You look around the cave that the dragon has made into its lair, hoping to find something that will help you against the beast. All of the larger rocks and such have been crushed or pushed out as the dragon moved about. There are some bones and random bits of metal from previous attempts to kill this menace, but they are all on the other side of the cave, behind the dragon. On your side, there is just the opening and the princess.
As the dragon gathers itself for its next strike, you glance at the princess. She is reasonably standard for the type: tall, pretty, wearing a pink dress with lots of lace and taffeta. No jewelry or tiara, though. Nothing that you might be able to get stuck in the dragon's throat like a fish bone. Not that that would have actually worked, but all of your useful ideas are gone.
The dragon leaps forward, wings folded against its back in the low cave. Its jaws snap at you as you push the princess to one side and dive after her. You land on top of her and all of her frilly clothing as the dragon's jaws snap closed inches from your heels. Pushing yourself up, you inadvertently press your hand against one of the princesses breasts. However, instead of being soft, you push against something hard under the dress. You look down and rip the dress from her top. Underneath is a metal corset.
The princess gasps, a horrified look on her face. You say, "No, it's not that. I need your corset. I think I can use it against the dragon. Please take it off."
She looks at you in your dirty armor and three days of beard, then looks at the dragon. It is coiling its body in preparation for another strike and hissing so loudly you can barely hear the princess whimpering. The dragon lunges again and you pull the princess into a roll, barely avoiding the teeth. When you have settled, you are on top, staring into her face. She nods and starts to reach behind her back to undo the laces. Knowing that you don't have much time, you roll her on to her stomach, rip her dress down and pull at the laces. The corset is nothing more than thin plate shaped to her body and held closed by ten loops of cord down her back. You pull the bow open, stretch the seam and push it up over her head. She gets her arms up and the corset slips off.
Leaving her lying topless on the ground, you stand to face the dragon. Again, it has prepared to strike. This time, when it does, you don't leap away, but step just to the side. When the jaws snap shut, you slip the metal corset over the snout and pull the laces tight. The dragon recoils, eyes crossing as it tries to focus on this new thing attacking it. It tries opening its jaws, but they are designed to be strong snapping closed, not pulling open and it cannot overcome the lace binding. Its forelegs come up and start trying to push on the corset, but can't get a purchase on the polished metal. It gouges a few furrows on its cheeks in the attempt.
While it is distracted, you pull the princess to her feet and the two of you rush out of the cave. The rest of her dress falls away as she runs, too ruined to stay on. Once outside, you push her up on to your horse, then mount up behind her. Reining your horse around, you charge away from the cave and into the forest.
A few miles down the road, you stop to listen for pursuit. The princess turns to you, her arms folded across her chest. "Do you think that will kill it?"
"We'll know in a few days," you say. "It won't be able to eat or drink with its mouth bound, or even breath fire. It's likely to fly out and scare people, but in a week it should be dead." You look down at her and she blushes, naked except for her panties and slippers. Then she looks up at the man who rescued her and lets her arms fall away. You look down for a second, then reach into one of your saddlebags and pull out a rough, homespun shirt. You offer it to her and she puts it on.
"I'm sorry," you say. "I'm sorry that I had to ruin your clothes."
"It's all right. You did what you had to."
"Why were you wearing that thing anyway? It looked dreadfully uncomfortable."
"Well, you men don't seem to notice me without it. He who marries me looks to inherit huge tracks of land, but apparently I also need to have 'huge tracks of land'."
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