A legendary man and his group of men try to rid their world of the dragons |
There once was a time when dragons roamed wildly over the entire earth. The dreadful creatures were everywhere and worse yet, there were few brave men willing to fight them. Just like now days there weren't many heroes around but there was much greater of a need for them back then, for without heroes there may not be a human race. The creatures were huge and beautifully colored from blood red, to pine green, to orange as the sun. Their colors were endless, but the beauty of the things was hardly enough to make up for their vile nature. With their razor sharp teeth and strong jaws, they could bite a boulder into pieces. Aside from a heck of a chomper, they had bodies that were even stronger. They could pick up a couple of twelve hundred pound bulls, one in each claw to take home for an afternoon snack. People wouldn’t even qualify as an appetizer. Of course they could also blow fire like any other dragons you hear about. This allowed them to destroy houses, villages, and anything people could build with the exception of stone. They destroyed stone structures with their claws. They were so powerful no ordinary man really had a chance against them. Like I said, no ordinary man could fight them, but there were a few out of the ordinary men in those days. These men were known as dragon brawlers and had become well known all over the world. They were all super strong with wits of the same strength, well, except for one. Dimitri Konstaff wasn't super strong like the others but he was an inventor and one of the first scientists. He studied the anatomy of every beast he had slain. He discovered how they could breath fire along with many of their weak spots. He also liked to study their behavior when they weren’t ripping apart cows and burning down houses. He was the only person who had gotten close enough to dragons undetected to study them. He would sneak up on them in the wild and just watch for hours. He found out they also were herbivores eating prairie grass, resembling two-ton cows. Your ancestor Dim was very smart and a little different than most. He knew how to read and write, unlike a lot of people around this time, and he recorded the things he learned about dragons into books. I’m sure you are picturing him as somewhat a nerd but that is hardly what he was. He was very strong despite his size. Having a smaller build allowed him to be very fast. He was skilled at using nearly any and every type of weaponry available. He crafted most of his own from scratch so that they would have a custom feel. No other person had a fraction of the knowledge he did about weapons. Although he used many weapons, he excelled in using a bow and also a short sword he carried along his side. He could drive an arrow into a small melon from 150 yards away, and he used his sword only when he was in close combat. Dim was very curious about one thing, the fact that there had never been a male dragon seen or killed. He really wanted to find out the story behind this so he sought out the other slayers and eventually assembled a team. The others had all heard of Dim and were very excited to get to know him. Dim was a very charming and well-liked man. The others loved to hear him go on and on about his knowledge of dragons. He tried to teach them everything he knew about them so that they could become better at slaying them than what they already were. One night while everyone was asleep, he stood at the edge of the woods just staring out into the darkness. Michael, one of the other men startled him, asking what he was thinking about. He told him about his curiosity with the male dragon. Michael had heard rumors about the male dragon, or bull dragon and told him about what he heard. He heard there was only one, but no one knew where it was. Dim decided that they should both get some rest and they could continue the talk with the others the next night around the campfire. When the next night rolled around your uncle brought up the subject of the bull dragon he and Michael had been talking about the night before. Michael stated what he said before, about how there was only one. Haha, chuckled one of the others, “He must be some lucky guy with all the women to himself.” “Wow,” proclaimed Dim, “that means that if we took him out, the whole race would fall.” “Of course that was only a rumor I heard,” replied Michael “I don’t figure there's any truth behind it.” “No,” said one of the others across the fire, “I heard that too, and I also heard that he lives far away in a mountain everyone calls Dragons Peak. The mountain is supposed to be in the middle of a huge valley filled with hundreds of the females. With these females on guard, it would be impossible to get to him without being killed. They must know he is pretty important to them. Anyways, even if someone made it to him, he would be near impossible to slay. It’s been said that he is seven times bigger than any other dragon and that much stronger to. No mortal man could take on this dragon if they tried.” Dim getting excited, proclaimed, “I think we should do it.” “What!” shouted Michael, “You are insane.” Dim just laughed, “That’s what they say, haha, and anyways, we can do it. We are all very skilled and when combined as a team, we would be unstoppable. When we kill him, it will be the end of dragons for good. