Frostborn: The First Quest by Jonathan Moeller

spun to meet him, her steel talons rising to deflect his swing. She was slender, and Ridmark stood a foot tall than her, but she blocked his strike without difficulty.
    The urdhracos roared in fury, orange-white light flaring to life inside her mouth. 
    Ridmark sidestepped and swung Heartwarden down, aiming for her legs. The urdhracos saw the blow coming and dodged, her mouth opening as she prepared to spit fire upon him. Ridmark pivoted, and brought his boot down onto the back of her knee. Superhuman strength or not, the urdhracos stumbled, and Ridmark tripped her.
    She landed upon her back, the fire blasting from her mouth to lash at the domed ceiling overhead. The terrible heat of it forced Ridmark back, the glare stinging his eyes. The fire winked out, and Ridmark lunged, hoping to land a blow before the urdhracos recovered her balance. Lancelus attacked with a shout as the urdhracos regained her feet, and she ducked under his swing with the sinuous grace of a serpent. Her backhand caught him in the belly with enough force to throw him to the floor. 
    She started to turn, but Ridmark was already moving. Heartwarden came down and sliced deep into her left wing. The urdhracos screamed in fury and pain, and Ridmark tried to rip his sword free. The creature proved faster, her fist slamming into his chest. The power of the blow threw him backward, Heartwarden still clenched in his grasp. He caught his balance as the urdhracos thrust out her hands, dark fire crackling to life around her fingers.
    He called upon Heartwarden, catching the black flame upon the sword’s glowing blade. The force of it hammered at him, yet Ridmark drove himself forward, moving closer to the creature. She snarled, fingers hooked, and poured more power at him. Heartwarden shuddered in Ridmark’s grasp, the sheer strength of the urdhracos’s magic threatening to tear the blade from his hand. 
    But he kept moving.
    Then the creature’s spell ended.
    Ridmark threw himself forward, Heartwarden blurring. The blade bit into the urdhracos’s slender neck and took off her head in a burst of black blood. The body twitched, jerked, and collapsed atop its wings. 
    Silence fell over the domed chamber. 
    Ridmark let out a long breath, fighting a wave of exhaustion that passed through him, and hurried to Sir Lancelus’s side. He feared the older knight had been slain. But Lancelus coughed and sat up, blinking as he wiped blood from his mouth.
    “God!” he said. “She hit hard. I thought I was done for.” He blinked, and took the hand Ridmark offered to help him stand. “You…you killed her. You actually killed her. I thought urdhracos were only legends, but…my God, you killed her.” He shook his head. “You have deprived the Warden of a valuable servant this day.”
    Ridmark shrugged. “She was trying to kill us.”
    “Her wings,” said Lancelus. “How did you know to strike at her wings?”
    Ridmark shrugged again. “It seemed the wisest choice when fighting a creature with the power of flight. And I suspected…”
    “Suspected what?” said Lancelus, staring at the corpse.
    “That she relied overmuch upon her flight,” said Ridmark. “It is a common fallacy. The Magistri rely too much on their magic, I think, and neglect to keep themselves fit. A swordsman will rely too much upon his blade, and forget to train himself with other weapons. If I kept her upon the ground, I thought, she would make a mistake and I could defeat her.”
    “And you were right,” said Lancelus. The older Swordbearer grinned and laughed loud and long again. “What a warrior you are, Sir Ridmark of the House of the Arbanii! You ought to have perished a dozen times since you set foot within the ruins. Yet here you are, storming the tower of the Warden. What a tale you shall have to tell, if you live to return!” He rubbed his beard. “A most remarkable destiny must await you. Yes. I am sure of it.” 
    Ridmark frowned, uneasy at the older man’s sudden