Editing Reign of Fire (film) (section)

==Plot==
In 2002, young Quinn Abercromby is visiting a London Underground construction project. Construction workers penetrate a cave and a [[European dragon|dragon]] emerges from [[hibernation]], incinerating the workers with its fire breath. The only survivor is Quinn, whose mother Karen, the project engineer, dies protecting him. The dragon flies out of the Underground and soon more dragons appear. The world's militaries fail to stop the spread of the dragon population and target large populated areas with [[nuclear weapon]]s, leaving humans [[Endangered species|nearly extinct]].

18 years later, the dragons are dying off but have become increasingly aggressive in search of food. Quinn, along with his best friend Creedy, leads a community of survivors at [[Bamburgh Castle]], [[Northumberland]] where he plans to outlast dragons until they return into hibernation; as insurance, he shares his notes and plans with Jared, an orphan he rescued and is mentoring to take over as community leader. The community is short on supplies, causing unrest pending the harvest of their meager crops. Eddie and some of his followers steal a truck to harvest the crops for food but are attacked by a dragon. Quinn, Creedy, and Jared repel the dragon, which burns most of the crops, leaving the community without food.

A group of heavily armed [[Americans]] led by Denton Van Zan then arrive in an armoured convoy, including a [[Chieftain tank|tank]] and a utility helicopter. Quinn is initially sceptical and suspects they are marauders, but Van Zan convinces him to let them stay when he reveals the dragons' main weakness: poor vision during [[twilight]]. With Quinn's help, Van Zan and his team slay the dragon who destroyed the crops.

Van Zan introduces Quinn to Alex Jensen, his team's helicopter pilot and intelligence officer, and briefs Quinn on their mission. After killing hundreds of dragons, Alex discovered they were all female; she postulates that they reproduce quickly because the species relies on a single male to fertilize all the eggs en masse. Having tracked the spread of the dragons, they believe that the male is in London and that if they kill it, the dragons will no longer be able to reproduce, effectively eradicating the species. Quinn, suspecting that the male dragon is the same one that killed his mother, refuses to help, knowing that London is infested with dragons and that if they fail, the dragons will track them back to their shelter.

Van Zan drafts the castle defenders, despite Quinn's objections. Van Zan, Alex, and some of the castle's men then depart for London, but true to Quinn's warnings, their caravan is attacked by the male dragon. Everyone except for Van Zan and Alex are killed. The dragon then finds the castle and attacks, killing many of its inhabitants. Quinn gets the survivors to an underground [[bunker]], but they are trapped by rubble when the dragon returns; during this attack, Creedy is killed.

Van Zan and Alex return and free everyone trapped in the bunker. Quinn leaves Jared in charge and decides to help Van Zan and Alex hunt down the male dragon. They fly to London and find hundreds of female dragons; one is cannibalized by the much larger male out of hunger. This scatters the female dragons and leaves the male alone. Van Zan coordinates a plan: split up, bait the male into attacking, ground him with explosive crossbow bolts, and shoot one into his mouth once he is ground level. The plan initially works, but the dragon detonates the first explosive bolt early with its fire breath and Van Zan is swallowed whole. Quinn and Alex gather the last explosives and lure the dragon to ground level, where Quinn fires an explosive down the dragon's throat, killing it.

Three months later, Quinn and Alex erect a [[Radio masts and towers|radio tower]] on a hill overlooking the [[North Sea]], having seen no dragons since the battle in London. Jared arrives and reveals they have contact with [[French people|French]] survivors who want to speak to the group's leader. Quinn declares Jared the new community leader and dedicates himself to rebuilding civilization with Alex.