Karlston left the chasm to enter a large opening. The ground was covered with gravel, blackened like char. The area was surrounded by walls. It was like a giant arena. Rock spires stuck up from the ground like pillars. Massive stones about the opening were sloped, like miniature hills.

Karlston could see the rest of the group ahead, standing around as if in a daze. They all seemed to be waiting for something. As he went past one of them, he noticed the nobleman he had seen before. The man was now off his horse, the poor beast had probably been too frightened to go near the mountain. Karlston hailed him.

“Hey there, what are you doing just standing around?”

The noble glared at him arrogantly.

“No one knows where the dragon is. So everyone is on guard and waiting for it to come out.”

Karlston snorted. Even he could tell where the dragon was nested. There was a massive cave ahead of them. The acrid reek coming from it was the worst yet. You could see the smoke seeping out the entrance. Thankfully Karlston had now lost all sense of smell altogether. He turned to the nobleman and pointed his sword over to the cave.

“I may not be an expert on these matters, but that over there looks suspiciously like an entrance to a dragon’s lair to me.”

The nobleman shook his head wildly, something had him spooked.

“A man already went inside. He also believed the dragon is in there. He has not come back.”

Karlston could guess what everyone was thinking. ‘Wait for the man to forfeit his life and flush out the dragon in the process. Then finish it off when it sticks its head out of the tunnel. A sound strategy, but will it work?’ Karlston walked over to one of the pillars and hid out of sight, he did not want to be the first target the dragon chose when it decided to pop out of its hidey hole.

He inched his head so that he could just see the entrance to the lair. At that moment, screams echoed from within. A shrieking sound also came out of the cave as if in answer. ‘The fool has done it! He paid the price for it as well.’ Karlston readied himself as he felt the rumbling. The ground was shaking.

Karlston had just steadied himself when it came. Two glowing red eyes were glaring from within the dark cave. Unblinking, filled with rage. He wanted to look away, but the deep malice within those glowing balls drew his eyes towards them, sucking him in… Karlston broke out of his trance when the eyes flicked downwards. Karlston could see the nobleman, who strutted towards the dragon. The man held his sword and shield in a battle stance. He pointed his golden sword at the cave.

“Evil beast! On the honour of my family I swear to deliver your doom!”

Karlston could only stare in disbelief. The man was daft! But no one dared intervene as the noble continued.

“You who bring death and destruction to all you meet, I shall smite thee down. Your day of reckoning ha–“

He stuttered and stopped talking altogether as the eyes moved forward. The Dragon slowly came into view. Its features seemed to be sculpted in such a way that it would enforce terror onto those who beheld it. Its head alone was the same height as the nobleman. Its lips were curled into a snarl, revealing fangs as long and sharp as swords. Smoke gushed out its snout in breaths.

Karlston observed the Dragon as it stomped out of the cave mouth on four legs, massive wings folded against its back. ‘This thing is big. Bigger than the size of all of the previously recorded hunted Dragons, at least double the size! Galton! You have really sent us out to Die!’ Karlston continued to curse the Slayer in his mind as the Dragon came closer to his position.

All of the nearby Hopefuls ran at the sight of the Monster, however, Even though it approached, the nobleman stood where he was, whether from being frozen in fear or stubborn pride Karlston could not tell. As the dragon faced the noble, only a few metres away, an involuntary scream came out from the man’s mouth.

The dragon snorted and swiped at the man with a forepaw, swatting him away the same you would do an insect. The nobleman flew and smacked into a pillar nearby Karlston, a sickening crunching sound echoed throughout the opening. Karlston saw the remains. He regretted it.

What had once been the nobleman was now a squished mess of meat, bone and metal. ‘It seems flowery speeches were all the man had going for him. He should have made a living as a bard.’ Karlston then heard war-cries from the other side of the pillar, filled with fear and hysteria.

Men and women alike ran at the beast, blades pointed towards it. The dragon’s eyes snapped towards them, its body shifting as it turned to face them. At the head of the random charge was the farmer. In his hands a spear, most likely he’d taken it from the weapons pile back at the camp. He ran and stabbed at the dragon’s eye.

If he had been a trained fighter, he would have been able to stab through the creatures head, but his lack of experience had been his downfall. The spear point had missed by a few inches, scraping against the creatures scales, but that was enough for the dragon to move its head away, using its snake like neck to lift its head out of reach. It opened its mouth. Karlston shifted behind the rock and clasped his hands over his ears, believing it to be another one of its ear piercing roars. It was something much worse.

