Laurent cried out as he broke the surface of the water. The ocean boiled around him as he looked up at the hulking giant in the water. It was a mountain. More accurately, a dragon with a mountain on it's back. Lava flowed down it's obsidian shell, bringing the temperature of the water to unbearable levels of heat.
Laurent's mind scrambled to think of a way to keep from being boiled alive. A wingdrake suddenly swooped down from the sky. It's claws raked against Laurent's forehead, tearing his skin open. Through the searing pain he saw his opportunity to escape. As the wingdrake began to regain altitude, Laurent fired his grapple at the feet of the winged reptile. The grapple hooked onto the drake's claws and the winged reptile pulled Laurent from the water.
As the wingdrake flew away from the dragon with a mountain on it's back, Laurent noticed the mainland. The wingdrake flapped towards safety until it ran out of stamina. It's scrawny form fell to the sea, following Laurent as they both fell Laurent saw a flash of bright colors through the clear water and had a brief moment to think "Reef!" before falling into the water and hitting his head. The world went black instantly.
When he woke up, Laurent's body heaved water out of his stomach as he retched. He coughed and threw up for minutes until he passed out again.
Screams leapt from Laurent's throat as he woke up to teeth digging into his shoulder. The teeth dug deeper into him in reaction to his wails. Laurent looked at the beast that was biting him. The animal was a yellow reptile with sharp teeth and equally sharp claws. He felt the claws in action as well as they pierced the arm that was held by the shoulder.
He reached for his hunting knife to stab the reptile that was biting him.
The knife wasn't there.
Laurent panicked and grasped at the ground for something- anything, to hit the beast with. His hand felt something solid atop the sandy ground. It was a sea shell. He grabbed it and smashed it against the reptile's head. The beast didn't flinch and the sea shell fractured into pieces. The piece of the shell that stayed in his hand was sharp after its separation from the rest of the shell.
Laurent looked into the beast's eyes and drove the shard into it's eye. The reptile yelped in pain and let go of Laurent's arm. He quickly got onto his foot and prepared to fight the creature. The reptile snarled at Laurent, it's eye dripping with blood. Laurent's body tensed as it prepared for its attack. The lizard surged toward him. Laurent had no hesitation in his form as he grabbed the sides of the reptile's head and pushed its maw to the side. As the creature flew off balance from Laurent's martial prowess, his knee came swiftly into the side of its neck. The lizard let out another yelp and fell onto its side before scrambling onto its feet and running into the underbrush.
Laurent breathed a sigh of relief as he realized he was safe for the moment. He let out a deep breath before looking down at his mangled arm. Teeth marks and deep cuts from the claws covered his arm. At closer inspection, he saw a few teeth lodged into his shoulder, possibly imbedded in his bones. The wound started to ache the more he focused on it so he decided to observe his surroundings.
He had washed up on the beach. He thanked the Sapphire Star that he hadn't drowned while unconscious. A jungle covered as far as his eye could see and the only notable landmark he saw was an enormous tree that peeked out from over the tree line. The Elder Tree, he realized. He had been told by the leader of his fleet, the Fifth Fleet, that Astera was nestled somewhere within a two hour walk from it.
If he could reach the Elder Tree and find some indication of Astera he would be just peachy. He winced as he moved his arm, deciding at that moment to pull the teeth from his mangled limb.
"I need to find some Asclepius first." He thought as he looked at his injury, "These teeth probably carry tons of bacteria that could kill me in a few days."
He went to searching through the underbrush for an hour for the elusive herbs. Turned out that it was much harder to find a green plant when every plant in the forest was the same color. He finally sighted the plant's key feature, the broad but fern-like leaves. He kneeled next the plant and began to pull it up when he heard something begin to crumble.
It sounded like a rockslide but he couldn't place the sound. It stopped suddenly. Another pang of pain went through his arm and he decided to ignore the sounds of the crumbling. If it had stopped it couldn't be that dangerous. He grasped the plant by the base of its stem and pulled. The plant came out, roots and all. He heaved a sigh of satisfaction before the crumbling began again, ten times as loud as before.
The ground disappeared from underneath him, revealing a pit. He yelled as he plummeted to the bottom. His back slammed against the root of a tree when he hit the bottom. He heard a sickening crack and he felt more pain than he ever had in his life. Tears fell down his face as he tried to scream but his body wouldn't allow him to. He knew that he would die if he couldn't scream but all he could do was feel the pain in his body as he lost consciousness.
A red light began to glow around him as blood flowed from his body and seeped into the ground underneath him. The red glow gathered into his heart before dispersing back into the ground. The ground shook as the red light rose through the walls, revealing the ancient signs left by those who lived in the New World before. The signs showed the prophecy of the New World.
The crowning of a new king of beasts. The kings name shall be known throughout all worlds and he will bring many powerful enemies who will try to take his crown. In the end, the king of beasts and his army will raise their weapons against the ultimate enemy, the dragon as black as night, and if they should fail- all creatures, man and beast, shall fall before the Black Dragon and it shall destroy the world. But none would know of this prophecy, for the one who discovered it would never find it again.