"Hurry, we must leave at once. It may not be close, but it's definitely going to find the town soon and it will not hesitate to kill anything it sees." I instructed the group.

Geoffrey seemed to disagree as he crossed his arms, "Hey! We can only go so fast, and I'm not leaving anybody behind. Besides, you promised us answers about that dragon!"

I snarled, "I am well aware of that, but that dragon roar was definitely not the same on from before. This type is more aggressive and will kill you." I strained that last part. "So unless you value knowledge over your lives, then we leave now."

The group was still reluctant to follow me, Francis spoke up, "We do want to live, but even you must realize it's difficult to run while carrying bodies."

I sneered, "Very well, but if that dragon gets close," I warned, "then you won't be getting any help from me." I finished, showing no emotion

They all agreed before we all rushed out of town with difficulty as some carried the two disabled people. I knew they were going to slow me down in the long run, but for now, I had to keep them safe, if only for my own conscience. While they obviously weren't too physically fit, I lifted the comatose Oliver in to my own arms, making it somewhat easier for them. We could soon hear a few houses tumble to the ground, the town was really getting destroyed beyond any hope of restoring it. Sigh, if only a dragon weren't a threat to their lives.

Speaking of dragons, would they be able to defeat one? Back in the olden days, we could slay a dragon easily, but now the reptilian creatures took to traveling together. This made it nearly impossible for humans to win the fights nowadays.

I turned my head over my shoulder to the group that followed me as I lead, "Why were you unable to defeat the dragon? Many men have killed dragons before, and that one was young and alone." I questioned.

Owain sighed, "These knights are weak, trained more for stopping bandits and thieves from littering that stopping dragons. But then again, maybe I shouldn't jump to conclusions, their blades may have been dull, or they had already been in a fight beforehand." He suggested.

"Well we aren't exactly the strongest people around, we were just recruited yesterday," one of the knights groaned defensively.

"All of you?" I asked incredulously.

Francis pointed to Owain, "All but him." Owain nodded in confirmation, "not to mention the rookies are given the worst weapons to start off with."

"Mine aren't all that bad," Owain bragged, "I was able to hit him a few times!"

"What happened with the weapons?" I asked.

"Like I said," the same soldier continued, "we were given the worst weapons. They weren't even finished from the blacksmith yet."

Another young soldier moped, "A dull blade can't exactly defeat a dragon, and-"

Owain interrupted, "Enough chatter! For now I suggest we head towards the stables. The only thing is that it's a little out of town, about an hour's walk."

I nodded and let a small smile grace my lips, "That is an excellent idea."

We headed out to the stables in in order to escape all of this smoke ash and dust. We kept moving forward encountering a few dead bodies I guess not everyone escaped their bodies weren't even burned, bitten or scratched they looked like they were ran over by the others running for their lives Its brutal here, the town motto was always 'Kill or be killed' but I don't think that means killing an innocent for survival...does it? I searched the bodies and managed to salvage some food they were carrying. It wasn't much, but the closest town was a week's journey and we would need some food in order to make that journey.

We did find one man still alive, but his time was obviously short as he was weakly limping around, probably trying to find a way out of this burning town. I offered him a spot among us, but he refused to join, I his response is still fresh in my mind. "Why should I trust a bunch of no good knights eh? Can't even kill a single dragon. Screw this, I'm outta here" He just kept limping in the direction of the other end of town he wanted to leave but not with us. I almost wanted to follow him and leave the knights behind because of his reason not to join us. I thought lots about what he said "Can't even slay a dragon." Well they may not be the best, but they're the only company I have.

When we reached the edge of the town the weather was the same as always, windy and cold it always is near the mountains. We headed east to hopefully reach the town there to warn them of attacking dragon. We rode out to the east but we heard more roars from the dragon before. There were now Wingflaps slowly following it. It must've figured out we left the town, but how?

"Quickly!" I shouted at the knights.

"What kind is that?" Owain asked.

"The most aggressive of all of the different dragons they go out of their way to just kill humans, just like I said before." I explained.

"What are they called?" He asked.

Just as he said that that, the wings flaps were right behind us and getting louder.

"Uhh... I can explain it later. Now we should focus on leaving." Avoiding the question, I continued onwards.

In a second all of the men get their horses moving and we rush off not looking back.

We thought we were safe but the wing flaps just got louder and louder. It realized we were trying to escape. I would write this down but carrying an unconscious body on a horse while writing is no easy feat. I thought to myself.

"IT'S RIGHT BEHIND US!" Francis shouted.

"It can smell fear, you idiot! Don't attract it with your yelling too!"

"Then stop yelling at me!"

The dragon emerged from the smoke its sparkling white scales shined in the sun as it moved its head slowly scanning the area, its eyes locked onto us and rushed at us as we made our close escape. The dragon closed in on our position quickly faster than our horses, but it stopped right behind us. It was now aiming to capture us in his jaws.

