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In spite of Astra's insistence that he should continue, Fred was still
very uneasy. It seemed that her chains were ensorcelled with the
intention of preventing any attempt to cut them. Whilst prepared to
suffer pain bravely himself, he had never previously inflicted it on a
woman and he found the idea very disturbing. He could see how pale
Astra's face had turned and the way that sweat had started to run down
her body, so had no doubt that she had been suffering badly. And so far
he had made little impression on the metal. To free her was going to take
at least five minutes, maybe a lot longer.
Seeing that he was still hesitating, his sword held away from her
chains, Astra added: "I can stand the pain. Anything is better than being
the dragon's prisoner and plaything. I should have gone insane if I had
been trapped here for much longer."
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Luckily the damage that Fred has already caused to the chain seems to have been enough to reduce its magical potency. When he resumes, there is much less sparking and it soon fades away altogether.
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Before Fred can resume, the dragon appears in human form (there would not have been enough room in the tunnel for him in his true form), alerted by the tampering with his magic.
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Fred takes a large water container from his pack and hands it to Glenda. "Splash this on the chains as I cut," he tells her.
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Fred eventually cuts through the chains. But Astra is in a terrible state, with nasty burns covering the greater part of her body. Fred fears that she will be badly disfigured for the rest of her life.
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Fred eventually cuts through the chains. But Astra is in a terrible state. But with the chains cut, their magic is undone, and - seemingly miraculously - her burns fade away.
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Fred realises that the scorch marks are not only expanding but are taking on a scaly appearance. "Stop!" Glenda cries. "The magic is turning her into dragonspawn. If you carry on she'll become a human equivalent of those dragonhounds."
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