Ian+Crowley

Dragons. Mighty creatures they are. Full of mystery and magic, they are known all across the world, but rarely ever seen. In Chinese culture they are symbols of power and prosperity. In Medieval times they struck fear into the hearts of women, men and children alike. Now a days, they, like all of the others in the magical community, are pushed aside and marked as make-believe. It’s not as difficult for me, as a wizard, as it is for many of the others but all the same it is a bit of a drag. Condemned to comic book shelves and nerd conventions. I mean, Harry Potter? Seriously, the last time I rode a broom was when I had a little too much to drink while sweeping the house. And the idea that dragons are animalistic beats is total dwarf shit; dragons are smarter than most humans that I know. Anyway, in this day in age the magical world has to live in secret, only using their gifts in controlled and hidden situations. Dragons are forced to live in isolation in the mountaintops, where people seldom go. The only time that they ever come down is in the time of peril. In my lifetime I have only seen this happen twice. Once was when four of the seven dwarves abandoned Snow White and led an army of little people in a violent, world wide revolt against those of average height. The second time involved a small boy, an evil wizard and a bumbling, outcast dragon. This exact event is the story that I have come to tell you today. David spent most of his time in the woods behind his mother’s house. The divorce had been tough on him and he had separated himself from kids his age, along with his parents. I had never a sadder kid than him in all of my 300 years on this earth. Although upsetting for him, this time spent alone is probably what set him up to be able to be the crucial part of our world’s future. You see, everybody is born with a tiny amount of magic in them. Wizards, dragons and other magical creatures are just born with an abnormally large amount of it. Usually, the magic in humans is diluted and destroyed from the conformity and close mindedness of their society by the time they are about 6 years old. Now, I’m not entirely sure on the exact cause of why he had such an elevated level of magic. I assume it had something to do with a strange coinicidence of the stars alligining, or his mother dropping acid during pregnancy, but his solidarity for the majority of his childhood allowed it to grow and multiply within him. His social weakness would soon becme his strength, when he realized the power that he held. 119 beers. That’s how many that Creesaw had downed before deciding to set off on a midnight flight over the country side. Drinking hasn’t been known to affect dragons, as their metabolisms just burn off most of the alcohol. But when you have 119 of anything, the rules change. The first things that baby dragons are taught are to cover their mouths when they sneeze (the majority of forest fires are actually caused by baby dragons with allergies) and to always be in control while flying. Creesaw must’ve been absent on that day, as he swerved and dove in the sky. An average full grown dragon is about the size of a Dodge F150, and years of alcoholism and laziness had made Creesaw quite a bit fatter than a normal dragon. While most dragons are quick and nimble, he was clumsy and slow. And at this exact moment, all of his flaws acted upon him at once as he lost balance and went plummeting towards the Earth in drunken chaos. Coincidentally, this was also the same time at which David had decided to go for a stroll through the forest. Creesaw slammed through the tree tops and smashed right into the path that David had been walking only moments before. David stood there wondering what on earth had just crashed from the sky right in front of his very eyes, and Creesaw lay there passed out, wondering nothing at all. Little did they know that their fat, and the fate of the well being of the world, was to be intertwined forever. David opened his eyes and looked around. He had, like most 11 year olds would have done if a 2 ton intoxicated dragon had landed in their backyard, hid behind a large clump of rocks and rolled up in a ball. He had laid there for approxiamatley 48 seconds, and then decided whatever had happened was gone and it was now safe to resume his play. Once he stepped out from behind the rock, he saw what lay before him and jumped back into ball formation, releasing a squeal. He remained as still as possible, even though he had to pee which made it extremely difficult, and listened intently. Upon doing this he began to hear a faint breathing. However, it was the slow and rhythmic breaths of slumber so he decided to go take a look at this mysterious creature. He scuffled over to the side of the gargantuan animal and began scoping it out. It was a nice shade of turquoise and covered in shiny hard scales. David walked around to the other side of the dragon and saw a long imposing tail, covered in spikes, and 4 large feet with claws protruding from the digits. At this point, David wondered whether the dragon was a boy or a girl and, after a quick in-between-the-leg examination, determined it was a boy. He decided that he had had enough of this thing sleeping and proceeded to attempt to wake him up with a swift kick to the belly. After he received no response he tried again and again, with still no reaction. any young wizard above the age of 3 knows that dragons are extremely ticklish and a gentle brush to the armpit would probably send Creesaw bolting up from his sleep. But, having had no professional training in dragonology, David continued with his failed attempts to awake the sleeping giant.

Creesaw awoke to a slight bumping sensation going on near his lower torso region, and after much debating on whether to ignore it or terminate the problem, he decided to eat the nuisance and be done with it. He lurched up, and instantly regretted it as he was hit a dragon-sized pang of pain in his head. Another fun fact about dragons, they hate hangovers. So after shaking off the first wave of nausea, he peeked his head up to see what had been hitting his tummy. There he saw, quaking in his shoes, a little boy about the age of 10 staring intently at his mouth of teeth. "pa-pa-pa-please don't eat me, Mr. Sir Dragon Sir," On a typical day, Creesaw usually would've ignored these pleas for mercy and chomped up this little human boy, as humans were delicious, especially in little boy form, and extremely hard to obtain. But something was different about this one. The main thing was the smell. Usually humans smell like a mix of McNuggets and the insides of sweaty gym shorts, but not this kid. Creesaw couldn't put a claw on it, but it was definitely like nothing he had ever smelt before. It was like tulips, if they had been coated in skittles and cooked in a microwave. Creesaw didn't know this, if he had it probably would've made things a lot easier, but this was the smell of magic in it's most raw and pure form.

Many years ago, when magic was abundant and present in everyday life, there was a an elite group of wizards that came together to vote and consult on the different aspects of the magical world. I don't mean to brag, but I was one of those wizards. Back in the day, before I had a scraggly white beard and a cane, we were the most well-known and powerful beings on the earth. We made descisions, and people respected them, although it's not like they could've resisted or we would have opened a cauldron of whoop ass. But, luckily for the public, we were all pure of heart and only wanted what was best for the world's survival. At least, that's what we thought before Gorlof rose up. Gorlof was one of the wizards in the Alliance and admittedly the most powerful out of any of us (but he was an ugly bastard). For some reason, Gorlof hatched the idea somewhere in his sick head that we should use our powers to enslave the population if the world to serve us. When none of us agreed, he Broke off from the group and tried to carry out his goal by himself. He almost did it to, with the help of dark magic which is something we had sworn never to use, but the rest of us teamed up and with all of our combined powers,were barely able to stop him. We trapped him inside of a crystal prison on top of a mountain in Nebraska, because honestly,we thought that nobody ever actually goes to Nebraska. Unfortunately, we had put too much faith in the human race, and 3 days ago a small group of World of Warcraft nerds released Gorkof from his prison. I know you're probably saying that we could all just team back up again and put him back but the thing is that there's none of us left. Old age, sickness, and in one case heroine addiction, had claimed the lives of all of the Alliance except for me. And on top of that, just like in our little buddy David, the many years alone had allowed Gorlof's magic supply to build up and he was now stronger than ever.

