The mountain split apart.
Rocks crashed down the slopes.
The hero stood frozen.
His dragon spread its wings, shielding him from the falling debris.
Then
BOOM!
A massive claw broke through the mountain.
The ground shook beneath them.
The stranger shouted,
"MOVE!"
The hero looked at him.
"You said you were going to fight me."
"Not anymore."
The stranger grabbed his arm.
"If that thing wakes completely, this entire kingdom will disappear."
The hero pulled his arm away.
"What is it?"
The stranger stared at the crack in the mountain.
His voice became quiet.
"The Dragon King."
Another roar exploded across the sky.
ROOOOOOAAAR!
Every dragon in the surrounding mountains suddenly flew upward.
They weren't attacking.
They were fleeing.
The hero looked at his own dragon.
It wasn't moving.
Instead, it was staring directly at the mountain.
Its golden eyes were glowing.
"You know it…"
His dragon slowly lowered its head.
The hero's black mark burned again.
AHHH!
He fell to his knees.
A voice entered his mind.
"Come to me…"
The hero grabbed his head.
"Get out of my mind!"
The voice became louder.
"Warrior…"
Images flashed through his mind.
A massive black dragon.
An ancient army.
A burning kingdom.
And a warrior standing alone beneath a red moon.
Then he saw something that terrified him.
The warrior was holding the same sword.
His sword.
The vision disappeared.
The hero gasped.
The stranger was staring at him.
"You saw it."
The hero looked up.
"How do you know?"
"Because I've seen it too."
The hero stood.
"Who are you?"
The stranger hesitated.
Then he removed his silver mask.
"My name is Kael."
The hero watched him carefully.
"Why were you hunting me?"
Kael looked toward the mountain.
"I wasn't hunting you."
He pointed at the black mark.
"I was hunting that."
Before the hero could respond
CRACK!
A huge section of the mountain collapsed.
For a brief moment, they saw it.
A gigantic eye.
Golden.
Ancient.
And filled with rage.
The hero's dragon suddenly stepped forward.
Kael's expression changed.
"No…"
The dragon began walking toward the mountain.
"Stop!"
The hero grabbed its neck.
But the dragon continued.
Its body started glowing.
The black mark on the hero's hand responded.
Red energy surrounded both of them.
Kael backed away.
"What are you doing?"
The hero didn't know.
He couldn't control it.
The energy grew stronger.
Then the ancient dragon's voice echoed from somewhere far away.
"Do not let them meet."
The hero looked toward the mountain.
"Who?"
A pause.
Then
"Your dragon… and the Dragon King."
The hero's eyes widened.
Suddenly, the mountain went silent.
The enormous eye disappeared.
Everything stopped.
No wind.
No dragons.
No sound.
Then a deep voice came from beneath the earth.
"I have found you."
The hero's dragon suddenly screamed.
Its scales began turning black.
"NO!"
The hero grabbed it.
Kael shouted,
"Get away from it!"
But it was too late.
A dark symbol appeared across the dragon's chest.
The same symbol as the hero's mark.
The hero stared at it in horror.
His dragon looked at him.
Its eyes were no longer gold.
They were completely black.
Then it whispered
"Run."
The hero froze.
His dragon had never spoken before.
TO BE CONTINUED…