With one quick swipe, the dragon swung its massive talons towards me, intending to kill me.
Thinking quickly, I jumped over the attack, but as soon as I dodged it, I looked up and saw the dragon right above me.
Its mouth was wide open, rows of razor-sharp teeth came crashing down towards me, intending to swallow me whole.
I used my wings to adjust myself and moved to the side. The dragon's eyes locked onto me, and before I could react, it used its tail to swat me out of the air.
It moved too fast for me to react, and with a loud thud, it sent me flying towards a pile of gold.
I landed on the hard coins and slid down the side, tumbling as I got down.
Then the dragon began to inhale.
And as quickly as it inhaled, it blasted a stream of fire towards me.
I quickly got up and dashed to the side with my wings, not wanting to become barbecue.
I needed to run. I needed to hide.
I couldn't come up with a plan if this thing kept attacking me relentlessly. I continued to run, looking for a hiding place, yet all the while the dragon spewed fire at me.
As I ran, I saw a small crack on the wall with gold covering its entrance.
Deciding quickly, I jumped through it, and the dragon finally stopped spewing flames and began to slowly move.
It moved like a cat anticipating its prey, hunted like a snake—it wanted me dead.
"No use hiding, worm. Eventually, I will find you," it said, threatening me.
I observed the dragon, scanning for any potential weakness. Its scales were covered in gold, most likely from the piles it had collected.
Its claws were like curved blades, each one as long as my nail. Its wings were membranous and large, and worst of all, it had the ability to shoot flames hot enough to melt the gold into liquid.
But thankfully, I found a way to kill it. In one singular spot on its hide was an inverted scale—this most likely was its weakness.
To get to it, though, was another problem. I wouldn't be able to come close to it, even if I tried.
I began to think. How could I get close to it?
My attention was suddenly caught by the lamp I was carrying—the fireflies inside seemed to shine even brighter than before.
And I had an idea.
I could blind him with the lights and—
"There you are." I couldn't finish my thought as the dragon's voice caught my attention.
Its singular eye stared at me like a cat finally catching its prey.
And with a thunderous roar, the dragon used its claws to dig and claw its way towards me.
I didn't have time to plan—I had to do it.
Once the dragon finally reached me and tried to grab me with its claw, I closed my eyes and pointed the lamp at it.
It shined brightly, illuminating the area with a blinding white light.
"Ahh!" The dragon winced in pain as it grabbed its eyes and stepped back.
I quickly used this opportunity to run behind it and began counting.
1... 2... 3... 4... 5...
Five seconds. It dazed the dragon for five seconds.
But that was all the time I needed.
The dragon scanned the cave, looking more furious than ever.
"You insect! I will make you suffer for that!" Its eyes landed on me, and it began running at full speed, blinded by its rage.
I stopped running and quickly turned, flashing him with the lamp once more.
"Ahh! You worthless, insignificant worm!" it roared at me, getting angrier by the second.
As it opened its eyes, it saw me standing on top of it, holding my nail.
Before the dragon could react, I stabbed its left eye, making the dragon roar in pain. It began thrashing its head, intending to get me off it.
I didn't let this happen as I grabbed one of its scales and held on tight. I lifted my nail once more and stabbed its other eye.
It began roaring even louder, and with all its might, it smashed its head on one of the walls, finally getting me down.
"YOU WILL PAY! I WILL BURN YOU TILL YOU ARE NOTHING BUT ASH! I AM DRACNI! ONE OF THE FIRST OF THE DRAGONS!" it declared, almost defiant.
"MY ARMOR IS STEEL! MY CLAWS, SWORDS! MY WINGS, A HURRICANE! I AM DOOM! I AM DEATH!" And with that, it began to inhale once more and spew fire.
It didn't have direction—it didn't need to. It was slowly melting all the gold inside, and if that continued, our only chance of escape would vanish.
Moving quickly, I ran towards the rampaging dragon, nail in hand.
I narrowly dodged the flames the dragon was spewing everywhere, avoiding any path blocked by the melting gold.
Once I finally reached the dragon, it seemed to sense I was near and began to swipe in my general direction, hoping to hit me.
Each blow was fully intended to kill me, but without its eyes, it was far easier to avoid them.
I clung to the dragon and began climbing up towards the inverted scale.
Once I finally reached it, I used my nail to remove the scale from the dragon. It noticed me removing a part of itself and began clawing at me, trying to tear me off.
Each strike damaged my armor, and the longer I took, the more damage I would take.
But with everything on the line, I wasn't going to die a third time—not now.
With one more stab, I was able to remove the scale from its body, and wasting no time, I thrust my nail deep into the dragon's flesh.
It wailed in pain. It screeched and roared as it felt its skin being pierced. I continued thrusting the nail deep inside the dragon until I noticed something with my nail.
It began to glow white—almost ethereal.
I felt it, calling to me.
I knew what I had to do. With one final stab, I stabbed the dragon with my nail as deep as I could and felt energy from within me leave.
Then the glow from my nail seemed to brighten, and before I knew it, my nail released a burst of white energy that destroyed the dragon's insides.
The dragon stopped moving, its body went stiff, and finally, it gave one last breath—and with a loud thud, it fell to the ground.
The dragon was slain.