David watched as the dragon that he had fully believed had been about to eat him 10 seconds ago turned around and began to walk to a clearing in the forest. As grateful as he was to not have been eaten, he was curious as to what the dragon was doing here and ran after it. "Excuse me, Mr. Dragon. Wait for me, I have a question!" Creesaw didn't answer the boys calls, hoping that if he ignored him he would just go away. "Mr. Dragon, where are you going! Take me with you!" David refused to quit and eventually caught up to him and grabbed onto his tail. Creesaw whipped around, but the instant that they had touched each other they both had a vision. It was of them, fighting side by side, defending the world from an evil wizard. It was so vivid that when they came to, they just sat there silently thinking about what they had just seen. After soaking in what had just happened they looked at each other, the boy and the dragon, and knew exactly what they had to do. Creesaw hoisted David onto his back and began the flight to the only place where he knew he could get answers and guidance about what had just occurred

They arrived at their destination about 6 hours later. A trip like that is nothing for Creesaw, as dragons can make trips up to 3 days without stopping, but the boy's whining and motion sickness induced vomitting had made it unbearable. The castle stood high up against the skyline, but had been skillfully hidden by a series of spells designed to keep it from human eyes. Creesaw approached the front with David on his back, but saw no entrance. He walked up and knocked on the wall but got no response. He looked up and saw no windows, or any other way to get into the building. At this point, Creesaw was worried that he wouldn't be able to get inside to receive a reading on his vision. He let the boy off his back and sat down to think about what to do next. David stood watching Creesaw sitting there and he too wondered whether or not they would ever get inside and get the answers that the vision had raised. He walked over to the wall and leaned against it, and as soon as his skin made contact ith the wall there was a high pitched screeching noise and the walls separated to show a long hallway into the heart of the castle. Creesaw looked up in amazement. "how did you do that, boy?" David was shocked to hear the dragons voice for the first time, but quickly recovered. "I don't know, sir. I just touched it and it opened." Creesaw shook his head in disbelief. "you really are something special, aren't you...and no more of that sir garbage. Call me Creesaw." David smiled at this un expected showing of friendship and headed down the passage, dwarfed by the massive size of the dragon that walked besides him.

As soon as they stepped foot into the busy center of the castle, all the commotion stopped. All the people stopped what they were doing and stared at the Dragon and Boy. Creesaw and David didn’t know this but it had been prophesized that a human and dragon pair would one day show up to save them from the clutches of the evil Gorlof. They stood there for a while, until a small creature ran up to them and said, “Come with me, please.” They followed him into a small room where about 4 or 5 old, bearded men wearing white robes were gathered around a round table. “Sit down and listen,” said the oldest of the 5. “As I’m sure you’ve heard Creesaw, Gorlof has escaped from his prison and is now leading an army of evil supporters to try and capture the World Magic Brotherhood Alliance, in order to be in control of the magical world.” “As for you David, you have very much to learn in a very short amount of time. It is going to be extremely overwhelming for you, but you need to be able to handle it if we have any hope of defeating Gorlof.” David looked around at all the looks of the people in the room. He had come to understand that this was some sort of secret magical; society that dragons were real and these men were probably wizards but he didn’t know where he played a part in this. He raised his hand and said, “Excuse me sir, but I don’t think you have the right person. I’m not magic” The old man stared back at him. “That’s where you’re wrong, David. That’s where you’re wrong.”

David couldn't believe what he had just done. 2 days ago, he hadn't even known that magic existed and now he was moving objects across the room with a simple flick of his wrist. The man who had been sent to teach him how to utilize his powers, nodded his head in approval. "You're learning faster than any student I've ever had. Usually it takes months to be able to reach this point, and so far we're 2 hours into our lesson." David smiled, proud at what he had accomplished, and moved on to practicing the next spell. They went on like this for 12 hours, learning spell after spell, until David literally dropped from exhaustion. As he lay there sleeping, having learned more magic in one day than many learn in a lifetime, he slept soundly until the next day.

Upon waking up the next day, David found Creesaw standing over him. He got up and looked at his giant buddy. Creesaw had been obviously bathed, as his usual head throbbing stench was somewhat under control and he looked shinier than usual. "Awww, did some one take a little bath?" "You understand that I could kill, eat and digest you before you could even stifle a scream, right?" "Is the dragon a little upset that the big mean wizards made him bathe?" "Listen kid, I haven't cleaned myself since the Cold War and now these old guys think they can run up here with their little wands and force me into a tub? Not cool..." "You haven't bathed since the Cold War...." "Shuttup, what're you my mom? Let's go, they said they wanted to talk to us in the meeting room" David shook himself awake and followed Creesaw to a room where all the same men that had been there when they arrived stood, waiting for them. Even though it was 6 in the morning, they were all wide awake and had very grave and serious faces. The apparent leader of the group stepped forward, "Today is the day, gentleman. Gorlof had been rounding up an army greater than any of us expected and our only hope is that you two are the ones that the prophecy for told. There is a great force marching towards this very castle, and at this pace they will be here in a week. However, we cannot wait for them to arrive. We want you to fly ahead and cut them off. If you manage to kill Gorlof, all of the others will disband and go back to the dark depths of where they came." David piped in, "But sir, I only just started learning magic a week ago. And Creesaw is obscenely overweight and has a low intelligence. I really dont feel as if we are fit to take on such a task" "You are right, it is a lot to ask, but you are our only hope. I know you only just started becoming a wizard, but you are already stonger than any of us ever hope to be. And as for Creesaw...well, you have to make do with what you got." Creesaw shot them all angry looks, but then looked at his bulging belly and then shook his head in agreement. David and Creesaw looked at eachother and in that moment, they both accepted their fate and turned back to the wizards. In unison they spoke, "We'll do it."

David packed up the necessary things for the long flight to confront Gorlof and his army. Creesaw was being fitted with a saddle, which he was not a fan of. David smiled to himself at the thought of Creesaw having to wear something that was put their for his comfort, it must have been killing him. As they walked to the run away, ready to depart, a little elf ran up to them holding a sword that was about his height. "Mr. David! Mr. David! Wait! I made you this sword. It's made out of unicorn tusk and baby lion tears. It will allow you to channel your magic and look like a total bad ass while doing it!" David accepted it and thanked the little creature, and then ran to catch up with Creesaw, who was already at the take off ramp. They said their farewells to the group that had gathered at the spot and set off into the sky.

The wind whipped through David's hair as they spent their 6th day cruising through the brisk mountain air. As much as David had matured over the past week and a half, he was still an 11 year old kid, and with this came the impatient and whining tendencies of an 11 year old. "Creeeeessaaawwww, are we there yet" "I will tear your arms and legs off of your torso, leaving you a sad little nugget." David slammed the butt of his sword into Creesaw's side. Creesaw lifted his tail back and slapped David off the side of the head, the only problem with that was that tails are extremely important during flight. Without the use of his tail for steering and balance he swerved to the right and then went belly up in mid air. At this point, Creesaw was flailing and falling and David was petrified and puking. They spun towards the ground at a high rate of speed, all the way Creesaw trying to get back upright but his large stomach made it hard to twist around. At last, they managed to flip back up but it was too late. They crashed into the trees and landed in a valley between two hills. David got up from his saddle and rubbed his head. "What's with you and crashing through trees? Did you miss the learn-how-to-be-a-dragon course in school or something?" "That's not even a real thing." "Yeah, well lis-" They both heard what sounded like a giant marching army approaching. They turned around, and what do you know, there stood a giant marching army approaching them. At the front of the army, on top of a giant elephant, sat Gorlof. He was wearing an all black robe and had a face shrouded in a black Hijab. David shook of the initial shock of seeing the man he had been sent to kill and unsheathed his sword. He raised it in the air and sent a red ball of fire flying towards his head. Gorlof smiled at the oncoming attack and raised a hand, sending the fire ball whizzing back at David. David jumped and just barely avoided his own attack. David was shocked at how easily his magic had been cast aside. In another effort, he screamed out and pointed his sword. A blue bolt of lightening cast out of the tip towards the dark wizard. One again, Gorlof extended a hand and the lightning fizzled out in mid air. Gorlof laughed and looked down at the two. "This is what they send to defeat the all mighty Gorlof? A toddler and a fatty?" "HEY! I'm not fat!" "And I'm 11!" "Listen you fools, how about I let you live if you get out of my way and go back to kindergarten and hop on a treadmill" David and Creesaw were fuming mad, but they knew that they had no choice but to leave, so David mounted his dragon and they set off back to the castle.

