Låter som Hjälten och kronan av Robin McKinley
Från Wikipedia-sammanfattningen:
Aerin stumbles upon a book about the history of Damar and the dragons of old that used to terrorize it, of which only much smaller relatives still exist. Finding privacy in the pasture of her father's now-injured war horse, Talat, Aerin reads through the book while forging a friendship with him. At the back of the book she finds a recipe for kenet, an ointment meant to protect the wearer from the effects of fire. Unfortunately, the recipe does not specify the amounts of each ingredient needed. While her first attempts to make the ointment fail, Aerin begins to split her time between learning to ride Talat and experimenting with the fire-proof ointment. After three years of experimenting, Aerin stumbles on the correct proportion of ingredients, successfully making kenet. Then, Aerin goes off to slay a small dragon that is terrorizing a village with the help of her kenet and Talat.
Senare är hon ute för att konfrontera den största skurken
As she travels north, Aerin is joined by armies of foltsza, large mountain cats, and yerigs, large wild dogs.
Det finns en uppföljare som sätts mycket senare i samma värld (även om den skrivits före hjälten och kronan ) heter The Blue Sword , med en mer viktoriansk kolonial miljö.