Ro had won. The battle was fierce. And through their heart did that wicked knife pierce.

Though Ro was on the western reaches of Collasuraunt, our destination was due east. Far east - much more than the span of the continent. We traveled by land for many days, but our goals would now take us over sea as well. We had made it all the way to the eastern edge of Collasuraunt to a quaint little port town whose east-facing docks reached out to touch the very beginnings of a vast sea.It was a cold night. Rain careened down to splatter onto the redwood of the docks and make ripples in the harbor. We found refuge in the local inn. Corgea, through the ever-so-generous donations of the Legitimate Kingdom of Bloody Ro, made sure my friends and I had the influence to charter a boat to any adventure we fancy to find on the face of this world. For the chilling night, we decided to pass an eye over the tavern with the townsfolk.

Bahahahaha! the rugged man laughed Didya say your name was Dirk, was it?

Yessir! Dirk replied, sitting upright with his chest out.

Dirk, you are one funny lad, Ill give you that much, buhuhuh. the man pattered out as he took another swig from his mug.

Yup! Im the funny one. But hey, listen. Do you see that adventurer over there? The one with the curly hair. He has all the pictures stitched in his shirt. Dirk started to explain. Thats my friend, the dragon slayer!

I fancy Ive never seen a dragon before, Dirk. The man replied.

Dirk finished the last of his ale and slammed down his mug. Well wouldnt you know Acot can kill em so they can have their hides shaved off to harvest their scales!

I bet you could make their teeth in to great decorations too, huh? The man joked as he stroked his full, black beard. He taped the table with his fingers for a second.

HEY YOU! OVER THERE! The large, muscular man stood up from his chair, it squeaked across the ground as he looked over at me. YOU KNOW THIS GUY?

Hey yo, Acot! Dirk shouted after him, as they both tried to get my attention.

The entire tavern looked over at Dirk and his new friend. The room had a few stairs down to the bottom of the redwood floor. The stone fireplace laid opposite the entrance with the stairway just to the right of it. Between the two ends, about a dozen tables were set up with an array of stools and chairs underneath them. About half of the chairs were taken and an audible roar could be heard until that bull of a man overpowered it. I had just finished my sentence to look over as most of the crowd began to look back at me, the person he was talking to.

Hes not beating you up too badly, is he, Dirk?! A whisper of laughter flowed through the room as conversation began to resume.

Our mutual acquaintance... the man moved his lips as he began to think, he slammed his mug down two times and everybody became silent again. Our funny friend, Dirk, says that youve slayed a dragon!

The local beauty I was talking to shifted toward me as I got up and began to walk forward. Not to be stopped, I winked at her and went to entertain the man.

Ive slayed a few now. The name dragons-slayer doesnt roll off the tongue as easily, though. I said, looking into his eyes as I stepped forward.

Have you now? Bahahaha! How do we know that youre not just taking us for a ride? Ive seen a great many strangers walk through this very tavern to go off to stranger places. I reckon Ive never seen a dragon slayer.

Oh, well give me just a second. I can show you-

Heads up, Acot! Charlotte threw my dragonhide chestpiece at me from my bag.

I had to struggle to catch it but did so before I showed it to the guy. He was taken back. He held it and examined it in wonder. He noticed the multiple colors of dragonhide as well as the scales on the back side of it. People had gotten up out of their seats to come look at it and, quickly, a circle formed around Dirk, the rugged man and me. Charlotte elbowed Regan as Regan reached back and ran her hands down Charlottes arm, laughing.

Acot, the dragon slayer, huh? Bahahahahahaha! Welcome to Otthelberry Harbor! My names Dave. Where are you merry adventurers going?

Taken back by the question and my sudden fame, I had a big grin on my face. Off to face the next adventure overseas!

People began laughing as my welcomer took his mug and finished off the last of his ale. He slammed it down before bellowing out a laugh.

Howd you do it?

How did I?.. You want some dragon slaying tools? I shrugged with a smile.