When they finally arrived back at the castle, they were exhausted. The crushing defeat, and the long trip back had combined to leave them totally drained, but as soon as they entered everyone surrounded them and began firing questions. The duo tried to push their way through but failed and finally stopped and told them all how they had been made a mockery of by Gorlof and how powerful he was. The mob quieted down and dispersed almost immediately, and a feeling of doubt and unease filled the room. The old group of wizards appeared in a doorway and beckoned for them to follow. Once again, they found themselves standing in same small room with the round wooden table. They looked even more grave than usual and the head wizard stepped forward. "We underestimated the power of Gorlof and we sent you in unprepared." David stood up and addressed the group. "What are we going to do? He's obviously way too powerful and he shut down almost every attack that I sent at him." "Our only hope is to keep trying and to train harder. You are our first and last resort." David began to understand that all these people were relying on him and promised himself at that moment that he would not let them down. He would train and fight until he achieved the goal or died trying.

After a long awaited night of sleep, David woke up refreshed and ready to work. He had gotten up extra early, and made his way down to the training area by himself. He rubbed the sleepies out of his eyes, cracked open the book of spells and went to work. He concentrated and worked harder than he had ever in his life. He spent hour after hour, learning spell after spell, refusing to accept that Gorlof would walk all over them. At about lunch time, Creesaw trotted in with a croissant stuffed in his mouth. "Where have you been all day? Take a break, come get something to eat." David looked up angrily at Creesaw for breaking his focus. "Creesaw....go on a run." Creesaw swallowed his roll and stepped towards his little buddy. "Listen, just because you work yourself into the ground and make everyone else look bad, doesn't mean that I'm not trying!" "All you do is walk around and eat! And then you complain about getting you ass kicked by Gorlof! You don't even try to get better!" Creesaw took a step back, looking genuinely hurt. He turned and walked back out the door without saying a word. David looked up and watched him go, and almost went after him to apologize, but decided that he couldn't afford to take any time off from practicing and that Creesaw would need to figure things out on his own. He re-opened the old book and went back to bettering his magic skills.

Once David had finished for the day, he went looking for Creesaw to mend any hard feelings that still remained. He went to the food court, and was surprised to find that Creesaw wasn't there. Then he looked in the sleeping barracks, but once again the dragon was no where to be found. David was walking through one of the hallways when he heard a cough from down a side passage. He turned and slowly crept into the dimly lit alley. Once his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, he saw what had made the cough. Slumped in the corner was Creesaw, surrounded by empty bottles of Jack Daniels and with a lit unicorn's horn hanging from his mouth. "Creesaw, what're you doing?!" "You were right, David. I'm not helpful at all to our situation. I can't do anything right...you guys are better off without me." "No, we need you more than anybody else. You're a big, mighty dragon. All you need is a little hard work and you'll be eating bad guys and burning villages in no time." "I don't know...." "Trust me, it's our destiny to be great. You just need to believe and try, you can't give up so easily." "You know what..you're right. Let's go, When I'm done here Gorlof won't know what hit him." "That's the spirit buddy. Now, put that thing out and lets get outta here." Creesaw threw the joint on the ground and joined David back to the training room. "By the way, did you drink all of those by yourself?..." "Yeah....I'm a boss."

From then on, David and Creesaw worked together every day, making themselves more united and powerful than ever before. Creesaw became faster, stronger and had learned how to control his fire breathing like a champ. He had slimmed down and yo could now see the muscles that had previously been hidden underneath a thick layer of jager-fat. With this new physique also came a new outlook at the situation. Creesaw became more confident and believed that they could actually accomplish their goal. Now that both of them were up to the task, they approached the head wizards to request another shot at stopping Gorlof. The head wizard looked at them over and instantly saw the new determined look in their eyes and the lack of obesity on Creesaw, and nodded his head. "Yes, you can. The last report we had on Gorlof, was that he had stopped to destroy a small farming town to feed his army. It has gotten even bigger and the longer it takes for us to take him down, the harder it is going to be to defeat them." They both walked back to their rooms to pack for the crucial journey.

After they had gotten everything they needed they walked to the runway and took off, only this time there was no crowd waiting to see them off. The moral around the castle, hearing of all of Gorlof's victories, was not good and they left without anyone noticing. This time the flight was a lot smoother than last time and they enjoyed the time looking over the terrain as they flew. David managed to control his puke and Creesaw wasn't grouchy the entire time, and the time wizzed by. They passed mountain tops, and low valleys and saw little civilization on there way, other than the occasional farm every now and then. Eventually, they saw a dark blob on the edge of a mountain side. Creesaw moved down to get a closer look, and sure enough, there was Gorlof and his army. They were camped out in an opening in the dense woodland, and there were a lot of them. They scanned the army for Gorlof and at the head of a table, eating a large amount of food that had probably been taken from the table of a nearby family. They flew around a couple more times, in order to formulate a plan and then dive bombed into the middle of the feast. David sent a shock wave that sent Gorlof flying off his chair. He scrambled around on the ground, searching for something that he had apparently dropped, found it and then slid something onto his finger. He stood up, brushed himself off and proceeded to release a spell that left David slammed back against a tree trunk and Creesaw knocked onto his back. They quickly got up and braced for round two. As soon as they stepped forward they were hit again and sent back. David once again found himself on the ground and looked back up at Gorlof, who had a smug look on his face as he watched them flail, and raised his hand and sent the strongest fire blast that he could muster blazing at Gorlof. Gorlof casually put up his hand but had underestimated the power that David was capable of and it hit him in the chest. The flame sent him off the table that he had been standing on. Everyone gasped at the sight of the mighty Gorlof being put down by a little boy. Gorlof righted himself with a new fire in his eyes and ran back up on the table. "That's it, no more toying around with you. Now you die!" He rubbed the ring on his finger and a blue ball began to form on his finger tip. David saw this and ran to Creesaw, who scooped him onto his back and began to flap his wings. The blue ball grew in size as Creesaw pumped as hard as he could to take off. The ball releaased from Gorlof's finger just as Creesaw left the ground. It went right under his left foot, singeing his scales. They ascended into the sky as Gorlof screamed up at them. "You better watch your back you little twerps! I'm going to come and destroy you and everyone else! There's nothing you can do to stop it!" They looked down at the gradually shrinking wizard and considered what he said. David smiled and glanced over at Creesaw. "I know how to beat him."

"Do you really think that all we have to do is get that ring off his finger to beat him?" "No, Creesaw. He's still a wizard, so he'll still have magic. The ring just enhances his magic ability, so if we get rid of it I'll atleast have a chance at beating him." "So, what now?" "We need to be able to get that ring off of him" "Couldn't we just rip it off his dirty little hands?" "We wouldn't be able to get close enough with the ring still on him. We need to be able to use magic to get it." "And how do you plan on doing that?" "When I was studying, I read about a spell that they used to use. It allowed you to control any object, but the spell was lost and everyone forgot about it. But I went back in the archives and found a map to where the spell is supposed to be." Creesaw let out a big breath. "It's not going to be easy, is it..." "Nothing we ever do is." The knew that it was a long shot, but it was the only thing that would enable them to defeat Gorlof. They went to rest and nurse their wounds before they set off to a place with a destination that they didn't know to find a spell, with a power that they weren't familiar with.

