As the breeze died, torn pages slipped sideways, before coming to settle among the gravel. Beyond the cave’s aperture lay an inky void that gently drew in the surrounding air.

Lorenzo dismounted and patted Midnight once behind her left ear, a tacit command to stay put. Upon approaching the entrance to the dragon’s lair, he noticed a pattern in the gravel not unlike footprints. But whose? 

Bending to one knee, Lorenzo placed a hand inside one of the indentations, and let his gaze wander. There at the end, he saw a faint blue shimmer at ground level: a magical barrier.

Lorenzo scanned the horizon, tilting his metal helmet’s visor with the back of an armored hand. His dark eyes widened as they lit upon a shadow ducking just behind a cloud in the distance. 

From the top of the green hill, he sat astride a great black mare, and all at once kicked it into motion with his heels. 

Midnight launched forward and sped across a grey moor, as the shadow sank into the side of a mountain.

Approaching the mouth of a cave, Lorenzo drew his sword, lowered the visor back into place, and slowed Midnight to a halt.