Rowan was not the only one who came to the realization that what scared the wolves was considered an apex predator.

Grandpa Rodan already decided on the spot to follow the path of the wolves right after seeing the pack. He had already placed the boys on Bessie the cow and the rest of the farm group was following the direction of the rapidly retreating wolves.

Unfortunately, they were still too slow in the end.

When the wolves had broken through the forest, they had cleared a path for themselves. The path was made so it was easier for the other members of the pack to follow. The wolves had not thought of anything else except for running away.

In their panic, the wolves had not realized that they were also clearing a path for their pursuer.

Had the wolves exited anywhere else, their hunter would have continued to pursue the pack. However, the wolf pack had exited where the farm was, which could only mean one thing.

Rowan and his group were in the direct path of the mysterious pursuer, making them the next possible targets.

“GET DOWN!”

Just as Grandpa Rodan shouted those words, something hot flashed past Rowan and his group. It happened so quickly that it took Rowan to realize what was flying at them.

A giant fireball that could engulf any adult into ashes.

Grandpa Rodan raised himself to meet the incoming threat and slashed down with his plow.

The impact between the two had lit up the night. It was so bright that it was enough for a person to have mistaken that the night to have turned to day. Rowan’s vision had completely turned white.

BOOOOM!

Something exploded behind Rowan and almost knocked the wind out of him. He could feel his consciousness slipping away due to the shock, but barely managed to hold on.

Not that it came without repercussions. 

Whatever exploded behind had knocked him flat and disoriented his hearing. All he could hear was ringing. Rowan shook his head to recover himself, still seeing spots in his vision. He turned his head around to find out what the cause of his fall and could not but gape his mouth in shock.

The house was on fire.

Or rather what was left of it. 

Rowan made a guess as to what happened before. His vision was blinded by his grandpa’s strike against the fireball. Despite Grandpa Rodan’s powerful blow, the fireball had not been completely destroyed. Its partial destruction resulted in flames splitting and flying past the elderly farmer. 

Whatever the flames hit had destroyed half of the house, while the remaining half was on fire. A fire that began to transfer to the barn. Rowan had not lived here for long, but he had grown attached to the house. He could not help, but feel a sense of loss as the flames spread throughout the buildings. 

Suddenly Grandpa Rodan’s voice broke Rowan out of his tupor.

“Buckbeak and Dolly with me! Everyone else is to escape when there is an opening!”

Rowan whirled his head to Grandpa Rodan when he heard the orders. Surely it wasn't so bad that they needed to split up? That was when Rowan finally saw what his Grandpa had seen.

The one who was responsible for setting the forest on fire and causing the wolves to flee.

A dragon.

A monster that reigns as the king. A predator that towers beyond any food chain. Countless horror stories and legends are told of its might. 

Had the forest not been on fire, the dragon would have perfectly camouflage with the night sky. Its onyx scales  shined aglow from flames that blazed from the Forest of Death. Its fangs and claws dripped with blood from its earlier hunts. It eyes aptly paid attention to the farm group as it stared at it’s new prey.

The dragon started at the group and raised its head to the night sky.

ROAR!

Rowan would have found the scene beautiful if he wasn’t shaking in his shoes right now. 

The roar came with a terrifying pressure that paralyzes his entire body. Fear and despair overcame him. How could they face such a monster?

“ENOUGH! COME AND FACE ME BEAST!”

Grandpa Rodan's voice awakened Rowan from the fog of fear that had overtaken his mind. He watched as his Grandpa charged at the dragon several times larger than him and slashed downwards with all his might.

Which was met with a swing of its right leg as it effortlessly sent the old man flying towards the blazing house.

The eyes of the dragon gleamed with malice as it stepped towards the remaining members of the group. It inhaled a deep breath and Rowan knew immediately what was going to happen.  He finally found out where the fireball had come from earlier. The stomach of the dragon inflated and its head aimed at the remaining members of the group. 

Just as the dragon was about to release its breath, a certain sheep soared in the air and headbutted the monster with enough force to redirect its aim.

A torrent of flame was released towards the fields, destroying all the work the humans had done for the last few days.

Not to be left behind, Buckbeak use his agility to fly through the sky and began pecking the dragon with its beak. It nimbly dodged any blow that came after it using the dragons large size to its advantage. The rooster had become a storm of motion as it kicked, scratched and pecked the dragon with every move.

“MMHEEHH!”

Dolly wasn’t one to let anyone bully its human chef. It charged and headbutted the dragon whenever it spotted an opening left by Buckbeak.

The dragon let out a roar of anger and tried to squash the sheep once it couldn't hit Buckbeak. It furiously smashed down with one claw at the sheep. Just as Rowan expected Dolly to become mincemeat under the dragon’s claw, he found the sheep holding its ground. The ground cracked under the dragon’s might as the sheep wool coat became a giant impenetrable sphere barrier.

Seeing how squashing the mammal had failed, the dragon used its claws in an attempt to crush the sheep.

It failed.

Rowan watched in amazement as the claws was barely able to cut through the sheep’s defenses, stopping after only  penetrating a few inches of the giant ball of wool.

Rowan suddenly felt a nudge to his side, noticing that it was Bessie. It turned out that the other animals had not been idle. Some of the chickens and one of Sir Bacon’s wives had fainted from the effects of the dragon’s roar. Sir Bacon and the other animals who stayed conscious were attempting to awaken the unconscious ones. Bessie had nudged Rowan and pointed her head in the direction where the wolves fled. Reminding him that they needed to run. 

“What about Grandpa?” Rowan asked in concern. Bessie let out a soft moo, but with a sound of urgency. After spending a few days with the cow, Rowan understood what she was trying to say. His Grandpa could take care of himself, the boys needed to run. 

Rowan’s heart  screamed in denial, but his head agreed with what the cow was implying.

The boys were a burden. They were too young and weak to be able to do anything against the dragon. While Grandpa’s Rodans condition was unknown, the best course of action was to follow the last orders given and those orders were to run away.

Rowan turned to look at the other boy whose eyes were glued to battle that raged before him. Rowan couldn’t blame him as it was a spectacular sight. The monster of legends faced off against two farm animals to a stalemate. This was the kind of story that bards will sing about in bars.

The mere thought of it almost caused the boy to laugh out loud, if the current situation had not been so terrifying. 

ROOAARR!

The dragon let out another furious roar, only this time in frustration. It was not going as well as it had imagined. It had started out well, the first new prey that had appeared after the wolves had fled. It thought these could be easily taken care of. After that, everything became an annoyance. None of the attacks from the prey were able to break through its scales, but it was bothersome how it could not wipe out the two pesky beings. They ducked and dodged every blow and made futile attempts to harm it.

It finally decided it had enough.

Since it couldn't harm the two animals attacking itself, it would go for easier prey. There was already a bunch of easy prey in front of it.

The very same group that the two animals came from. 

Besides this time, there were no protectors to stop it from crushing them.