The next day, they decided to go to the head wizards and ask for advice. At the idea, all of the wizards gasped and a murmur went over the group. One of the old men spoke up out of the circle. "The last one to use that spell tried to use it to assassinate our king, so they took it and hid it somewhere in the kingdom so that it would never happen again. it's a very dangerous spell, and if you don't do it correctly it tends to backfire on you. It can cause some pretty serious damage to you, so be careful." That was all they said. So, once again, they found themselves at the runway, getting ready to set off on a flight. The map was very old, and had cracks and brown spots covering it from old age and weathering. They had trouble reading it, but David would have to make due with what they had. Everything was strapped down to Creesaw's back and they got ready for takeoff. David made sure that everything was stowed away properly, and that the inflight trays were in the upright and locked position. Once everything had been secured, Creesaw started the run down the track, gradually quickening his wing flaps as he ran, until he got to the edge and pushed off. Then they were in the air and soon they had left the sight of the castle behind them. After several hours of flying they saw the geography change. It went from green and fertile and well kept by the magic cleaning staff, to a barren and dry forest with dead trees and dark shadows. This was where no one voluntarily went, and there was good reason for it. David tried to sleep to block out the depressing layout but he was too nervous about the task at hand to get any rest. They flew in silence, and watched the empty land pass underneath them. Eventually, they came to the base of a mountain where they stopped to rest. David looked up towards the top and then pulled out the map to consult with Creesaw on what to do next. "Creesaw, the map says that we have to go halfway up the mountain and then look for a cave with a triangular mouth. But that's where the directions get a little fuzzy, I think we're gonna have to wing it once we're in the cave." "Okay, but we need to be careful. These caves were made a long time ago, and probably laced with booby traps that haven't gone off and are ready to go off at any time." "From what I can understand on this map, the path through the cave is very long and winding so we still have a long way to go. I don't know if you're going to be able to come with me..." "What do you mean, we're partners!" "I know that. However, it's a long journey in a tight area, and I don't even know if you'll be able to fit in the passages. It would be best if you let me go in and you waited out here and looked for trouble." Creesaw looked dissapointed but nodded his head in agreement. "Ok, you're right. I'll fly around out here and watch for any disturbances." With that David got back on Creesaw's back and they started flying up alongside the side of the mountain. They got higher and higher, to the dismay of David, who's ears popped quite painfully. He tried go talk to Creesaw, but got no answer. The dragon was still upset about being told that he had to sit on the side line for the mission that would save the world. The awkward silece was broken whennthey reached a small plateau on the mountain. Creesaw saw it first and pointed it out. "This looks like what the map describes, David. I think this is where you get off." "you're right. Thank you Creesaw, i'll be right back." "yeah, no problem. At least I was able to do something right, which I'm sure is weird for you accept...seeing as I'm not even able to walk down a cave with you..." "you know, I'd rather have you with me..." "yeah, whatever." David wanted to tell Creesaw how much of a role he played in this whole thing but he didn't have time. He simply shook his head, patted Creesaw on the back and approached the cave opening. He walked up to it and looked at the opening. It had strange markings on it, but most of them had been faded out or covered by vegetation and mold. He pushed the brush aside and realized that the markings formed a series of word. He tried to make them out and decided that it was some sort of spell. He took a step back and read aloud the encryption. At first, nothing happened, but then the scraelings began to glow a bright yellow. The glow grew larger and larger until finally they cracked with a loud bang and a separate cave opening ripped out of the mountain wall next to the original doorway. David walked over to the newly formed cave and examined it. It was smooth and rounded, nothing like what would have been expected from something that had just been cracked out of solid rock. He took a look back, expecting to share his surprise with Creesaw, but he was no where to be found. David assumed that he had already taken off to survey the area. He faced the opening and began his descent into the depths of the mountain. The deeper that David went into the mountainside the colder it got, however he noticed that it never got any darker, that the walls seemed to illuminate the way despite the fact that there was no source of power. After what seemed like an endless walk down the completely uniform path he came to a deep void, with only a flimsy rope bridge across it. Here, David stopped and stared at this new obstacle. He knew that he wouod have to cross it, but it was extremely difficult to be able to convince himself to step onto the bridge. After several moments of nervous silence he took the first step onto the step. It creaked under neath him and he quickly retracted his foot. He took a deep breath and tried to mentally prepare himself for the crossing. He told himself that it was for the good of the world and that the cause was more important than his own safety. He closed his eyes and took another step forward. Then he realized that crossing a narrow bridge with his eyes closed wasn't the smartest idea, and opened his eyes. He put one foot after the other and slowly but surely made his way across to the other side. Once he had gotten to the other side, he let out a huge sigh of relief. He fell to the floor, glad to be back on sturdy ground. After he had calmed down, he got back up and continued down the path. Now he noticed that things started to change, the lighting in the room changed color and the ceiling got lower, and he got the idea that he was approaching something important. He kept walking until he came to an opening. It was a circular cavern with a large stone table at it's center. He approached the table and saw that it had the same strange markings that he had seen on the door in the very beginning. He repeated the same words that he had used to open the cave, and once again they began to glow. The table receded into the grown and where it used to be was an indent in the ground. Inside of it was a ladder that led into the dark abyss. This time there was no hesitation and he went right down the small opening, testing the ladder with his feet and slowly eased his way down. It was a longer way down than he expected, and in pitch black it was an unnerving experience. Finally, his foot hit the ground. He stepped off the ladder and stood in utter blackness. He raised his hand and muttered a few words and white light shot from his fist, lighting up the room. This part of the mountain was far less developed than the parts that he had previously been in. Instead of smooth and proffesional edges, this area looked like it had been primitively mined out with a pick axe. It was smaller than the other room, and the only thing in it was a passageway and a giant statue of a 6 armed being holding a scroll in the lowest hand. He walked up to the scroll and grabbed it in his hand, and tried to yank it out. it slid out a lot easier than he had expected and he landed on his rump. He held the scroll in his hand, excited that he held the spell that would save them from Gorlof. He turned, and was about to go back up the ladder when he heard a noise behind him. It was a gravel sound, like a heavy object being dragged across a stone floor, and it sent shivers running down david's spine. He slowly turned around and couldn't believe his eyes, the stone statue that had once been holding the scroll that was now in his hand, had removed itself from its base and was now standing feet in front of him. He looked down at the scroll in his hand and then back up at the monster. It let out a loud roar and went after David. He spun around and tried to decide what to do. He looked up the ladder but it would take too long to get up, so he looked for any other options. The only other way out was a single passage on the other side of the room. He ran as fast as he could towards the door, with the creature trailing right behind. He made it into the winding passage and was gaining ground, although he could still hear the heavy breathing of the stone beast behind him. He kept going as fast as his little legs would carry him, and after zig zagging through the dark tunnel he finally saw a small dot of light in the distance. This gave him hope and he picked up his pace, but so did the monster. He looked behind him and the beast roared from right behind his head. He dove out the exit, just barely escaping it's jaws as they clamped shut. He burst into blinding light and was stunned for only a second and then realized that they monster had run out with him and was now standing over him. It opened its mouth wide, revealing chiseled teeth and a disgusting stench, and its head went down to bite David into pieces. He closed his eyes, waiting for the pain to start. Suddenly a swift swooping noise broke through the sky, and when he opened his eyes he saw Creesaw lifting the creature into the air. Creesaw flew up into the air and then dropped the stone creature, who fell like a rock. It landed in a heap on the ground. It tried to lift itself back up but Creesaw went back at him and sent a flying ball of fire out of his mouth. The flames engulfed the beast and it finally shuttered and crumpled for good. David looked up at Creesaw, who helped him to his feet, and quickly embraced him in a hug. Creesaw laughed. "Good thing I had the idea to wait outside, huh?" "Yeah, you're a genius.." "Are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine buddy...now let's go home." As they flew back, the long trip didn't seem as bad as it had on the way there. He opened the scroll and began to look at it. It was even older than the map that they had, and he had to hold it very carefully in order for it not to fall apart. It was mostly designs, with a few seals and symbols of the previous governments posted on it, but in the middle was a single statement with directions on what to do. He began imagining how he would go about using it, and how he could defeat Gorlof. He drifted off into sleep as he thought about the future and what part he played in it.

