It seemed as though Elion had left the village months ago, though it had only been three days. He had begun his journey up the mountain to slay


    the dragon that terrorized the village. He hadn''t done much rock climbing in the forest, but he was quickly learning. The mountain was taller than any cliff he had


    ever scaled or any tree he had climbed, but he was determined to complete his mission. His failures in the forest drove him to accomplish great things out here,


    pushing him to test his limits and exceed them. He reached an incline that allowed him a moments respite from the brutal climb and looked out across the landscape. He


    had never seen anything in his life that was more than just trees and cliffs. Now he gazed out upon a diverse land with small towns, mountains, and plains sprawled out


    before him. Despite the nature of his mission and the difficulty of the climb, he couldn''t help but take a moment to enjoy the wondrous beauty that lay before him.


    Suddenly, he felt a renewed vigor and sense of purpose wash over him. He pushed onward, up the mountain and toward his destiny. The mountain demanded everything Elion


    had to offer. He struggled for every inch of progress, never waning, never surrendering. Even when every fiber of his being screamed for him to stop, he pushed on,


    fueled by his hopes for redemption. On the fifth day of his climb, he reached the summit. He cautiously scanned the area, looking for any signs of this dragon he had


    been told of. "Perhaps the dragon is out for a moment," he said to himself, "this would be the perfect time to devise a plan." He made a small fire and prepared a meal


    to regain his strength before the battle. After eating, he began unpacking his supplies, sorting out everything that would be useful in a fight. He set up ropes tied


    to trees, hoping the dragon could be grounded. A fight with an airborne dragon might prove to be his end. He had barely finished tying off the last rope when he heard


    a monstrous roar boom across the mountaintop. He quickly made his way behind some cover and watched as a massive dragon landed in the center of the summit. It was a


    deep blue with gigantic wings that spread across as it slowly landed. Folding its wings, the dragon peered across the summit, clearly suspicious of Elion''s actions. It


    lifted its nose in the air, vigorously inhaling to catch his scent. It didn''t take long for the dragon to pinpoint Elion''s location. It slowly crept toward him, its


    fangs dripping with saliva. As it closed the gap, Elion grew nervous. What if his traps didn''t work? How could he defeat a dragon that could simply pick him up and


    drop him off the mountain? To his surprise, the dragon stopped just shy of his hiding spot. It looked around for a moment before venturing toward the other side of the


    summit. As it made its way across, it set off the snares Elion had set, tightly winding the rope around its legs and tail. The dragon quickly spread its wings and


    attempted to fly away. Elion lunged from behind his cover and rushed to the dragon, climbing up its tail and on to its back. His plan had worked, but only for aThis text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    moment. The dragon took off, snapping the ropes that bound it to the trees. In a panic, Elion drew his sword and began thrusting it in to the dragons back. Its scales


    were far to durable, as his blade simply bounced off. He gripped tightly to the spines protruding from the dragon''s back, attempting to maintain some form of stability


    as it sored through the skies. He used the spines to slowly make his way up to the dragons neck, though he wasn''t sure what to do once he got there. He scanned the


    creature for some sort of weak point, anywhere that his sword might penetrate. He found several scars, probably from past adventurers the village had sent to slay the


    beast. He stabbed at any wound he could find, making small incisions on the dragons flesh. Even below the scales, the creature proved to be excessively durable. Elion


    continued to stab and slice as the dragon circled around the summit of the mountain, desperately trying to shake him off. He noticed a scar on the dragon''s left wing


    where it met its body. He waited as the dragon continued to shake him about, but finally it landed, attempting to reach him with its mouth now. He quickly ran across


    its back and forced his blade through the scar on its wing. He pushed forward, pulling his sword behind him until he had completely severed the wing. The dragon howled


    in pain as Elion dismounted it and dashed behind a tree. He looked out as the dragon attempted to take flight once more, but to no avail. The dragon fell, tumbling


    down the mountain. Elion quickly chased after it, leaping down and landing on the creature. They tumbled down, Elion violently slashing at the dragon and the dragon


    clawing and biting at Elion. The reached an incline shallow enough to halt their decent and Elion gained some distance from the dragon. It had slashed his flesh


    several times, leaving him heavily wounded, but it was wounded as well. His assault had left several deep gashes across the dragons chest. It stood and slowly backed


    away, but Elion had come too far to let it live. He rushed toward the dragon and lunged at its chest. The dragon fell back, forcing the pair to fall yet again down the


    mountain. In a matter of minutes, Elion and the dragon arrived at the base of the mountain. He found himself on a cliff above the dragon, its chest exposed and its


    willpower depleted. He jumped off and plunged his sword as deeply in to the beast''s chest as he could. The dragon released one last roar as its life slowly faded.


    Elion had emerged victorious. He rolled off the dragon and sat beside it, panting heavily and examining his wounds. Time was short, as the wounds he had suffered were


    bleeding profusely. He had to make his way back to the village, but lacked the energy to do so. "After everything I''ve been through," he spoke softly to himself, "this


    is how it ends? I finally found a purpose outside of the forest and its already over." His voice trailed off as his vision became more and more distorted. Before long,


    he lost consciousness, falling beside the dragon. At least that''s what he thought had happened. His eyes slowly fluttered open, greeted by Lorean. "You had us worried,


    hero," Lorean spoke in an almost playful tone, "It seems you were successful in slaying the dragon. We saw the two of you falling down the mountain and quickly sent a


    rescue squad to your aid. It''s a good thing too. Had we arrived much later, you wouldn''t be here right now." Elion slowly sat up, every inch of his body screaming in


    pain. They had stitched up his wounds and replaced his clothes. "I thought that armor was supposed to protect me. The dragon sliced right through it," Elion''s voice


    shaking from his near death experience. Lorean laughed softly, "It was made of steel, not magic. Get some rest. We have quite the surprise in store when you recover."


    With that, Elion drifted back to sleep. After a few weeks of recovery, Elion''s wounds had finally healed. He made his way to the center of the village, where Lorean


    had gathered everyone. "Elion! Our hero! Our savior!" her voice boomed across the village and was met with cheers and whistles. "We can not thank you enough for what


    you''ve done. You see, the dragon was a curse put on us by a powerful sorcerer. He saw our villages practices as a bit dark. The dragon was the embodiment of a powerful


    seal that prevented us from using our powers. We made many attempts at its life, but none were successful until you. Now, we are finally free to conquer this world and


    plunge it in to eternal darkness!" Elion stepped back in shock as the skies grew dark. Portals began to open, releasing creature Elion couldn''t even comprehend. These


    villagers were not what they had seemed. In his attempt to redeem his past mistakes, Elion had doomed the entire planet.