I woke up in a field, my vision filled with the lush greenery surrounding me. Trees taller than any I've seen before littering the landscape, various bushes and mushrooms settling around the trunks all similarly massive. What the fuck is this? My last memory being a fuzzy mess of colours and plush, nothing like what I could see here. I stood up - or tried to, but I couldn't seem to move at all. Am I tied up or something? Why can't I move? Oh well… Guess I'll just wait for something to happen.

Several days passed by in complete stillness, accompanied by the gentle sounds of leaves blowing in the wind. And on occasion something that sounded incredibly interesting just outside my field of view. I spent my time thinking about the situation, wondering why I'm here or what I even am at this point. I'd given up on the idea of being tied up early on, it didn't feel like my movement was restricted, but that I just… couldn't move. Or rather, that I didn't have the basic ability to move, as though my sole purpose was to perceive my surroundings and nothing more. I wasn't hungry, or thirsty. Nor did I have any other biological needs to fulfill, my only entertainment being to watch the greenery be slightly more or less green with each passing day. Watching grass grow, as it were.

I lost track of the time after a few weeks. Years? Who knows. Animals had come by and looked at me - wolves, pigs, boars and many more I didn't recognize. All massive beasts, or as I theorized, normal sized beasts while I was rather dimunitive. At one point, a wolf had approached me and tried to bite me, but the wolf couldn't manage to cause any damage, or at least any pain. All it did was push me over, my vision finally moving. A few feet away to my side was a corpse, ravaged by the local wildlife, nothing more than a skeleton with some torn clothes and strewn about remains of leather armour. I'm gonna need to see a therapist after this…

Four years had passed, or rather four winters had passed, whatever that means here. Animals continuing to stop by and sniff at me, the snow covering me for months on end before melting in the spring. I quite enjoyed the tranquility of it all, the peaceful serenity of eternity. Watching the seasons pass, seeing all the animals, many of which I couldn't muster any memory of. There were some which I could only consider as dragons, wyverns or something. They seemed to be the apex predator here. Often swooping in and picking up other animals I could see and flying off to wherever they go. Some appeared to be fish, swimming through the air as if it were water. There were an abundance of birds, but few of which seemed like normal sized birds, towering over the wolves and boars as they protected their young. They never attacked any animals unprovoked, but I wondered what flora would sustain such enormous birds.

My skeletal friend still remained next to me, or at least I thought it did, I'd been bumped around a bit in the past few years. I often imagined myself having a conversation with it. Talking about the weather, or the giant eagles that soared through the sky. In all the time I'd spent here I'd never seen any other humanoid creature, assuming this area to be too dangerous for people to visit. My skeletal friend being clear evidence of such, perhaps an adventurer who tried to prove something. As I imagined the skeleton's owner sitting in a bar arguing with its friends about being able to slay a mighty dragon, the trees began to shake. A powerful gust of wind brushed over me, knocking me forward and turning me around. I could now see the source of the wind - a dragon, a real dragon. Not one of the puny beasts that roamed this area but a massive red dragon with flames puffing out of its nostrils. It seemed to be staring right at me. Oh fuck. I'm so sorry for ever thinking those other things were dragons. They're just big lizards. Please don't kill me.

A man hopped down from the dragon's back. He was wearing silver platemail with a red emblem of a dragon planted firmly on the front. His face hidden beneath a red woven hood, revealing little more than a set of piercing blue eyes and a wide smile as he walked towards me. A red and black sheath sitting at his side with a wide opening down the center revealing the gold backing on the inside, waving back and forth with each step he took. When he got to me he looked down and said "Ah, there you are," before picking me up, twirling me around and sticking me at his side. Did he… just put me in the sheath? Am I a sword. Am I a fucking sword? I'M A SWORD? EXCUSE ME?

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The man, or the dragon rider as I dubbed him, walked back to the dragon with me in tow wagging at his waist. "Finally got that damn sword back, Nessy" he said to the dragon as he walked past its head, touching one of the twisted horns protruding from it. He leapt onto the dragon's back, tapping on the dragon after he seated himself in the humble saddle. The dragon spread its wings and roared, spewing steam through the forest, scorching the nearby trees. Its powerful muscles flexed immediately before an explosive jump sent us through the skies leaving destruction and carnage in our wake. "Alright Nessy, back home we go" the dragon rider said while leaning forward.

The flight to the dragon and it's rider's home was exciting at first, soaring through the skies at speeds I'd never imagined possible. But the novelty wore off quickly as I found myself moving too quickly to make out any details in the landscape - let alone the limited vision I had being in this awkward sheath. My eyes, or whatever swords used to see, not capable enough to process the overwhelming amount of information flooding my sense. On the bright side, it didn't take very long to get there at these speeds. We slowed down in a desolate region filled with igneous rock, magma flowing through the landscape, all originating from a volcano nearby that seemed to have an endless supply of the molten rock. There were rivers and lakes filled with magma, geysers spewing it into the sky as it quickly cooled and rained down in a clatter of stone to once again be swept away by the vicious rivers. They landed at the base of the volcano, a large opening carved into the side with sturdy stone pillars supporting a wooden archway on the roof with golden lettering inlaid.

I looked at the entrance in awe, wondering how they built with wood in a volcano. Am I really worrying about their material choices right now? I'm a sword, resting at the hip of a dude that rides a dragon and lives in a volcano. But no, the weird part is the fucking fire retardant wood. Right. I guess "Mavians" is the name of this place? I thought, reading the golden lettering. The dragon rider dismounted the dragon, the saddle disappearing as he jumped off. He leaned forwards and waved his arm towards the opening. "After you, Nessy." he said to the dragon, which awkwardly squeezed through the opening to the cave.

Inside the opening was a cavern that stretched on in every direction as far as I could see. It seemed larger than the volcano it was contained within, but perhaps that's not too crazy an idea in this world of swords and dragons. And don't forget fire retardant wood. I thought to myself. There were bridges made of stone and various colours of wood littered throughout the cavern creating walkable pathways across gaping chasms. Molten rock surging through the walls I could see, providing feeble light to the otherwise dark environment. Several dragons flying in the distance, some landing in pools of magma like they were common bird baths.

"Alright Nessy, off you go girl." the rider said to the dragon before it flew off, disappearing from sight soon after. The rider looked around the cavern and nodded to himself while he set off down one of the numerous bridges weaving through the endless space. We walked for what seemed like hours down rickety bridge after bridge, stopping occasionally to say hi to a dragon that happened to be resting nearby. The incredulous journey came to an end at a door inset into a wall with the name "Arthur" inlaid in similar golden lettering. A small stone platform stretched out from the door, decorated with a table, a couple chairs and a few vibrant potted plants.

The rider opened the door, and on the other side was a modest abode. At the entrance was a welcome mat that read "Hello" when you read it from the outside, and "Goodbye" when you read it from the inside. There was a fireplace with a few paintings Shara couldn't quite make out hung above the mantle. A wooden rocking chair off to the side with a small table next to it. Various cups with varying amounts of liquids sitting on the table. A bed against the far wall with the sheets strewn about with no order. And a small kitchen area with a wood stove, a small round table and two chairs to the wall opposite the fireplace.

I expected something more… grandiose from somebody that lives with dragons I guess. And it's so messy, does he ever clean up after himself? I looked around at the cluttered, unremarkable home, curious to how it came about. The rider sat in the rocking chair, placing me down next to the fireplace. "Well when you take care of a few hundred dragons, time can sometimes get away from you. My name is Arthur, not "the rider", by the way. You would do well to recognize that."