They arrived back at the castle sometime around midday the folowing evening. Unlike when they had left, there was a large group waiting to see whether they had succesfully accomplished their mission. David and Creesaw landed, and every waited with baited breath for what they would say. David stepped off the dragon and lifted up the scroll. Everyone broke into applause, and for once they had a little hope that they would be able to overcome the odds and beat the mighty Gorlof. The two fought their way through their fans and went straight to the training room. On the way there, one of the head wizards caught up to them. "You two should probably get some sleep, I'm sure you had a long journey." "No thank you. I'm going to go work on this spell, so that I can master it. But Creesaw can get some rest if he wants, he had a rough past few days." "No, I'm coming with you. We'll learn the spell together." With that the wizard let them go and they made it to the place where they had trained so many hours before. They walked into the middle of the room and sat down to dissect the meaning of the scroll.David re opened it. "It says that all I have to do is point my finger at what I want to move, say these words and imagine it doing what you want to happen." "Can it really be that easy?" "Well we're about to find out." David stood up and pointed his hand at a stool on the other side of the room and spoke the words that were on the piece of paper. The chair shook and then exploded, sending flying shards of wood at David. He ducked and got peppered with tiny splinters, crying out in pain. Creesaw ran over to check on him. David shook himself and picked some wood out of his arms. He walked back to the center of the room and pointed his finger at a chest that had been located next to the stool, spoke the words and tried to imagine the chest moving over to him. He concentrated really hard, turning his face red, but nothing happened. He kept focusing, and then realized that he was becoming uncomfortably hot, and when he looked down his pants were on fire. He ripped them off and stared at the magic spell. "What is wrong with this thing?" "You have to remain calm, but be focused at the same time. And practice, you can't expect to get it on the first try." David agreed and went back to work. He focused on a vase on a window sill and took a deep breath, he raised his finger and whispered the spell. The vase bumped off the window and smashed on the ground. He walked over to the debris and began sweeping it up with a broom, he thought about how much more work he had before him in order to be able to master this spell to even have a chance at surviving. He was worried about all the other people that depended on him. However, the rhythmic sweeping soon filled his mind and he relaxed and only thought about the sound of the broom brushing against the floor. Accidently, he bumped into a small decorative figure that was put on top of a ledge and it fell off of it's resting place. He shot his hand out but it just missed his fingertips and continued falling. He wished that it had just stayed on the ledge, and suddenly the statue stopped in midair and began to float back to where it had been before he had hit it. It was a slow and uneven flight and it would never work in a battle scenario but, although it wasn't exactly what he had wanted, it was better than it exploding. After he had finished sweeping up the shattered pieces of his failed spells, he went back to the center of the room. he tried to replicate the same state of mind that he had had when he was sweeping. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and imagined back to his life before the day that a dragon had crashed into his backyard. He thought about his mom and his dad, and even though they often fought, how they still had loved him. He thought about what they were thinking about this whole thing now...did they even k=know he was gone. He thought about his friends, or lack there of, and his teachers. How normal and boring everything had been until a supersized flying lizard had crash landed into his life. He thought of how if he did as he was supposed to do and beat Gorlof, nothing would change. He wouldn't be able to tell anyone that he had magic powers and defeated an evil wizard on the back of a dragon, and even if he did no one would believe him. They would continue to ignore him, unless he changed himself. He wondered if it was even worth it to try and protect a world that hadn't taken care of him. His mind went blank, not knowing what to think. He looked up at the broom that he had used to sweep earlier, and pointed at it. He imagined it in his handing, flying across the room and doing whatever he wanted it to. He wanted it to happen for him, not for anyone else. He wanted to be able to tell himself that he had been able to do it; to move the broom; to save the world. He wanted to do it for himself, so that he could prove to himself that he was important. The broom lifted up with authority and quickly shot right into his awaiting grasp. He smiled and looked over at Creesaw, who was also smiling. He now knew how to control his thoughts in order to cast the spell. Now he just had to be able to control something that was a lot smaller than a broom stick. He gradually lessened the size of the objects until he was able to make a cup of water come to his hand from across the room....without spilling it. He was getting better than he had ever expected in such a short period of time, but he still couldn't make ring sized objects come to him. Something about their size made them extremely difficult to maintain a hold of and they would get about halfway to him and then drop to the ground. He kept trying and trying but it still would never make its way to his hand. After hundreds of attempts he was getting extremely frustrated. After he had had enough he threw the scroll to the ground and stormed out of the room. Creesaw, who had dozed off, lifted up his head and watched him leave. He sighed and went after him, to get him back to work. Creesaw followed David all the way back to his room, and then knocked on the door. "Go away!" "David, it's me. Let me in." "No, go away!" "I know you're upset but I know how you feel and you need to get over it. It is for the good of everyone else." "Creesaw, you didn't even care about any of this until three days ago! Don't tell me you know how I feel, I have the weight of the whole world on my shoulders and you're just my ride! And what has anyone else ever done for me? All they did was pick on me back home, so what if they all become Gorlof's slaves. They deserve it! Screw them!" Creesaw shook his head and understood that he could do nothing to help. The best was probably for him to give David some down time, and the stress would become less sever. He left the doorway and went back to his room t get some rest.