Tell us a story, Acot. he began. Tell us the story of how you slayed your first dragon!

The tavern erupted into applause. People clapped and hollered at me.

Tell us the story!Did you get his neck?!Do they breathe fire?

Yes, a couple of them breathed fire! I pointed at somebody and said Well, okay! Heres how it happened. It all started in Briar Vine Canyon

I rolled out from the brush. Dust was kicked up as it got into the scratches on my arm. The briar patch was annoying, but this was nothing compared to a dragons claw. The sun beat down on my sweaty face. I had made it out from the bushes into a wide opening. Taking a quick glance around, I noticed a distinct lack of pathway out of this arena. Small, but steep cliff sides filled with spiky vines encircled the area. Here, though, there was a dirt floor with rocks crumbled throughout. I wasnt going anywhere, so I would have to make my stand against the dragon here.Looking up, I noticed a rumbling coming from the path I had just come from. A giant, green lizard beast shot its head through the brush and let out a menacing roar. As the dragon put its scaly foot down to crush the bramble, it jumped down into the arena. It spread out its wings and jumped from off its hind legs to take a leap at me. I had to dive to get out of the way, but to no avail, it hit me with its massive tail. The dragon was large, I could reach the middle of its neck standing straight up. Its neck was slender - scales ran down through its muscular back and all the way down its leathery tail. Its webbed wings were able to support the 4-legged beast while flying. Myself, I was only equipped with standard, strapped leather armor and a helmet. For weaponry, I had a castle-forged steel knife and a heavy kite-shield made of adamantite. I considered myself fortunate, though I groaned at the idea of being weighed down by it, I was given this shield in case of this beast.

As I was hit by the massive tail, I was flung into a cliffside, cushioned by the shield on my back as well as my leather armor, the blow was belittled. As the dragon crawled toward me, it licked its face with its forked tongue. I composed myself quickly enough to mount a manic defense. As the drake began to lurch out its claws, I hardened my arm into rock and traded a blow with the dragon. As it went for its other arm, so did I. The dragon caught my forearm which was encased in hardened dirt and rock. At a standstill, we attempted to overpower one another without either side budging. With a quick thought, I ducked down with my other hand and reached for my knife equipped at my waist. As the dragon reacted to jump backwards, I managed to stab the knife down into the back of its palm and traced it all the way down to one of his claws. It let out a roar as it got back to the other side of the arena. It snorted smoke out of its nostrils in fury. I took a fighting stance, spat on the ground and spun the dagger.

I took the initiative and began creeping forward toward the dragon. In response, the dragon leapt forward, with its entire body following the graceful arc. It landed and went up onto its hind legs to tower over me. As its claws came careening down onto me, I took my shield in both hands to the block the brunt of the blow. The sheer momentum made me feel lucky that the dragons weight didnt crush my chest. I let go of the shield and began to roll. While reveling in the weightlessness I now felt, I looked up to see the dragon shifting its body to get its tail ready to swing at me. On pure instinct, I jumped up and over the tail, I dove toward the end of it.. As it finished rotating, I rolled through my landing to be able to circle back around towards the dragons haunch. Getting up, I grabbed a handful of dirt and rubbed it up my arm as I was charging at the dragon. I enveloped my arm in mana which, in turn, turned the brown dirt red as it stained onto my arm and delivered a fierce uppercut to the unscaled underside of the dragon as it was beginning to turn around.

The dragon let out a groan. I could tell it was furious now. Its roar was more like a shriek as it unfolded its wings with its head down and neck outstretched. The dragon began flapping its wings violently, stirring up a lot of the dust. I had to use my arm to cover my eyes. It took a running start and jumped up to begin flying into the air. I ran over towards my shield and picked it up as quickly as I could. As I got my arm through the back of the shield, I looked over just in time to see the dragon swoop down at a distance in order to take a swipe at me. Though this was an extremely high-grade shield, I felt it dent as the swipe took me off my feet and knocked the shield violently off my hand. The force readily torqued my shoulder and left my arm in extreme pain. I screamed as I was knocked onto my back and I looked up at the dragon gliding down in the air and it shrieked again. The beast put its wings back and began to dive at me. I rolled to the side of the dragon, but the impact was enormous. The seismic power of the dragon uprooted the ground around the impact site and flung me into the air. As I came back down, I rolled out of the impact, so I managed to gain my footing again.

