Junae squinted against the setting sun as they cleared the forest, having adjusted to the eerie dim of the trees’ shade.  It was as if the sky had been set ablaze, as if fire invaded the span of blue.  Hand shielding her eyes from the blinding rays, Junae glanced back down and drew to a full stop.

The princess’s castle indeed laid in front of her, right where Woohyun said it would be prior to his departure.  He’d claimed he wanted nothing more to do with their Quest—Sungyeol explained to her, after he’d made sure Woohyun was out of earshot, that the real reason was because Woohyun wanted nothing to do with the princess.

“He’s a thief.  He’d all but throw himself in jail.”

“You’re friends with a thief?” Junae had asked.  She wasn’t sure why she was still surprised, in all honesty.  Woohyun had stolen her sword from right under her nose, and this world hardly followed the rules and logic she was accustomed to.

“They’re useful friends to have.”

Junae laughed.  “Should I be concerned with whatever shady business you’ve got aside from this?”

Sungyeol had replied only with a waggle of his eyebrows and a brilliant smile.

Yet as Junae took in the majestic stone walls and gothic spires that rose before her, took in the imposing palace mere meters away from where she stood, she had to consider the possibility that both Woohyun and Sungyeol had set her up by directing her here.

Because curled like a hellish purple guard dog between her and its gates was a creature Junae could’ve sworn lived only in legends.

Junae gulped audibly, all color draining from her face—needless to say, she knew what the third trial entailed.

What was she doing here again?

Sungyeol let out a low whistle at the sight of gleaming rippling scales—Junae hastily elbowed him in the ribs, hissing a panicked, “Be quiet!  You’ll wake it!”  Junae whimpered helplessly to herself.  A dragon?  “Are you kidding me right now?  What am I going to do?”

“Defeat it, of course.”  Sungyeol gave her lower back a small push.  “Off you go!”

“Not helping!” Junae wailed.  She was terrified, quivering in her boots like a leaf in the wind, and could you blame her?  That thing looked like it could devour her with one swallow!  “I can’t do this!”

“Not if you stand around telling yourself you can’t,” grunted Sungyeol, shoving harder.

Junae stumbled forward, muffling a cry as she caught herself.  Something crunched loudly underfoot and Junae winced at the sound, certain the dragon would notice her this time.  She peeked up apprehensively and sighed with relief when the creature hadn’t budged.

Maybe she didn’t have to literally defeat it.  Couldn’t she just sneak past it?  Yeah, that would work, wouldn’t it?  She’d creep past it, find the princess, undo the curse, and all would be right with the world.

Junae exhaled shakily, bending over with her hands on her knees to take a deep breath.

…and released a shrill scream instead, because of all things she could’ve stepped on, she just had to crush a charred skull.  “What the hell is this?”  Junae, alarmed, staggered away, only to discern other scorched and blackened bones in the vicinity.

“That’d be the remains of a fake champion.  It’s why he didn’t make it past the Gatekeeper.”

Fake champion?  Junae whipped towards the source of the steady growl, coming face-to-face with the enormous dragon, and felt her heart plummet straight to the ground.  She held her sword before her as the monster lumbered to its feet, but her hand shook so hard she was amazed her weapon hadn’t slipped from her grip.

Wasn’t she no better?  This had been a wild goose chase from the start—she’d been lulled into a false sense of security when things went her way, when the truth of the matter was she wasn’t meant to rescue any princess.  She was no hero, no champion, no valiant character meant to slay monsters, especially not when she was armed with a dinky sword that wouldn’t even suffice as a toothpick for the hulking beast, and now she was going to pay for the folly with her life.

“Junae, listen to me,” Sungyeol ordered, “I know what you’re thinking, but you can do this.  I know a part of you has been resistant even though you’ve made it this far, but if this doesn’t force you to believe, I don’t think you ever will.”

Believe?  In what?  Magic?  Because that ship has long sailed, just look at the dragon charging at her.  “Say something cheesy like ‘believe in yourself’ and I swear I’m letting that thing take you down with me,” Junae yelped, darting off to the right as the creature picked up speed.

“Would I joke about this?” Sungyeol called after her, grinning.

