So!
She took a deep breath, focused all her attention, and cast aside every distraction. A strange, flickering light soon glimmered at the tip of her short wand.
"Stupefy!"
A solid beam of light shot silently toward the Red Mirror Dragon's head.
This time, the spell seemed to work!
The beam struck true. The Red Mirror Dragon abruptly halted its charge, its enormous head swaying as a moment of confusion and dazedness appeared in its molten-gold eyes. It looked as though sleepiness had suddenly overcome it.
Had she done it?
At the sight, a glimmer of hope and anticipation rose in Fern's heart.
However...
"ROAR—!!!"
With a roar, her spell didn't just fail to work—it enraged the terrifying red dragon once again.
It let out a deafening bellow, then spread its wings wide and beat them violently. The raging gusts blew Fern away like a leaf and sent her crashing hard into a distant cliff wall.
"Ugh!"
She grunted, feeling as though the impact had nearly shattered every bone in her body. Blood rushed to her throat, and she barely stopped herself from spitting it out.
She had tried nearly everything, every spell she knew, but in the end, she still hadn't inflicted any real damage on the terrifying red dragon.
"..."
Meanwhile, the Red Mirror Dragon's enormous body loomed over her.
Its shadow quickly covered her completely, and those vertical pupils drew close, fixing on her. They held nothing but pure Destruction and mockery.
Then it slowly opened its Great Maw once more...
Fern had her back against the cold cliff wall. There was nowhere left to run.
"Honestly!"
As she watched the dragon's hideous, savage, enormous head draw near—and its gaping jaws prepare to swallow her whole—Fern complained inwardly, but still summoned the last of her strength and