‘Flying…. That man is flying? Or wait, is he a man? Humans don't have horns, so is he a beast of some sorts? And what did he say? ....’

  Too many questions floated through my mind but with no answers. I'm not even given time to ponder before I hear a growl, but this time it comes from below, glancing down to the crater the dust begins to separate and a head the size of a carriage bursts through rising up so high its at eye level with the golden man floating 40 meters in the sky while a pair of wings unfolds, dispersing the rest of the dust and revealing a massive black dragon.

  The dragon must be around 60 meters in length from nose to tail, with a wingspan nearly twice that. It just sits there for a moment glaring at the man before its eyes flashes to me, it only looks at me for a moment before turning back to face the golden man but I swear I could see surprise in its eyes. Then I heard the dragon actually speak. It looks at the man and says

  “Its a shame, I had such high hopes for you Cyrus”

  A flicker of disdain appears in the golden man's eyes, before he replies

  “Hmph, A Shame? High hopes? I'm going to become the right hand man of lord dragon king, how much higher could i possibly hope to reach? You've lived for so long, face your death with some dignity and just rest now, leave the future to the younger generation”

  “I say it's a shame because you have sealed your fate, you will die at my hands!” the black dragon says, before laughing a deep and begrudging laugh. Cracks start to appear on the dragon's body, glowing bright red as if there was magma peaking through

  A terrified look suddenly covers the face of the golden man as he hurriedly raises his hand causing a sword of light to appear pointing up straight in the sky, the sword is so long it pierces the clouds. As the dragon straightens its neck letting out a mighty roar sending a black beam directed at the golden man, the golden man swings his arm down, bringing the sword down with it, slashing at the beam, yelling.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Just give up and die, old man!”

  As the beam and sword collide, a nearby mountain crumbles and cracks open in the air as if even the world itself can't contain the power of their attacks. Then the attacks cause an explosion that spreads out so fast it hits me in an instant but I feel something slam into my chest and mysterious power spreads out protecting me from the blast. Though even defended I still fly back hundreds of meters, barreling through trees before they are vaporized. As I'm flying back I catch sight of the dragon, eyes lifeless as its body turns to ash. Then everything fades to black as I lose consciousness.

  Meanwhile, above where the collision took place the golden man appears, hair disheveled and missing his right arm and shoulder. He looks around cautiously making sure the dragon was truly dead before scoffing and vanishing into thin air.

  I remain laying unconscious in the woods for nearly half a day while my mind replays what happened in my dreams, from when I set out to when the attacks collided only 7 hours had passed but so many events and information piling on top of each other made it feel like weeks passed in that relatively short time. Opening my eyes and seeing the stars I jolted up only to be hit with a terrifying wave of pain. I definitely have a concussion and a few broken ribs, not to mention the rest of my body that is incredibly sore. I drag myself to my feet and confirm I still have all my limbs, then I check the boar meat tucked away in my pocket before turning in the direction of the city and begin to make the long trek back. It's more important to get the food to my father first, then I can ponder what has happened.

  I barely manage to make it a few dozen meters before I lose my footing due to a stab of pain in my side and I tumble to the ground causing another stab of pain. I just lay there for a moment as I wait for the pain to subside before struggling to my feet again and continue on, the cycle continues as I make my way back, unfortunately I've only made it about a mile and the city is still at least 4 miles away. After taking a rather hard fall that knocks the wind out of me a voice rings out in my head.

  “Brat I can't watch this anymore, just rest and heal your injuries. What's the point in trying to get wherever you're going if you're just going to die on the way?! “

  I hear a man's voice, it sounds like it's right next to my ear so I hurriedly look around only to find no one there.

  “Was I just imagining it?” I mumble