The brown dragon turned high in the sky and flew like an arrow at her father’s watchtower. Fire was blasting out of its mouth. Henry was helpless.
“Puck, we have to get the brown one now!”
Puck spun himself back to his regular shape and then turned the catapult in the proper direction. He looked through a sight to line up his shot.
“Puck, you can’t miss,” Sabrina said fiercely.
“I won’t miss,” Puck said, but he couldn’t hide his agitation. “Fire!”
Daphne slammed on the red button and again a rock was flung into the sky. Unfortunately, it rocketed past the monster and flew into the forest.
“Oops,” Puck said.
Sabrina looked up and saw the dragon preparing his blast. Her father stood, helpless, on the tower. There was nothing she could do.
“I got it!” Veronica cried and suddenly water was blasting out of the cannon and straight into the mouth of the dragon. It gurgled and gasped as it fell to the ground. Once there it flipped over on its back and died.
“That was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” Puck said as he ran for the other watchtower. “You guys handle the rock thrower. I’m going to have fun with the world’s biggest squirt gun!”
“Hey! How are we supposed to load this thing?” Sabrina cried, but the fairy boy was already climbing the ladder.
Daphne looked over at the massive rock. “That’s going to take more elbow grease than the two of us have.”
“You help Dad,” Sabrina said. “I’ll try to keep ol’ stinkface focused. I wouldn’t put it past him to fire that thing at us.”
The girls raced off in opposite directions. Soon Sabrina reached the platform where Puck was busy spraying water all over the forest and ignoring the circling monsters.
“You really have an attention problem,” Sabrina said, pointing to a jade-colored dragon zooming toward them. She wrenched the handle of the cannon away from Puck and turned it toward the flying nightmare. The device was attached to a pivot in the floor and swung in a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circle. It also had a metal pin at the end of the cannon that acted as a sight and allowed her to aim. She pushed the firing button lightly, just to see how much water would come out, and was surprised to see a torrent wash down over the forest. As the dragon got closer she braced herself and fired. The water shot out of the cannon and hit the dragon right in the jaw. It was a lucky shot but an effective one and the creature reared back in panic.
“Hey! I called this tower. Go kill dragons somewhere else,” Puck shouted as he shoved her out of the way. A white dragon appeared on his left and barreled down on the fort, sending a river of flame that left a scorched trail across the entire complex and ignited the eastern wall.
“You’re not supposed to let it burn the place to the ground! If you can’t do this step aside,” Sabrina said.
Puck growled. “Leave me alone. I know what I’m doing.”
Puck fired the cannon but without a head-on approach, the water was of little use. The white dragon was unfazed and continued circling the fort.
“Give me the cannon, Puck,” Sabrina said, pushing Puck out of the way. Studying the skies for another flying menace, she quickly spotted the white dragon approaching fast. She trained the weapon on the beast and waited patiently, seeing the fire licking the insides of its jaws. She had to let it get close to make her attack effective. In fact, she realized, she had to let it get so close it would put her into a do-or-die situation. To get the best shot and put out the fire inside the dragon, it needed to be nearly on top of her. She grasped the handle of the cannon tightly and forced herself to stay put. Closer. Closer. She could feel the heat of the creature approaching. Her ears were full of its roars and the sound of its wings. Let it get closer. It was nearly at the fence; any second now it would be right on top of her. She fired right into the dragon’s open jaws. It fell out of the sky but crashed inside the fort and leveled the mess tent. When it hit the ground it skidded across the yard, slamming into another dead dragon.
“I’m catching up, ugly,” Sabrina said.
“Lucky shot!” Puck complained as he snatched the cannon away from Sabrina. He spun the cannon toward another approaching dragon and fired. He missed the mark and tried again.
“What’s the matter, booger brain? Do you need a bigger target?” Sabrina cried, pulling the cannon away from Puck.
He yanked it back. “Who can concentrate with your breath in my face? I’m probably not hitting anything because you have infected me with your puberty virus.”
“Puck, puberty isn’t a virus. You go through it when you grow up.”