The red dirt and abnormally small trees seemed normal to me; having grown up in Oklahoma. What didn’t seem normal to me was the hill about a mile away; well, that and the massive dragon flying over it. I stood there awestruck for about half a second before I realized that if dragons are real, they probably don’t eat salad. They probably would enjoy an Alex steak though; which is bad because, well, I’m Alex.

  Let me back up a little, I was out camping with my four lifelong friends that i’ve known since we were all in diapers. (Literally, our moms were all in the same “Mommy and Me” group) Webster, Nova, Will, and Claymore (Claymore’s real name is Clay, but we all call him Claymore because he gets a little too excitable around fireworks or really anything explosive, or even slightly flammable). We had just finished setting up camp when suddenly I heard a loud feminine scream coming from the direction where I had just seen Webster run off to answer the ‘call of nature’. I ran over with the others as fast as I could, and as Will raced ahead of me, I wondered what could’ve happened to Webster to make him scream so loud. I figure it’s probably a snake, or a spider, or maybe even a particularly bold chipmunk. When we got to the spot where Webster ran to, he was nowhere to be found, in his place was a glowing blue… thing floating in the air. As I looked around to see if I could discover where Webster went, I heard Nova call out to me and Will from behind us.

  “Hey, guys, don’t get too close to that thing who knows what it is it could be-”

  Before she could even finish her sentence, the weird thing started moving towards Will, almost faster than my eyes could follow. As soon as it touched him he just vanished, and not like slowly fading away vanished, or turning into dust vanished. I mean he was there one second and the next second he was just GONE.

  Some part of me that was absolutely terrified at the implications, knew that the rest of us were next, Claymore beat me to the punch when he yelled at me and Nova.

  “YOU GUYS RUN, I’LL HOLD IT OFF!!”

  For all he’s worth I wouldn’t cheat off him for a test unless it was about something that explodes. I mean really, “hold it off” what does he think he’s gonna do, punch it?

  Obviously Nova and I take off running anyway, I mean that thing literally just DELETED Will, and probably Webster too! I probably made it ten steps before my entire field of view changed to the grassy plains that I see around me now.

  I decide the first thing I should do is examine my surroundings a bit. I look in front of me and all I see is grassland as far as the eye can see, except for that one hill (and the dragon). I look to my left and I actually see something besides grass this time, a single pillar of smoke, I absently wonder if Claymore’s in that direction. To my right I find the same thing as I saw in front of me, Grass. At this point I almost say the classic “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” But with as flat as it is around me, it just might be Kansas.

  I look back toward the dragon in front of me since it’s definitely the most important thing in my field of view. As I take a closer look at it I notice that it’s a bright red color (real observant, I know). I also notice that it’s eyes seem to be working just fine because it’s flying straight towards me. In the case of ‘Fight or Flight’ it can fly and I can’t but i’m pretty sure it would also beat me in a fight, so I decide my best bet is to hide. Except it’s already seen me and there’s not really anywhere to hide so…. I guess running it is. As I turn around and start running I don’t make it very far before I hear a loud voice yell.

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  “HALT MORTAL, I WOULD SPEAK WITH YOU!”

  As I turn around the dragon lands a few feet in front of me shaking the ground so violently I can barely maintain my footing. I fearfully look up to see the dragon looking at me with an incredulous look on its face.

  “Ummmm… Sorry mister dragon sir, I wasn’t meaning to trespass in your field or whatever, I just..”

  “Mortal how are you speaking to me? I command you to tell me!”

  “I… with my mouth I guess, kind of a weird question.”

  “NOT ANATOMICALLY, I AM FAMILIAR WITH HUMAN ANATOMY! I MEAN HOW ARE YOU PHYSICALLY RESISTING MY VOICE, I AM ZADARHIN LORD OF THE DRAGON PLAINS! NO MORTAL HAS EVER BEEN ABLE TO RESIST MY POWER!”

  He mutters under his breath as if he isn’t still louder than a jet engine.

  “The only way this mere mortal could resist my power is if…”

  The dragon’s eyes suddenly widen and then close as he takes a breath so deep I can feel the wind race by me as if he commanded it to fill his lungs. My heart threatens to pound out of my chest; partly because a dragon just screamed at me, and partly because I’m out of shape. Hey don’t judge me, I still ran didn’t I?

  The moment passes and Zhafa.. Zha… the dragon seems to calm down immensely, when he opens his eyes his pupils expand til they’re big enough I feel like I could literally drown in them.

  “Arcadia’s been waiting for you little hero. I should take this opportunity to sow some positive karma with one of the god’s chosen heroes, maybe I can get Mintia to owe me a favor, after all since she’s the goddess who gives the prophecies she’ll have a vested interest in this little hero… Pardon my rudeness, I would be remiss if I didn’t offer assistance on your quest. What do you have need of Child?”

  “...child? I’m in my 20s? Some directions would be nice, where am I? Wait, did you say Arcadia? That wouldn’t happen to be on Earth would it?”

  “Earth, no, most assuredly not. You’re not even in the same universe as that tiny little rock.”

  “But you do know of it, do you know how I can get back?”

  “GO BACK? YOU WOULD ABANDON US TO THE EVIL THAT YOU ARE PROPHECIED TO SAVE US FROM???”

  “…Look I don’t know anything about a prophecy, I’m just some kid from America!”

  “How do you not know of the prophecy? I can smell that you have the blood of a Hero. Surely the gods told you of the prophecy when they recruited you from Earth?”

  “Nobody recruited me from anywhere! Nobody told me about any prophecy! And what do you mean GODS plural? There’s only one god as far as I’m concerned.”

  The dragon lets out a deep sigh that knocks me flat on my rear, real heroic I know.

  “I was afraid of that.”

  When he speaks again it’s as if he’s reciting from a memory that he doesn’t own. His voice takes on an almost reverent tone.

  “Words and Stars, Swords and Fire

  Power Fulfills The King’s Desire

  5 Heroes Come To Save Us All

  1 Will Stand But 4 Will Fall”

  “That, is known as The Prophecy of 5. That, is the prophecy of which i’m speaking of little Hero.”

  He suddenly turns his head to the right as if he hears something in the distance. I look in that direction but all I see is an open plain and a lone pillar of smoke. When I turn back towards him he opens his mouth to speak.

  “Since you don’t seem to be informed enough to ask for anything actually useful, I’ll give you something that will help in your journey, and make you the envy of every pyromancer in Sarconia.”

  “Wait but I really do need directions!”

  My words are completely silenced by the massive dragon taking in another equally massive breath. Almost as soon as he finishes filling his lungs he releases a cloud of smoke that envelops me entirely. As I choke and sputter it’s as if I can feel the smoke settling on me like a warm embrace. By the time I open my eyes he’s already gone, I turn in the direction that he turned earlier only to see him fading into the distance.

  “Well that’s just great. Guess I’m walking, would’ve been really cool to ride a dragon…”