Not to be stopped or tired out, the dragon was already back into the air by time I looked back-

Why wasnt the dragon tired?! Somebody in the back shouted out.

W-wait what? I asked.

I reckon flying takes an ol buncha energy. If I were da dragon, Ida been tuckered out by time ya shield got dented. Me cousins got a chunk o adamantite in his shed; stuffs tougher than a tree trunk! He began to explain.

Dave, who was sitting right next to me, got up from his seat and began walking over to the clueless, drunken patron. Towering over him, he took him by his collars, lifting him up off the ground. He proceeded to kick open the door to the tavern and threw him out into a pile of mud in the rain. Wiping his hands together, Dave sat back down as they all watched in amazed silence. He patted me on the back.

Sorry about that, Acot, please continue.

Hehe, okay, you see

Not to be stopped or tired out, the dragon was already back into the air by time I looked back. I was aching, so I wasnt about to outlast this dragon, even if it were going all out at this point. It was time to start looking for a coup de grce. I stood there, facing the dragon after being rattled around on the ground. Once again, it began diving toward me. I had to roll away as it went to swipe at me. I dodged it well, but, quickly looking back, I saw him diving from behind me once again. I took my knife out from my waist once again and, as the dragon swooped down, I spun. I spun out and away from him, but I outstretched my knife arm as I looked back toward the dragons tail. I managed to slip the knife in between the scales on the side. The dragons foot was bleeding and now the opposite arm had bright red blood seep out onto its viridian scales. My knife was lodged well into the arm and the dragon took it as it slithered back to gain position.

I heard the dragon snorting. Off of an impulse, I ran over to reclaim my shield from off the ground. I looked over to see the dragons eyes squinting in fury. I marveled in its anger as I put my shield back onto my back, baiting out an attack. The dragon contorted as though it was spewing fire from its entire body and as the wave reached its face, the dragon let out a mighty stream of dragonfire. With a quickdraw, I took out my shield and, with both hands, pushed back against the dragonfire. Though it was still incredibly hot, no part of me caught fire, nor did I begin to feel as though I was burning. My armor was enough to protect me! The dragon stopped as I looked up over my shield. I put the shield onto my arm as I saw that the dragon was readying itself for another bout of fire. I looked at the front of my shield to see that it was glowing hot from the first volley. I hoped that the shield would endure a second bout as it expelled fire once again. I tucked my head down, hoping the the fire would stop. I began to feel the metal burn from the indented part of the shield as it scalded me. I was about to yell out as the fire stopped again. I took off the shield and threw it as the dragons head as it was recoiling. It was a direct hit! I began running at the dragon. I thought to myself that I needed to get at the dragon and I needed to now. It was recoiling from breathing fire, so it was exceptionally vulnerable during the time at which I had to inflict a heavy wound. Though my new technique was fair-weather at best, I needed to try it - I had to hit it with lightning.

I focused mana through my stomach up into the tips of my fingers. The back of my triceps began to twitch as mana found its way through my arms less gracefully than I would have hoped. But electricity began to arc between my fingertips. As the dragon shook its head to regain its vision, I threw out a large, crackling burst of electricity towards its outstretched breast. It connected and the dragon began to jump around in pain. As it let out a full-blown shriek, the force of its voice threw me off kilter and the electricity flew off and I began to feel electricity course through me and I convulsed heavily. Before I feel to my knees, I regained myself. The dragon slowly outstretched its wings as though it was getting ready to fly again. I was afraid of what the dragon had in mind, so I ran towards it. I decided to jump and latch onto its leg that I had previously stuck a knife into. I held onto the hilt and a leg as he leapt forward to fly. Though the beast had enough strength to lift me off the ground as well, it looped upside down and I quickly fell off, skidding across the ground.

