[h2]Tyaethe Radistirin[/h2]

The vampire tapped her fingers against the sword, evaluating the answers as well as she could. "If I had to score you out of ten, I would say that warrants an eight. Maybe a seven, if I was to add a penalty for suggesting that running away is an option if the need ever comes up." They were knights, after all, if a dragon happened to [i]show up[/i] where they were and attack them, the chances were extremely high that other people would be the ones doing the running away while they bought time. Or killed the dragon, as the case may be and depending on who was involved.

"Numerical superiority mostly turns into a slaughter, since everyone's movements are so constrained. Archers in particular are mostly an irritant and tend to be the first thing to face dragon fire if they mass," Tyaethe explained. "If you're on your own or [i]extremely[/i] well-co-ordinated with a small group, you can also goad most dragons into landing by avoiding their fire for long enough. Dragons are every bit as territorial as kings; it's the main reason they spread out and start trouble. You have to go for the wings even faster then, of course."

The white-haired paladin frowned, going through a mental checklist. "Oh, magic. Try and get something to help with surviving the fire, even if most protections will burn away faster than you hope."

The real question was still why Tyaethe thought 'how to fight a dragon' was a necessary skill. "You're right that the most important defensive skill against something that huge is dodging, though. So, tell me, how good [i]are[/i] you at that?"

From the way she lifted her sword, the reason for the tangent was more than obvious.