The kingdom disappeared behind them.
The hero and his dragon flew toward the northern mountains.
The wind became colder.
Clouds covered the moon.
Neither of them spoke.
The hero kept staring at the black mark on his hand.
It had stopped glowing.
But he could still feel something moving beneath his skin.
"Who am I?"
His dragon glanced at him.
"I know you're hiding something."
The dragon looked forward again.
The hero sighed.
"Fine. Keep your secrets."
Suddenly
WHOOSH!
Something flew past them.
The hero turned sharply.
"Did you see that?"
His dragon growled.
Something was following them.
A dark shape moved between the clouds.
The hero drew his sword.
"Come out!"
Nothing.
The shadow disappeared.
Then
ROOOAR!
A monstrous creature burst through the clouds.
It looked like a dragon…
but it wasn't.
Its body was covered in black armor-like scales.
Six red eyes stared at them.
The hero's dragon roared back.
The creature attacked.
BOOM!
Its claws slammed against the dragon's wing.
They spun through the air.
"Hold on!"
The hero grabbed his dragon's scales.
The creature attacked again.
His dragon twisted away.
The hero jumped onto its back.
"Let's finish this!"
His sword began glowing.
The black mark on his hand reacted.
FLASH!
A wave of energy traveled through his arm.
The hero stared at his sword.
"What…?"
The blade had changed.
A thin red glow surrounded it.
The creature charged.
The hero raised his sword.
SLASH!
The attack struck the creature across its chest.
It screamed.
But it didn't fall.
Instead, the creature suddenly stopped.
Its six eyes stared directly at the hero.
Then it whispered
"Found… him…"
The hero froze.
"It can talk?"
The creature smiled.
"The awakened one…"
Its body began turning into black smoke.
Before disappearing completely, it whispered
"He is coming."
The smoke vanished.
Silence returned.
The hero looked at his dragon.
"Who is coming?"
The dragon didn't answer.
Then the hero noticed something on the creature's fallen scales.
A symbol.
The same symbol.
His mark.
His pendant.
The ancient dragon's symbol.
Everything was connected.
Suddenly, his dragon stopped flying.
It stared toward the mountains.
The hero followed its gaze.
A massive black tower stood between the mountains.
It hadn't been there before.
At its peak…
a red light was glowing.
The hero's heart began pounding.
"That wasn't there yesterday."
His dragon growled.
The red light suddenly flashed.
BOOM!
A shockwave crossed the sky.
Far away, something enormous moved beneath the mountains.
The hero tightened his grip on his sword.
"Let's go."
His dragon accelerated.
But neither noticed the figure watching them from high above.
The hooded stranger stood on the back of a gigantic dark dragon.
He smiled.
"So the first guardian has awakened…"
He looked toward the hero.
"…and the Dragon King has chosen him."
His dragon spread its wings.
"Let's see how strong the new Warrior really is."
They disappeared into the clouds.
Meanwhile, deep beneath the northern mountain…
a pair of enormous eyes opened.
And this time
there were three.
TO BE CONTINUED…