The Great and All Powerful Dragon Slayer

"Dragons! That's what this is about? You're joking," I slapped my forehead hoping, praying that he was joking.

"Hungry by the looks of things," Gremlin smirked, his too tiny eyes glistening with triumph. I gave him a deadly glare. I guess he wasn't joking.

"I'm not getting any closer," I announced, stopping in mid step as I stared at the dragon farther up the mountain snapping at a bear attempting to fight back.

"If you want to live, yes you will," Gremlin ordered waving his spear in my face. I adjusted the bow strung over my shoulder and scowled.

"When I said I'd help you I didn't think you'd send me to skin a dragon!" I argued.

"What else do you think I would have you do? Pick daisies? Dragon scales are very, very valuable and it breaks my heart so few travelers carry them around these days," he sniffed, pretending to brush a tear from his eye. I rolled my own eyes to express my exasperation. "So today you are officially becoming a dragon hunter!" he continued, shoving me forward with his shield.

"No I'm not! Stop – Ow- Just – GREMLIN!" I roared, trying to twist around and push back when I suddenly felt the sturdy iron shield leave my body. The unexpected lack of support caught me by surprise as I gasped and summersaulted back down the hill. I probably would've gone on forever had it not been for my abrupt halt as my back slammed into the solid form of a boulder. Catching my breath and scrambling to my feet I spotted Gremlin already racing back down the steep hill of the mountainside.

"You're on your own, kid!" I heard him cry right as a piercing scream shook the cloudless sky. Whipping around, my breath caught in my throat. The enormous shadow of the dragon encased me, blocking out the sun as its powerful leather wings flapped up and down nearly blowing me back into the boulder again from the air current they generated. Within seconds my adrenaline had sky rocketed. Leaping out of the way just in time I was barely able to escape the scorching flames that the dragon released, blacking the gray stone.

One thing I was sure of as I sprinted across the rugged terrain devoid of anywhere to hide – I was going to kill Gremlin if I survived. I panted for breath unable to contain my terrified howl as the dragon flew after me in a hot pursuit. Diving behind a jagged upward pointing stone I steadied my shaking hands as I grabbed my bow and knocked an arrow. The dragon landed on the tall serrated rock above me, its claws wrapping around the solid surface as its snout opened in a hideous smile revealing all of its carnivorous teeth. It was ready for dinner.

"Aiie!" I yelped before raising my readied bow, pulling back on the string and releasing my arrow. The dragon's emerald eyes widened, its irises slits as the weapon flew through the air. Before it had any time to defend itself the arrow was lodged in its nose causing the creature to cry out in pain. For a moment I thought I was safe as the monster fell backward off the stone, until I spotted its powerful tail rocketing toward me. I ducked on instinct, but the tail wasn't aiming for me.

A sickening crack reached my ears as the dragon's body part slammed into the boulder breaking it in half, the six ton stone piece tumbling toward me. I dove to the side scrambling away on my hands and knees, tasting blood on my upper lip. Fury consumed me as I grabbed my bow and got to my feet facing the creature crawling closer, stalking me. Knocking three arrows this time, I pulled the string tight, my feet set, my muscles straining and perspiration dotting my brow as I waited for the opportune moment. The dragon came closer and closer, its jaws opening wide to expose the fireball bending the air around it, prepared to be launched at my head.

"I've got you now, monster," I breathed as my fingers released the arrows straight into the dragon's throat.

Let me tell you, trying to drag a thousand pound dragon hide and armored scales home is no picnic. It was late in the evening when I had finally finished skinning the creature. My muscles were straining, my body soaked in sweat. I was exhausted beyond measure and decided I didn't care if I walked into the village looking like I did.

"Halt! Who goes there?" a voice called to me. I lifted the dragon skin away from my eyes to see the armored guard lifting a torch and squinting at me through the growing gloom. When he recognized me, his eyes went so wide I was sure they'd pop right out of his head.

"Hi," I grunted, shuffling past him. "Nice helmet," I added as an afterthought. I probably would've thought his expression was comical if I hadn't been so tried. As I continued through the village, citizens that were just closing up for the night stopped and stared at me as I passed. When I finally reached my home I dragged the skin around back to our stables. I didn't think my mom would be pleased if she knew what I had done. That being said, I filled an old washtub with river water that ran through the village and scrubbed myself down. The horses snorted as they watched me attempt to rinse the dirt and dried blood from my hair. Once I was dry and dressed once more, there was one final stop I had to make before I crashed for the night.

"Gremlin!" I called, banging on the wooden door to his shop. "Open up right now!" No response. I hit the door again. "If you don't open this damned door right now, I swear I'm going to –" My voice was cut off as the door flew open and there stood a bleary-eyed Gremlin. Upon realizing it was me, he broke out into the greediest grin I had ever seen him wear.

"My boy! You're back, did you kill the dragon?"

I scowled.

"Yeah I killed it," was my even reply.

"Excellent! Where is the skin?" Gremlin inquired.

"In my stables."

"Well go bring it here!"

"No."

"What?"

I smirked.

"You want the dragon skin, you're going to have to buy it from me," I retorted. Gremlin did not look happy about this.

"And if I refuse?" he ground out. I shrugged.

"I'll just sell it to another eager customer."

"Argh," Gremlin growled. "Fine! How much?"

"However much dragon skins cost, double that," I replied.

"Double?" Gremlin cried. "I don't have that kind of money!"

"Double or nothing."

"Fine!" Gremlin caved. "I'll have the money to you by the end of tomorrow."

"Deal," I agreed, shaking his hand before turning to go, a spring in my step. I had killed my first dragon, and my mother, father, and I would be eating like royalty for a year. All in all, I couldn't wait to share the news.

Well apparently news traveled faster than I thought in our realm. By the end of the week everyone in my village knew I had killed a dragon. By the end of the month everyone in the kingdom knew. By the end of two months people started calling me a dragon slayer. And in less than a year I was already being flocked with people who expected me to go kill more. I tried to explain that it was all a misunderstanding and that I almost died, but the people wouldn't hear of it. I don't even think people know my real name. I've decided to write this down so that someday someone might find this and understand that I am not who people think I am.

Perhaps I will be some day, but now now.

Now I am on my way up the mountain to train with real soldiers so that in the future I might live up to my name of being The Great and All Powerful Dragon Slayer.

A/N: Okay well this was totally random. I just wrote this during my study hour during school. I didn't want to do my homework so I decided to listen to music while writing this. I then brought it home and typed it up and voila! You have a crappy piece of writing horray!

So yeah, I purposefully never mentioned the main character's name to once again emphasize the fact that everyone else in his world only knows him as The Dragon Slayer

Yeah, so whatever, kind of sucky. Hope you all enjoyed :) I've been on a Skyrm kick which is probably where this came from.

Story/Characters © Me