"Everyone watch out for its fire!" Owain hollered.

"Icewings don't have fire." I scolded him as we ran.

"What? All dragons have fire no matter their scales." Owain yelled back, obviously of the dragon world.

"I noticed it can only breathe ice when the temperature is cold. I called them Icewings."

"Wait. Breathe ICE? You didn't tell us this. How do you know?" Owain asked with surprise lacing his voice.

"Well there's a lot of things about dragons you are apparently unaware of. Our two races have lived on this island for years, you should know more about dragons than you currently do. I really don't think you'll be much help."

"Much help?" he whined.

"You can't do much besides yell." I deadpanned.

I pulled my horse closer to his, just within an arm's reach and with one swift movement I smacked him harshly on the chest. He was quick to lose his balance, resulting in falling off his horse. Perfect. Unfortunately, Francis grabbed his hand, but riding horses and leaning to keep another from falling off a horse was too much. Francis was devastated when the two lost contact. Owain hit the ground and rolled on the ground, reminding me of a rag doll being thrown. The dragon saw the helpless human roll away, and bee-lined for his meal.

"What have you done? Are you really that bitter?!"

"I ensured our survival, anything to not have that dragon eat the majority. And I am not being bitter," I told him bitterly with a bitter expression. What was one life held against many more?

They all looked and watched the dragon chew Owains body, the innards being sloppily eaten and dripping all around the dragons mouth, with horrified expressions. I didn't look at killing as a first resort, but this was a necessary sacrifice. I've learned plenty of things about these dragons, but it's never enough. I need to know everything about these beasts.

"You killed him!"

"No, I saved us!" I countered angrily. If he'd only seen the things I've seen, know the things I knew, then he would know that I made the best decision.

For the rest of the journey none of us talked or even made a sound we just kept riding to the town in the kingdom of mud-wing dragons. These knights have almost absolutely no knowledge of dragons I'll just leave them in the town and move on they have no value as scientists or adventurers. We tried to take the horses into the marshes and swamps of this area but they would refuse to go so ultimately we had to leave the horses behind. We kept walking through the marshes and swamps we had to keep stopping numerous times in order to not get caught by the dragons flying overhead. A few times we were almost caught by a couple of dragons and some looked directly at our position but they just kept flying. We had to keep going but we were tired and running out of the food that I salvaged in the lost town. About three days in our trip Oliver woke up from his coma. I put him down for him to rest for a moment.

"Ugh. What happened? Oliver groaned.

"Oliver you're awake!" Francis exclaimed.

"You were knocked out for a few days after we escaped from the town." Geoffrey explained

Ignoring the others, he noticed that something, no, someone was missing, "Hey. Where's Owain?" Oliver asked

All the knights collectively bowed their heads with gloom filling their faces. Three days and the event still haunted them.

Oliver could take a hint "Oh." He paused awkwardly, "How did he…?"

"I take the blame for his death." I told Oliver with a solemn expression.

Francis growled, "Don't you say you take blame," he said the last word with disgust, "You were the cause!"

I brushed that last comment off and stood. "You probably have a million questions, but we must keep moving forward. Now I suggest we get back on the trail and continue our journey."

"Fine." Francis replied with venom.

They all got up muttering insults under their breaths. They obviously didn't respect me but they had no choice considering all their injuries. They all got back on their horses, but Oliver decided to ride with the others and they all kept their distance from my horse. They were all whispering something to each other but I picked up a few words such as "...traitor.." or "...we can't have him...". They obviously wanted to try and abandon me, or even mutiny, but I won't let that happen. They were done talking and suddenly moved closer to me and tried to get my attention.

"Hey Raxxus. I got a question. Can a man survive a dragon attack?" Johnathon asked with an odd tone of voice

I knew they were trying to do something but I answered their question while keeping an eye on the others surrounding me.

"Well we could kill them at a moment's notice but about eighty years ago the dragons rebelled and forged tribes to over throw us and-"

"Now!" Geoffrey shouted

Reacting immediately to their shouting I dove to the ground in front of me and I could hear three collective grunts. How did I see that coming? I thought sarcastically, this was rather easy considering they have healing, but fatal injuries. These knights obviously didn't want to me with them anymore so I rush to my feet and run to the town it's only a day's travel from here.

"Farewell gentlemen maybe we will meet again." I yell at them as I run into the swampy marsh.

Geoffrey shouted with the finger pointed angrily in my direction. "Damn you! We will find you and we will kill you!"

Why does this all sound so cliché?

As I run through the marshes of the mud-wings kingdom could still hear the yelling and curses of the knights behind me, but they got quieter and eventually they stopped. There's no way they could catch up to me, considering all of their varying injuries. Once I get back in to town, I probably won't ever hear from them again. I continued the path I was traveling, which I knew would lead me to town. There, I could stock up and get prepared, and hopefully meet some new cohorts. Even one would do.