He could feel the rumbling as the ground shook from under his feet.  He started sweltering under an intense heat that engulfed him. But before he collapsed, the unbearable fever suddenly vanished. As Karlston turned around to see what had happened, another traumatic sight awaited him.

The gravel ahead of him had turned a bright red, sparks flying off the stones. What remained were charred corpses around the area, still burning. The farmer’s blackened corpse was the worst of the lot. A black statue, stuck in the same striking position as before. Tears of blood streamed from his empty eye sockets. 

Karlston tried to stop himself from gagging. ‘Flamebreath... This Dragon has the cursed Flamebreath! How am I supposed to survive this?’ Karlston hesitated, a deep gut wrenching feeling held him in place. He shook his head wildly. No… You can’t falter, not now! He looked for the dragon. There was no sign of it. He couldn’t risk getting out of his cover so he stayed there, waiting. After minutes of holding still, he started to think that it had flown away. He felt a hot breeze from behind him, wisps of smoke brushed past his face. He froze. Not a thought went through his head as he turned around to look. Staring at him was a massive red eye, as big as his head. The black slit in the middle focused right on him. 

Karlston couldn’t move. His feet were stuck and wouldn’t budge. His blood chilled. It felt like his heart was about to burst. But then, he remembered why he was doing this. ‘Not only will Malen die… I have to prove my worth as well, as a Fireheart!’ A hot feeling swelled up inside him.

Slowly he gripped his sword. He had the feeling in his hands back. Then suddenly, like lightning, he sliced at the eye, cutting through it with the blade. A shrieking sound burst from the dragon’s mouth, something unlike anything Karlston had ever heard. It chilled him to the bone. His head was ringing. The dragon suddenly pulled back its head, stopping Karlston from getting another strike.

Karlston heard movement on his left. He jumped back, holding up his shield arm. His surroundings turned to a blur as a massive claw slashed at him. He could feel the force of the blow. As if a bull had charged right into him. He went flying sideward.

The feeling of weightlessness lasted only moments. It was when he landed on his back that he felt it. A searing pain shot through his arm, his aching back was nothing compared to this. He lifted up his hand to inspect it. The metal shield had been sheared in half.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

His arm was just as bad, the flesh was torn through, enough that he could see the whiteness of the bone within. He had lost his sword. He must have dropped it as he went flying. As he tried to get up, he collapsed again, he could not move. He must have broken some ribs from the impact.

It was then that the hopelessness of the situation kicked in. ‘I am going to die.’ He struggled onto his front, using his good arm to keep himself in a kneeling position. Before he could try to crawl away, he was lifted up by his undamaged arm. He turned his head to see Ward. The man was panting as he shifted Karlston along, hauling him up one of the rock hills.

“Thanks,” was the only word Karlston could wheeze out.

Ward nodded and continued onwards, dragging Karlston along with each step, until they had reached the top. Once they got there, Karlston was able to catch his breath. The pain in his arm was forgotten as he panicked. Without the use of his left arm, his chances of surviving much less slaying the dragon were gone. As his thoughts kept revolving along those lines, he slowly reached for his dagger. ‘Better to die now than suffer the Dragon’s fire.’ But a stinging pain snapped him out of it. Ward had slapped him round the face.

“Get a hold of yourself!” He whispered.

“You can still survive, so think! Panicking means death and defeat.”

Karlston hesitated. Death? I will die anyway. But defeat… Never!  Like a fire lit anew, he nodded. Ward’s face relaxed. Then a sudden thought hit Karlston.

 “Why did you save me?”

Ward’s expression was as confused as his own.

“Honestly? I have no idea. I just knew I’d regret it if I didn’t.”

Karlston nodded silently, contemplating. Even in his fatigued state his mind was lucid. As he considered his next move, he heard a scraping sound from below. He looked down a cliff like edge to see the dragon. It was scraping around with its head to the ground, turning its head around to stare out with its right eye.

Karlston sighed. ‘I may have blinded its left side, but all that has done is enrage it.’ He then noticed something. Directly below the dragon’s head was the boy he had seen before, Karlston would have believed him a corpse. Yet the lad was not wounded at all.

He’s playing dead, smart. Karlston regretted that thought a moment later when he saw the sword the boy held. It was a black steel blade, his blade. Rage boiled inside him. He wanted to throttle the child. He almost cursed, but stopped himself. He would only get killed. He silently decided to watch this through to the end.

