After a while, he
landed into a heap in the middle of a dirt road. 'Where am I?' he wondered as
he dusted himself off.
"Good, you're
here," a voice said. He looked up and saw a girl standing in front of him.
"What?" Davis
said. He was confused. Where did that crazy teacher send him off?
"You're a hero,
aren't you?" she said. Davis looked down and saw that he was wearing a set of
chain mail and had a sword strapped by his side.
"Well…" he
started. "Then you can help us against the dragon," she said.
"Dragon, milady?"
Davis said, turning pale.
"Yup," the girl
said grimly. "A giant three-headed inferno of one too. We've been searching for
heroes to help us. You will help, won't you?"
"Uh…" Davis said.
"If you're looking
for him, he's over that hill." She pointed to a tall, burnt hill. Davis sighed
in defeat and headed toward the hill reluctantly.
As he crossed the
area, he noticed as he grew closer and closer, that the earth looked more and
more charred, as though by fire. His apprehension grew greater as he walked,
and the smell of sulfur didn't help either. It steadily grew hotter, not a
reassuring thing to Davis, who happened to be wearing metal all over him and
was in danger of being cooked alive before the dragon didn't roast him in the
first place. Then it appeared. It was even scarier than the description that
the girl had given him. It was at least 50 feet tall, with scales that flashed
from deep scarlet to deep gold. Its four legs and feet were armed with sharp,
silvery claws, each about as long as his sword. But the worst parts were the
heads. They had long fangs, silver like the claws, and had nasty looking forked
tongues that would occasionally flicker in and out like snakes'. Two of the six
pairs of red eyes glanced at him in hunger and anger burning in them.
"Okay," Davis
said, staring at the creature. "I've had enough now. I think I'll be going." He
tried to slowly inch away, but the dragon just glared at him, and he froze. It
seemed to be saying 'Not so fast.'
Davis then heard a
loud scream. He whipped around and saw the girl he was talking with in the path
of the dragon.
"Run!" he yelled.
"I can't," she
yelled back. "My foot's stuck." She was right. Her foot was somehow stuck in a
hidden crevice. Davis's fear seemed to ebb away and was replaced with
determination and courage. He thought, 'Courage doesn't mean not being afraid.
It means doing what's right.' His eyes hardened, and he drew his sword. He
rushed quickly down and grabbed the girl, pulling her foot out of the hole. But
while he was rushing toward there, a symbol burned on his chest with a bright
orange light. He jumped back, just in time to dodge the monster's claws from
tearing his arm off. He ran back and set the girl on a safe spot, away from the
dragon. He turned to the dragon, sword drawn and ready. But to his surprise,
the dragon stopped and lay down. A look of peacefulness filled its red eyes. It
gazed at Davis, then did a dragon's equivalent of a smile on all three heads.
Davis was shocked. What was this dragon doing? But then red fire surrounded him
again and he was swept away again by another rush of howling wind.
He landed again
into a heap onto the ground.
"Why can't you
learn to set people down properly?" he grumbled as he picked himself up.
"Shh!" hissed a
voice.
"What?" Davis
said, looking around.
"Shut up!" the
voice hissed again. "Do you want the enemy scouts to find us with their eyes
closed?" Davis looked down and saw his clothes had changed again. He was now
wearing a leather tunic over a dirty white linen shirt and leather breeches. A
quiver of arrows and a bow were slung over his back.
A few bushes
rustled and a boy stepped out. He was dressed like Davis was, except it looked
a bit more worn and was shorter than Davis's. He was tall and well built, with
long black hair and deep amber-brown eyes. His skin was a light brown, yet
tanned and ruddy. A strip of brown material with a short stripe of red over his
forehead marked him as a corporal.
"Hello," he said,
reaching out a hand. "New here, major?" Davis now noticed a strip of bright red
and black material around his upper arm.
"Yes," he
stammered. "My name is Davis."
"Nice to see you
too, sir," the boy said. "My name is Ryan." Davis shook the hand that was
offered. "You don't have to be too formal with me," Davis remarked. "Just call
me Davis."
"Sure," Ryan
beamed. Then he turned quickly. "There's something wrong here," he whispered.
"Too quiet." Davis was on his guard also.
Suddenly,
something jumped out of the bushes and grabbed Ryan. It turned out to be a
strange man, dressed in black and glinting armor, and was holding Ryan in a
death-grip with a sharp sword to his neck.
"Drop your
weapons," he growled roughly. "Or I slit his throat."
"Don't do it!"
Ryan called out. "Just call for back-" But the stranger clapped his hand over
the corporal's mouth. Davis just froze. Then a blur attacked the stranger. He
was so surprised that he almost let go of Ryan. The blur turned out to be
another boy, but shorter and with a mop of fair hair and kind blue eyes, though
currently they were sparkling with rage.
"Don't just stand
there!" he yelled at Davis. "Help me for God's sake!"
The stranger's
eyes were glittering with insane fury.
"Be careful
there," he taunted, holding the sword closer. "I'm getting tempted to spill
some blood."
He pressed the
sword closer to Ryan's neck. A thin stream of blood trickled down. Ryan moaned
slightly, but seemed to grit his teeth. 'What should I do?' Davis thought
frantically. 'I want to help Ryan, but I don't want him to get hurt. What
should I do?'
"I'm waiting," the
man growled.
"How could you
call yourself his leader?" the blond snarled at him. "You don't understand
friendship!" Davis's eyes widened. 'Friendship is one of the strongest things
on earth and I know why now. You must be willing to do whatever it takes to
help your friend, the right thing is not always the easy thing.' Blue light
erupted from his chest, coming from another strange symbol on his heart. Davis
charged, surprising the man, who dropped Ryan. Davis quickly drew his bow and
slid an arrow in place. In other circumstances he would have been surprised
that he had a sudden ability in archery, but there was nothing on his mind but
rage.
To his surprise,
the man grinned, kindly though, and bowed to him. He then jumped away into the
trees.
"What?" Davis
said, scratching his head.
Ryan and the blond
boy turned to him, grinning also. "You passed the test," Ryan said.
"Good luck," the other boy said, eyes twinkling. Davis's eyes widened, but before he could speak, a wave of red fire and a rush of wind surrounded him. Finally, it disappeared and he fell to the ground into a heap once more. He got up, wincing. He looked down and with disappointment found that he was wearing his own rags again, with his old cloak over it.
