The heroes continued on as usual until they finally reached a large open room filled with treasures and gold. Alex immediately began stuffing items and coins into his pocket. Lauren nudged him going, "Alex, we're supposed to be looking for the armor."

Alex grinned as he stated, "That doesn't mean the rest of the treasures should go to waste." Isaac nervously stepped in, reminding Alex how the dragon in the tale is VERY possessive of its treasure. "But the dragon's not here," Alex told him with an eye roll.

The group split up across the room to locate the fireproof armor. There was so much treasure that the room itself even felt like a maze. Drew eventually was the one to find it buried under some gold. Everyone stood in silence, not necessarily knowing what to do from here. "I never thought about who would wear it," Drew said.

"Yeah, there's only one armor but six of us," Lauren added.

Ashton giggled before raising her hand going, "I nominate Ben!!" Ben smiled as everyone else gave questionable looks at Ashton. "What?" she continued. "He's a paladin! Magic armor is, like, MEANT for him."

"Can't argue with that," Isaac agreed.

As Ben was switching out his armor, Lauren suddenly froze. "Does anyone else feel like they're being watched?" she wondered.

Alex chuckled as he replied, "Girl, it ain't my fault you can't keep your eyes off of me." Immediately, Lauren rolled her eyes and slapped Alex's chest.

Isaac began making random squeaks and noises. He then mumbled, "Found out what's REALLY watching us..." Everyone then turned and looked in Isaac's direction of gaze.

There before everyone stood a red dragon. "This is the same dragon as before," Ashton noticed.

"So this is Collin's dragon? I didn't know Collin's dragon and the one from Isaac's story was the same one," Drew said.

Ben fixed his posture before going, "Well men- and ladies... Looks like it's now or never."

"Easy for you to say," Isaac responded. "You've got the armor!" he finished.

Drew pulled out his Arachnid Authority Blade and confidently stood beside Ben as he went, "No, Ben is right. Time to show this dragon everything we learned, get details on Collin, and make him vulnerable by breaking the connection!" One by one, everyone in the group went and stood by each other pulling out their weapons.

"I wouldn't get too confident," the dragon mocked. It then continued, "I don't like finding a bunch of children in my cave..." Alex offendedly claimed how they were all in their twenties so they weren't children. "Yes, and I'm five hundred and thirty one. So you all still seem like children to me and will be a perfect addition to my collection," the dragon stated.

"I wouldn't bet on that," Ben said.

"I would," Isaac added in, slowly backing away.

Noticing this, Drew rolled his eyes. "Lauren, you know what to do," he told his friend. As Drew requested, Lauren pulled out her ukulele to cast calm emotions. The whole group was now fearless.

The heroes all looked at each other and gave a nod. From there, Drew and Ben rushed in front of the red dragon, having their swords out and ready. Ashton then whispered to the rogue, "Alex, follow me!" She shape-shifted into a rat and snuck behind the dragon. Lauren and Isaac stayed on the sides, preparing for when backup was needed.

The dragon continuously dodged Drew and Ben's attacks as it commented with a laugh, "You kids are pathetic."

"Would a pathetic kid do this?" Drew responded before he swiftly jumped over the dragon's fire. Drew quickly made his way up to the dragon, giving it slash marks.

Out of nowhere, the dragon was shot from behind. It quickly looked behind it to see Alex lower his crossbow. "Stealth 101," he said with a smirk. The dragon automatically roared before it used its tail to harshly knock Alex into the wall, making blood splatter across the side of tunnel. Alex began to cough up blood.

"Alex!!!" Ashton cried as she reverted back to her natural form.

The others gasped noticing this. The dragon chuckled as it stated, "Like I said, pathetic."

"Aranía," Drew called out. Giant spiders then came out of his sword. "Keep this thing busy while we help Alex," he told them.

The group rushed over to Alex. Drew worriedly turned to the halfling going, "Isaac, you're a cleric, right? You think you can heal Alex?"

Once Isaac confirmed how he should be able to help, Alex coughed once again. Ben knelt down by his twin. Alex then mumbled, "Bro, you gotta use-" Alex continued to cough up blood and then finished, "use that move."

Ben automatically widened his eyes. Drew questioned what that meant and Ben sighed answering, "I know what to do. Just give me ten seconds."

The fighter understood and went to keep the dragon distracted. Ben took another deep breath. He stood back up and looked down at his brother as Isaac continued to heal Alex. Suddenly, the paladin heard Drew go, "Uhh, Ben? If you're gonna do something, now would be a good time!" Ben looked to see Drew panting, unable to dodge fireballs for much longer.

Ben's expression became determined as he rushed to the face of the dragon. Pulling out his shield, Ben stepped in front of Drew, blocking a blast of fire and saving the fighter. Drew and Ben immediately smirked before the fighter fist bumped the paladin as a sign of gratitude.

"Ohhh, is pretty boy here to be a big hero? Well... say goodbye to that dream!!!" the dragon exclaimed. It then unleashed a large amount of fire onto the paladin, making all the other heroes cry out in fear. Ben was fully engulfed in fire as he simply closed his eyes.

*7 years ago*

In their family courtyard, sixteen year old Alex and Ben eased their way through. "You're late," their father told them.

