Seeing Earhart hesitate, Virginia gave a gentle smile.

"That's all right. Take your time to think about it, and tell me your decision tomorrow," Virginia said kindly, her voice echoing softly against the cold iron walls.

Just then, a piercing dragon's roar rang out beyond the sealed iron window. Virginia leaped to her feet with swift agility. "The dragon is here — prepare for battle!"

In an instant, the entire steel fortress trembled, and the hunters' boots struck the hard floor with a ringing clatter. Erhart hurried after Virginia through the narrow stone corridors.

She led a squad of heavily armed hunters up to the cannon turret on the iron roof's top floor. The wind whipped around them as they stepped out into the open air.

"This is a cannon I developed myself," the chief said proudly, gesturing toward the black, beast-like cannon. It sat massive and menacing on its iron mount.

"There is no material in the world tougher than the shells it fires, except for a legendary sword forged from a single scale that the dragon shed a thousand years ago."

"Could it be a rainbow-colored dragon scale?" Erhart asked in surprise. "Exactly," Virginia replied. "Now, thanks to our hunters' relentless efforts, she is far weaker than she once was."

The sky suddenly grew dark. Erhart thought storm clouds had drifted in, but the air turned ice-cold, and a massive shadow swept over the roof.

When Erhart looked up, he saw that it was the Silver Dragon's enormous body blotting out the sun. Her scales shimmered with a cold, metallic light.

Virginia commanded, "Fire at once!" The hunters loaded the ammunition, lit the fuse, took aim, and fired. The roar of the cannon shook the very air.

At the same moment, the Silver Dragon breathed a blast of pale, freezing wind toward the turret. The sky filled with swirling frost and cold blue energy.

In a flash, the blinding white light of the dragon's breath collided with the cannon's scarlet flames. The impact created a powerful burst of light.

The glare was so intense that Erhart's eyes stung, and he had to raise his hand to shield them from the searing brilliance and the freezing wind.

When he opened his eyes again, the hunters were on the ground. Only the chief still stood, pointing toward the distant cliff. "The dragon is wounded — she's falling! Go find her!"

Erhart saw a faint white glow emanating from the direction of the cliff. He scrambled to his feet and volunteered at once, "I'll go find her!"He determined to reach the fallen dragon before it was too late.