Dragons were creatures of myth. Of legend and fairytales… that's what they were supposed to be. And yet what stood before him was as real as anything he could see and touch.
The ground trembled when it moved. The temperature of the air rose with every breath it took. Liam's heart hammered within his chest as he tried to take in every detail of the magnificent creature.
Its large body was clad in layers upon layers resplendent scales redder than hot iron in a furnace, each scale tall enough to act as a man's shield. The wings on its back were wide enough to bloat out the skies. Its limbs massive and radiating power that was hard to put into words. The dragon's reptilian head turned towards him, diamond pupiled eyes regarding him with deep scrutiny.
And under that gaze Liam felt exposed. All his insecurities, his weakness, his burdens and fears, his very soul…all were laid bare before this mighty dragon.
The dragon took a breath and the air was sucked forward as though pulled by the gravitational force of a blackhole. Liam almost lost his footing from such an action alone. He couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of power a direct attack from such a creature would bring.
"Little mouse…why do you so desperately cling to life?" the dragon's voice suddenly rumbled. It thrummed with power that caused his inner ear to tremble slightly as though it would collapse anytime soon.
Liam winced at the discomfort and he used the wall to support himself.
His mind worked in overdrive as he tried to push away the awe and fear. He needed to answer this question and he needed to answer it right.
He knew…he just knew that if his answer wasn't satisfactory in anyway he would die. Just like that in this nameless cave in an unknown place where no one would even know.
It took some effort but he was finally able to endure some of the pressure that the dragon radiated from its presence.
Why did he cling to life? Was there any reason he didn't want to?
He had to return to his family back on Earth. He still had a promise he hadn't fulfilled to his parents after all. Then there was Emily, she was a deeply caring person at heart and Liam cared for her just as much too. The last thing he would do was to leave her feeling sad, she may be a distant star but he would be damned if he ever saw it lose its light.
And lastly…
Something within his heart bloomed. It was subtle and small. A spark of defiance that carried the core of his being.
Lastly, he clung to life simply because he did not want to lose it. He didn't want to die. The very thought of it let him feeling…unwilling.
"I don't want to die!" Liam's voice came out far stronger than it meant to be but the dragon just looked at him. Either it never cared about that at all or…
The dragon peered into his eyes. And his body went stiff as though control had been stripped from him.
"Then show me your resolve" was the last thing he heard before he found himself standing on a desolate land. The immediate area around him was barren. The trees and plants or at least what he thought to be trees and plants were all grey and lifeless.
His body shivered from a cold that seeped into the very depths of his soul. He released an icy breath. There was no color in this world even the light reflected by the moon was grey and colorless.
"W-where am I?" he spoke between clattering teeth. "How did I get here?" the ground suddenly shook. A pierce of Earth in front of him suddenly sunk deep leaving a chasm of emptiness that felt unfathomable.
Cracks spread out, a fissure snaking its way towards where he stood.
Liam's instincts thundered and his hair stood on end. He turned and ran as hard as he could. He had to get away from what ever that hole was. He had to avoid falling in that darkness no matter what.
Liam didn't know how long he ran but by the time the quaking stopped and the cracks stilled, he was utterly and truly exhausted. He didn't understand anything.
Where this place was, what caused that earthquake, where did that depth lead and how did this place become like this?
Sadly he did not have the answers nor did he know where to get them.
No. He knew the dragon was holding the answers to his questions but where was that dragon now?
He did not know. There were just so many things he did not know and it was starting to frustrate him very much.
Shaking his thoughts out he looked up his gaze becoming focused. Before him stood a mountain whose peak seemed to touch the sky itself. No calling it a mountain on its own wouldn't do it justice, it was more of a collection of peaks, three of them each peak acting as a part of the crown of the greater whole.
As he gazed upon such a landscape. He had a gut feeling that if he wanted to get out of this world that was where he needed to go. The ground shook once more.
'No…' he promptly looked back just in time to see a piece of the ground more than 800 meters away fall into the darkness.
The shaking stopped and all became still.
Liam tilted his head and thought for a moment before he took a step into the mountains.