A Bit Unconventional

1

The troubled kingdom of Thelon was sitting peacefully behind him. It was cast in the warm yellow of the rising sun, only cast partly in shadow from the tall dark oaks that surrounded the large city from the east.

But he wasn't heading east.

No he was heading through the oak forest towards the mountains in the north, why you might ask?

To meet a dragon.

This young man's name is Finn and I should probably tell you that he doesn't have a clue as to what he is doing, only that it has to be done.

What is he trying to do? The impossible.

Finn sighed heavily as the air around him began to warm up, he was shaking, not just from the cold itself but also from the fear and the adrenaline.

He was so scared.

Not just of what lay ahead of him, I mean of course the fact that there was a dragon that was potentially going to kill him in one swipe of its giant claw was a terrifying thing.

But what he had left behind him, what he could potentially be returning too... That was way worse.

Shaking those thoughts away Finn set his dark gaze ahead and focused on keeping his toes warm as he kept pushing forwards.

At least he was headed somewhere a little warmer.

Finn didn't have much in the way of protection with him either.

And now his mind was trying to supply him with reasons to just turn back now.

Perhaps he could get away with being considered mad and live like Jasper did?

Besides, who went up to face a dragon with a sword that was far too heavy and a satchel filled with a map and day old bread?

Finn was sure a real knight would not be having half the difficulties that he was.

Maybe he could feed the dragon the bread and get what he needed in return?

Finn's stomach disagreed wholeheartedly with that plan. He shushed it with a gentle pat through the loose grey chainmail under the armour.

He really needed to stay focused.

Jasper had told him a little about these woods, apparently all sorts of terrifying creatures lived there. They would hunt humans with a vengeance after what they did to them.

Yeah that wasn't helping right now.

Finn followed a bird as it danced through the trees above. That was normal.

A bunny bouncing past quickly dashing into its burrow. Also normal.

There was a squawking hawk somewhere, probably tending to its nest. That was normal.

The steady beating of his heart. That was normal, sure it might be a little fast but he was moving fairly fast.

But he needed to get as much distance between himself and Thelon.

By the time the sun was above the trees fully Finn was reaching the more rocky ground of the old volcano, it was said that a dragon used to cause the volcano to erupt when the tribute wasn't paid on time.

For that reason the dragon was killed. About a month after the death of the dragon another dragon came in a fury and kidnapped the princess.

Since then the volcano had never erupted.

Finn didn't really believe the stories, sure there were dragons around and there had been a volcano here and yes the princess was gone but that didn't mean a dragon was involved.

Perhaps the people had made the story to ward of travelers from finding the supposed treasure hiding somewhere on the dormant volcano.

Finn thought about the supposed treasure a lot more then he cared to admit. If he had even just a few of the coins from the great treasure maybe he wouldn't be in this mess.

Maybe things would have been different and maybe his life would be so much better.

But you can't change the past.

And here he was, standing at the cave entrance that lead straight into the den of a fearsome dragon.

"Yeah, my imagination is not helping right now." Finn complained as he entered the darkness of the cave.

The first thing he noticed was how warm it was, it was a dramatic contrast to the cold morning air that had been around him mere moments ago.

Now he was enveloped in a soothing warmth that settled his fearful shaking. He felt like he was being lulled into some weird trance.

The tunnel then ended abruptly.

Finn felt his panic flaring again. "No, there's got to be a way through, this is the only entrance."

He hit the wall expecting hard rock, instead his gloved hand cracked the hard surface. "What?"

He took a deep breath unsheathing the sword on his back, immediately it tipped him forwards and he nearly fell right down with it.

"Oh boy, that's heavy." He complained examining the handle of the sword. "Come on Finn, just lift."

He managed to lift the weighted sword before pushing it forwards. It cracked the surface, he pushed it further and further.

Then it shattered, like hundreds of shards of black glass as he fell through the wall following the weight of the sword.

He was in trouble.

He had lost the sword in the tumble down the tunnel.

Perfect.

He rested there in a pile of warm dirt trying to catch his breath. There was no chance he was ever getting out of there the way he came in.

Slowly he got up, eyes widening as he saw the floor.

It was littered in gold coins that shimmered in the light of flickering fires which burned all around him.

He was shocked, the amount of money that lay just out of reach, it was immense.

But as he was looking at the glimmering gold something in his peripheral vision caught his attention. He turned, but all too late.

His feet slipped together as they were pulled out from underneath him, he was lifted up with something tight wrapped around his legs.

His head hit the hard wall as he was moved before he came face to face with bright orange eyes, black scales and bared teeth.