They said the dragon was the size of a house and it had gleaming teeth and claws. They said it had huge red bat-like wings, fiery scales, and cruel bursts of flame that incinerated boulders. They said that it grabbed the princess and carried her away in a blast of smoke while the king and his advisors watched, horrified.

They could have been exaggerating.

Torin brushed back a strand of dark brown hair and looked up at the large stretch of rock ahead of him. Still that much to climb? He sighed. Why did the King choose him to go on this quest, anyway? There were far better knights than him; he had only just finished training. If the King really wanted the princess back, he would have sent some other knight, a better one. The way that the advisors had described the attack terrified him, the thought of actually facing the dragon made him want to turn around and run back to the castle, miles away.

Why me?

The young man touched the sword at his belt. At least that reassured him a little. It was sharp, forged by the elves, but what could it do against a dragon's scales? Dent them, maybe? Somehow he doubted that small dents would defeat a powerful creature like a dragon.

Muttering under his breath, Torin focused his attention back on the path that led to where the dragon was supposed to live. Ahead of him was a steep cliff, and above that still another expanse of stone and occasional dry bushes. Farther on, at the top of the mountain, a speck of darkness showed where a possible cave could be.

Still so far! And it took me days to get here! Ha! They say this is the closest dragon to the castle. He was so tired and hungry, how could he face a dragon and expect to survive the encounter? If only the King had sent a different warrior! Torin kicked a rock in frustration. "Owww." It hurt.

Plus they gave me so little food! I don't have enough to even make half a peasant's meal. Everything seemed so unfair. Grudgingly Torin admitted that it was an honor to be chosen for something so important. But the King had many knights; if Torin failed, another soldier would go off to find the dragon and rescue the princess.

Actually, he thought that the princess wouldn't like being rescued. Being locked up in the castle all of the time had always bothered her, and she would probably welcome being taken away. Still, the King had given him orders to bring her back… Reluctantly Torin walked the short distance to the cliff and started to climb.

Luckily there were many footholds in the jagged rock face, which made it easy to ascend. The young knight was at the top of the cliff within ten minutes. Okay, that part was easy at least. The only thing left between Torin and the dragon was a foreboding stretch of gray, lifeless stone. Sighing, Torin stepped forward.

' - , - ' - , - ' - , - ' - , - ' - , - ' - , - ' - , - ' - , - ' - , - '

The sun was low in the sky by the time Torin had reached the end of the dull span of rock. He slumped down against a large boulder, exhausted. Climbing across miles of boring stone was extremely tiring.

Oh well, can't do anything about the dragon until the morning anyway, Torin thought. I should sleep. The dragon's cave was still close, yet it was far enough away that he would be safe during the night. Gratefully he closed his eyes and darkness overwhelmed him.

Torin's dreams were restless, mirroring his emotions. He didn't really want to go and fight a dragon, but what could he do? The King had commanded him to bring back the princess and, if possible, destroy the monster that guarded her.

Suddenly, in his mind, a shape loomed in front of him. Torin reeled back, only to hit a hard wall. The shape swirled and took the form of a dragon, but instead of scales, its skin was made of fire. Torin grasped for his sword, but it was gone; the sheath was empty. Terrified, he looked back at the dragon to see it lunge for him, bright flame billowing from its mouth. He jerked back –

And hit the boulder hard. Torin's green eyes snapped open, wide with fright. Immediately he shut them again as the sun's glare blinded him. The man rubbed his eyes painfully. "Sunrise already?" he muttered as he finally looked up.

Slowly his eyes focused. Torin stood hesitantly, one hand on the hilt of his sword. No sign of the dragon. To the cave it was, then. In any case the dragon's den was fairly close, only a twenty minute walk or so. Grumbling, he started off.

As he neared the cave, Torin wondered exactly what he was supposed to do. No one had ever really told him precisely the right way to fight a dragon. Most of the methods he had heard involved the princess being tied on a tree or pole outside the cave, waiting to be rescued. But there was no sign of any life around the dark space within the mountainside. Okay, that ruled out much of what he had heard.

Next theory: go to the mouth of the cave and challenge the dragon to come out and fight. Well, that seemed positively suicidal. Were people meant to believe that a dragon would peacefully walk out of its cave, knowing full well that a knight was waiting to kill it? No! It would probably use flame to burn the soldier before he finished speaking!

Now what? This only left one option for Torin, one he didn't really like. Go inside the cave to see where the dragon and the princess were. This didn't sound too great either, but it was the only plan that had any possibility of working.

Torin glanced around, drew his sword from its sheath, and crept into the cave.

It was dark, though not pitch black like he had expected. Actually, he could even see the ground ahead of him. Strangely enough, the light seemed to grow as he moved farther into the mountain.

After a few minutes Torin became less hesitant to keep walking. There was no sign of the dragon; maybe he was lucky and it was out hunting for food or treasure. Maybe the rescue would be easy.

Feeling a little hopeful, he traveled onward. The light was getting brighter now. He could see down the tunnel until it curved sharply to the side into what seemed to be a large cavern.

Stealthily Torin edged forward and peered into the wide space.

His eyes widened. There was enough space here for at least three dragons; it was that large! Forgetting to be careful, he took a step forward –

Something slammed into his side. It flung Torin across the cavern, and he landed gasping for air on the hard rock. His side stung as he sat up, winded. Looking anxiously around he saw his sword lying on the ground a few feet away. He scrambled for it, almost touching the hilt…

And a giant foot crashed down on it.

Torin froze, his hand an inch away from the claws that gripped the blade. Slowly he looked up, scuttling back as he saw the entire creature for the first time.

Wings outstretched, claws extended, tail lashing the air, a dragon loomed in front of him.