The boy waited until the dragon stopped moving, then suddenly jumped up and stabbed. Karlston held his breath. That should have been me. He watched as the blade scraped against the dragons scales then ricocheted off, without a making single scrape or tear. Karlston must have been as distraught as the boy as he watched this happen. 'It didn’t work… The bloody sword did not work! Galton lied to me!'

The dragon lifted its head up slowly, as if it knew it could take its time. The boy was frozen in place as the dragon positioned its head directly above him. Karlston could see a torrent of fire burst from the dragon’s mouth. A large rush of orange and red covered the ground. A crackling sound could be heard as the boy was reduced to ashes.

There was no corpse, only red embers, steam and molten rock. As if to mock the boy’s remains, the dragon swiped the ground with one claw, scattering ash and dirt everywhere. Some of it hit Karlston, red cinders that burned his face. His sight blurred as tears filled his eyes. He heard a whistling noise then a thud as something landed near him.

In his hazed vision, Karlston could make out a glowing spike that stuck out from the ground. Rubbing his eyes on his sleeve, he realized what it was. A shining blade was in front of him. Hiltless, only a thin knife-like piece of metal poked out where the handle should have been. Karlston reached out to grab it, but pain seared his hand. It was burning hot.

Karlston could see Ward still next to him. The man stared at the hiltless blade in awe. For some reason, Karlston felt that he recognized the sword. He glanced at the blade, the metal seemed to shimmer against the air, almost ethereal. Then, Karlston noticed the insignia engraved onto the blade. Fireheart. It was his sword. What had once been a pure black was now a glowing silver-white.

Karlston had a strange thought. The sword will pierce through now. A plan started to form in his mind. If only he could move well enough to strike. He glanced over the cliff like ledge. Maybe he didn’t need to. He only needed to be able to put force behind the blade. Karlston looked back at Ward. The man still seemed to be in a daze.

“Ward… How good are you with that bow?”

Ward blinked, the casualness of the question snapped him out of his stupor. He looked at Karlston suspiciously.

“I can hit accurately from a hundred paces away, why?”

Karlston nodded. Now was the hard part.

“Do you think you could attract the dragon’s attention? If you lead it under the ledge here then I will handle the rest.”

Ward hesitated for a few seconds. Then he nodded.

“Got it, anything else?”

Karlston paused. He had not expected the man to agree so easily. But if anything, Ward was shrewd. ‘I didn’t give the man enough credit.’ Before Karlston started, he had another question.

“Why did you join the hunt?”

Ward paused, staring into space as he answered.

“I did not join in order to become a Slayer if that’s what you mean. I joined because I want to become one of the Slayer followers. Even they need people to do the grunt work. I’m doing this to show my skills and hope that they will accept me.”

Karlston nodded. He had also considered doing that as well. But there was a risk that he wouldn’t get any money afterwards. He then got up onto his feet. He had regained enough strength to do that. Then he held out his arm.

“Well, there is no time to waste. I’m counting on you Ward.”

Ward grabbed his arm and gripped him in a hug.

“If we get out of this then we’re going out drinking.”

With that, he left, not making a sound as he stepped silently down the slope. Karlston was left on his own to mull over his plan. First he should look out for the dragon, but the dust it had stirred up had made it hard to see. So instead, Karlston went back to the sword blade. Without this, he would not be able to kill the flaming monster.

He stroked a finger against the metal, it had cooled down. He grabbed the hiltless blade and pulled it out of the ground. He felt a sharp pain. As he looked at his hand to see what was wrong, Karlston saw blood dripping from his hand. ‘So, the blade got sharper as well as changing colour. This will make it difficult...’ The next step was to check on his damaged left arm. He needed to be able to use it in order to succeed.

He had already wrapped it with cloth he’d torn from his shirt. He stretched his fingers and was pleased to see that they still moved, at least he hadn’t damaged them too badly. Karlston rolled his arm around. Pain spiked through his shoulder, but he could move it. Just as he stopped moving, he heard a twang, then shrieking. ‘So Ward is doing his part. I also need to get ready.’

Karlston staggered over to the ledge. He positioned himself so he was half kneeling at the edge. He could see a small silhouette below, it was being chased by a much larger one. He waited until he could just make out Ward. The dragon’s head was right behind the man. Making the same god awful shrieking noise. Karlston waited until the dragon was right below him. Then jumped, grabbing the blade with both hands. As he fell, Karlston yelled at the top of his lungs.

“Die, you fucking Wyrm!”