El Gato con Botas

"No!" boomed the dragon. "You just wanted to pull a Carlos Peralto on me!"

"A... who?"

"Carlos Peralto!" interjectected Astra. "You know, the writer from Hespan? I think the dragon refers to the story where a cat with peculiar footwear tricks an ogre into becoming a mouse so he can eat it."

"Indeed. The ogre did not live 'happily ever after'!"

"But in that story, sir," said Astra, addressing the dragon, "the maiden was safely away in her castle, not between the challenger and the mons... er... the defendant."

"So, you would just like me to send you back to your castle, don't you?"

"Er, actually, I was going to say that, with a third wheel present..." Velus barked, interrupting Astra. "Okay, with two third wheels present, the story will obviously work out differently... But that works too. Could you?"

The rumbling came again. The dragon was laughing! And lauging hard!

"Good going, Astra," whispered Fred.

"What?" she whispered back. "Don't tell me your plan was to get the dragon laughing so you could stab him in a moment of distraction?"

"Er... yeah! Sure! It was my plan all along!"

Astra glared at him.

Rumble, rumble... "Send you back..." Rumble, rumble. "...to your castle..." choked the dragon between laughs. "Now that's an..." Rumble. "That would be..." Rumble. The dragon breathed deeply. The tunnel was filled with steam. "Sorry, princess, but I have other plans for you. And as for you, Lord fearless fool... er, where did he go?"

1. "He's still behind me, you know," said Astra, feeling the armor against her skin. "It's not my fault you can't see through your own steam!"
2. Fred had managed to use the steam to start running towards the back of the dragon... except that the dragon was longer than he thought.
3. Fred had run up the tunnel, leaving Astra alone with the dragon.

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