Of Dragons and Men

        He stood in the field gazing off in the distance.  He saw something in the distance approaching, very fast and very large.  A dragon, he thought.  It had to be.  No other creature could be so large.  The young man who called himself Shawdin, stood there watching, waiting.  At last, Shawdin thought to himself, at last I shall prove my powers.  For Shawdin was a wizard.  Despite his youthful age he was extremely skilled in the art of magic.  His professors knew he was a being of great power, but they often warned him of the dangers of such power.
         “Do not let your power and skill go to your head young Shawdin.”  He recalled his master's words to him, “Being a wizard is a serious responsibility.  Do not take your powers lightly.”  Shawdin recalled his master's warnings but brushed them off.
         I shall decide what I use my powers for. Shawdin thought to himself.  For Shawdin, his powers were a means to prove himself to the world.  I shall show the world how powerful I truly am.  Then everyone will remember and revere the name, Shawdin!  He thought to himself.  For he knew he was the most powerful wizard in all the land, despite his master's claims to the contrary.
         “You have great power,” He recalled his master telling him, “but you are not all powerful.  There are many beings out there with even greater power.”
         Then I shall find them!  Then I shall destroy them!  I shall test how powerful I truly am by finding a worthy opponent to defeat!  After all, Shawdin thought, what's the point of having great power if you never intend to use it.  It was this that led Shawdin on his quest to prove himself the most powerful being in all the land.  Since he had left his master those many years ago he had been wandering the land testing himself by battling the most powerful opponents he could find.  He traveled far and wide, encountering many strange and powerful creatures:  Trolls, Orcs, Witches, Sorcerers, Sorceresses; he had fought them all and each time he was victorious.  I win again, he recalled, I always win!  Perhaps there truly is no opponent out there worthy enough to face me.  It was that very thought that led him to where he was today.  He had heard rumours about dragons inhabiting the far lands.  Dragons were well known throughout the land but very few people had actually encountered dragons, and lived to tell about it.  They say dragons are the most powerful creatures in the land, recalled being told on several occasions, second only to the gods.  If I could defeat a dragon, Shawdin thought to himself, I would truly be the most powerful wizard in all the land. 
         He turned his attention back to the approaching dragon.  It was still a fair distance away, but he could see it clearly.  It was huge, taller than many buildings he had seen.  Almost as tall as a mountain.    The dragon stared down at him, he stared back at it.  The dragon continued moving towards him.  Shawdin noticed something strange, the dragon began to shrink.  Then it began to change, its features began taking on a more humanoid look.  Shawdin watched as this very large beast now turned into a human.  The dragon took a few more steps then stopped right in front of Shawdin.  It stood there staring at him, waiting.
         Had I not seen the transformation right before my eyes, Shawdin thought, if I had only seen him in his human form, I would have mistaken him for a common human.  He stared the dragon directly in the eye, “Impressive.  I've heard stories about dragons being able to take human form, but I've never actually seen one do it.”
         The dragon simply stood there staring at him.
         “Not much of a talker eh?” Shawdin smirked, “No matter, I didn't come here looking for casual conversation.”
         The dragon remained motionless.  Staring at Shawdin in a rather uninterested manner.
         “They say dragons are the most powerful creatures in the land, second only to the gods.” Shawdin stared back at him.  In his human form he certainly didn't look extremely powerful, more like a simple peasant dressed in fur and leather.  “You certainly don't look second to a god in power, but then again looks can be deceiving.”
         The dragon still remained motionless.  Shawdin read his face trying to sense what was going through his head.  If his face gave any indications of his thoughts they were, Are you finished yet?
         “Take me for example,” Shawdin continued, “I may look like some boy, but I assure you I am much more.  I am Shawdin.  Undoubtedly you've heard of the name. Shawdin the brave, Shawdin the all powerful, the most powerful sorcerer in the land.”
         If Shawdin was expecting the dragon to recognize him or be in awe he was disappointed.  The dragon still stood in his spot staring at Shawdin, looking rather bored.
         Shawdin was becoming annoyed.  I've had more stimulating conversations with statues.  He thought, Are you going to speak or wait until you start attracting pigeons?  “I've traveled far across the land in search of creatures with great power.  I wish to test their abilities against my own.”  Shawdin thought this for certain would illicit a response from the dragon, but once again nothing.  By now Shawdin was beginning to lose his patience.  “Well?!  Don't just stand there, say something!”
         “I speak only when I deem it necessary,” the dragon finally spoke, “just because one has the ability to speak doesn't mean they have anything of value to say.  You have just proven that.”
         “How dare you address me that way!” Shawdin shouted, “I am the most powerful wizard in all the land!”
         “An ant may be the strongest in the entire colony, but it can still be crushed underfoot as easily as all the rest.” the dragon replied.
