The boys were now fully awake. They jumped from the boat, scurried to the jetty, and took refuge behind a large rock. Looking up, they were terrified by the size and grotesqueness of the dragon; its wings stretched for several hundred feet, its long body writhing with pain, and its neck and mouth was covered with smoke and fire. The bursts of fire from the dragon’s mouth lit up the areas and cast moving shadows as the dragon writhed in the air toward the rocks where the boys were trying to hide.

 

A small, shining crystal bell the size of a child’s fist lay on the beach. It was enveloped by a fierce flood of light from the dragon's right eye. Lucas recalled the note telling them to destroy the bell to slay the dragon. He yelled to Brian:“The bell! We have to destroy the bell!”

 

Brian directed the sword to attack the bell. It flew out of his hand and hit the flood of light protecting the bell on the beach. The beam of light exploded with incandescent sparks when the sword hit it. Each spark generated a sharp blow to Brian's right hand, the hand that normally was used to hold the sword. The blows felt like strong slaps to his hand. The light beam seemed to be too tough for the sword to penetrate.

 

Brian redirected the sword to strike the dragon directly. The dragon shifted its position to defend against the sword. Its fiery mouth emitted thunderous lightning and fire. The sky was filled with criss-crossing lightning and traces of the flying magic sword. Every single hit of the sword generated a return shock back to Brian's hand. He was getting exhausted. Sweat was dripping from his eyebrows to his eyes and making it harder for him to see and concentrate. He was worried that he might not be able to hold the fight much longer.

 

Suddenly, Liam left his hiding place and crawled toward a large tree, exposing himself to the dragon’s lightning. The dragon turned around and let out a long, bright stream of flame at the tree which burst into a burning torch. Without saying a word, Aiden grabbed the largest rock he could find and tiptoed to the bell on the beach. Brian directed his magic sword to attack the dragon, trying to pull its attention away from burning Liam another time.

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The dragon was too busy fighting against the magic sword to notice Aiden's movement. With all his might, Aiden lifted the rock high up in the air and smashed the crystal bell. The bell broke into hundreds of pieces with an ear-splitting scream accompanied by exploding lightning. The dragon shook its massive body violently in the final dance of death. Dark clouds gathered but could not obscure the brilliant flashes of lightning. The dragon spat its last puff of blazing fire to the ground, aiming at the boys. The fire missed the boys by several large rocks; the heat was so intense that some of the rocks turned red hot and broke into halves.

 

The dead body of the dragon dropped to the ground as soon as the lightning and thunder ceased. The moon, no longer blocked by the dragon's wings, shined its light on the fallen dragon. The dark clouds receded until they disappeared, and the dragon flattened out to transform into a harmless paper dragon kite lying silently and unceremoniously on the beach.

 

The left half of Liam’s hair was singed by the dragon flame, but he was not hurt. “I heard the tree asking for protection so I ran to it. Sorry. I nearly caused a big problem,” Liam sheepishly said to Aiden. Brian collapsed with exhaustion. Liam and Lucas hugged him and Aiden. All were crying with joyous satisfaction that they had overcome their fears. Aiden's courage and selflessness had helped them triumph over a fearsome enemy, and they could rest for the night.