[Teddie1056]

There I stood. The massive fire dragon Nagafen bearing down on me. I looked around at my fallen comrades. But lets back up.

I had trained and studied my craft with the Guardians of the Vale for 3 years for this moment. I had heard tales of the great and powerful dragon residing in the volcanic caverns of Lavastorm. I was no stranger to conquest. I had slain the evil goblin king of Runnyeye, trampled the gnolls of Blackburrow. I had even killed a giant or two. But I had never even considered attempting to slay a dragon.

"Warriors, priests, magic wielders, I bring to you a chance for fame and fortune," shouted a charismatic human monk. "There are great treasures, just waiting to be collected. They lie under the belly of Lord Nagafen, most fearsome dragon in the land. I need 50 or 60 men willing to assist me in this conquest." This was my chance. I quickly enlisted in the monk's ranks, as did 60 others just as eager as I. We set off for Nagafen's Lair.

Right off the bat, our raiding party was put to the test. While we had the sheer numbers, there was a lack of organization and skill in this menagerie of adventurers. In the daunting tunnels you would here a scream of a poor soul who took a wrong turn and got lost. Right before we planned our assault on the Fire Giant stronghold that guarded the dragon, a massive wave of bats and bugs descended on our group. At least 20 of our army met an early end. After they were revived, 5 or 6 people left. They scoffed and stated that such an unskilled party had no chance. We ignored them and pressed onward.

The giants proved no match for our band of merry men. Only one person died, a poor iksar monk who ventured a little too far ahead. The spoils of our victory over the Giants were magnificent, but we had our sights on bigger and better things. We reached a massive opening. There I saw him. Massive, awesome, terrifying. He just stared back at us. All of us began to doubt our chances, he was bigger than even legends said. Nonetheless, our biggest and bravest member, an Ogre Warrior stood at the front line ready to fight this beast. The leader of our party shouted, "CHARGE!" We said our prayers and sprinted toward the behemoth.

Instantly, Nagafen thrust aside the Ogre, killing him in mere seconds. The clerics had no clue who to heal, the casters started burning him down with all their mental capacity. Lord Nagafen ran around his throne room, pulverizing person after person. We were injuring the dragon, but he still massacred our men. Some of our army showed their inner cowardice and started to run, only to be chased down and disemboweled. Perhaps it was my small stature, or maybe the Dragon liked halflings, I don't know, but seemed as if he was ignoring me.

The Dragon was bleeding heavily, and I could tell he could barely stand. All that remained were me, a wood elf druid, a high elf enchanter, and another warrior (a barbarian). The Barbarian charged and swung his axe for the final blow. But before he could sink his weapon into the skull of Nagafen, he let out a blast of fire that tore the robust Barbarian limb from limb. The enchanter and druid were both out of mana, and had retreated. I swear I heard them both playing to Tunare. I, however, was not going down with out a fight. A slashed into the Dragons flesh, only to be launched across the throne room. I was badly injured, but I charged again. I put as much energy into my strikes and I swung in a berserker frenzy. Again, the dragon mauled me. Once more, this time barely hanging onto consciousness, I stabbed my swords into his flesh. The Dragon appeared invincible. He crushed me under his claw and I closed my eyes. I embraced death. Nagafen's lair was to be my final resting place, an unmarked grave shared with thousands of previous would be heroes.

No, no it wouldn't. I opened my eyes and emerged from unconsciousness. I dodged 4 consecutive attacks from the legendary monster. I sank my swords into his skull. The Dragon screamed in pain and readied one final fire blast in my direction. This was it, I had come so close, only to be burned alive.

I resisted the blast. Having lost my blades underneath the Dragon's scales (ok, so that part is made up), I did the only thing I could do. I ran up to the dragon, jumped on his head, and stomped the sword deeper into his brain. He stuttered a moment, looked up at the sky (while I held on for dear life), and finally collapsed.

I sat down, stared at me new wealth: A fiery cloak, a magical backpack, and a scale that had come removed in the fight. I said as short prayer for the fallen, and started to bind my wounds. On this day, I became more legendary than even the dragon I had just slain.



PS: After we rezzed I rolled terribly and got 0 loot... I actually did purple bar, come back, dodge multiple attacks and then kick Naggy to death. Still my top video game experience ever. I ran around the house shrieking like a damn fool.