The next day, Creesaw woke up and stretched. He was a little sore from all the rough past days but he had come to terms with it. He pushed himself up and looked out the window. It was a nice day, for the first time in a while, as it had been raining for the majority of the time they had been there. He looked at the mountainside and appreciated the beauty of it for the first time, he though about how this was what he was fighting for. The wonderful country side that he had always taken for granted was now at risk of becoming destroyed by the evil wizard. He couldn't let this happen, and he wouldn't. He pulled away from the window as his stomach rumbled and thought about getting something to eat. He splashed himself with some water and headed down to the dining hall. Along the way he passed David's room and decided he would try again to cheer him up. He knocked on the door, but got no response. He knocked again, and after there still was no one to answer the door, he pushed it open and walked in. On the bed was a the shape of a small boy underneath the sheets, and Creesaw assumed that David was still sleeping. He didn't know whether to let him sleep or to wake him up. He decided that it would be best to wake him up and have a chat, but when he reached over and pulled the covers off he was unpleasantly surprised. Instead of the boy shaped bump being David, pillows and blankets had been shaped to form a boy shaped bump of cloth. At first, Creesaw didn't know how to respond. He looked around the room, expecting for David to jump out and yell "Surprise!" or some other practical joke. But then reality set in, the boy had run away from the castle. The overwhelming pressure, combined with the recent failure of the spell, must have finally got to him and he had abandoned them. Without the boy they were doomed to perish to Gorlof, and Creesaw knew it was his duty to return the boy. Before he could go off he knew that he had to tell the head wizards, and maybe they would have some advice. He made his way to the meeting room and once again, the wizards were there, as if they never left. He approached them bashfully, as he felt as if the boy had been his responsibility and with him going missing it was somehow his fault. All eyes were on him as he approached the wizards. He cast his eyes to the ground as he spoke. "I don;t know if you know already or not, but....David's gone..." They all gasped. "What do you mean he's gone?" "I mean, he had a hissy fit yesterday and when I woke up to check on him today he wasn't there..." "This is terrible! We have no hope of winning without the boy! We need to find him!" "I know, thart's why I'm here. I'm going to go look for him, he can't have gone that far on foot. I'll find him." "You better, beacuse the hope of our future lies on your shoulders now. You're our only hope." Creesaw left the room, knowing that how David felt now. Everyone depended on him, and all the pressure was getting to him. He understood how terrible David must've felt for every speed bump he hit. Creesaw knew he couldn't let them down and that he would find David at all costs. He went back to his room and prepared for the journey. He packed for everything, as he didn't know how long he would be gone or where he would have to go in order to get the boy back. He packed everything into a neat little satchel and left for the runway. As he went on his way, he passed the boy's room and peered in. It looked so empty without the usual spell casting and bitching and moaning. This just drove him to want to succeed even more. He took off from the castle slower than usual, as he was scanning the ground for any sign of David. He started off down the main path from the castle, because he thought that David might've taken the easiest way. He followed the path from the sky for quite a while and there was still no sign of David. He turned around and followed the path back to the castle, to make sure he hadn't missed anything and still there was no clues to where David might have gone. He perched on a pillar next to the castle to think about his next move. He thought about what David liked, and how it might affect what decisions he made. David always talked about how he missed his home and the long walks through the woods. So, taking the main path probably wasn't the best idea, and he had to start looking in the woods. This made things a little bit trickier as it would be harder to see through the tree tops, but he would have to deal with it. That left him two options, to either go left or right. He decided to start off with the right. He pushed off the pillar and set off towards the right, flying low over the canopy to maximize the chances of him seeing the small child. His eyes were sharper than humans, but he still had trouble seeing everyhting through the rough vegetation. He considered how far David would have been able to walk with the head start. He though that if the boy went three miles per hour on an average walking pace and had a 3 hour head start, he couldnt be more than nine miles away. Creesaw could have easily caught up to someone going that speed in a flat out race, but the cover and huge area that he had to cover was what made it difficult. He swept even lower to the trees, his feet brushed against the leaves and he could smell the fresh scent of foliage. He scanned the forest floor, for a coat or a shoe or anything that would indicate that the boy had been here, but he saw nothing. He circled around a couple more times, but still couldnt make out any boy shaped blobs from above the trees. He finally gave up and turned back to the castle starting point. Once he had gotten back, he once again sat on the top of the pillar to plan his next move. He now knew that the only way the boy could've gone was left. However, he was tired and David now had a five hour start. He obviously didn't want to be found, and there were plenty of hiding spots in the woods. On top of that there were dangerous things in the depths of the forest that would pose a threat to david. Not only would there be wolves and bears, like in a normal forest, but there was also the magical beings that would do anything to have a small tasty boy in their hands. There had been stories of children who had wandered out at night, run into tribes of mystical creatures and neevr been seen again. Or of groups of people picked off one by one, and their bodies being found weeks later completely picked to the bone. The risks were too great for a little kid to be in the forest by himself, and the longer he stayed the more dangerous it would get. So, Creesaw ignored the limpness in his limbs and took offf again. He swept closer to the tree tops than was probably safe, and at times he would get hit by a branch and almost tumble down to the ground. He eyed the dirt carefully but saw nothing. He kept going, passing over rocks that looked like children, stumps that looked like children and bushes that looked like children. But he saw no actual children that looked like children. The more he flew, the more upset he got, as he was beginning to think that he would never see David again. He reached the end of the forest, where it became open rockface and unclimable cliffs and finally turned around. The way back he was in a daze of shock, he couldn't believe that it was all over so quickly. They boy was gone, and with him went all hope. He withdrew into his own mind, basically flying on cruise control. All he could think about was what the future would hold without David. They would stand no chance against the overwhelming power of Gorlof and his army. He might as well fly home right now and try to get as far away from the damage that would soon occur here. As he pondered what his next move would be, something down below caught his eye. It was a white object lying on the ground. it was too small to be the boy, but never the less it still stuck out from the earth tones of the forest. He decided it was worth it to check it out, and even if it was nothing it would still give himself something to think about and take his mind off the loss of David. He fought his way through the branches and was able to weave himself down to the forest floor. He walked over to the object and picked it up. After close inspection, and rubbing some of the dirt off of it, he determined it was one of the shoes that david had been wearing when he ran away. He put it to his nose and took a deep breath and it had the boys scent. He didn't know whether or not this was a good sign or not. On one hand, it brought him closer to finding the boy but it also meant that something probably bad had happened, as people dont usually just take off their shoes voluntarily in the middle of the woods. He looked around for any other traces of what could have happened at this spot. The branches around him looked okay, none of them were broken and they didnt show any sign of struggle. He looked down and gasped. The dirt was dug up and pushed everywhere. He continued to look at it and then noticed there were lines of dirt scraped in, leading in a certain direction, as if something had been dragged away. He then noticed a dark patch in the midst of the dirt. Upon further investigation he realized that it was wet, and when he put his nose down to smell it discovered that it wasnt water. It was blood. Now Creesaw was nervous. Not only had David been kidnapped by an unknown creature, he was hurt and bleeding. Creesaw sniffed the air to see if there were any more of the creatures around, but he got nothing. Then he put his head down, and began to follow the tracks.