As I struggled to reach my feet again, the dragon was circling around and began to shoot fire down from above. I snuck out of the way, but the fire went radially out of the arena until it set the briar vines around it ablaze. As the dragon shot fire recklessly upward, embers began to set fire around the entire arena. The heat was uncomfortable as soot began to fill the air. The dragon flew above me, hiding itself in the flickering of the fire. Taking a moment to look down at myself, I noticed that the knife had become dislodged. I picked it up before noticing the dragon flying down toward me again. I had to jump backward, but he took a gash out of my armor. Though, underneath, I had not been injured, the swipe was unnervingly close. I didnt need to look back to know that he was coming down for a second swipe. Without looking back, I turned around to threw the knife. I hit him right in between his wing as his neck. This was right along the edge of scaled and unscaled skin - the knife was keen enough that it was able to get lodged inside. The dragon landed on its feet on the ground and began to flap its wings again, trying to ignore the pain. I took this opportunity to run towards the dragon and grab onto the knife. I used my momentum to vault myself onto the top of the dragon as it began to take flight again.

I was on the dragons back! It contorted its long neck and was able to see me from the corner of its eye. I was holding on for dear life as the dragon began to loop again. I held onto the neck and the knife as I was upside down. My legs were hanging off and dangling as the dragon was losing altitude. It had to go upright again before the dragon itself crashed. As a last ditch effort, I began conducting manic electricity through my fingertips again. Holding onto the dragons back, I outstretched an electric hand and gripped onto the face and lip of the dragon. I surged mana to my hand as I heard the electricity chirp. The dragon shrieked once again as I felt its wings locked to its sides and we both began falling back into the arena. With a crash, we both fell, but I remained on its back. I took the knife out from the dragons shoulder and reached underneath its neck as it threw its head back in pain. I stabbed the knife into the dragons throat, lodging it nice and deep. I managed to carve half a hilts worth to the side.

I jumped off of the dragon and watched it. It began jumping, flapping its wings and swiping away with its feet. I watched the agony of the dragon as breath escaped it. With one last whimper, it fell down onto its belly as its head fell forward. The dragon was dead, it had been slain. Huffing over it, I took the knife and plunged it in between the eyes to protect myself against a clever, vengeful dragons second wind. I looked at its corpse. It was a magnificent specimen - large, young and beautifully scaled. The area around the arena was crackling with fire. The area from which we had entered had been mostly cleared out and there was only ash where fire once was. I had left a now nearly empty backpack a while back when the dragon began to chase me. I was instructed to take the dragons eyes as proof of its death. In addition, I thought I would fill my backpack with teeth, claws and scales as a souvenier. I examined myself, my hands were covered with dragons blood. In addition, I had sustained a few burns and my armor was all but ruined. My shoulder still felt terrible. The shield was dented and melted through, but the knife was still in great condition. With a huff, I noticed the sun was beginning to get low in the sky.I stepped through the surprisingly unburnt vines further up from arena. I found my backpack stuck to a tree. As the dragon was chasing me through the brush, it had gotten stuck. I had to escape, so I left it behind. I found my water bottle and had a big gulp from it.

And let me tell you, I mean no offense to Otthelberry Harbor, but no ale will ever be as refreshing as the first gulp of water after slaying a fire breathing dragon.

The crowd roared out in laughter. One man began to clap and the entire room filled with applause. Cheering and whistling could be heard throughout.

So I skinned the dragon and here I am today! I concluded.

Dave stood up and walked in front of me. I got up as well. He bellowed out to me.

That was the best tale Ive heard in a long while. The dragon slayer will always be a welcomed guest, should you ever make it back to Collasuraunt! Bahahahahaha!

Thank you so much, thank you for having us, Dave. I shook his hand and returned back to my seat, absolutely glowing.