Touched By A Dragon

Chapter 18: Easy....Right?

“Well the two trials left are speed and strength. I mean, how hard can they be?” He muttered.
“Oh brother, you have no idea.” Came the reply. “This is going to be the most pain you’ve ever been through.”
“Excellent, can’t be worse than fathers cooking.” Mike joked.
“Hahaha, this one shows sprit!” The voice mocked. “I’ll have even more fun crushing it. Now where, where we? Ah yes that’s it! Let the third trial begin!
Then the voice disappeared, again. The floor pixelated and changed along with the walls and roof, then fell away to reveal a race track.
“Ha! Piece of cake, I can do this in my sleep.” Mike exclaimed.
He walked up to the starting line; he crouched down, ready to go. Then he heard a slight shuffling noise. He looked behind him.
“Oh boy, not again, how many speed stingers is one guy supposed to run away from?” He sighed. “Oh well, just me and my big mouth, verse about twenty tiny, incredibly fast beasts, yay fun.”
Then he started running as fast as his legs could take him. About thirty minutes later he was completely exhausted he had slowed down to a slow jog. He was wondering how the beasts hadn’t caught him yet. He turned and look behind him. They were at the same distance from him that they were when he first saw him. He decided to test something. He wasn’t shore if this would kill him or not but he decided to try it anyway. Mike took a deep breath and stopped running. He looked at the beasts, they had stopped too. He started to slowly walk backwards, they did too.
“Wait, so if they are not chasing me, then this can’t be a test of speed because it’s not entertaining, what would be entertaining is watching a teenaged fool running from holograms for forty minutes straight, then watch the look on his face when he realises that he had been wasting his time.” Mike thought.
He looked around. They had been chasing him, but where to? He saw the edge of the cliff, he peered over. Then he knew the answer. They had been chasing him to his death, but then where was his next challenge? He had to find it, he was wasting time, and time he knew he already had none of. He had to get back to his friends, friends that thought he was dead and he had to get back to Lillianna, his princess. But first he needed to find the next challenge. He picked up a small stone and threw it over the cliff. 
“If I died, then that would take all the fun out of it. Especially if I died in a way no one could see.” He wondered out loud.
The stone hit a pixelated, clear forcefield, it hung there for a minute, then vanished.
“Ah, knew it, but is it safe? Oh well, the world isn’t safe nor is my line of work, besides, no time like the present.” Mike whispered jumping off the cliff.
He landed on a see through force field, which was pixilated around the area that he was standing on. He smiled.
“As I knight I am strong hearted, I am strong hearted when I  don't give up, I fight for what I believe is right, I not intimidated, and I will let nothing get in my way.” He recited. “Not even death.” 
The pixels all turned over again, revealing the black room that he was still in. He smiled wider.
“Ok brother, that’s three trials down with one to go. If memory serves I believe that you now owe me the pleasure of your company?” Mike grinned.
“I owe you nothing! Your final trial shall be with me! And it will not be so easy!” Came the aggravated reply.
A cold breeze brushed along Mike’s neck causing him to shiver, a faint odour of decay filled the air, a soft sound of grinding teeth greeted his ears, a slight metallic taste filled his mouth and a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in front of him.
“Hello brother, ready to die?” The voice said.