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful world? There would be world peace for the whole human population. We could live without fear of being killed at any moment.” “It sure would be nice,” replied Michael, “but I think I enjoy being alive a little more than you.” To persuade them, Dim started in, “Aren’t you guys a little unsatisfied with killing dragon after dragon without any greater challenges. This would be the challenge we're looking for. This should be the greater purpose of all of us dragon brawlers, to demolish them for good. Once they were gone, humans could thrive and develop things without them being destroyed soon after. People would prosper and become the superior race.” After this, they all agreed out of guilt that they would go for it, even though it seemed hopeless. After all, they were all curious if this bull dragon really existed. After a little over a year of traveling on horseback and fighting off every dragon they came across, they finally found it. As the group stood in disbelief at the top of a mountain overlooking a huge valley covered with many colored spots they all knew were dragons. It was the most beautiful but frightening thing they had ever seen. Across the valley there was a mountain, just like the stories told. One of them turned around, “Forget this. There is no way I am doing this.” All of them were thinking the same thing except for Dim who was looking at the valley in awe. “I almost hate to kill the guy, knowing that all this will be gone,” said Dim. “Oh well,” he said with a laugh. The other men thought he was nuts. “Well,” he announced, “we move out tonight so everyone get some rest.” No one could believe he was actually considering doing this. “Don’t worry, if we move at night, they will not even know we are there. Dragons are very deep sleepers that are only awakened by sunlight. So if we travel quickly in the night, we can make it to the foot of the mountain by dawn and find a hiding spot until the next night when we will travel to our spot to surprise ol’ Studly.” Vince shook his head, “My gosh, you named him? You are crazy. How are you sure we won’t wake up the girls when we pass?” Laughing, Dim responded “Come on, I spent plenty of time studying their sleeping habits to know we won't wake them. Now go on everyone, lie down and get some rest. We have a long night.” With that they all decided there was no arguing with him so they went and lied down like they were told. No one but Dim could sleep due to thinking about what they were up against. So with a couple hours of sleep, they all headed down the mountainside and across the valley. They all followed Dim as he walked quickly, almost jogging past dragon after dragon. None of them had ever been so close to the beasts without being in a fight. They eventually made it across the five-mile long valley and had a couple hours to spare. Dim then decided to have them go a ways up the mountain so it would be a little safer than sitting at the bottom where they would be more visible to the surrounding dragons. They trudged up the mountainside and came across a huge cave opening. They all had the gut feeling that this was the lair of Ol’ Studly, as Dim named him. Right outside the cave they set up their hiding spot. They dug a hole to sleep in and covered it with sticks and rocks so that it provided them camouflage. Before they fell asleep, Dim explained that someone had to be awake at all times to make sure that no one snored or made any noise while they were getting their rest. If a dragon heard them they would be doomed for sure, so they went to bed alternating people to be on guard just as planned. They awoke later that night preparing their weapons for battle. “What are you doing?” asked Dim. Michael turned his head, “Well we might as well get him sleeping so that we will have a chance of living.” Dim rolled his eyes, “No No No, we can’t attack him sleeping. Dragons Sleep covering all of their kill zones so he will have to be awake. We could move him I guess but assuming he is seven times bigger than normal, that puts him at about 14 tons, ha, good luck with that. Instead, we will eat what we have and sleep a little more so we are physically ready for the fight. We will go inward a little bit before sunrise and find our spot to launch our attack and surprise him as the sun wakes him up.” So the men did as he said once again, eating pretty uneasily and then finding a place to rest. After waking up and heading in to set up, they saw their adversary. “Oh my,” one of them proclaimed. “Somebody pinch me. There is no way this is real.” The rumors hadn’t over exaggerated too much. The dragon was at least four times any dragon they had ever seen. It’s scales were every color imaginable all mixed together over it’s massive body. It looked a little different than any other dragon they had seen. Its chest was larger