Junae shrieked, ducking and narrowly escaping a jet of sickly green flames as she rolled ungracefully to the left.  “Can you not look so happy about this?  What is wrong with you?”

“But we’re this close to our princess!” Sungyeol crowed, “If we survive, it means we’ve made it further than any of the other champions in the past!”

“If,” Junae practically sobbed, tripping over her own feet as she tried desperately to avoid getting trampled by the towering creature, “If we survive!”  The dragon screeched above her, smoke issuing from its nostrils as it glared down and prepared another blast.  Junae hastily scrambled backwards, pushing herself upright and away before it got the chance.  “Why is it only focused on me anyway, you’re the one eager to see it!”

“You’re the champion—the dragon’s attracted to your sword and its magic.”

Junae didn’t have enough breath to retort, much less argue, though that didn’t mean that as she huffed and puffed her way under and around the beast that she believed him for a second.  She spared the blade in her grasp a brief glance.  This was a stupid prop.  Maybe it’d undergone some unexplainable changes, but it was by no means imbued with supernatural powers, much less powers that would help her out of this mess.

And yet, Junae strengthened her hold on it despite the raging monster snapping at her heels instead of tossing it away—if she was going to die anyway, might as well cause some damage first.

A spray of fire streaked over her, singeing some of her hair.  Junae paid it no heed, aside from the thankful thought that her entire head fortunately hadn’t been burnt off.  She focused only on dashing towards the monster’s belly, knowing she didn’t have the strength or energy necessary to stab it cleanly enough to kill or even maim.

So, she twisted her body when she was as close as she dared, using the dragon’s underside to guide her movements, and up at its wing.  Junae dragged the blade with all her might, tearing through the leathery membrane until she could strike at the thinner finger-like bones, before pulling it out and scurrying away.

The beast let out a piercing screech, slamming its wing down at her like one would swat at a fly, and managed to pin Junae’s leg under the dead weight.  Junae swiftly ducked and rolled completely beneath the tattered skin instead of attempting escape, following the appendage closer to the monster’s body with her sword held at an angle so she could slice whatever she could along the way.  Its hide was much tougher than its wing had been, but as Junae slid out from under the debilitated limb, she noted the blood on her blade with satisfaction.

“Junae!  Come here, hurry!”

Sungyeol, she realized, had taken advantage of the brute’s distraction and made it to the castle’s entryway.  He beckoned her desperately, bouncing on his toes and waving wildly in case she hadn’t heard him.

No need to tell her twice.

Leaping over the tail that would’ve knocked the air out of her had it met its mark, Junae missed seeing the dragon whip and bowl itself over onto its side.  She missed the other bodies littering the clearing, missed the fallen champions of the past and missed the then occupants of the palace once upon a time.  All she had eyes for was Sungyeol and the safety of the castle walls.

Barreling through the gates, Junae barely registered Sungyeol immediately latching the deadbolt behind her.  Running on the adrenaline high coursing through her still, Junae sprinted through the courtyard and what must’ve been the audience chamber, heedless of how heavily she heaved for air and her burning lungs, heedless of the noise she made as she pounded across marble floors and shot up stairs two steps at a time.

According to the fairytale, the princess was housed in the tallest tower, right?

Junae panted as she fled up the last flight of stairs, nearly collapsing against the wall in some bizarre mixture of fatigue, relief, and triumph.  Mostly fatigue as her legs threatened to give out from under her, though weak knees and sweat-soaked clothes were a small price to pay, all things considered.  She’d made it, she couldn’t believe she’d made it!  Urging herself to stay on her feet, Junae took the few steps left into the room, sword scratching against the stone-paved ground as she trailed it limply at her side.

It was painfully bare, for something that belonged to royalty, but she supposed that was to be expected since it was originally a spinning room.  The wheel in question sat by the window, collecting dust and cobwebs, although the spindle that cursed the kingdom’s princess shone surreally in spite of the passage of time.  Beside all this was a large bed, draped with a sheer white canopy, through which the silhouette of a lying figure could be vaguely distinguished.

Junae walked towards it without a second thought, pulling aside the curtain of chiffon.