"Oh! We were just practicing... uhhh... before practice started," Alex responded with a nervous laugh. Ben gave a small hesitant chuckle in addition.

Their father was a well experienced and high leveled paladin. Throughout the week he would give his twin sons lessons to prepare them to be paladins as well in order to be just like him. The boys tended to look forward to these lessons, but at the same time hoped for other ways to have fun. After all, they were young teenagers!

Ben then noticed, "Hey Dad, where's your sword?"

Their father smiled as he pointed to the sword laying on the ground. "Today, I want you boys to use it for practice," he answered.

Alex's face lit up as he cried, "Woah!" He then went over to pick the sword up questioning, "Why do we get to use your special one and not one of the spares on the wall?"

"Because today you boys will learn one of the most powerful and important moves that a paladin will ever have," their father replied.

Alex became curious and confused, not understanding where their dad was coming from. However, Ben grew a large grin due to always doing research. Ben knew EXACTLY what his father was about to say and was ecstatic as he went, "You mean... we're gonna learn-"

Before Ben could finish, their father nodded with a smile going, "Indeed. You boys are finally ready to use-"

*Present*

Before the breath of fire came to an end, Ben opened his eyes and lifted up his sword high and straight. It began to glow just as the fire stopped, and Ben called out, "Divine... SMITE!!!" The paladin jumped high in the air; as he began to land, his sword ended up going through the dragon. It dealt so much damage that the dragon was now paralyzed.

All of the other heroes were astonished, some even had their jaws dropped. "I didn't know he could do that..." Lauren mumbled.

"None of us did," Ashton followed.

Drew approached his friend and asked, "Dude, how come you never showed us that move before? You've never even told us about it!"

Ben started to hesitate. Guilt formed on his face as he looked over at his twin who was still in the process of being healed. "Oh, well I just...-" he began before he sighed.

*7 years ago*

"Can I try first!?" Alex exclaimed. Their father stalled as he stated that Ben was older. "Barely! We were born on the same day, remember?" Alex replied.

Ben smiled as he went, "It's ok, Dad! Alex can do it first. I don't mind."

Their father nodded and then gestured Alex to come to the center of the courtyard. Alex formed a grin as he looked back down at the sword. Their father explained word for word how to preform divine smite with a stuffed target for practice. Despite how hard he tried, Alex couldn't even get the sword to glow. "Maybe I can just skip to the next step," Alex assumed. As he called out and jumped, he managed to hit the target but nothing seemed to happen to it.

After several attempts Alex grew frustrated. "Maybe it's time for Ben to give it a go," their father suggested. In response, Alex irritatedly handed the sword to Ben and went back to grab a training sword instead.

"Can you repeat the steps for me, Dad?" Ben politely asked. Ben took it step by step so he knew exactly what to do when combining them. He then raised his sword, ready to finally give it an official try. And just like that, it seemed like Ben did it on the first attempt without any effort. Ben looked down as he noticed the target was demolished. His and their father's faces were enlightened.

Alex quickly threw his training sword on the ground crying, "UGH!!!" The other two worriedly turned to face him as Alex continued, "It's not fair!!! Ben can do EVERYTHING. And look at me!! Why am I so pathetic while Ben is good at ANYTHING you teach!?" His father always planned for his children to be just as great a paladin as he was. Ben always seemed to please their father while Alex felt like a disappointment. "I just can't be as good of a paladin as Ben, huh? I can't be as good as Ben in ANYTHING!!" Alex finished before storming off.

Their father worriedly stated, "But Alex, I'm not-" However, Alex had left the courtyard as he concluded, "I'm not disappointed..." Ben then guiltily looked down at their father's sword and then in the direction Alex left.

*Present*

Ben sighed once again as he explained, "I just... wanted to respect my brother."

Drew simply smiled in understanding. The heroes then went to check on Alex who was finally recovering as Isaac helped him stand to his feet.

"You children don't even know what's coming to you," they heard. They all turned around to see the dragon continue, "You think you're a bunch of heroes. But not everyone is what they seem."

"What do you mean?" Drew questioned with a glare.

"We ARE heroes, and we'll do whatever we can to stop you and Collin," Ashton added.

All the dragon could do was laugh. "Who the heck is Collin? Jenson is the one who will rule. You really think you can stop us, but you don't even know that Jenson has a mole on the inside. You all think you're big heroes but can't even tell when someone is on the enemy's side," it gloated.

"Wait, Detective Jenson is the one trying to overthrow the lord? But, he seemed so kind hearted," Lauren said.

Ben quickly stepped in stating, "And I doubt any of us would be working for him. We're all friends and a team."

Drew added on how it would be foolish for Jenson to send them to kill the one he draws power from. "This thing's just trying to get into our heads," he claimed. "Come on, everyone. Let's go track down Collin," Drew finished. The dragon scolded the group, stating how it was their choice not to listen as it tried to warn them. Drew quickly turned back around going, "You've said enough!" He then forcefully cut through the dragon, leaving it officially slain. "Isaac, collect the dragon bones as proof for Collin that we are one step ahead of him," Drew told the halfling.

Isaac tried to carry the large dragon bones in his hands, then realized that wouldn't really work. He began to look around the treasure room until he found a bag of holding stashed in some of the gold. Isaac pulled out the bag and quickly placed the bones inside before dashing after his friends.