and every appendage was longer. He had sharp spikes that ran down his spine and covered his back instead of having wings. I guess he didn’t ever need to fly. He had very distinct ridges for eyebrows and a much wider mouth giving him the ability of spitting out more fire. The group stood speechless. Even Dim, although he wouldn’t show it, started having a bad feeling about this. They sat down in a circle. They sat silently for quite a while when finally they started taking turns giving their life story, for every one knew they probably wouldn’t make it out of here. After sharing their life experiences, they got ready for battle. With the fear of god in them, they all started praying for help and for each other. Dim assigned them all spots and worked out a plan. He along with the other bowman would each take one side, and shoot at the same time taking the both eyes out of commission. Without sight he would have a huge disadvantage. Two more guys would stand behind him. Hopefully he would rear up, allowing the two to slice behind his knees, disabling his main source of movement. The remaining four men would stand around the front and try to thrust their spears, axes, and swords into his belly, right under his rib cage. This would be the spot that would kill. After the plan was worked out they all went to their assigned spots and awaited the sun’s arrival, praying during what seemed like an eternity. The sunlight peaked over the trees, into the cave and upon the dragons face. Instead of opening his eyes, he took a breath through his nose, smelling all the men around him. His eyes shot open and his head sprung up. Dim got ready to shoot his arrow and signaled the other guy so that they shot at the same time. The arrows wisped through the air, with Dim’s driving deep into Studly’s eyeball, and the other just missing, shattered against the beast’s hard skin. “Shit,” the guy yelled. Upon hearing the man curse, the dragon turned and shot a fireball that disintegrated the poor guy. The dragon reared up, like planned and the two guys behind him went for the knees. They succeeded in getting a sword in each leg but they seemed not to do much good. The dragon turned to crush one of the men in its mouth. This gave Dim a chance to send another arrow hurdling into the monster’s good eye so that he would have no sight as planned. The dragon turned and sent a ball of fire in his direction, but he was fast enough to evade the attack. Studly’s deadly tail came into play next as he swung it around the room in a circle killing the remaining guy in the back and three guys in the front. The only men left were Dim and Michael who were able to jump high enough to dodge the powerful tail. Michael looked at Dim and smiled, then went as fast as he could and shoved a spear into the dragon’s gut. He looked to his side as the dragon’s head was coming towards him. Dim shot another arrow into Ol’ Studly’s nostril. This must have caused agonizing pain, judging from the way it went berserk, making an unbearable high pitched shriek. Michael was swatted away by a massive scaly arm. Dim was the only one left. He took the last three metal arrows he had in his quiver and shot them all simultaneously into the beast’s stomach. Now it was time for close combat as he drew he sword from his side. He stabbed the thick-skinned lizard in the stomach a few times, dodging its swatting arm every time. He was getting annoyed by the arm and sliced the inside of it after a few times swinging it at him, and then continued jabbing him in the stomach. The dragon was going nuts, seeming to be trying to take the cave down with it. Finally Dim finished him off by cutting a huge gap in its stomach. As the entrails fell out, he jumped into the wound and started slicing everything inside the dragon to pieces. Finally He felt the beast fall, and crawled back out to be surprised by a few females shooting fire all over the place. He saw Michael who had apparently survived the hit of the dragon’s arm. He screamed, as he was burned alive by all the fire. "Goodbye old friend." Dim said under his breath as he crawled into the fireproof skin of Studly until everything was silent. He stepped out dripping with blood and chunks of innards that he destroyed. It was night again; he must have been lying in that rank body for hours. He traveled back across the valley and over the mountains and had almost made it to a town when he collapsed. When he awoke, he was in a bed with nothing but a sheet and there were men and women, girls and boys all around him. He was given some clean clothes and some food to restore his energy. After he ate enough for ten people, he told everyone about his great journey, and the noble group of men that had lost their lives to rid the world of the infamous bull dragon. There would be peace once and for all for all of mankind. After he had been to a few villages to tell his tale, the king of his land called him to his castle where he was awarded with the king’s daughter’s hand in marriage, a huge sum of money, the kingdom, and a golden medallion with a dragon on it crafted by the best blacksmith of the land. |