…and found herself screaming for the umpteenth time that day, choked though she may have sounded due to how raw had become.

“Kim Sunggyu?  What are you doing here?”  Without thinking, Junae reached over and slapped his face as hard as she could.

What was the meaning of this?

With a frustrated screech, she pinched his nose like she used to when her younger brother refused to get up for school.  Then smacked him once more for good measure.  “Answer me!”

“Ow.”  Junae jerked back as Sunggyu sat up, rubbing his stinging cheek and glowering.  “That hurt,” he griped, “What’s your problem?”

“You’re my problem,” Junae retorted hotly, kicking him from the bed and brandishing her sword at him.  The sight of her boss, more than anything she’d encountered since arriving in this world, made her positively murderous.

After all she’d been through to get here, the universe was still going to screw her over?

“Junae, what are you doing?”  Hands clasped over hers, insistently prying her fingers from the sword’s grip.  Sungyeol was breathing as harshly as she was, having no doubt raced up the tower after her, but managed to steadily coax her to release her weapon regardless—it hit the floor with a noisy clatter.  “Calm down, you’re trying to save the princess, remember?  Not dismember him.”

…what.

“S-Sunggyu,” Junae stammered disbelievingly, alternating between pointing at the grumpy man clambering back to his feet and looking to Sungyeol for answers, “Sunggyu’s this princess you’ve been telling me was my goal?”

“The Prince S, yes.”

It was too much.

“I must be crazy,” she murmured to herself, mussing her hair, “I must’ve gone crazy.”

Sungyeol groaned, “Not this again!”  Grabbing her by the shoulders, he shook her as if he could forcibly jiggle some sense in her, beaming gleefully as he did so and appearing rather manic.  “Don’t you understand what this means?”

Junae stilled.

“But,” Junae grappled for something to say, her mind a jumbled overwhelmed mess.  “He wasn’t cursed.  H-He was asleep, but not,” she gestured feebly at the swearing prince, who’d taken one glance at the feminine canopy hanging from his bed before wrenching the curtains free and stomping on them with another volley of curses.  “Not cursed,” Junae finished, for lack of a better phrase.

“Oh, he’s plenty cursed,” Sungyeol whispered, so only Junae could hear, “You should hear how people in the kingdom talk about him.”

Junae didn’t get a chance to argue the ridiculous explanation.  The ground beneath them gave a violent lurch, sending everyone clinging to the floor, as a telltale bellow sounded right outside the building.  There was another teeth-rattling tremble before Junae noticed a yellow cat-like peering in on them from the window, seemingly staring straight into her.

A deafening crash echoed through their room, sounding as though a cannon had been fired at another part of the castle—the comparison probably wasn’t far off either, Junae figured, as the floor rocked worryingly.

“I thought you handled that thing!” yelled Sungyeol over the roar of Sunggyu’s crumbling tower.

“I thought I did too!” Junae shrieked back, instinctively crawling towards and grabbing her sword.

A thunderous crack elicited screams from both as the dragon’s claws broke through the window, pawing for the occupants within.  The tower continued to wobble precariously as it was shaken, not unlike a toddler trying to upend a toy skyscraper.  Everyone rushed away from the razor sharp talons groping for them, shouting warnings at each other as stones loosened and fell from the ceiling.

Junae spun on her heel to avoid the broken chandelier in her path, swinging her sword haphazardly as the dragon’s leg cornered her.  Blade-like claws closed around her, sinking into her flesh as effortlessly as meat-hooks and dragging her out the gaping hole the creature had made to reach her without a hitch.  Junae hissed, blinking away tears and flipping her weapon so she could drive the point straight down and into the monster’s foot.

She’d failed, hadn’t she?  She’d been so close—if only she’d stopped to make sure the dragon had been truly incapacitated when it had gone down, they wouldn’t have been ambushed like this.  Dared she hope Sunggyu and Sungyeol made it out unharmed?

The last things Junae remembered as she plunged headlong from Sunggyu’s smoking tower was a panicked cry of her name and the curious thought that getting struck in the side by a dragon hurt surprisingly less than she’d expected.