His scales are scarred and broken. They are rough to the touch yet smooth in parts as well. My amber eyes gaze up to his emerald jewels, and he exhales a puff of air. I smirk at his stubbornness and climb onto his back.

"To the sky!" I call out to my great and mighty beasty, I see him roll his eyes and I laugh.

The dragon flaps his wings a few times before he takes to the sky, the wind presses hard against my body and I tighten my grip on his scales as he ascends into the clouds. I close my eyes tight as the winds are hard, the pressure pushes against my hands and threaten to push me off of his back.

And then just as it came, it lightens up and my mighty dragon seemingly floats in mid-air for a brief moment. I open my eyes to see the scenes in front of me. Warm orange clouds scatter the skies below, it is peaceful up here, not even a bird dare drift up here.

"BOOM!!!" A loud crackle would catch both mine and the mighty beast's attention, I look down at the world below and I can see a ravenous beast below us, erupting in flames of anger and destruction.

"I See You!" The creature below bellows, stomping around and creating a ruckus. "I SEE you!" It calls again, expelling a beam of flames out towards my mighty dragon. The winged creature swoops out of the way, just barely missing the beam.

My grip on his scales tightens more as he maneuvers more of the blasts erupting from the creature's mouth. He moves to the left and my body leans right before going left, he goes right and my body stays in a left position before it moves right.

"We need to find a way to get it to stop firing!" I call out to my mighty dragon, he moves his head out to look at me and I can tell in his eyes that he agrees with me. He flaps his giant charcoal wings, soaring higher into the clouds, seeking cover momentarily.

From the blanket of clouds, the cool grey cover is broken up by the scarlet beams being fired from the creature, shooting up towards the sky --aimed at us. The creature roars below and I can feel my heart pound harder in my chest. Will this be the day that I die? That question has swelled in my mind for many times in my journey.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, momentarily feeling in sync with the great and mighty dragon.

"You ready?" I breathe and he lets out a low growl in reply, signalling that he is indeed ready for this fight. My grip further tightens on his scales, how they haven't fallen off by now, I have no clue. But his scales are almost as stubborn as he is... or at least they appear to be.

Silence deafens the area for a brief moment before the great dragon dives down towards the raging beast below. The wind presses even harder against my body and I can feel myself being lifted up from the mighty dragon's back. I fight to keep my eyes open, but the wind is too strong and forces me to close them tightly.

"We got this! We can do this!" I shout with determination; regret filling my lungs as the wind rushes into my lungs making it hard to breathe.

And then suddenly, the wind comes to an abrupt halt as I feel us slam into the creature. The impact is hard enough to throw me from the back of the mighty dragon, and I roll and bounce against the grassy plains below. I open my eyes once I come to a stop, hitting a tree with my back, and I groan with pain.

My gaze falls gently upon the fight against the great charcoal dragon and the monstrous beast. Both large creatures fight just a few metres in front of me, sending rushing winds outwards with each punch and hit that they give one another.

Both seem to be evenly matched, both seem equally determined to win.

And then I see it. The scowling beast has a limp. It's scarred and worn left foot refuses to be on the ground longer than it has to be, lifting up but just a few inches off of the ground. The broken creature screeches every time it applies even a little bit of pressure down upon the wounded foot. Or at least I assumed it was wounded.

I couldn't be sure. I couldn't be certain, until I mustered up the courage to check it out.

With a deep breath inhaled, I crawl slowly against the earth's surface. My fragile hands clench the roots and weeds that are standing strong, keeping my position as I move forwards through each blistering wave of wind that threatens to send me flying back.

"Hey!" I scream, my worried eyes stare up at the beasts before me as I venture forwards. "Hey!" I shout again, my voice is not yet loud enough. I am not yet close enough. I need to keep moving forwards. I can not stop, I can not leave this be without knowing that the monstrous creature is not in pain.

I finally reach the two beasts, the stench of rotten eggs and burnt flesh radiates intensely off of the creature's body. I scrunch my nose up and I hold my breath.

Up close, I can now see a large pitch fork impaling the creature's foot. The pitch fork appears large to me, being almost half of the size of myself, but it is simply a tiny toothpick size to the two great beasts.

"Hey!" I screech once more and finally they hear me. Finally the two battling stop and peer down at my small and fragile body. "Let me check this one thing out." I breathe in a soft and calming tone.

The great dragon steps back, letting me in to see the creature's foot. I step up to the foot, the stench more powerful than ever. My hands grasp the wooden handle of the fork before I yank the item out of the creature's foot.

It screeches for a moment before a sense of relief washes over its face. A light cooing sound echoes from the beast's mouth before it turns and walks away, as though the fight hadn't even happened.

I sigh and look to the great and mighty dragon, a warm smile painted across my face.

The great dragon peers down at me before a deep and evil laughter echoes from it. And then, a black oozing goo erupts from the dragon's mouth, engulfing the creature within a matter of moments.

The laughter grows louder and my eyes widen as its familiarity strikes through me like a shooting bullet.

"I See You Now.... Be Afraid."

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Word count: 1160 words.