The Silence Of Metawin.

Death Valley

⚠️Distrubing

.

He couldn't remember how it started, but he surely knew how it would end.

He thought he had been fast enough. He had been so close.

But he hadn't been fast enough.

A magnificent, fearsome beast had laid claim on him. A scaly, blood red, mighty, fire-breathing beast. A dragon of sorts. It had made chase, and now he was entangled in its tail.

The dragon slowly maneuvered him onto a nearby tree. After only a few tries, he soon dangled upside down from a branch, directly above a waterfall.

He cried out, pleading for someone to come save him.

The dragon only laughed.

He continued to call for help, sure that someone would hear him. And soon enough, someone did.

He could see them coming in the distance. A white horse was galloping towards him, and atop him sat a knight, steel armor coated in a bright red rather than a glistening grey. The contrast was startling and so surreal he couldn't look away.

In his distraction, the dragon watched as the knight and his steed made their grand entrance, watching them with the intent of a predator.

Finally, they were a few yards away from the dragon and his hostage. The knight jumped off his horse without slowing to a stop and pulled out his sword in one swift motion. He began charging at the beast, looking for all the world like this was his first dragon slaying.

Win knew he was in trouble.

His fears were confirmed as he watched the dragon thump his tail three times and take in a deep breath before spewing out an impossible amount of smoke and fire at the heroes. When the dust cleared, all that remained of them were two piles of ashes. Win mentally applauded their efforts and hoped they didn't suffer long.

Suddenly, one of his ties snapped.

His heart stopped when it happened.

Now he dangled by on foot, upside down, directly above the angry flow of the waterfall.

It was only a matter of time before the other tie snapped.

Coming over the horizon from relatively the same place as the knight, a black figure appeared. He stared as it made its way over to them at its own leisurely pace, and he immediately knew that his original nightmare had found its way into his current one. But something was different about it this time. Something about its strides or its body language gave off a sense of focused energy, like a controlled ray of light, rather than a reckless destructiveness. Something about it came across as determination to achieve something, rather than random malicious intent, and it wasn't as if the beast had ever harmed him before.

Win knew he was saved.

When the figure made of shadows and twilight came within a few yards of them, the dragon began his ritual once more. He thumped his tail three times and drew in a breath.

The beast continued towards them, undeterred.

Large bursts of fire ruptured out of the dragon's throat, enveloping the creature and burying him under brimstone until he was no longer seen.

The dragon, pleased with his work, stopped the theatrics after a few seconds. The smoke cleared to reveal the pitch black wolf-like beast, ever so steady in his strides towards them, bereft of the slightest indication that it technically should have just been burned alive.