Oh, don't get me wrong. Again, I don't want them to remove the encounter. I love the dragon being in it and all.
A good DM presents situations like this which cause players to panic Oh my gosh! The DM just sat a dragon 20 feet away. We're so dead.
But then, good DMs provide a logical and fun way out. In my Afflicted story, Shadowheart wasn't in the party, so Qudenos and Voss, dragon and rider, flew off to find her because she had the weapon. Voss would not allow anyone to claim that victory but him. HE would be the one to have the glory of presenting it to Vlaakith.
And the fight is a good encounter, but with higher level PCs and/or larger party size. That's all I'm saying.
