing. The slightest movements of this Royal Dragon were enough to