The tracks went on for a very long time. They weaved in and out through trees and crevices, and at some points Creesaw thought that they went in circles. The route didnt make much sense, but he was helpless but to follow it in order to save David. The more and more he followed them, the deeper and deeper into the woodlands he went. The terrain got slightly more dense and a lot darker. It had an ominous feel to it and Creesaw was uncomfortable and a little frightened. He jumped at every little crack and bump in the woods. The trees blocked out most of the sun and he felt caged in and trapped. The path finally ended and in front of him was a hole in the side of a tree that led down below the ground. He was extremely against going in tunnels, as dragons are air creatures and dont like it when they are blocked from it. Once again, he was forced to overstep his boundaries in order to protect the wellbeing of someone else. He took the first step of many down the hole in the dirt, and regretted every single one. The passage went down at a steep angle for a while, and then it evened out and broke off into three paths. He looked down at the dirt ground and saw the drag marks lead to the path on the far right, and went down that way. He followed it for a while, until it opened up into a large room. In the middle was a cage, and in the cage sat David. Creesaw ran up to the cage and whispered to him. "David! Get up, I'm gonna get you out of here!" David jumped up with relief. "Hurry, the guards went to go to the bathroom, but they'll be back soon." "Who took you?" "I dont know exactly what they are. They have the bodies of crabs but human-like heads. I think they want to do some sort of sacrifice with me." "Not if I have anything to say about it." Creesaw whipped his tail against the bars, hoping that they would break in, but it did nothing except hurt his rear end. He tried to bite his way through, and he made a little progress but not anything that would get David out quick enough. His last resort was to breath fire and try to melt the cage enough to be able to break through. However, this put David at risk of being burnt and it was pointless to break him out if it meant burning him alive. He tried to do the tail-smashing tactic again, but all it did was make a loud noise and hurt. He looked around, hoping that none of these creatures had heard the loud bang. he thought he heard talking from down a tunnel and decided that fire was the only option left. He told David to go to the back of the cage and took a deep breath. He concentrated on the cage's door and let out a controlled flame to it. At first it did nothing, but then it began to glow red, like metal does when it is heated to extremely high temperatures. At that moment, a group of crab things ran in and Creesaw smashed the cage door, which easily broke off. The things ran at them and Creesaw spit a huge fire ball at them, and grabbed David with his tail and threw him onto his back. He ran back to the tunnel that he had come down, expecting the crabs to have been completely obliterated from his fire, but to his surprise they shook it off and continued at him. The pinched at his tail and feet, which for some reason stung and burned terribly, almost causing him to keel over in pain. He fought through it and continud the climb back up to the surface. The more he went up, the more of these things seemed to appear. They came out of holes and creases in the walls. From everywhere, they spilled around him and attacked him. David tried to help by shooting some of them with plasma balls from atop his back, but there were just so many that it didn't matter what he did. Finally they broke through to the surface. Most of the creatures withdrew back into the safety of the tunnel, but some still chased after them. They ran through the trees, as Creesaw was still unable to fly from the low, thick tree branches that acted as a ceiling. He tore through the bushes and shrubs, as David picked of the few stragglers that were still following them, with magic attacks. At last they reached day light, and Creesaw unfurled his wings and took off into the sky, leaving the weird little crab things in his dust. There was little talk on the flight back, as they were both shocked at the intensity of what had just happened. They just stared at the woods underneath them, thinking of the horrors that probably happened in there every day, and how David had just narrowly escaped a similiar fate. David was the one that broke the silence. "Hey Creesaw, I have something to show you." Creesaw turned around to see David controlling a pebble in the air, moving it around with expert prescision. Creesaw was shocked, this exact act was what had evaded David for so long and what had caused him to run away in the first place. "How...how did you figure out how to do that?" "You tend to have a lot of free time when you're being held captive in a cage....practice makes perfect." Creesaw laughed and they were both finally in a good mood, after the stress and dissapointment that had filled the last few days. Now that they were speaking, they talked about what had happened in the forest that had led to David's capture. David retold the story to Creesaw. "So, after I couldn't do the spell with small object, I was really pissed off because I thought that since I couldn't get it, everyone would be screwed and it would be my fault. And that eventually turned into frustration which made me need to get away from it. At first it was just gonna be a walk, but then I was thinking about how could make all the stress go away by just going home. So, i figured that if I walked far enough away in the woods it would take me back to the woods behind my house. So, I got deeper and deeper and eventually I lost where I was. I sat down in this opening and tried to figure out how to get back, but I was hoplessly lost. So then I started screaming for help, and that turned out to not be the best idea. Someone came, but they didnt want to help me. At first, the only one crab thing showed up. it didn't say anything, it just kept a few feet away and stared. Like it was scoping me out or something. I was a little creeped out by it, but then it left and I forgot about it and kept yelling for help. After more time had passed, three more showed up and they started talking to me. But, it didn't make any sense. They didn't say anything coherent and it was just phrases in english. I tried to as them to help me but they just kept saying nonsensical things in broken english. Once again, they left and I just kept trying to find help. Then after like fifteen minutes, even more showed up. But this time they werent speaking english, just clicking and hissing to eachother and they formed a circle around me. I tried t communicate with them and ask them what was going on, but they just ignored me and slowly tightened the circle until i was face to face with them. i freaked out and tried to run away,and I shot one in te face with a fireball. It did literally nothing to him, and it just pinched me in the leg with it's claw. The actual pinch didn't hurt, but then it started to burn and got really dizzy and I think I passed out because the next thing I knew was that I was in that cage." Creesaw was completely absorbed in the story. "What happened once you were there?" "Well, at first there was another person in the cage with me. He was an old man, and he said that he had been there for about a week. He told me that they were saving us for a special day, where they would sacrifice us to their gods and then eat us. It turned out that that day was today, and they had started the preparations only like five minutes before you go there. They took the man to a different room, probably to season him or something and theywere going to take me too, but the guards needed to pee so they said they would come back for me. Luckily, you came before they had the chance to." Creesaw was shocked at what the boy had gone through. Any other normal ten year old, would have crapped their pants and cried for mommy, but not him. He had toughed it out, and learned a complicated spell while doing it. This kid had the mental toughness of a war vet, and he was proud to be his friend. They swooped down to the castle and landed on the runway cleanly and crisply. They were eager for the sleep that awaited them. They had both had rough days, and just wanted to rest up. But these plans were dashed when, as soon as they stepped off the runway, the wizards told them to get ready for battle. They didn't understand what he meant by this, and then it hit him. He was talking about Gorlof. "Why? What's going on?" "Gorolof is a hundred yards south of us. He's going to be here soon, and we have to prepare for war. Come with me." The followed him to a room that had never been in, and never even knew existed. In it were many people geting equipped with swords and armour. There was a nervous buzz in the room. Everyone was nervous for their safety, but excited to have a chance to fight for their people. Creesaw and David were led to the back of the room and taken into a side room. There were less people in this one, and the weapons and armour were clearly nicer than the ones in the main room. The wizard took a sword off the shelf and gave it to David. "I know you already have a sword, but this one has been handed down to all the best warriors in history. It will help you if you need it. Hopefully you'll be able to get the job done with magic, but if it comes down to hand on hand combat you'll be covered." David took the sword and thanked the wizard. "Next is your armour. We had to specially make you this beacuse of your size, but it should work alright. It has the most protection against magic we could forge into it, without it causing testicular cancer. And it should be able to block away all arrows, hatchets, knives and such." David took these also and began putting on the equipment. The wizard now turned to Creesaw. "Dont worry big guy, we have stuff for you too." He opened a wooden trunk that was sitting in front of him and took out a large, dragon shaped set of armour. It was patchy and brightly colored, as if it wasn't all made from the same material. "Aww, comeone. Why do I get the ugly armour?" "It may be ugly, Creesaw. But it will best serve your purposes. It is made of the scales of different dragons, so not only will it be the most comfortable on you but it also will have the same magic and fire resistant properties that your skin have. So, your armour wont burn away if you get hit by something." Creesaw nodded and accepted the armor. Now, they moved into yet another room. There was no battle instruments in here, but there was a large map in the middle of the room with a crowd of official looking people around it. They approached the table and looke down at it. There were floating emblems over the map, which must have represented Gorlof's army and our own troops. A man with a huge, awesome mustache spoke up. "Listen boys, Gorlof is here. thirty minutes south of here and he has twice as large of an army as us. We're gonna try and attack him right on, to slow him down and allow you two to have the time to go around