         “If I'm an insect to you, then I guess I'll have to increase my power by taking some of yours,” Shawdin replied, “They say if you drink the blood of a dragon you can inherit its dragon magic.  Shall we see if that's true?”
         The dragon stood there waiting, waiting for him to make his move.  Shadwin drew his staff, held it above his head and spoke an ancient incantation.  He drove his staff into the ground.  A beam of blue energy fell from the staff into the ground.  It moved straight towards the dragon.  It surrounded him and shot up from the ground as if lighting were being fired up from the earth right beneath the dragon's feet.  There was a bright flash of light and a deafening boom, like the clap of thunder.  The light faded.  Shawdin had expected to see his opponent lying on the ground, nothing more than a smoldering cinder; but instead saw him standing there just as he had been before, unharmed and unimpressed.
         “My you are powerful,” Shawdin admitted, “I had used this attack several times before.  Once on a group of very large and very hungry trolls.  Trolls whom otherwise would have devoured me.  Let's see if you can handle this.”  Shawdin waved his staff and an orb formed in the air.  It was an energy sphere, a spell he learned from his master many years ago.  He could still recall what the old man told him, This spell will trap any opponent in an unbreakable energy field.  Once it surrounds your opponent it will shrink, crushing them in the process.  Indeed it had worked many times before, including that time he fought the kraken.  Despite its massive size, the orb crushed the monster easily, surely if it could defeat a kraken, it could crush a dragon.  The orb floated like a bubble towards the dragon and engulfed him.  It began to shrink until it was pressing against the dragon, but it stopped as soon at it touched him.  Shawdin watched in disbelief.  The orb pressed hard against the dragon as if trying desperately to crush him, but the dragon appeared unfazed.  Then something happened that Shawdin didn't expect, the dragon put his hands on the orb and began to push out.  The orb grew larger and like a balloon filled with too much air, it popped.  Impossible!  Shawdin thought.  No one has ever been able to break the orb before!  This dragon is even more powerful than I had originally anticipated.  Shawdin pointed his staff right at the dragon, “Let's see you break this!”  He shouted another incantation and the staff began to glow.  Swirling patterns of light converged in front of the staff and took the form of a sword.  Shawdin pointed his staff at the dragon once again and the sword flew straight towards the dragon.  Shawdin was certain this would finish the creature off.  The sword was made of pure energy, it could slice through anything.  He recalled how he once used it to bore a tunnel right through a mountain.  Another time he used it to fell a whole army.  The sword slashed and sliced his opponents easily while they tried in vain to block it with their own swords, but their weapons simply passed through the sword as if it wasn't even there.  Shawdin was certain this would finish the dragon off once and for all.  Unfortunately for Shawdin, that was not the case.  The sword flew straight for the dragon's chest, intent on impaling him right through the heart.  The dragon simply waved his hand and the sword shattered upon impact.  Shawdin would have never believed it had he not seen it with his own eyes.  He might as well been throwing glass ornaments at a rock.
         “Are you finished?” the dragon asked calmly.
         “Curse you animal!” Shawdin growled, “Why won't you die?!”  Shawdin had one last plan, using all his remaining power in a concentrated blast.  He raised his staff and called out one last incantation.  As he spoke dark clouds formed directly above the dragon.  A swirling vortex of dark energy spun around in the sky, then an enormous column of light fell to earth; as if the heavens themselves opened up and spilled all their raw might onto the earth.  The ground rocked with a deafening explosion.  Shawdin shielded his eyes from the blinding display.  Then the light faded, all that was left was a cloud of dust.  Shawdin couldn't even make out anything in front of him. As the dust began to drift away all he could see was a huge crater where the blast hit.  Had he not witnessed the attack himself he might have mistaken this as the site where a meteorite had crashed.  The dust continued to drift away on the wind.  He could see more clearly now.  The crater left behind was even bigger than he had originally thought, and there in the middle of it stood the dragon, still alive and looking just as he was before.
         “I see I must put you in your place insect.” the dragon stated.  He unsheathed his sword, pointed it at Shawdin and swung.  Shawdin, most powerful sorcerer in the whole land was dead.  The dragon didn't even have to move to kill him.  With one swing of his sword an arc of blue light flew from the blade and sliced Shawdin in half, then another one, then another.  Shawdin the brave was nothing more than a pile of dismembered limbs lying in the dirt.  That was not even my most powerful attack.  The  dragon thought, Like a true insect he died from a mere flake of my powers.  The dragon sheathed his sword, he recalled Shawdin's last words, Curse you animal!  “I may be an animal,” he said, “but you humans are the ones who belong in cages.  Animals do not fight and kill for no reason.”  The dragon stared at the corpse.  He might have almost felt pity for Shawdin, but after all humans are insects he reminded himself.  To feel sorry for killing a human would be like regretting swatting a fly.  He climbed out of the crater and continued walking, all thoughts of Shawdin and the battle that just ensued were gone from his mind.

THE END