Gregory leapt into the dead dragon. The beast came to life a moment later. But it didn’t look right. It looked as though it had been pulled apart somehow.

All the same, it reared up, towering over the townspeople. They cowered as it prepared to belch fire across Gull’s Cove. Detrick wouldn’t make it in time. The demon bounded ahead, but the red dragon’s giant maw was already agape.

Something silver flashed by, and the dead dragon’s head slid free from its ...