The Final Journey

The breath of fire soared past him as he bent down to grab his sword for the second time after the two headed dragon charged him, swatting with its long, scaly tail. It had knocked the sword right out of his hand onto the hard, cracked ground. Now, with sword in hand again, which he intended to keep this time, the terrified man turned just in time to see sharp, jagged, yellow teeth coming at him. The foul mouth of the dragon's second head tried to chomp him in two. One way or the other, the dragon was determined to cook him, then eat him for supper. Michael fought hard to stay alive. His thoughts were scrambled in his mind as his life flashed before him. Where had this vile creature come from? One minute Michael had been standing at the entrance of a kingdom he never knew existed, after walking through a solid brick wall back on earth. The next thing he realized, he was being attacked by this horrid, green beast! Before the attack by the beast, he had just entered Endfoenation, an underground kingdom where evil demons and witches reside, because he'd thought this was where he belonged, until he saw the place. He began having second thoughts. The last thing he remembered was closing his eyes and feeling the cold breeze upon his face. He had been standing with his head slightly back staring up at the dark sky . . . wondering why he was in this world. A whirlwind of emotions had caught him off guard and he'd felt like he was falling into a deep, black hole. When Michael had finally opened his eyes, he'd come face to face with a two-headed dragon, instead of a hole. Was this a dream, was it a vision, or was it real? This couldn't be possible! Yet, here he was, fighting a demon so real that he could feel the scorching heat of its breath almost on top of him, singeing his hair and skin. The dragon lunged forward, knocking Michael to the ground, trapping him. With the dragon's heads hanging over the frightened man, yellowish-white froth drooled out from both mouths, burning Michael when it landed on him. He tried to wiggle and squirm free to avoid the deadly drops of drool and flee, but without success. Then the dragon's large, red eyes caught Michael's, forcing him to look deep into them, in an attempt to paralyze and gain complete control with their bright red gaze. The dragon was not about to lose him, for he needed this man or he would not be able to break free. Michael fought to close his eyes, to escape the hypnotic gaze and break away from the evil that threatened to overpower him, the evil he'd felt since entering this kingdom. With all his concentration and using all of his remaining strength, he finally broke free of the mesmerizing power. With eyes closed, his mind slowly came awake, released from the dragon's hold. It was as if he had been in a deep sleep, then woke up. When he opened his eyes again the dragon was gone, disappeared! Sweat vanished off of Michael's face as relief overcame him. He found himself lying on the ground, very confused, staring into a kingdom of wretchedness. Out of breath, the bewildered man wasn't sure about anything anymore, especially after death had challenged him. Had this episode with the dragon just been a dream, a nightmare? It seemed so real. Was it a vision of his future, and if it was, why had it been given to him? What did it mean? His whole life seemed like a bad dream! Nothing made sense. Yet, there were burn marks in his clothes from the dragon's drool.