back and take him out. You're gonna need to stay out of sight and remain hidden until the last moment, when you absoluetely need to be seen. Gorlof is controlling all of his men through his mind. If you kill him and break the magic, they won't be organzied anymore and theyll break up and retreat. If you get caught or seen, do whatever it takes to kill him. It might mean sacrificing yourselves, but it needs to be done. You are doing this for the good of the world, not just yourselves. Now, he will probably have a group of tight knit body guards around him. They're not the problem, we know you'll have no problem taking them out. Gorlof is the issue, he is extremely powerful and if he decides to attack you, you'rre in trouble. So, you're gonna need to find away to get past his guards without alerting Gorlof to your position. We don't have much information on Gorlof, you two have communicated with him more than any of us have, so what you know about him and how you might defeat him is the only thing we have. Use what you know to your advantage. Even if what you know is limited, it's still an infinite times more than what he knows about you two. That's our advantage, you guys came out of nowhere and he doesn't know what to expect. If you can capatilize on a surprise attack, he might not know how to respond quick enough to defend himself. You need to strike hard and fast and destroy him as soon as you get the chance. We'lll be ready to help you if you need it, but we honestly won't be of much help. it's up to you. Goodluck. Go get 'em men." The man sat back down and went back to strategizing with the others. Creesaw and David were led back out. Instead of the main ramp, this time they were taken to a secret area in the back. It was old and carved into the mountain side and blended into the rock perfectly. Nobody would ever see it unless they were specifically looking for it. They looked at each other and it finally hit them that this was it. The moment that they had been training for. The moment that they had gone through all the trouble to get to. It all boiled down to this. They couldn't mess up now, and there was no going back. Clad in metal and protection they took of silently into the sky. Creesaw took them higher than they had ever been before. He wanted to make sure that no one would see them. The watched the rest of the army proceed on the main front. They could see both armies, marching towards each other. They probably had about 20 minutes before they clashed. That gave them enough time to get behind Gorlof and formulate some sort of plan of action. The stared at Gorlof's group and tried to determine where in the midst of it Gorlof was. They looked over the whole army, and it was soon made clear. Every one of his troops were decked out in all black, except forhim. He wore a gold robe and it stuck out like a sore thumb. They estimated that if they came down from the back they would have to sneak past about half the army. However, if they came in from the side, they could get directly to him, but there was a higher chance that he would spot them. They decided they would have to risk it, so they changed their course and started to descend. As they were on their way down, the battle began. They heard the screams of the wounded and the clash of metal. The front lines of soldiers went down quickly, from hand on hand attacks and also arrow and magic strikes from farther back in the ranks. Once the two groups started to mingle and mix did the real confusion begin. People were attacking from every where and no one could truly trust that the people behind them were on their side. This chaos was exactly what they needed as cover for their strike. But, a giant dragon wouldnt exactly fit in on the battlefield, so David made a plan. "Listen Creesaw, drop me off on this side and go around to the other side. I'll use the battle as cover and get as close to him and his guards as I can. Then you come in roaring and breathing fire from the opposite side, so that everybody focuses on you and goes to that side to try and fend you off. You stay just far enough away to be safe, but close enough to draw attention and when nobody's looking I'll cast the spell and take his magical ring right off his finger and finish him off." Creesaw thought about it and looked unsure. "That leaves you al by yourself, in the middle of a battle. You're just a kid, they would destroy you out there. You cant go by yourself." "Creesaw, I'm not just a kid, I have magic and a big ass sword. And my smallness might even play into our hands, beacuse no one will be looking down for a child. I might be able to just slip right by." Creesaw reluctantly nodded and allowed it to happen. He lowered himself down and dropped off David and shot back up into the air. David watched him go and then looked forward at all the men fighting each other. He unsheathed his sword, bent his knees and quickly trotted forward. He ducked underneath swinging swords and weaved between injured and fighting bodies. As he had hoped, nobody was looking for such a short person and they left him alone. As he got closer and closer to Gorlof, he began to get excited and readied himself to cast the spell. All of a sudden he heard a battle cry from behind him and spun around to see a crazed man, foaming at the mouth from the adrenaline of war, raising a sword to bring it down on him. David put his up just in time to deflect the strike away. He squared up to the man, and thought back to the lessons that he had gotten in sword fighting from the trainer during his time at the castle. The man took a huge swing and David used his youthful quickness to duck underneath it and slice him behind the legs. The man stumbled and almost fell, but managed to remain upright and turn back around. He was now red with rage and took a painful step towards David and raised his sword for a death blow. David quickly stepped forward and buried his sword in the man's chest before he even had a chance to bring the blade down. The soldier crumpled to the ground and lay still. David stared at the body and then at his won sword. He looked at what he had done. He had taken the life of someone else and it shocked him that he had been able to do it. What had he become, he had once been afraid to even talk to adults and now he was puncturing them with sharp objects in the heart. All of this had happened so fast, and it was turning him into a different person. He tried to make his legs move, to walk away from the damage he had just caused, but they wouldnt move. The fighting went on around him, as he stood in his own little world. Suddenly, he snapped out of it and he was back in a regular state of mind. He shook himself and put his eyes back on Gorlof, who still hadn't noticed him. He looked up in the sky, scanning for Creesaw and saw him hovering a couple hundred feet up and waiting for him to move into position. David ran forward and gave Creesaw a thumbs up. He then raised his hand, ready to cast the spell. Creesaw tucked his wings in and shot like a speeding bullet down towards the armies. At the last second he shot his wings out and halted in mid air right above the side of Gorlof. He let our a fierce roar and shot fire down at him. Gorlof was caught off guard but still managed to project a powerful force field from his ring finger to protect himself. Creesaw may have not succeeded in killing Gorlof, but his main purpose had been served. Everyone was not facing the mighty dragon, leaving Gorlof completely unprotected. David stuck his hand out and focused on the ring. He had done this with rocks and bugs over and over again while he had been locked in the cage by those crabs, but now the stakes were higher than ever. He found it even more difficult to clear his head, and it was now or never, he couldnt mess up. He took a deep breath and closed out all the outside sound and action, the only thing that existed at that moment for David was the ring on Gorlof's finger. He pointed at it with his finger and muttered the spell that had been drilled into his brain from non stop practice. Then the image of the ring flying off Gorlof's finger and into his hand filled his mind, and as it did, they same actions happened in real life. The ring ripped off of the finger and before Gorlof could grab it, was flying into Davids out stretched hand. It took a moment for Gorlof's brain to recognize what was going on, but once he did he let out a scream. "NOOOOOOOO!! SOMEBODY KILL THAT KID, HE HAS MY RING!" This snapped ever body out of their dragon induced trance and David now became the focus of the evil army. But before they could do anything to stop him, he slipped the ring on his finger. As soon as he did, he felt the power course through his body. His mind was clear, his body felt strong and the magic inside him began pulsing through his entire body. He now understoof what it felt like to have endless power and the temptations of greediness that came with it. David was stronger than Gorlof though, and he knew what had to be done. He lifted up his sword, built up as much magic as he could and sent a burning red bolt surging towards Gorlof. Gorlof saw it coming and put his hand up to try and conjure up a force field t protect himself. The attack sent from David was too powerful, and it smashed right through the shield, hitting Gorlof center in the chest. At first nothing happened, and David's breath caught in his throat. Then Gorlof began to shake and out of no where he exploded where he stood. The only thing that was left was a pile of ash, draped in a tacky gold robe. The enemy army stopped in their tracks, they looked back and saw that their leader was no more and then something happened. They all shook and fell to the ground and when they got back up they were all rubbing their heads and dizzy, as if something had just been smashed out of their heads. They all looked around, obviously confused and began to talk amongst themselves with uncertain chatter. They became even more confused when they realized they were in the center of a battlefield, and surrounded by dead and dying bodies. At some point during this, they must have decided that it was too insane to even be worth figuring out and started on their way back home. David plopped down to the ground and exhaled a deep breath. It was all over, and it was a weird feeling. He had spent so much time, and thrown away so much of his life for this exact moment, and he felt exactly the same as he had before. There was no difference, nothing was better than it had been, all this meant was that things got to stay the same, for better or for worse. He looked over at Creesaw, who had now landed, and smiled. "We did it, buddy!" "Yeah, now what?" David laughed. "You go back to drinking your liver into nothingness and I go back to having no friends?" Creesaw smiled and rubbed David's head. They both sat next to each other, where they were approached by the same mustached that had spoken to them earlier. "That was amazing boys. Some of the best in-action decision making I've seen in all my years. If you guys ever want to come and join the war council, you're welcome to." They thanked him and he went off on his own way.